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-   -   Nissan Sunny Diesel : Test Drive & Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/114769-nissan-sunny-diesel-test-drive-review-2.html)

Now I know why the dealer at Secunderabad refused a TD to me.

I had carried the cheque book along and am so happy that he refused, it saved me the headache of having had to cancel the booking later.

I am now thinking between Etios and Manza, the two most VFM in this range.

Nice Republic Day surprise, thanks:thumbs up. I was actually planning to PM you today asking when this one is going to be up. To me, this looks like a seriously VFM option in this segment & its nice to know that -

I didn't expect this one to be FTD so its not a surprise that the Vento is way ahead in terms of being a driver's car but your review reinforces the fact that the Sunny is definitely a work-horse and the acres of rear space & legroom make this a viable option for us to consider when we replace the Fiesta! But this is surely a cause for concern, sounds like another Fortuner in the offing -
And that's really food for thought. Although I'm wondering what Renault's pricing strategy is going to be - given the way they've overpriced the Fluence and killed it at launch.......

Any idea what kind of warranty options are being offered on the Sunny Diesel?

Hey I have been also trying to choose between these 2 cars. Check out this thread. May be it will help making things simpler for you ( or may be more complicated :D).

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans...vento-tdi.html

Hope it helps.

The Nissan Sunny D is a very nice option for a reliable chauffeur driven car. And this will be cheap to run as well. The space is just amazing. The design is not head turning but the Sunny doesn't look too bad either. The increased wheelbase over the Micra helps a lot here.

Won't this help a lot while traversing all those unscientific speed-breakers? No need to shift down to 1st or lug the engine in 2nd to cross them. It will run like an AT with all that torque and the short cog.

The low end torque in this car is just amazing and I feel in the long run it will become a major USP of the car along with the "caaar' ofcourse.
The good thing is that the SA are also aware of the same and keep encouraging you to slot into 5th at 30-40 kmph to make you see the same.

1. Sunny or Vento, each has good amount of torque
2. Both have equally good ride
3. I think 1 yr additional warranty other than existing 2 yrs.
4. Petrol servicing cost must be minimal 1k-1.2k every service unless very major. Diesel will be expensive but should not cross phenomenally high figures. Spares will be expensive i am trying to source the rates for the same.

Interesting points noted there. If the engine is able to lug around at low rpms ,does it have any thing to do with the gear ratios ?

1st gear 40kmph and 2nd at 80kmph, 3rd at 125kmph will never be used in real life situations. at-least those who know how to drive a diesel. Wonder what would be the FE with this kind of driving on the highway :D.
For diesels aren't we supposed to up-shift early and use the 3rd,4th and 5th gears. For the turbo charged diesels the fun starts in 3rd gear.

This is how I drive on the highway on my swift. 1st never used, 2nd till 45kmph, 3rd till 70kmph, 4th till 100kmph, 5th I would settle at 120kmph.
Top speed attained in 5th with this kind of upshifting was 150kmph (for few seconds) with still some room to go which I never dared to.
ROAD: NH4.

Interesting to know why nissan would tune/adjust the gear ratios in such way.

And what were we trying by testing these speeds during our review, was it done to test the top speed ?

Lovely review, Nissan is making the right moves, by not giving the Diesel Sunny the step-motherly treatment that was vetted out to Diesel Micra. Now all it needs to fix is a decent spread of dealer network so as to compete with other Japs in the same/similar segment.

It will be interesting to see what numbers Diesel Sunny brings in for Nissan, as its competing against the likes of Dezire and Manza (Not for forget Toyota).

I don't know about the Petrol Sunny's pricing but the diesel version is surely not competing with the entry level sedans like Dzire, Etios and Manza. Even Rehaan mentioned the same. This car is built better, interiors feel a lot more plush and premium, features are loaded even for the XL variant and is a lot more spacious too. I would not be lying by calling it outright luxurious when compared to the other three cars mentioned above.

This is going to compete with the bigger players of the C segment.

Thanks Rehaan for excellent review!

