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I've often noted that it's been a challenge during the last half-decade of test drives to find a truly unpleasant new automobile, as almost all new cars these days are light years ahead of the junk we dealt with in the past.
I have found an exception to this rule. And it's quite a disappointment.
The 2012 Nissan Versa, the larger, wider and more commodious replacement to that most austere of import autos, has, in the interest of cost-savings, done the unthinkable: It's reinvented itself as a de-evolved econobox that's sad in the ways the Korean car-makers used to be, before they got their act together and started crafting quality stuff.
Cheaply built, short on frills, somewhat strange looking and, worst of all, grossly underpowered and wobbly on the highway, it's quite the underachievement.
It's not exactly a Tata Nano (look that one up), and the new Versa does effectively accomplish its goals: highway mileage in the high 30s, improved passenger and cargo space and a sticker price as little as $11,000, but actually closer to $16,000, with basic bells and whistles extra.
For $16,000, I might remind my truly budget- and credit-impaired friends out there, you get into territory where another $4,000 will get you a thoroughly decent, truly all-season vehicle (like a base Toyota RAV4 or even Nissan's Rogue, which always seem to be on sale).
Should that not be an option and your hands tied when it comes to buying a brand-new ride at a bargain-basement price, I'd send you in other directions than Versa, unless you absolutely need 90 cubic feet of discount interior room.
I drove the previous Versa on a couple of occasions and while it wasn't a barn-burner, I appreciated its tall but tiny demeanor.
Versa 2012 has packed on considerable girth, especially in its four-door sedan version, which looks as though the slab-sided rear end of a completely different car (maybe a Camry, or a Lexus ES) has been welded on to boost the dimensions.
It does result in a very large (for a compact) rear seat with more leg room than the Mercedes E-Class or the BMW 5-Series. Though that is not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison.
Most distressingly, all that extra sheet metal gives the at-one-time small Versa a larger and considerably less slip-streamy profile, leading to a car that was a serious challenge to drive in windy conditions on the highway. Kind of like a discarded newspaper in a hurricane.
Its 109-horsepower 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, the first to sport Nissan's new “Puredrive” emissions-reduction and efficiency system, is austere but adequate; its optional continuously variable transmission, a travesty.
Pure hell, in fact. My suspicion is that the Puredrive system acts as a virtual anchor behind the Versa, discouraging acceleration, even when necessary to avoid a garbage truck barreling towards you.
Such enormous pedal pressure is required to both achieve and maintain speeds that it becomes a constant fight with the car, which is already wobbly in the first place.
Did I mention the gigantic back seat?
Inside, the quality of the plastics is negligible and the little things you take for granted in a $20K-and-up vehicle simple aren't there — half-sized sun visors without even a $2 mirror attached, or center column armrests — the windows rattled and the driver's seatbelt wouldn't retract easily.
Design is pleasant enough and on the SL model, you do get bright instrumentation, a good stereo, wheel-mounted controls, Bluetooth, an iPod cord in the glove box and power windows, but the simplicity is abundantly evident.
Even the cloth seats bottoms seem undersized for an American audience; I'm sure the car is limousine-class for people in Indonesia, South America or African markets, but it's a tough choice here.
My moans, as usual, can't do much to dissuade the masses: the new Versa evidently outsold all of its subcompact competitors last August, besting smaller-passenger-volume-but-more-pleasantly built autos including the totally decent Ford Fiesta, the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. I would suggest asking your mom for a little extra money and aiming higher.
I have found an exception to this rule. And it's quite a disappointment.
The 2012 Nissan Versa, the larger, wider and more commodious replacement to that most austere of import autos, has, in the interest of cost-savings, done the unthinkable: It's reinvented itself as a de-evolved econobox that's sad in the ways the Korean car-makers used to be, before they got their act together and started crafting quality stuff.
Cheaply built, short on frills, somewhat strange looking and, worst of all, grossly underpowered and wobbly on the highway, it's quite the underachievement.
It's not exactly a Tata Nano (look that one up), and the new Versa does effectively accomplish its goals: highway mileage in the high 30s, improved passenger and cargo space and a sticker price as little as $11,000, but actually closer to $16,000, with basic bells and whistles extra.
For $16,000, I might remind my truly budget- and credit-impaired friends out there, you get into territory where another $4,000 will get you a thoroughly decent, truly all-season vehicle (like a base Toyota RAV4 or even Nissan's Rogue, which always seem to be on sale).
Should that not be an option and your hands tied when it comes to buying a brand-new ride at a bargain-basement price, I'd send you in other directions than Versa, unless you absolutely need 90 cubic feet of discount interior room.
I drove the previous Versa on a couple of occasions and while it wasn't a barn-burner, I appreciated its tall but tiny demeanor.
Versa 2012 has packed on considerable girth, especially in its four-door sedan version, which looks as though the slab-sided rear end of a completely different car (maybe a Camry, or a Lexus ES) has been welded on to boost the dimensions.
It does result in a very large (for a compact) rear seat with more leg room than the Mercedes E-Class or the BMW 5-Series. Though that is not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison.
Most distressingly, all that extra sheet metal gives the at-one-time small Versa a larger and considerably less slip-streamy profile, leading to a car that was a serious challenge to drive in windy conditions on the highway. Kind of like a discarded newspaper in a hurricane.
Its 109-horsepower 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, the first to sport Nissan's new “Puredrive” emissions-reduction and efficiency system, is austere but adequate; its optional continuously variable transmission, a travesty.
Pure hell, in fact. My suspicion is that the Puredrive system acts as a virtual anchor behind the Versa, discouraging acceleration, even when necessary to avoid a garbage truck barreling towards you.
Such enormous pedal pressure is required to both achieve and maintain speeds that it becomes a constant fight with the car, which is already wobbly in the first place.
Did I mention the gigantic back seat?
Inside, the quality of the plastics is negligible and the little things you take for granted in a $20K-and-up vehicle simple aren't there — half-sized sun visors without even a $2 mirror attached, or center column armrests — the windows rattled and the driver's seatbelt wouldn't retract easily.
Design is pleasant enough and on the SL model, you do get bright instrumentation, a good stereo, wheel-mounted controls, Bluetooth, an iPod cord in the glove box and power windows, but the simplicity is abundantly evident.
Even the cloth seats bottoms seem undersized for an American audience; I'm sure the car is limousine-class for people in Indonesia, South America or African markets, but it's a tough choice here.
My moans, as usual, can't do much to dissuade the masses: the new Versa evidently outsold all of its subcompact competitors last August, besting smaller-passenger-volume-but-more-pleasantly built autos including the totally decent Ford Fiesta, the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. I would suggest asking your mom for a little extra money and aiming higher.
