Nissan Terrano and Renault Duster are the two prominent names being tremendously christened in the auto fraternity nowadays.
Hence, the Renault Duster is been there in the market since long back, and had claimed some international titles too. Now it is the time for Nissan to invade the compact SUV segment and mark its prominence. Taking the strategic advantage by the means of agreement between the French automaker, Japanese showed up its aggressiveness and it finally resulted in the form of “Nissan Terrano”.
Though, we had already reported the Nissan Terrano in detail at our review section, where we claimed the Terrnao of having 1.5-litre dCi diesel and 1.6-litre petrol engines. Diesel engine tuned in two state of tunes – 84bhp and 109bhp, while the petrol one is done only with 103bhp. However, the 109bhp diesel is thrown with the six-speed manual gearbox, while the petrol one and 84bhp diesel are given with five-speed manual. For your information we had test driven two of the vehicles in Udaipur, where the Nissan had arranged a special media test drive session for all the leading publication houses, we now will reveal the experiences of all the said vehicles step by step.
1.5-litre dCi diesel of 109bhp
Firstly, we decided to put out the note on the most desirable 1.5-litre dCi diesel of 109bhp, which transacts all the power from a stick of 5-speed manual transmission. Hence, need not to say the power given to this Terrano is mouth watering and is a better option than that of the petrol fuel trim, sounding like bliss in the times of skyrocketing petrol prices. We took this vehicle for an approximately 80-90kms, drove in between winding roads and some off-roads. Need not to say, the Japanese (Nissan) has provoked the mechanism of best Japanese automotive engineering by giving us the Terrano. Well, over here one may say that, the Terrano is originally a French translation into a Japanese, but truly the car that the Nissan had developed is quite amazing than the Duster. It performs all the tasks that are thrown in front of it. No need of adjusting oneself to the devotions of car, but here we had experienced none of the naggings from vehicle at all. It pulls up the power from 2500RPM and leaves the genre uninterrupted to the 4000RPM. The 248Nm of torque comes active at around 2500RPM only, but due to the aggressive gear distribution ratio, excitement start notching the steering from 2000RPM itself. Though we don’t deny that clutch on this vehicle is a bit on the harder side, making feels a bit tad while climbing uphill, and in city traffics. Overall view from the driver’s seat gives a plenty of needed outlook. The ground clearance of 205mm makes Terrano to reach wherever needed.
The above said was all about the ergonomics mostly, but now when the ghats and winding roads on our drive ended, highway started following us. Unbelievably, 0-100kmph is reached in some astonishing amount of time, and when we recorded the reciprocal of same, i.e. from 100kmph-0kmph we touched down the line in a slight more than 3 seconds. The mentioned figures are not knitted with the help of some advanced equipments, but are carried out with the bare-basics only. Hopefully, the Terrano delivered us uninterrupted power throughout the whole range of throttle, never disappointed at any of point. It finally landed us on the top whack of 120kmph during the test. No doubt that it was having a fair amount of additional horses being stored under the bonnet even at that time (i.e. at 120kmph) too. To sound safe in a new city and on the new roads, we didn’t pedal the accelerator more than that. Hence, if we could have done that, then reaching the 135-140kmph mark didn’t seem tough for the 109bhp 1.5-litre DCi engine of Terrano.
Talking suspension and control, there aren’t any bits which claim the Terrano is not bounded for the roads in India. Potholes and the open stretches are galled by it in tons and tons, without even beating a sweat. Push it harder, the harshest it gets. It not mussing even the king sized potholes inside the cabin, all thanks to the softly tuned suspension. In fact, that same soft suspension goes for a rough time when the car is being slided into some tight corners. Body rolls and understeer to an extent can be experienced at the steep turns. But that’s understood when given at this much of so desired comfort. Steering feels quite light, directs the car sharply in the reclined direction. No negative feedbacks even at high speeds. It weighs up along with the rising speed, and gives in confidence to make the most of it at its top notches.
We must say, Nissan Terrano is a good highway cruiser, and is boon for the city slicker too. We have no complaints from the high powered diesel variant of Nissan Terrano, but instead we would say the Japanese trapped the misfielded balls which the French had dropped while trimming it as per the low-costing profile.
1.6-litre petrol of 103bhp
However, it may make someone feels irk that petrol is driven on less number of horses comparatively to the 109bhp diesel. Let us tell you, the Duster is world’s cheapest SUV, so its sibling shall copy some of its traits. Hence, counting the major of its audience to be more cost-conscious regarding the mileage, it may be an issue for the carmaker to yield the stunning return on kilometers-per-litre-of-fuel, where the solution is being chalked out at the cost of deleting some horses underneath the bonnet. Well, gasoline wakes up the power of 103bhp at an early 2000RPM and keeps revving smoothly till 4000RPM. Disappointingly, the motor makes aggressive move till 4000RPM, later than it starts falling short of power. However, making the motor to reach near to maximum 4800RPM gets a one teddy to drive. One has to punch the feet harder on pedal on take on the paths at ease on gasoline. Though, we are not disappointed about its feel in the city. 103bhp of petrol maneuvers easily in the slicken lanes of towns. Five-speed manual does its job brilliantly. Taking the same on highway makes us to be under-confident when overtaking the heavy vehicles. However, other of the bits like suspension and body control are of the same what we had said about the diesel above, but drivetrain faces serious nags, which Nissan should do something about if it wanted to sell the petrol trim of Terrano successfully.
Final Verdict:
Nissan Terrano of 1.5-litre dCi diesel of 109bhp is awesome, and hefts the job to powertrain at a compelling need. All the effort of engineers at Japanese workshop seems to deserve a success party. However, they may have the cues from Renault Duster too; but personally, a lot of efforts had gone in making the Japanese compact SUV a better option in present times than the French version. Petrol one is sufficient for the city slick, but may pose serious lacks on the highway, as per to our experience. On overall (including interiors), the Terrano is a deserving option to get for a money value like this. Even French may not have tided this better when they could have tried drawing a notch above than their Duster. Contemporarily, the Japanese seems successful!
[nggallery id=156]
[nggallery id=154]
[nggallery id=155]
