Nissan Almera - the design detail photos

Nissan Almera is on display at the Star Motor Carnival in Bukit Jalil Stadium to give the chance to the public to see for themselves the car that Tan Chong is going to launch near the end of the year. The display car is fully accessible, in term if feeling the interior spaciousness, admiring the design detail and to familiarize oneself with the controversial exterior outlook.The blunt front snout and the stubby tail are the most "prominent" design features that the buyer need to be overcome. But, as proved by current Toyota Vios and previous generation Honda City, beauty is skin need and can only be appreciated by the rightful beholder instead of millions of internet bashers!

The front end of the car, with high and short hood

This is the rear end that is hanging post the wheel, the plunging roof line does not help asthetics

The specification of the car is very well known already, thanks to the preview last August. In essence, it is a B Segment challenger  but with an added panache in terms of dollar per meter square. Dimensionally, Nissan Almera is 4,425mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,500mm tall. The wheelbase is 2,600mm. This makes it vastly larger that Toyota Vios which is 4,300mm long, 1,700mm wide and 1,460 tall while it rides on a shorter 2,550mm wheelbase. Honda stylish City meanwhile is 4,395mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,475mm tall while the wheel distance stretched 2,550mm too. This clearly is going to give Almera a trump card in terms of cabin volume. As sampled at the Carnival, both front and rear legroom is massive. The design of the dashboard in front of the passenger is clever too, with recessed glovebox compartment ensuring front passenger knee won't necessitates the front seat to be slide back too much. However, the author found the rear headroom is a bit wanting if one sits straight instead of a more relaxed seating position. Boot space is however, voluminous at 490L.

Note the dashboard design on the left, which apart from being storage-friendly, it is also front legroom friendly

All the rear legroom you'll ever want, but headroom is a bit on a tight side

Equipment level on the premium version will lick Toyota Vios and Honda City. Features such as Intelligent Key with true keyless entry and push start button and auto climate control are really unheard in B Segment before. Nissan is also more elaborate in the instrument panel design, such as the circular climate control panel design, Fine Vision meter binnacle instead of plain back-lighted item, and a chromed interior door handles instead of silver painted item like its rivals. 

Nissan Almera is powered by HR15DE 1.5L mill producing 99PS@6,000rpm and 134Nm@4,000rpm. The fuel tank is 41L in size and according to Nissan, it is good for 14.9km/L for the manual version. Speaking about the transmission, 5MT will go along with the 4AT, which is as "modern" as many as its intended challenger in the segment.

Nissan Almera will be officially launched in around November. The indicative price is from RM70k to RM85k. Ordering book is already opened and you can consult your nearest Nissan dealer if the Almera interest you. Some more photos can be found after the jump.

Nissan Almera previewed - from RM70k, coming in Q4

Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM) previewed the forthcoming B Segment challenger, the Almera at the Pavilion KL, the first on the road show planned for this car. The preview also has quashed the question whether the car will be called Sunny or not, as it is clearly stated to be Almera. As for the road show, Nissan Almera will be on show at Pavillion KL until today 12th August 2012. Concurrently it is on show at Dataran Pahlawan Melaka for the same duration. The final stop will be at Queensbay Mall Penang during the Eid break of 16th August until 21st August. Seems the people up north will get to see the car for a longer period.

As described in MMN previous articles, Nissan Almera is powered by HR15DE 1.5L mill producing 99PS@6,000rpm and 134Nm@4,000rpm. The fuel tank is 41L in size and according to Nissan, it is good for 6.3L/100km for the manual version. Speaking about the transmission, 5MT will go along with the 4AT, which is on par with non-National B Segment best seller, Toyota Vios "level" of technology.

Dimensionally, Nissan Almera is 4,425mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,500mm tall. The wheelbase is 2,600mm. Comparatively, Toyota Vios is 4,300mm long, 1,700mm wide and 1,460 tall while it rides on a shorter 2,550mm wheelbase. Honda stylish City meanwhile is 4,395mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,475mm tall while the wheel distance stretched 2,550mm too. In terms of chassis, Nissan Almera shares a common type of McPhersons strut and torsion beam setup like the rest of its competitor. More details of Nissan Almera and photos of Singaporean spec cars can be traced back to MMN articles back in March 2012. Braking power is provided by ventilated disc at the front while the rears are taken care by those drums type. ABS and BA will save day upon calling. The car is quite lightweight too, as the base manual variant is just 5kg above the 1 tonne. More detail after the jump.

