(SL w/CVT)

My wife and I took an eight-hour round trip road trip for some camping...

I have to say I love this car as a highway cruiser. My wife commutes to work about 50 miles round trip and she has gotten as high as 34mpg. Our trip averaged 30mpg over almost 500 miles. I'm pleased with that considering I was doing 75 with the A/C on and the car had about 1000 miles on it.

Engine:

122 hp feels just about right for this car. Sure, more HP is always nice but you get what you pay for and I'm satisfied with the performance. It does seem to get a little buzzy at 80mph.

Handling:

For the price this car is great! It really soaks up the bumps and imperfections without feeling "floaty". I think the word I would use to describe the overal feeling of this car is "composed". It isn't sporty; I think we all know that. But at the same time I feel very confident in this car's handling.

I think some better tires with stiffer sidewalls would really help this car. I don't hate the tires but they do seem a little overwhelmed. I'm sure they are great for gas mileage and run quiet. We drove through some rain storms and I could not detect any hydroplaning. We also drove on some very curvy and hilly roads and the car, while it has some body lean, is very predictable.

Both the wife and I have noticed that the car does get blown around just a little bit on the highway with crosswinds and semi's but it is nothing that I find upsetting. Again I wonder if some sportier tires might help.

I just took it out around some curves and on ramps and got the tires to squeal. Even got the back end to come out gradually in a very predictable manner...

Very composed...

Transmission:

I like this CVT! I hated the idea of a CVT (and from the car magazines I've read this is one of the better ones) but I have to say it has won me over. Definitely awkward at first but we quickly got used to it. For our use, as a highway commuter car, you don't get much smoother then a CVT!

Interior:

I love the interior of this car. Very high quality and it looks like it is going to hold up pretty well to wear. Great seats and I love the steering wheel controls.

Love the intelligent key system. Standard 6-disk CD-changer is decent system.

Braking:

I find it quite adequate in daily driving.

We don't have the ABS and while I would have certainly preferred to have it vs. not (none of the cars on the lot had it) I think there is a strong argument about all of these safety devices making us worse drivers.

My wife has never had ABS and she has never been in an accident. Luck or defensive driving? Combination of both I guess but I think it has a lot more to do with the latter.

Suffice to say, I don't follow people as closely in this car and in the snow and rain I'll drive the car more carefully to prevent ever needing ABS...

Nice review. I agree with everything you've written here. I did want to say that my wife and I actually got 36.9 MPG on a highway trip earlier this month.

Thanks, I actually wrote it to post it on epinions.com. It's geared more for the prospective buyer.

07Vsdn wrote:Thanks, I actually wrote it to post it on epinions.com. It's geared more for the prospective buyer.

If I may make one suggestion....go in to much greater detail. I post reviews on epinions from time to time, and if you want a favorable rating on your review (if you care about that) most people will want to see much more detail about a car. Either way, I enjoyed reading it and I agree with your points.

I got all favorable ratings with this Versa review at epinions:

http://www.epinions.com/content_399621459588

I didn't realize until after I posted it that I forgot to include the intelligent key in my review.

srellim234 wrote:I didn't realize until after I posted it that I forgot to include the intelligent key in my review.

I still don't get why you keep expecting the Versa, which is heavier and more powerful than all of those '94 vehicles, to get the same fuel mileage.

Seriously, I'm confused... can you give me a logical explanation?

Simply put, in the last 13 years, the only progess being made is in emissions reduction because it's being mandated by the gov't. Fuel economy hasn't improved. Most of it is due to the gluttony of the American consumer, demanding more power and bigger, heavier vehicles.

It's not just the Versa. The smallest offerings across the board have poorer mpg performance than the smallest offerings of years past. The Honda Fit doesn't match the old Civics in real-life mpg. Volkswagen the same. Etc., etc.

In 1973 my first car was a new Opel Manta Ralley stick shift that I purchased from a Buick dealer. I averaged 28 mpg on the highway back then with that car, and most new cars now aren't any better.

My cousin's old Volkswagen deisel mini-pickup got 55 mpg. Even today's hybrids aren't matching that. The technology is there, but I believe manufacturers refuse to implement it for three primary reasons:

1. They keep pandering to the consumer that wants bigger and faster because there's more profit margin in it. Even the Toyota Prius is engineered with a top speed 28 miles per hour faster than the top speed limit in the nation.

2. The gov't isn't mandating that they improve so they are holding back introducing huge gas mileage cars so they don't have to invest much in R&D when it finally is mandated.

3. Almost every investment fund out there is big in petroleum stocks and the automakers have a vested interest in maintaining oil company profits and stock prices.

One would think that as a capitalistic, profit- and money-driven society, the consumers would realize that the more they save on fuel, the more they can either spend on other things or save for later. But the economy of Excess is still winning.

That doesn't mean the Versa is a bad design, but comparing it to vehicles that are old enough that the majority of them are leaving service does NOT portray the vehicle in a good, or even for that matter, the CORRECT light.

Most people are not going to go to a car lot and say "gee, do I want to buy this 1994 Corolla, or this 2007 Versa? Let's compare the cars..." so making a comparison to them in a review is... odd, at best.

They are provided as a perspective. If ANY automotive company were making progress in the mpg area, achieving the mpg progress that should be achieved for the planet, I would have compared to that. But, alas, there aren't any.

Notice I did recommend the vehicle. It is a good car, a good design, but it could be SOOOO much better.

Or, Nissan could leave it where it's at and introduce a real commuter/high mpg car.

I understood that because I like to read for deeper meanings. However, after working retail for 11 years, I know that the consumer usually doesn't. Only about 5-10% of consumers read things for their meanings, not just what they want to hear.