Team-BHP - My Nissan Sunny XL DCi

Welcome all BHPians.This is my review of my Sunny XL DCi which has covered 9700 kilometers.This is my second car after my 04 WagonR F10D which has covered more than 60000 kilometers.

What I like about the Sunny:

Superlative rear legroom.
No turbo lag from the engine.
Has all safety features even in the base variant XL.
Good road presence.
Has all gizmos like Automatic climate control,Rear AC vents in XL variant itself
Very fuel efficient.
Soft suspension setup goes through potholes with ease.

What I don't like about the Sunny:

Vague Brakes that are slow to react.
Tyre noise at 120 KPH.
Does not handle well like a Fiesta.
XXL size pane gaps in the bonnet and boot lid area.
Typical Japanese build quality.
No USB port in the head unit.
Rear headroom for 6ft+ is short in supply.

The hunt for a new car:The WagonR was aging well but I wanted a new car because the WagonR is a very basic car and I wanted a car from a whole new segment.The priorities were:

Diesel engine.

Fuel efficient.

Reliable.

High on features.

Decent legroom and boot space.

Decent dealer network.

The cars considered were:

Renault Logan:

Likes:Comfortable rear bench.
Good amount of boot space.
Extremely VFM and cheap.

Dislikes:Boxy styling.
The taxi image of the Logan.
Mahindra's shoddy ASS

Maruti Suzuki SX4:

Likes:Good styling.
Big boot.
Maruti's superb ASS.

Dislikes:Old model.
Chances of being phased out.
Didn't want to own a second Maruti.

Tata Manza:
Likes:Good Legroom at the rear.
Decent Boot Space.

Dislikes: Tata's ASS.
Old school Tata looks.
No features at all.

Volkswagen Vento 1.6 TDI

Likes:Solid build quality
Superb looks.
Lot of features present in Highline,the top variant

Dislikes:Average legroom at the rear
Exorbitant price.
VW spare parts cost a bomb.

Skip to 2011:Many launches took place. Nissan Sunny,Skoda Rapid and Toyota Etios were launched.

Toyota Etios:

Likes:Comfort levels and boot space
Cheap price.
Toyota's reliability.

Dislikes:Boxy looks looks uncannily similar to Logan.
Cheap interior quality.
No features at all.

Skoda Rapid TDI Elegance:

Likes:Stunning looks.
Powerful engine.
Cheaper Vento with similar feature list.

Dislikes:Skoda's horror stories.
Spare parts cost a bomb.

Nissan Sunny:

Likes and Dislikes:Already listed at the top of the page.

Skip to May 2012:Renault Duster was launched. It was the best competitor for the Sunny and Rapid. Saw the feature list,Plastic quality and everything.It looked very different from that of the Sunny. The quality was cheap and was not comparable to the Rapid and Sunny.The Rapid was eventually ruled out because of the horror stories and spare part pricing. I didn't like the Duster so the Sunny was the final choice. Sunny and Rapid were comparable in each and every way but paying a one lac premium for the Rapid was not justifiable at all. We had a final look at the Sunny and the family said this is the car we are going to buy.

Dealership experience:Jain Jubilant Nissan,Vellore are a group of well trained professionals. They deal everything with high amount of professionalism. My SA was very helpful and he will be very useful to you too.

Schemes claimed : 3M Under chassis and car care treatment at every free and paid services.
Nissan Extended Warranty

Booking and Delivery : The car was booked on 12 September 2012 and we narrowed down to two colors,Blade Silver and Sapphire Blue. Blue was very nice but my father told it is silver.The car was booked,Three days of sleepless nights,Wondering how the car would be.We told him not to register the car by himself as we wanted a PDI of our car. I took the Team BHP PDI chekclist with me all were good. No scratches and niggles were present.The dealer told me wait until 5:00 PM as it was an auspicious time of the day. He explained me all the controls of the car and also came to my house to check whether we could park the car in the house.

