NISSAN SUNNY 1.5 Petrol
Published On Sep 15, 2011 By Ritesh for Nissan Sunny
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Let The Sun Shine
Every automobile manufacturer now perceives India as the most promising and fast emerging automobile market. Also the existing automobile manufacturers in India have been on their toes to increase their product lines and get a better market share. Nissan has been into the Indian market for a while now and its small car Micra is selling good numbers for the company especially the Diesel version which is one of the better options in its segment. The company now is entering into the most competitive and desired mid-size car market in India with its latest offering – THE NISSAN SUNNY!
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Let’s get you some facts on the Sunny and its heritage. The SUNNY is one of Nissans best selling models around the world. The first Nissan Sunny was launched way back in 1966. Since then Sunny has gone through 9 generations till date and the vehicle which we would get in the Indian market is the 10 generation which also a global product. The Sunny has an accumulated sales volume of over 16 million so far which give us an overview of how good the vehicle might be. The Nissan sunny is sold over 140 countries across the globe. The name “SUNNY” was selected through a public campaign in 1966 in which 8 million people participated. The 10th generation Nissan Sunny was introduced globally in China in December 2010. It has won the world best premier award at Guangzhou motor show in 2010.
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The latest Sunny has also managed to sell 75000 units since the start of sales in January 2011. The Sunny is known as the Versa in US market. It was introduced in US in August 2011. The 10th generation Sunny is expected to be sold in over 170 countries around the world. The new Sunny uses the Nissans new global “V” platform that the Micra is also using. The car is mated to a powerful and smooth 1.5 liter petrol engine. The Nissan Sunny had lost its market share to the Ford Fiesta in the US markets but emerged back to its top position with the launch of the latest generation Sunny.
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Nissan is currently working to have 50 dealerships across the country with the launch of its new SUNNY. The company claims to have almost 83% market preparedness at the moment. All the Nissan dealerships are going to match to the global experience. Nissan officials also claim to come up with almost 100 dealers by next year end. The pricing of the new Sunny which is currently not disclosed is expected to be super competitive as 90% of the parts have been localised. Even the engine is assembled in India at Nissan- Renault Chennai plant to keep the overall pricing low.
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EXTERIORS :
At the first glance the 10th generation Nissan Sunny is an out and out good looker. From one look itself you notice that the car is long and broad enough to provide you with enough space, in the front as well as rear seats, reinforcing that it has longer than normal wheelbase. The car has a very energetic and sleek feel on it which at all times looks very appealing. The bonnet of the car has a little bulge in the middle which gives it a muscular look. There is a big Nissan family grille upfront with a nice and chunky Nissan logo all in chrome. The grille also is surrounded by thick chrome strips to give it that upmarket feel. The headlamps are large in size with a push-back kind of shape to them, flushed in line with the flows of the body. The car gets large body coloured bumpers for all its variants. The bumpers have air dams that are an all black affair along with round fog lamps with black housing around them.
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On the sides the Sunny gets a short fender so that the doors can be stretched keeping in mind the generous cabin area. The car has many soft lines which flow from the headlamps to the rear end of the car on the body panel. As mentioned the front fenders are short but the doors are very long which make getting in and out of the car very comfortable. The car has a very sporty and smooth silhouette when seen from the side and it makes the car look very aesthetic. The car has an overall length of 4425mm, 1695mm width and an overall height of 1505mm. Also the car has a wheelbase of 2600mm which is more than its competitors. The glass area on the Sunny is large with big front and rear windows and a large rear quarter glass all in a blacked out body frame. From the rear the tail lamp of the car wraps around the rear fender and there are thin crease lines which flow around it stretching into its side profile. The car has big front and rear windshields which provide good visibility to the driver, the rear being at a sharp angle. There are no bulging wheel arches which in a way are good as the sides don’t get scratched in traffic conditions.
