Nissan Sunny - Hits and misses

How many manufacturers are you aware of that don’t actually update their vehicles until the frag limit? Fiat, Aston Martin, and Nissan. The latter has been a bone of contention here. The manufacturer has utterly forgotten its once bread and butter model, the Nissan Sunny.

The vehicle has largely been ignored and given for the splash of chrome it received a couple of years ago, vastly things remain the same as the model that first debuted in 2010. What’s Nissan’s plan with the Sunny, we have no clue? Will it have a new version given that there is a new Micra already out? Not sure. The version may be a bit too expensive to manufacture as the Micra itself is no longer a car that will compete with the Swift or i20. It has grown bigger and more expensive. Well, that’s a topic for another day. Today, let’s see what are the plus and minuses of the Nissan Sunny.

Nissan Sunny Misses

No updates

We have just dedicated the entire first paragraph on how the Sunny needs an update. The styling has started to become boring and in fact, many already associate it with the taxi image. The vehicle inside and out has become staid. Nissan should look at seriously giving it a generation change now. Perhaps even retire it for good. Bring in a fresh new car. One that many will aspire to buy.

Engine

Come on! Nissan has so many engines up its alley that it could easily think of something for the enthusiast than this one. Nissan could perhaps get its stonking 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine and put it in the Sunny’s bay. That will spice up things decently. Make it a rev happy unit and a manual combo. Will be nice, won’t it?

Dynamics

Stiffen up those springs and give us a true cornering machine. On our smooth paved roads, there is no need for the suspension to be all-absorbing. NISMO parts will do wonders to the Sunny and make it an all-out performer. That is along with the aforementioned engine and gearbox.

Nissan Sunny Hits

Oodles of space

You knew this was coming when we mentioned the name Sunny in the first place. This compact Nissan isn’t by any stretch of the imagination compact. It is one spacious car and begs to differ from the rest of the vehicles on offer in its segment. The Nissan Sunny is also very generous with respect to the storage spaces in the cabin. Not only is the car spacious but it also thinks of itself as a small limo. The Nissan Sunny can easily seat two 6 footers one behind the other and none of them will complain about the lack of space. At 490 litres, the boot space too is cavernous.

Mileage conscious

The 99 PS / 135 Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine is a good performer. While it may not have the outright punch as let’s say a turbo unit, but it definitely is good when it comes to tractability as well as economy. This engine will barely sip a litre of petrol to cover 17 km. Now, that is hatchback territory, isn’t it? One of the prime reasons why most of our taxi driving brethren cling on to this car. Less fuel to cover more distances means more savings.

Safety features

Now, don’t get thinking there. The Nissan offers nothing exceptional which others in the segment don’t. It only brings in everything that it has to offer as standard. This means dual airbags, ABS as well as electronic stability control. This was at a time when others like the Honda City or the Toyota Yaris used to offer this as optional. Good going Nissan then.

The Nissan Connect

Want to stay connected to friends and family while driving? Nissan offers the Nissan Connect which comes with its own set of Wifi connectivity. This enables one to post on to social media platforms on the move. The touch screen may not be the best unit out there but it definitely helps in a big way. Most of the competition doesn’t even offer it and we believe that is one of the USPs of the Nissan Sunny.

All said and done, dear Nissan, it will be great if you can update the beloved Sunny. Put in less of chrome trim, a more powerful engine, retain that space quotient, add more features and stiffen those springs. We are sure the universe will lap up this car. Especially given your service as well as reliability are the stuff legends are made of.