Since this is my first ever blog entry, I want it to be positive and happy. No negativity, just a pleasant recap of the car I had the pleasure of spending a three day weekend driving around.
I put a lot of miles on our Nissan Versa over the extended weekend, most of them being highway miles. I found the seats comfortable, the ergonomics agreeable and the ride relaxed...
While the steering doesn't communicate much other than general direction, it is geared well. You don't have to give it any unecessary inputs.
Visibility is good too. While I found myself constantly reaching for the seat height lever, which is on the right by the way, the driving position does put you near eye level with most crossover sport-utes.
Those of us with malnourished elbows can drive in comfort thanks to the generously padded arm rest/door handle to the driver's left. It brought a smile to my face. Really.
The keyless entry and keyless ignition were great too. More than just a worthless gimmick, I really did get used to it. The radio works well as does the climate control. Parallel parking is a breeze too.
And then there's the *#%$! clutch. I know. I said I wouldn't get negative, but honestly the clutch is complete garbage. Saying it's vague just doesn't do its awfulness justice. I understand every car is different. Slip points, required clutch pressure, I get it. This thing has no rhyme or reason behind it. Coupled to an engine management system that hangs the throttle for a good second or two (a lifetime when you're actually trying to accelerate) every time you lift off the gas the car is downright difficult to drive smoothly. Stop and go traffic is made slightly more bearable by the very flexible engine. Taking it down to near idle speed in any gear, it'll pull right up to the dreaded time you have to shift gears. The motor's a little gem.
Rather than give up and park the thing for the weekend, out of sheer determination and spite for the drivetrain I decided to master the Versa's clutch. Which I did. And you know what? I still hate it. I'd rather have the automatic.
Is it possible for just one part of a car to completely ruin a perfectly good car? Very nearly, yes.
Kurt Niebuhr, Photo Editor @ 12,874 miles
Visibility is good too. While I found myself constantly reaching for the seat height lever, which is on the right by the way, the driving position does put you near eye level with most crossover sport-utes.
Those of us with malnourished elbows can drive in comfort thanks to the generously padded arm rest/door handle to the driver's left. It brought a smile to my face. Really.
The keyless entry and keyless ignition were great too. More than just a worthless gimmick, I really did get used to it. The radio works well as does the climate control. Parallel parking is a breeze too.
And then there's the *#%$! clutch. I know. I said I wouldn't get negative, but honestly the clutch is complete garbage. Saying it's vague just doesn't do its awfulness justice. I understand every car is different. Slip points, required clutch pressure, I get it. This thing has no rhyme or reason behind it. Coupled to an engine management system that hangs the throttle for a good second or two (a lifetime when you're actually trying to accelerate) every time you lift off the gas the car is downright difficult to drive smoothly. Stop and go traffic is made slightly more bearable by the very flexible engine. Taking it down to near idle speed in any gear, it'll pull right up to the dreaded time you have to shift gears. The motor's a little gem.
Rather than give up and park the thing for the weekend, out of sheer determination and spite for the drivetrain I decided to master the Versa's clutch. Which I did. And you know what? I still hate it. I'd rather have the automatic.
Is it possible for just one part of a car to completely ruin a perfectly good car? Very nearly, yes.
Kurt Niebuhr, Photo Editor @ 12,874 miles
carguy622 says:
12:43 PM, 10/11/07
No!, not another request for an automatic. Embrace the manual transmission. Seriously though, I can relate. My first car was an Escort with a manual and unless I wore sneakers I found it very hard to modulate. Then I got an automatic Accord V6 and was bored to tears, great car, just dull. Went back into a manual with an Acura, and found the Acura's clutch to be perfectly usable with boots or sandals on, which I could not say about the Ford.
stovt001 says:
01:10 PM, 10/11/07
Sounds like Nissan just has bad clutches.
And Carguy, I don't think the automatic transmission is the only reason the Accord was boring.
Sadly, it seems that as automatic transmissions get better, manual transmissions are ignored by the engineers.
langjie says:
01:40 PM, 10/11/07
the clutch of my '02 sentra specv was awesome!!!!!! ....it was the gearbox that left much to be desired, haha. i guess nissan is putting most of their efforts into their automatics. at least the GTR has a Getrag tranny
7driver says:
02:05 PM, 10/11/07
3 day weekend? You mean you got Columbus day off? What, is edmunds.com pulling down banker's hours now? I should apply for a job there.
hola_dan says:
02:30 PM, 10/11/07
working at edmunds is my dream job
SubyTrojan says:
04:11 PM, 10/11/07
Hola, hola_dan! Or should I just say, "Hola, Dan!" LOL
Did you check out the link at the bottom of this page?
Shameless plug here:
http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/jobs/index.html
estreka says:
04:36 PM, 10/11/07
I see there are no more employment opportunities for "shameless plugger." Thanks Suby!
scott65 says:
05:49 PM, 10/11/07
The automatic in this car is actually very nice, a friend has one and it shifts quick and smooth.
altimadude00 says:
09:56 PM, 10/11/07
Scott65---Must be one of those early production sedans with the four speed. Since CVT equipped Versas don't have any gears, they shift very smoothly.
My 7 year old Altima doesn't shift either...it falls into the next gear. (Part of the reason why I'm so interested in the CVT!)
stephen987 says:
12:12 PM, 10/13/07
Early production? I thought the base (S) model offered a choice between the 6-speed manual and a 4-speed auto, while only the uplevel (SE) offered the CVT.