With my car in the shop, I've taken advantage of a free five-day rental car. So today is day four of driving a black Nissan Versa sedan owned by Enterprise.
The Versa is a highly practical car. "Practical" was pretty much my first impression, and still sums the car up well.
But it was not long at all on day one that I made the realization that this car has no soul. This was a car designed with a fair amount of thought, but without any passion. Nothing about the car feels inspired or inspiring.
There are a bunch of little details, although several of them just barely miss the mark. The seats are very comfortable, but not lull-you-to-sleep, lazy buy comfy. They're just right for driving in, but too narrow to feel at home in. The seat recline lever is on the right of the seat bottom, because the seat is too close to the door for you to reach the left side. The gas fill is on the wrong side, too.
There are cupholders for everyone, but the front ones are in front of the shift lever and down most of the way to the floor. You have to lean forward and reach down to reach even a tall mug in them. But they have notches in them to accomodate a mug with handles. (One handle would have to face forward and one rear if you had too, they're in a spot to narrow for them to actually sit side-by-side, so they're staggered.)
Acceleration is fairly smooth, but not by any means aggressive. The suspension keeps things nice on bumpy roads, but there's a vibration in the wheel above 65 on the tollway. There isn't quite as much lean as it feels like at first in corners. The car's center of gravity is lower than yours, so you'll lean a little more than the car.
There's a little window in the front pillar ahead of the side mirrors. There are even defroster slots for those little windows. Not that you can really see anything useful through them anyway.
The seat position is nice and high in the car without pushing you into the roof. Visibility is great in every direction. The hood and trunk are both positioned so that they can't block visibility. The only thing you see outside is... outside. The irritating downside to that is that there is absolutely no visual reference for where the car ends. It's somewhere past the windows, but you can't tell where. It makes everything else feel closer to you than it probably is. Or maybe further away than it really is. Flip a coin and cross your fingers when you park.
The stereo is easy to use and in just the right spot. The radio reception isn't what it should be, and the speakers are crisp and clean until you get to a song you like and turn it up. Then they're underwhelming and disappointing.
Fuel economy is supposed to be about 30mpg, but I haven't been able to test that. It's range is clearly shorter than my Celica's. It probably has a smaller tank, and I'm averaging about 35mpg in the Celica.
The car is pretty quiet, even at highway speed. Until you have to accelerate hard, when it gives you that little "do I have to?" whine from a 4-cylinder engine that could use another 25 HP.
The car was probably very popular with the focus groups that must have played a part in its creation. Then again, the focus group participants probably only got to drive a couple of miles in it. So the Versa is a car that admits you can't please everyone, but does a good job of not offending anyone. It's inexpensive without seeming chinsy. Although the dashboard is clearly hard plastic that's supposed to look nicer than it is. It's practical, there's no denying that. The Versa could be a great first car, that reliable car that gets you through getting to college and back and lasts with you.
You can fall in love with the practicality of the car...but you won't fall in love with the car.
Posted by fictionman at June 15, 2009 10:30 AM | TrackBack (0)