Nissan ALMERA FLARE 1.5 16v
Nissan have our sympathy. Why? Its tricky to put your finger on quite what the recipe is for putting bums on seats in terms of family hatchbacks. Youd think that offering a range of willing engines, some neat styling touches and topping it off with aggressive pricing would be enough, but despite boasting all of the above, the latest Almera still trails its mainstream competitors by quite a margin. Nissan hope that value-packed models like the 1.
| Build |  |
| Comfort | |
| Depreciation |  |
| Economy |  |
| Equipment | |
| Handling |  |
| Insurance | |
| Performance | |
| Styling | |
| Value | |
It seems Nissan cant help themselves when it comes to spawning new, and to be quite frank, strangely named versions of the Almera. Those who recall the previous generation car will remember the Hurricane, the Twister and all manner of other rather desperate attempts to persuade the British public that Almera was a good bet. Perhaps realising that offering almost as many Almera models as Almeras sold in a calendar year was perhaps confusing prospective buyers, Nissan rationalised the range down to a mere five, the S, SE, SVE, SX and SXE versions. Old habits die hard, however, and before long Nissan included a Pulse special edition and have followed it up with the Flare model we look at here.
Flare, note, not Flair. Even Nissan would baulk at repeating an error Mitsubishi made with their crashingly dull Carisma. The Almera has never been known for its big personality but the Flare will appeal if youre intent on getting a lot of equipment for your money. Originally, three engines were on offer but these days theres only one the entry-level 1.
5-litre 16v petrol unit. In Flare guise youll pay £8,995 for this engine with the three-door bodyshape (the only one on offer). Thats £1,255 less than the normal entry-level three-door S specification 1.5-litre 16v Almera.
"Flare, note, not Flair..."
Despite this saving, customers get 16-inch alloy wheels, front fog lamps and a leather rimmed steering wheel. The Flare also purloins from the range-topping SXE model its seat trim and body styling kit. To most people, an £8,995 Flare 1.5 will look virtually identical to a £16,000 SXE.
Whether this is a clever move by Nissan really depends on how many Flares they can shift, but it certainly offers good value. Its still not enough to land the Almera on the top spot of the podium as far as sharky lookers are concerned. Nevertheless, the Almera is a good deal better looking than the early cars many still associate the Almera line with. From the car they didnt want you to drive to its all-action successor, the Almera always received a lukewarm reception.
Take a look at the latest series of cars and even the most jaded would have to admit Nissan have done a good job. The Flare shares with the rest of the Nissan range many of the improvements that have made the Almera such an underrated proposition in the family hatch sector. First up is the swoopy facelift that added restyled headlamps and a curvier front bumper. If you want it in more detail, the upper and lower grilles are now honeycombed and the headlights have clear lenses which house a four-circle lamp system.
Moving to the back, the tail lights on the hatchback are also a good deal more interesting than the outgoing car, with overlapping circles much like the Primera. The family link with the Almeras bigger brother is a little more tenuous once you move indoors. It was here that the Primera broke new ground with its N-FORM centre console and though Nissan claim to have adapted the Almera to accommodate the system, much of the visual drama has been removed. Indeed, the entry-level version continues with the same set of knobs and buttons as before.
Whereas the Primera features a horizontal shelf that juts out from the centre console atop which are the N-FORM controls, the Almera merely installs said controls in the vertical slot where the old knobs and buttons were. Still, it looks a good deal neater and works a treat. The petrol engine on offer here has been tweaked to generate more power and torque. The 98bhp 1.
5-litre unit is 9% more powerful than the version originally fitted to this generation Almera, yet retains the same 42.8mpg fuel consumption figure and lops 0.7 seconds from the sprint to 60mph. On the road, the car's neat and composed, if not quite in the premier league of current family hatches. If you want more, 1.8-litre petrol Almeras start from £12,255. Collectors of useless information may like to know that until the 350Z appeared, the 1.
8-litre manual Almera was the quickest car Nissan made. Use this information sparingly and only in the right company. Careless use of facts like this can make you appear socially inadequate. I have an excuse Im paid to know things like this.
The Almera Flare is a perplexing thing. Much of its appeal comes from the fact that it looks like a far more expensive car. Its problem is that the car it chooses to look like the Almera SXE sells in handfuls. One suspects that Nissan would have been able to sell many more Almera Flares if they had indeed made it an almost indistinguishable facsimile of a Peugeot 307 or a Ford Focus.
Dont let this put you off; the Flare is a pleasant looking car at an attractive price. The Almera is a good deal more competitive than its sales figures would suggest and the Flare may be where the pick of the current range. Whilst this wont be enough to turn the Almeras fortunes around, Nissan seem content with these guerrilla marketing tactics.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Nissan Almera Flare 1.5 16v
PRICES: £8,995 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 5
CO2 EMISSIONS: 158g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 110mph / 0-60mph 13.1s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 43mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front and side airbags, ABS with EBD, active front headrests
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height, 4120/1690/1395mm [3dr]
