Vice Versa

Vice Versa
Photos by -Autonet.ca
Glen Woodcock
Published: 15 04 2007

Brian Murphy, Nissan Canada's manager of product planning, was guiding a small group of journalists through our first look at the all-new 2007 Versa sedan last week.

In the auto biz, this is called a "vehicle walkaround".

"This is a very important vehicle for Nissan Canada," Murphy said, as he began extolling Versa's many virtues.

In any biz, that's what's called an understatement.

Caught without a subcompact car in the North American marketplace, last year Nissan could only watch as sales for arch-rival Toyota zoomed while its own slumped 5.3%.

What the Japanese manufacturer needed was a new model to help sales climb back toward 2005's record levels. Especially, it needed a subcompact model to go up against not only Toyota's Yaris, but the Honda Fit and Hyundai Accent.

That vehicle is the Versa, which was just the spring tonic Nissan Canada needed last month, pushing sales 28.3% ahead of the same month last year.

Nissan Canada moved 2,201 Versas out the door in March, the majority of them hatchbacks since sedans were just then starting to arrive on dealers' lots.

Versa is built alongside Nissan's compact Sentra sedan in Mexico and is the realization of what every designer of small cars tries to create and which few achieve: A vehicle whose outer dimensions are small, but whose cabin is big.

Although its overall length is only 4470 mm (176 inches), that's bigger than Yaris, Fit and Accent. Versa's wheelbase, height and interior volume are greater too.

In fact, Versa's 2670 litres of interior space (94.3 cubic feet for those of us who still think that way), is almost as great as the 2767 litres of the larger Sentra -- and its rear seat seems to have more knee-room.

Versa sedans come in two flavours: the plain vanilla S, and the SL -- still vanilla, but with chocolate swirls and maybe some sprinkles on top. Prices range from $14,998 to $20,798.

At the lower end, you get a car with a 6-speed manual transmission -- something usually found only on sportier vehicles -- and not much else other than power side mirrors and electric power steering.

At the upper end, you get a sunroof, 4-speed automatic transmission and convenience package features (fog lights, six-disc in-dash CD changer, etc.) to go with the SL's standard air conditioning, front and rear centre consoles with armrests, alloy wheels, upgraded fabrics, cruise control, leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, ABS, rear door map pockets, overhead console and an anti-theft system.

Murphy expects the S with the $1,400 value option package (VOP) to be the sales leader, accounting for about 40% of volume. The VOP includes power windows and locks, manual A/C and remote entry.

When I first saw the prototype of this vehicle at Nissan's design centre in Farmington Hills, Mich., Versa's "soft-touch" interior surfaces were a big talking point. However, to get this welcome extra padding for armrests, etc., you'll have to order either an SL or the S with VOP.

An automatic transmission is a stand-alone option and adds $1,000 to the sticker price.

ABS for the S costs an additional $500 but includes brake assist (BA) and electronic brake-force distribution (EBD). The day you need its improved stopping power and control is the day it will be the best money you ever spent.

Standard passive safety features on all models include anti-whiplash head restraints, driver and front passenger front-impact air bags, front seat side-impact air bags and curtain side-impact air bags for both rows.

In the U.S., the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has awarded Versa five stars in side impact crash testing and four stars in frontal impacts.

The ride is impressive, with the front independent struts and rear torsion bar suspension soaking up lumps in the pavement. At highway speeds, the cabin is quieter than you'd expect with a car in this price range.

Power across the board is provided by a 1.8-litre, DOHC inline four that generates 122 hp at 5,200 rpm and 127 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,800.

It makes Versa among the quickest cars in its class. In testing -- by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada -- a Versa hatchback with automatic recorded a 0-100 km/h time of 10.7 seconds and accelerated from 80-120 km/h in 9.6.

Nissan claims fuel economy numbers of 8.5L/100 km (33 mpg) city and 6.2L/100 km (46 mpg) highway in sedans equipped with the automatic.

We'll see how close I can come to those figures in the real world, since a new Versa SL is going to become my next long-term test car.

So watch for future updates on this most versatile of modern subcompact vehicles. I'm looking forward to it, especially now that the price of regular gas in my area has leaped back to well over $1 per litre.

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