Nissan ALMERA SALOON RANGE
Five Doors Good, Four Doors Better? Heres A Selection Of
Nissan Almeras With More Prominent Posteriors. Andy Enright Reports
As a nation, were oddly suspicious about small cars with boots. In Japan and the USA, boots sell, hatchbacks being perceived as downmarket shopping trolleys. Pitched into a market that laughed at the
Ford Orion, ignored the
Peugeot 306 Sedan and has given the
Volkswagen Bora a frosty reception, is the Nissan Almera saloon a car with a hidden secret?
Whereas the cars mentioned previously were merely booted versions of existing saloon models, the Almera, we discover, has gone the other way. In order to tap into that lucrative domestic market, the Almera was envisaged from the outset as a four-door notchback, the more familiar hatchback shape being introduced later in the design process. Thats all very well, but can it stop the Almera going the same way as the
Vauxhall Belmont,
Renault 19 Chamade, Fiats Marea and a legion of other last chance saloons? It certainly has design on its side. Most hatches dont make the transition into a booted variant very well.
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Take the VW Golfs transformation into the VW Jetta. It was as if the engineers thought that if they were grafting a boot onto the back, they might as well make one so massive it appeared to be climbing up the back window. In order to cope with the added payload, the car was fitted with springs so stiff the ride comfort was similar to the downhill tumble of a felled cable car. The Almera saloon is a world away from this.
Nissan resisted the temptation to design a boot capable of acting as a venue for the proposed National Stadium, instead opting for a perfectly acceptable 460-litre capacity. To put this in perspective, a
Rover 45 saloon will swallow 510, so whilst not the biggest, the styling job is neat and unobtrusive. Unlike the Cranfield-designed hatch, the booted car was styled by the Japanese, but theyve made a good job of it, the seamlessness of the design lending credence to Nissans assertion that the Almera is a saloon first and foremost.
"Nissan resisted the temptation to design a boot capable of acting as a venue for the proposed National Stadium"
Like its hatchback counterparts, the Almera saloon benefits from a recent series of improvements that visually include 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. Moreover, the 15" wheels sported by most Almeras get Primera-style wheel trims, whilst upspec models get 16-inch alloys. 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. Both petrol engines have been tweaked to generate more power and torque. The 98bhp 1.
5-litre unit is 9% more powerful than the old version yet retains the same 42.8mpg fuel consumption figure and lops 0.7 seconds from the sprint to 60mph. The 1.
8-litre powerplant now does a convincing imitation of that found in a Primera, replicating its 118bhp output. Hitting 60mph in 10.6 seconds, this is a pleasingly lively installation yet still returns fuel figures that average around 38mpg. A 60mpg 112bhp 2.
2-litre dCi common rail diesel engine is also well worth a look. This car is being built at Nissans award-winning Sunderland plant at prices that kick off at £10,750 for the 1.5S saloon. The 1.
8-litre petrol saloon SE variant costs £12,050 and a 2.2-litre direct injection turbo diesel saloon is available in SE trim, retailing at £13,050. These prices are exactly the same as those youd pay for an equivalent 5-door hatchback version. Inside the cabin, storage spaces abound there are over 20 around the interior ranging from a washable rear garbage holder for sweet wrappers to sill trays sculpted for a can of de-icer and front door pockets designed to take thick atlases along with huge bottles of fizzy drink.
There are two 'secret boxes' for valuables (one hidden under cup holders in the centre console and another beneath the rear floor) and a compartment for colouring books and pens built into the rear centre armrest (which also includes two more cup holders). Then there are the really unique touches. The twin luggage nets that hold oddments in the side of the boot that can be joined together and stretched across the load floor to stop larger items from sliding about. Then there's the umbrella holder velcro straps that fasten the item to the front of the rear
seat cushion. You can also fasten your briefcase or laptop computer in the same place, thanks to a retractable briefcase strap. The idea, says Nissan, was to make climbing into your Almera feel like coming home. That boot means the Almera is now 241mm longer than before, but otherwise its pretty much as youll find with the hatch versions.
In the front, provided you specify the optional side airbags, the seats can be fitted with Active Head Restraints that reduce whiplash injury if you're hit from the rear. Which is a possibility because the braking performance has been much improved thanks to a 'Brake Assist' system that reduces the pedal effort required to activate the ABS by around 30% in an emergency. On the road, the car's very good to drive - though the gearbox is a bit notchy, a pity since all three engines feel very willing. The 1.8 petrol is the fastest engine currently on offer, making rest to sixty in 10.9s en route to 115mph.
Don't ignore the turbodiesel if you're so inclined though: it takes a little time to get going but once it does, you can hustle it along quite rapidly and get over 1,000 miles on a tankful. Is the Almera saloon enough to convert a wary British public? No. Is it worth importing to these shores? Most definitely. For those buyers who appreciate the added security and neat lines of the four-door it makes a lot of sense.
Workers of Sunderland, the revolution has not begun
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Nissan Almera saloon range
PRICES: £10,750-£13,050 - on the road
CO2 EMISSIONS: 158-188g/km
INSURANCE GROUPS: 5-7
PERFORMANCE: [1.8] Max Speed 115mph / 0-60mph 10.8s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.8] (urban) 27.7 (extra-urban) 47.9 (combined) 37.7mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Dual Airbags
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height, 4361/1690/1395mm
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