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The rear profile of the Sunny is dominating. The large flushed tail lamps gel perfectly with the overall muscular look of the car. From outside the boot of the car may look very small but be ready to get surprised once you open it. The Sunny has a step up raised up boot design. If you want to compare the Nissan Sunny with any other car in its segment, we suggest that you stand a few steps away to notice its entire length and size in comparison to others. The roof starts sloping downwards after the B-pillar towards the rear giving it a very coupe like feel. The styling of the car is not very flamboyant; it has been kept simple and minimalistic to cater to a large audience rather than making it either youth oriented or for the mature section of buyers but there is a lot of muscle everywhere. The rear bumper is also chiselled with smooth crease lines which wrap around it.
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The Sunny has the roof antenna and green tinted glass as standard for all models. Apart from the base XE variant the other two – XL and XV models get body coloured ORVMs and chrome plated outside door handles. Also the top two models get chrome plating on the radiator grille, rear defroster, electrically adjustable ORVMs (Outside Rear View Mirror). The top end XV model also gets power folding ORVM which adds to the comfort and convenience of the driver. The XV also gets 15*5.5J alloy wheels. The Sunny runs on the very comfortable and smooth Bridgestone B250 tyres of size 185/65 R15 for the top end and 185/70 R14 for the other two models. The Sunny is going to be made available in six colours namely bronze grey, blade silver, storm white, sapphire blue, onyx black and brick red. What we missed on the new SUNNY is the chrome garnish on the rear number plate section which would have further ornamented its rear. Also for a car this long the company should have provided reverse parking sensors. You also get the Nissan unique keyless entry for the doors and the boot in other words you can open or lock the door or boot if you are just carrying the car remote anywhere on you.
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Over all the Sunny has good exterior designing that is muscular yet sedate, its build quality on the out is good and there are no panel gaps or loose shut lines.
INTERIORS:
Step inside the Nissan Sunny and instantly when you open the door of the car you will be amazed by the amount of in cabin room which is provided. The car is huge from the inside and would shy away the other best sellers in the segment with the legroom it has to offer. With legroom that is extraordinarily spacious and seating that is just the right blend of luxurious texture and firm support, the Sunny is designed to take the ordinary out of everyday driving. You can even try crossing your legs at the backseat and actually succeed. The rear seats also get a foldable centre arm rest with cup holders in them. The seats are well supportive and made of good quality fabric.
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When we mentioned about the boot earlier we said it may look small from the outside, just to mention the exact capacity the Sunny has a boot capacity of 490 litres which is very generous to store your luggage. The interiors are done in grey beige or GREIGE as the people at Nissan call it. The interiors are very subtle and soothing and a good change from the rather common light beige interiors that have become a bit repeated now. The dashboard is single black tone with silver accents around the centre console. The car has a very unique feature called the rear comfort fan available on the top two models. Now this rear comfort fan is not rear air conditioning. It is a fan which sucks in cool air from the front section which is more exposed to the air conditioning vents on the dashboard and throws out cool air onto the rear passenger seats and works like an exhaust fan. It is a really brilliant idea to avoid the load that would be faced by the compressor if there was an independent rear air conditioning. This rear fan has two speed options. The car has a drive computer along with tachometer and manual anti-dazzling room mirror as standard for all models.
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The car gets an integrated audio system with 4 speakers and aux-in port giving a decent audio quality. The audio system is made by Panasonic but the USB port is missing. Front and rear headrests are adjustable and also there is a rear seat centre armrest with cup holders. The inside door handles are chrome plated which are the same as we have seen on the NISSAN MICRA. The car gets the greige interiors only for the top two models and black interiors for the base XE. The power steering is tilt adjustable for all variants. There is a 12 volt accessory socket besides the handbrake. The top two models get single zone automatic air conditioning along with the unique rear comfort fan. The driver window also has one touch express up. Since this feature is provided the anti pinch is added as a safety measure. The car has remote keyless entry. There is a small button placed on the door handle on the driver side which unlocks the car once you press it. The car gets the much talked about push button ignition which is turning out to be a favourite among the Indian buyers. Vanity mirrors are on both the driver as well as passenger side. The top XL and XV models also get steering mounted audio controls. The instrumentation cluster as the company calls it comprises of Fine Vision meters which provide better visibility in daylight as well as night.