My review of the caaar after 9000 kilometers :

Engine:The Sunny is powered by the K9K engine which is found in many other cars like Nissan Micra,Renault Pulse,Renault Duster,Nissan Evalia,Renault Scala Mahindra Verito,Renault Fluence. This engine runs at a higher state of tune when compared to the Micra,Pulse and Verito.This has 8 valves and is chain driven.This is a SOHC [Single Overhead Camshaft] engine.Refinement levels of this engine is top notch.Open the bonnet and you don't see any damping but still it very refined.There is no turbo lag at all and power delivery is very linear.But rev the engine and it gets gruff.

Gearbox:The gearbox is pretty notchy to engage.1st and second are are notchy. 2nd to 3rd is okay while 3 4 and 5 are very smooth to engage.The gear ratios are spread unevenly for the efficiency factor. Clutch has the perfect amount of travel.The gearbox seldom demands a downshift when you cross a speed breaker. The ECU is also tuned in such a way that it lugs at low speeds in 5th gear.

Build Quality:The build quality is okay,You can live with it.Yes,it is not as solid as a Rapid,Linea or a Fiesta.The paint quality is top notch and beats that of the Vento.The panel gaps are okay except for a few areas like the bonnet and boot lid. The doors shut with a mild thud.I was happy that the Sunny was not as flimsily built like a Dzire or Etios.

Interior of the Sunny:This is the main reason why the Sunny is called the Caaaar. It has all the goodies like ABS,EBD,BA and Airbags. The plastic quality is soft touch and does not have any rough edges. Cutting of plastic is also very good. The steering wheel has thumb contours to rest your thumb fingers on. The round A/C panel might look a bit odd but it looks good for my tastes. The ergonomics are very good and might make you lazy if you sit in a basic car like a WagonR. Legroom at the rear is awesome and it beats a Skoda Superb easily. The glovebox is pretty large but is not as large as a Rapid. There are a lot of storage compartments and cubbyholes. The fabric upholstery is very soft textured looks and looks very good too. The Head unit too goes pretty well with the dashboard plastic. Thus,the finish is uninterrupted. Under thigh support and rear headroom is short in supply but if you strech your legs and slide your body forward,The headroom issue ends. The tagline must read "Travel Business Class in the Caaaar" in the advertisement.

Suspension:The suspension is tuned for comfort. It absorbs potholes with ease. Ground clearence is not an issue at all.The Sunny has a soft suspension and is not as stiff as a City iVTEC or a Linea T-Jet.

Highway mannerisms of the Sunny:The Sunny's highway mannerisms are just like how a regular family car's behaviour must be. It's not as worst as a Verna where the car behaves like a boat.The Sunny is a neutral handler. The steering is light which aides city and expressway driving for the non-enthusiast.

Brakes:The brakes are mediocre and do their job properly.I was feared about how the brakes would work after reading team-bhp reviews.But surprise...The brake pedal was proper and did not feel spongy at all. Thankfully,Nissan has cured this thing for my car. But I have listed about the brakes in the What I Don't like about the Sunny section as many Sunny owners complaint about the brakes.In my honest opinion,The Sunny's braking is fine.

ICE of the Sunny:Hardcore ICE fanatics would tell the Sunny's ICE is satisfactory. It is not as weak in the Linea though many would have liked to have an USB port. Sound quality is pretty good though not as good as a Fiesta. Sound quality and features will totally get 8 marks from my side.

Boot Space of the Sunny: The Sunny's boot is awesome. The loading bay is deep and wide. The space is rated @ 490 liters but I think it's even more larger than that. Despite having loads of legroom, The Sunny's boot is also very large.

Looks:The first criteria in India when it comes to buying a car is it's looks. The Sunny's looks don't look as quirky as the Dzire or the Etios.The front is very appealing and makes it look like a baby Teana.The side profile too is very large,making it look like a baby Mercedes S class. The rear end is pretty bulky and gets it's inspiration from the W221 S Class. But it does add some character to the rear end. Rear end does look pretty sharp due to some subtle creases.

Conclusion:If you want to travel club class in an inexpensive manner,The Sunny is the best choice. Overall the Sunny is a no fuss and reliable way of business class transportation.:)

Will keep all of you updated as the miles click on.

Cheers,

Achyuth