Nissan Latio Sport Premium 1.5 (A) Review

They're everywhere - compact yet tall in design, especially when placed next to a Clio or a Colt. I'm really not into its looks, but who am I to judge a local best-seller.

After all, 123,456 people can't be all wrong. Objectively speaking, the lanky character has been bolstered by a proportionately wide stance. The brake and signal lamps wrap around the rear end and almost reach the C-pillars, giving us the illusion that all of its exterior was formed from one continuous sheet of metal. The meticulous attention to detail wasn't in vain - it now has a similar drag coefficient as the Nissan Fairlady!

For 2009, the Latio has been updated with a new front grille and bumper, with fog lamps now being standard issue. The Latio Sport gains new tail light designs, while there are new body paint options across the range.

Inside

Last year, we lamented on the Latio Sport's old-ish beige interior and wooden inserts. But now, our test car arrived in a lovely black Alcantara leather and aluminium trim combination which totally set the mood for "young and trendy." The centre arm rest is now a single storage unit. The dials now come with a fuel consumption display, and are illuminated in an orange hue.

Its centre console has changed too, and now incorporates a factory-fitted double-DIN audio player and the climate-control system with a Plasma Cluster that cleans the air.

As for leg room, there's about as much available as a Vios, but around twenty percent less. Where it wins though, is in the shoulder and head department, especially with the Sport where a full 24 cm of adjustment has been made available for rear passengers to recline and slide their seats. Don't expect boot space to be monstrous, but the hatch opens up to reveal a decently flat loading area.
We didn't really fancy the driving position, which was is too upright and commanding. It's good for those who want a good view around them, but bad for those used to being low and cocooned in their sedans.

Driver legroom might be another problem with the presence of a foot-operated parking brake. The steering wheel is situated a little too close to the dashboard, leaving not much room for your legs if you plan on reclining. A so called "i-Key" worked decently well by unlocking the doors via a small button on the handles, as long as the transponder is within range.

Mechanics

The Singapore, customers only get a 1.5-litre HR15DE that's paired with a continuously variable transmission, or a four-speed automatic if you're not buying the "Premium" trim.

The HR series is one of those produced under the Nissan-Renault joint venture. The 1,498 cc unit produces 109 bhp at 6,000 rpm and a respectable 148 Nm at 4,400 rpm. We found it to provide two essential things that make it a jubilant, nippy town car - good response and torque from low down, mostly due to a slightly longer stroke of 78.4 mm, as compared to a 78.0 mm bore.

Lifted from the R34 series of Skyline GT-Rs are "Ripple Control" shock absorbers that Nissan claims reduce high frequency vibrations in the cabin, as well as shape the damping and rebound characteristics of the absorbers.

Renault's recent role as a parent has seen much more safety equipment in Nissans, such as Dual SRS airbags, ABS with brake assist, electronic brake-force distribution and multiple crumple zones, giving this Latio a six-star rating on the Japanese New Car Assessment Program list. That's pretty good compared to the Euro NCAP standards.

Driving Impressions

We don't like CVTs. We find the lack of satisfaction derived from hearing and feeling a conventional gearbox swap cogs perturbing. But we can't deny that in this car, it works better than any other conventional four-speeder in its class, the key being a lack of high-rpm drone due to good cabin insulation. Also, we were hard-pressed to find any flat spots in the power band.
Renault's influence was most obvious when the Nissan was introduced to a series of tight, medium-speed bends. Get your tyre pressures right, and you'll find a biting and incisive turn in leading to a relatively flat mid-corner stance and near-absent understeer on exits, even when pushed hard. We received surprising levels of steering feel, with the Suzuki Swift Sport being the only other Japanese hatchback to surpass it.

As an everyday drive, the Latio Sport performs really well on the highway, where it was rather quiet on its set of 15-inch wheels and comfort-biased tyres. This was true even when travelling high up in the triple-digit zone, where wind noise was only a problem above, er, speeds that you won't be doing even on the north-south highway.

Fuel consumption figures weren't too bad either. We'd averaged 10 km/l over 200 kilometres after a day's worth of hard driving. By that, we mean up to 4,500 to 5,000 rpm starts, frequent hard acceleration and at least six "steep" inclines. "Steep" by Singaporean standards, of course.

Is it for you?

This car has of course, been a huge success, and has been a best-seller for many years in the running (due to laziness, we didn't check) and hence, buying this car doesn't require a lengthy explanation by us. With a price starting from S$48,000 (Latio basic in limited colours) to around S$52,000 for a limited-colour Nissan Latio Sport (normal prices are much higher, as you can see in from our database) you're guaranteed to find yourself in the waiting list sooner or later. Either way, you'll be hard-pressed to find so many things in one small package.