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The seats are very comfortable on both the front and rear side. The front seats provide good back support and make the drive pleasurable. The driver’s seat is height adjustable. The Sunny also gets driver and passenger airbags which make it a safe car to drive around in. The plastic quality though acceptable but we feel could have been slightly better. Also there is no leather wrapped steering wheel or leather wrapped gear knob even for the top model which we feel should have been a part of the standard equipment. It would be good to see the company coming up with these changes. The automatic climate control system is similar to the Micra with the round bubble like structure. The air conditioning was satisfactory and worked well to cool the cabin while driving in the hot and humid Chennai climate. There are lots of can and bottle holders along with storage bins in the cabin, what is missed is bottle holders on the rear door pads.
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Overall the Sunny has very spacious and decently appointed cabin, the rear leg room is unmatched with any other car in the segment and even unmatched with cars two segment higher. The interior quality is fairly decent, the switches and knobs are of good quality. Comfort level is high especially at the rear seat.
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ENGINE_DRIVE_SUSPENSION :
The Nissan Sunny in India is powered by a 1.5liter Petrol engine as opposed to the 1.6liter engine that powers the US and China versions. This is a ‘made in India’ engine that has 1498cc of capacity. It has a DOHC 16 valves 4 cylinder engine producing maximum power of 99 PS @ 6000 rpm and generates a healthy 134 Nm of torque @ 4000 rpm. The engine is electronically fuel injected and has a compression ratio of 10.1:1
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The car has a 5 speed manual gearbox and no current plans of the automatic variant have been disclosed. The car gets McPherson strut suspensions at the front whereas torsion bar at the rear does the job. The front end has ventilated discs while the rear end has drum brakes.
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The drive quality is good, the Sunny is more tuned for efficiency than out right performance. Still there is enough power available on tap when needed. The company claims that the Sunny will give an average fuel economy of about 16 KMPL as per ARAI figures which are very good for a car producing almost a 100 horses. You can hear a whining noise on I and II gear when you actually feel like the engine is pulling the car. This noise settles down on the higher gears. The gear shift is also a bit notchy and improvements can be made by tuning the gear ratios. The car felt a little sluggish but again, it is not a car the company has made so that you race along the city streets. It accelerates fairly well as compared to the 16 kmpl fuel economy the company claims. The suspension works very well and keeps the Sunny planted and does not give a bumpy ride as a few of its competitors. The steering is well weighted and provides nimble driving dynamics to the car. The ground clearance has been enhanced for the Indian road conditions as compared to the other Sunny models for the global markets. The ground clearance for the Indian Sunny stands at 165mm. The car gets ABS with EBD and also Brake Assist as standard across all the models including the base version which makes the Nissan Sunny ‘a no compromise on safety vehicle’. The car also gets speed sensing auto door lock/unlock system. We drove the vehicle for almost 150 kilometres along the EAST COAST ROAD near Chennai and the car handled beautifully around the corners and twists. There is a very minimal body roll. But then for a car this long, that tiny little flaw is justified and acceptable. Braking was precise and the car did not seem to hesitate to come to a standstill from a higher speed.
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VERDICT:
With more and more models coming up in the midsize sedan market the Nissan Sunny has to face a strong competition from the existing car models like the Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Suzuki Dzire and the SX4 and the VW Vento to name a few. Also the fairly new brand image might take some time to set into the Indian customer to give the Nissan Sunny the success it has tasted in the global markets. But rest assured Nissan is leaving no stone unturned to enhance and strengthen its brand in India. The car according to us is a very promising package and if you desire for comfort over style this is the choice for you. Pricing which will be out on the 20th September will be the key to the success of the Sunny.
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Nissan has also confirmed the diesel engine Sunny to be launching in the next 3 to 4 months. For now all we can say is let the Sun Shine over the Nissan Sunny. A real smart package overall.