Nissan's Almera, B-Segment Vios challenger coming at RM70k+

Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM) is set to capitalize in the lucrative foreign-brand B Segment market with the introduction of Nissan Almera. According to many sources, Nissan Almera will be launched in September 2012, which raised a question why the sales advertisement and Mudah.my adverts pop up so early. All the spyshots before this referred the car as Sunny/Almera as these are the names used interchangeably between various market, and if these adverts are anything to go by, it will indeed will be called Almera.

The advertisement in Mudah.my links are:

http://www.mudah.my/li?fs=1&ca=8_s&th=1&q=nissan+almera&cg=0&w=3

http://www.mudah.my/Nissan+Almera+1+5-16405678.htm

For Malaysian market, Nissan Almera will come in the 1.5L guise which means it is from the HR15DE variety punching out 99bhp and 134Nm. From the advert above, the car will be available with 5 speed manual gearbox, while the automatic transmission will be of the 4 speed variety. The quoted fuel efficiency figure from Singaporean version is 6.3L/100km and 6.9L/100km respectively for the manual and automatic version.

Dimensionally, Nissan Almera is 4,425mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,500mm tall. The wheelbase is 2,600mm. Comparatively, Toyota Vios is 4,300mm long, 1,700mm wide and 1,460 tall while it rides on a shorter 2,550mm wheelbase. Honda stylish City meanwhile is 4,395mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,475mm tall while the wheel distance stretched 2,550mm too. In terms of chassis, Nissan Almera shares a common type of McPhersons strut and torsion beam setup like the rest of its competitor. More details of Nissan Almera and photos of Singaporean spec cars can be traced back to MMN articles back in March 2012.

Nissan Almera/Sunny spied at Bukit Beruntung

The new Nissan Almera/Sunny has been spotted at one of the famous mamak's place in Bukit Beruntung today, just 6km from the Tan Chong Sg Choh assembly plant. Perhaps the tester is having a hearty breakfast with coffee while his test car is being photographed. 

The car is not exactly breakthrough news, as it has been launched in other market such as Singapore since last year. Basically the new Sunny/Almera sits on the V-Platform that underpinned the Nissan Micra/March, which explain it still has some of the tall-body traits of hatchback build-in the longer sedan body. In this region, the car is pitched as a competitor to the establishment of Toyota Vios and Honda City, although how it will be placed in relation to the Nissan Latio is still an unknown.

As the car has been launched elsewhere around the world, the final outlook is no longer a secret. The version spotted here is perhaps the basement spec, with no fog lights and wearing a steel wheel. The Almera measures 4,425mm long, 1,695mm wide and quite tall at 1,500mm height. The car sits on 2,600mm wheelbase. This means that the Almera is slightly bigger than the Latio which is 4,415mm long, 1,695mm wide and taller at 1,535mm tall. Wheelbase is similar at 2,600mm. This has put the Almera as a bigger model not only to Latio, but also to the Honda City and Toyota Vios. Boot volume however is smaller than the Honda's at 490L. For the table of comparison for all mid-sized sedan in Malaysia, refer to MMN posting about P3-21A HERE.

While the Thailand market received the HR12DE 3 cylinder 1,198cc with CVTC valvetrain kicking out puny 79PS and 106Nm for frills-free motoring paired to either CVT or 5 speed manual, out version is likely to be similar in specs with the Singaporean version which is powered by a bigger HR15DE engine which displaced 1,498cc and punching out 99bhp and 134Nm. The downside of this drivetrain package is is paired with the archaic 4 speed automatic transmission. However, expect no problem with this as Malaysian is known to love that transmission in the best-selling Toyota Vios!

Singapore media has concluded that the Almera is vastly spacious inside, with class-leading rear legroom and ample head room for all occupants. The interior is adorned with hard plastic all around, but none of them are flimsy and set to give out a lasting impression. On the drive, the lightweight V-platfrom offers an agile ride and the handling lies a bit on the safe side, with plenty of body roll. However the wind noise insulation is good, coupled with supple suspension setting, the occupants can expect quite a soothing ride. Engine noise, though, is a bit on the high side when pressed hard. Photos of the actual RHD car from the Singapore market can be found after the jump.