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India is a land that loves SUVs. But with urban congestion and cost of living increasing at the same pace, compact crossovers are gaining prominence in recent times. After the Duster, Quanto and EcoSport, Nissan’s contender in this space is the Terrano. Nissan in Europe had used the ‘Terrano’ model name for quite a while on a mid-size SUV – but in India, the name has been resurrected to bring out the entry-level SUV offering.
The Terrano looks part-familiar and part-new. The familiar part is the overall form, which is based on the Renault Duster; the new styling though, follows the design philosophy that is seen on the latest crop of Nissan SUVs. The most distinctive design element is the pair of chrome slashes on the grille, which represent Nissan’s brand identity. The grille in itself is quite large and the honeycomb mesh design looks new age. The headlights have a trapezoidal shape that tapers towards the outer ends to create an edgier front end.
As compared to the Duster, there are prominent creases on the bonnet and the door panels to add more sophistication to the design. The fat wheel arches add a fair amount of muscle to the form. The body colored bumpers with minimal black cladding, tilts the Terrano's design towards a premium style than a rugged one. The inclusion of skid plates on the top end trim adds to the SUV stance.
The design of the tailgate is bound to get some mixed reactions at the dealerships. Not everyone may appreciate the large taillights. Furthermore, their design doesn’t match the rest of the styling cues that you see in the Terrano and makes evident the shortcomings of the platform sharing with the Duster. There are prominent panels gaps around the tailgate as well, which could have been avoided on an otherwise premium crossover.
In a nutshell, the Nissan designers in Japan have managed to give the Terrano a fascia and stance similar to the new Pathfinder – and that should do it a lot of good when it battles its Renault sibling.
If you have driven the Renault Duster (or even the Mahindra Verito), the interiors of the Nissan Terrano will seem familiar. Depending on the variant you choose, you’ll either get all-black interiors (XE) or black and beige interiors (XL and above) with perforated leather upholstery (XV+). The lighter colours aim at adding a sense of roominess to the interiors, but things do feel a tad congested – after all, the Terrano is a compact crossover. The quality of plastics is the same as that of the Duster – and while most consumers do complain about the feel of the plastics, one needs to understand that this entire segment has almost the same kind of scratchy plastics. Knowing some of the Dusters and Logans / Veritos that have a fair bit of mileage on them, we can confirm that the plastics are well put together and don’t have a tendency to fall apart every now and then. The instrumentation is the same unit you see in the Mahindra Verito and the Renault Duster. The multi-information display is pretty basic too. Cost cutting is evident as the same instrumentation console is used in the petrol, as well as the diesel variants with no markings for the red line in either one of them.
Compared to the Duster’s round A/C vents, the Terrano gets a trapezoidal bay for the central vents. There’s a new audio system too which is compatible with CD audio and USB and auxiliary inputs. It also supports Bluetooth phone pairing. However, the system doesn’t get any additional controls on the steering wheel for the audio or telephony – which is unexpected on a crossover that is going to cost upward of Rs 9 lakh. Using the wheel from the Sunny would have been a good idea. As for the audio system, Nissan is also offering a 6.1-inch infotainment system as an aftersales swap, which will give you touchscreen functionality and satellite navigation.
The features list for the Terrano is pretty basic too – rear wash and wipe, basic air-conditioning, remote boot opener, foldable backrest for the rear seat and reverse parking sensors. Climate control and Nissan’s trademark push-button starter have been given the miss. A few additional of features worth a mention though are the rear a/c vent, a 12V power socket for the back seat and height adjustable seatbelts at the front.
The front seats are adjustable reach, recline and height, but the latter is quirky – lowering the seat requires you to be seated, while increasing the height needs you to be off the seat. Once you have adjusted your driving position, you’ll understand why I said that the cabin seems congested. Though the foot well has a generous amount of space to accommodate drivers of most sizes, the door pads and the centre console seem too close to your knees.
At the back, things are a lot better though. The glasshouse is large and therefore gives a very airy feel. The foot space, knee room and headroom are pretty decent too. Under-thigh support feels compromised due to the flat seat, but it is something you can live with. The flat seat also helps accommodate three passengers at the back – provided you have chosen the base- of mid-level trim as the top end trim gets the rear a/c vent which sticks out of the floorboard.
Overall, the Terrano has a much airier and spacious cabin as compared to the likes of the Quanto, Scorpio and the EcoSport but does lose out to all three when it comes to the features list. However, with its slightly better interior packaging than the Duster and with better quality than what is seen in the Mahindra SUVs, the Terrano definitely scores higher on the ‘feel-good’ factor.
The Terrano that we sampled in Udaipur came with the familiar 1.5-litre dCi engine that powers most Renault-Nissan cars. The rated output for our test car was in the range of 110 PS power at 3900 RPM and 248 Nm torque at 2250 RPM. There is also an 85PS / 200 Nm version of the diesel engine on offer, while the petrol option comes in the form of a 1.6-litre engine that produces 104 PS power at 5850 RPM with a torque output of 145 Nm at 3750 RPM. The claimed fuel economy for the three options is 19.01 kmpl, 20.45 kmpl and 13.2 kmpl respectively.
The 110 PS variant is mated to 6-speed gearbox while its 85 PS counterpart and the petrol variant get a 5-speed one. Both are manual gearboxes, but Nissan tells us that it could consider bringing out the CVT (automatic) if there is enough demand. The 110 PS variant has a tendency to be sluggish in the lower end of the rev range and this characteristic is pronounced when tackling elevations like hill-climbs and fly-overs. The 85 PS variant is better when it comes to low-end torque. Once you are past the 2,000 RPM range, the 110 PS motor gets in its zone and you have a decent amount of mid- and top-range. Overtaking does require a downshift or two on the highway. Cruising at 120 km/h seems effortless and can get you highway economy of up to 17 kmpl. Within city environs, the Terrano 110 is good about 12-13 kmpl since you need to cycle in the lower gears ever now and then.
Keep the engine in its turbo-zone and it will be a delight even around the twisties. There is a slightly stiff suspension setup, which imparts sure-footed handling characteristics with relatively lesser body roll. The grip from the tyres is quite good too. Though the suspension is set up to the stiffer side, the ride quality is pliant. There are occasional thuds when driving over broken roads, but most of the jerks are kept away from your spine.
Complementing the handling characteristics further is the steering wheel. It is quite a heavy setup to being with and gives a direct feeling with good feedback. While us
enthusiasts will like it, commuters will find it a little cumbersome for city use. Especially in tight parking space, the steering feels a tad too heavy. The slim wheel ring and an awkwardly bloated horn pad add to the inconvenience. Again, using the steering wheel from the Sunny could have helped.
With Nissan's new safety-first attitude, driver-side airbag is standard across the range and ABS is offered on all but the XE trims. It is a very good move and I for one, am ready to forget the lack of creature comforts for the additional safety features that are standard for almost the entire range. The brakes felt a tad spongy on both our test cars and therefore needs some getting used to.
Overall, the Terrano manages to impress with good line-up of engines and gearboxes. All the engine options are quite fuel-efficient too – which is one of the primary objectives of a compact crossover. Compared to the Quanto or the EcoSport, the Terrano has a good mix of space and decently powered engines and that is what makes it a better compact crossover overall.
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