The positioning of Sunny D makes sense in mid/upper C segment. Among the Japanese descent cars, Etios & DZire are at entry level, Honda doesn't yet have a diesel, SX4 hasn't really taken off and lacks space / premium feel for all its size. For those who seek reliability, Sunny has limited competition. It's mainly New Verna from Korean Hyundai that Sunny has to contend with. Both have their own strengths and Sunny D ought to attract a good number of buyers in the dieselizing market. Good move on the part of Nissan avoiding direct confrontation with the mighty Dzire and worthy challenger Etios!

On overall NVH front, isn't Etios one of the weakest? Of course, you can mitigate road noise somewhat with underbody coating - but it's there alright. Manza does score better on this aspect in my experience.

Another good family workhorse to choose from then.

R,

Questions:

1. To have bumped power up by 20bhp for essentially the same engine, do we know what has been tweaked?

2. Roughly at what RPM does the turbo kick in?

3. Does 5th gear feel short- since the TD observations suggest this car has been optimized for city driving ?

The car is a very neutral handler. Cornering was no fuss at all. Also, it manages to carry quite a lot of speed over less than perfect roads without troubling the passengers too much.

The road noise was a lot. I don't think even a tyre upgrade would eliminate it. I feel it requires more noise damping, especially in the rear.

The clutch is nothing to complain about. Its not heavy at-all, but not even the lightest clutch out there. The bit point is fairly spread out and so the launches can be smooth.

The only issue were the pedal heights. The clutch is way too high relative to the brake pedal. Thus the left foot has to folded at all times and this can get tiring after a while.

1. As i said before in this post, the handling is quite neutral.
2 There is some steering feedback but it is not enough to be an involving drive. It handles bad roads fairly well. I was doing a very decent speed over a twisty and not so good road, and the car managed it well.
3. We did not drive with more than 1 passenger at the rear.

1. Yes, it has to do with gear ratio's and ECU tuning. What we show here mainly is the low end torque of the engine

2. No, we were running on public roads and hence we limited our speed to about 120 kmph. We have put this here to show the difference between the gear ratios, especially between 2nd and 3rd.

Jalsa777 has touched upon this above. For more info, do check the main / petrol review. Everything about ride and handling is pretty much identical.

Surprising right? Not sure how much damping there is on the firewall etc, but i was surprised too.

Tyre upgrade might help a little, but like jalsa777 said, i think its the lack of damping in th wheel wells etc thats letting this noise come through. Though its really not a deal-breaker.

Well, they came in with killer pricing on the petrol, and average pricing on the diesel. Can't blame them!

Another interesting point was raised in the earlier thread (where a lot of people felt the diesel was overpriced) >


Haven't read your whole thread, but i think you've decided Vento right? Stick with that if you will be doing the driving.

The suspension has probably been tweaked a bit for the heavier motor, but theres virtually no change in the handling and ride that we reported on in the petrol test drive. Same for the steering.

For self-drive, i'd pick the Vento.

Sorry, haven't spent enough time in the back of a Vento.

... Pretty much everything your saying points to the Sunny no?


True. I thought atleast the gearbox or brakes would be improved, but sadly not.

The full interior review with tons of pictures is here : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post2512993

The road noise is hardly such a deal breaker that he wouldn't give you a highway test drive! He probably had other concerns.

Yep. This is what makes 2nd gear worthy at even such slow speeds. What we were pointing out was the disparity between 2nd and 3rd.

It was done to give a real-world indication of the difference between the gear ratios.

I could guess, but there was no mention as to exactly what was done.

1800 - 2100 RPM it spins up.

5th gear, nope. In fact the gearing doesn't seem short. Its just that in comparison to 2nd gear, 3rd seems quite tall.

cya
R

Nice review. Thanks! :thumbs up

I suppose, Mahindra's Verito fills in the space for a low end Sunny Diesel - In terms of catering to the Taxi segment. Another choice from Nissan with the similar price band and with the same engine, would have had Taxi drivers thinking - Given that the quality of Nissan to be much higher than Mahindra.

I think even in future, Nissan will not launch a lower end version of Sunny to safe guard their image.

I test drove the Sunny and Rapid back-to-back today. From a driver's perspective, Rapid is superior. Although the leg room in Sunny is phenomenal, I was disappointed with the head/shoulder room. 3 well built adults cannot sit comfortably. Manza still rules the roost as far as rear head room is concerned. Cabin noise in Sunny too is an irritant but should not be a deal breaker.