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.