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The Nissan Teana Experience

Just had to share this driving experience I had over the week-end with the Nissan Teana. Nissan Philippines lent me their executive/luxury car to test out and I can say this is by far the geekiest car I’ve driven ever (which could also mean I haven’t really driven that many cars in my life).

The Nissan Teana, which is under the category of mid-sized luxury/executive sedan, used to take on the badge of Cefiro back in the days and it’s also been called the Maxima and Altima in other regions. This particular model I tested was launched late last year — a 3.5L V6 engine Teana 350XV which sells for roughly Php2 million.

When the car was first turned over to me, I was surprised at the luxurious interiors that actually removed my shoes before stepping inside, lest I ruin the really nice white carpeting, and drove with only my socks on. The all-leather interiors, smooth and elegant finish and very wide dashboard gives the Teana a spacious feel.

The first thing the Nissan driver told me when he handed the keys was that there were no keys — all I got was the remote lock — and pointed me to a big, beige button behind the steering wheels. To start the engine, just step down on the brakes and push the keyless ignition button (took me a while to figure that out too, stupid me!).

The car has so many buttons, dials and knobs it’s really hard to figure out which one is for which. I kept on staring at the dashboard and every nook and cranny just to see if there’s some thing else I might have forgotten to turn on or off before speeding away. I found it a little odd though that the center dial on the dash was delegated to the dual aircon system, not the sound system or something more geeky or high-tech.

When you’re paying top money for a car, expect some nice treats will go with it — all-leather seats that have that lazy boy design, plush carpeting, double sun-roof (front and back), wood paneling, cabin lights at front and the back, dual-air con system, great sound system and an engine that claims it can go from zero to 100kmph in just 7.2 seconds (not bad, huh?).

I didn’t try to measure that myself but I was able to hit 230kmph at SLEX for a sustained 10 to 15 seconds and I wasn’t even hitting the floor with the gas pedal (a speeding Subaru was hitting 200 so I chased it). It’s got a smooth ride, good acceleration and maneuverability. It feels huge at first (has that initial feel of a CUV from the inside) but once you adjust the seats to your comfort, you’ll get used to it.

Nissan Teana 350XV 2010
3498 cc
251 bhp (187 kW; 254 PS) at 6000 rpm
335 N·m (247 lb·ft) (34.2 kg-m) at 4400 rpm

Oh, and I forgot there was some built-in navigation system in there somewhere (just could not figure out how to access it).

The Teana is definitely a great ride and the experience was something — elegant, fast, powerful and very pretty inside out. It’s up there together with the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. The 350XV is the high-end variant but they also have the a couple of 250 variants at 2.5L.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

27 Responses

  1. Avatar for Efrain Salasar Efrain Salasar says:

    Mivo el edo seco per kizo.Ona la pesa ?

  2. Avatar for MM Townsend MM Townsend says:

    this car offers more for less. Honda only got a good reputation in Phils cause of the NOT TAXI thing…but abroad not so… especially in Australia it is on sale at 88 AUD per week for an accord. How come it is terrible, I own the predecessor and fucking good @ 180 kph with no hands on steering wheel.

  3. Avatar for MM Townsend MM Townsend says:

    this car offers more for less. Honda only got a good reputation in Phils cause of the NOT TAXI thing…but abroad not so… especially in Australia it is on sale at 88 AUD per week for an accord. How come it is terrible, I own the predecessor and fucking good @ 180 kph with no hands on steering wheel.

  4. Avatar for Tony Tony says:

    Great interior but the engineering underneath is TERRIBLE. The suspension and gearbox are cheap and nasty. A Toyota Camry or Honda Accord are much better long term buys.
    The Nissan will depreciate faster too.

  5. Avatar for Digital_CSI Digital_CSI says:

    Parked on a No Parking tow away zone? Going at 230 kph? Looking for some hurt?

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