Nissan Tida 2006 Review

It saved the brand in Australia, but did the job with a dollar deal that created the country's $19,990 price fight.

Pulsar sales soared in the early days of the sub-$20,000 contest, but it was eventually overwhelmed by all sorts of rivals, including the unbeatable Toyota Corolla.

The Pulsar took a beating over the past couple of years, and it took too long for Nissan Australia to land its replacement. But now it has the Tiida.

The newcomer has a vaguely Renault style to its shape — which is no surprise given the French carmaker is Nissan's senior partner these days — but it is basically a conservative Japanese compact car.

It is well built, a nice drive and should hit the spot with existing Pulsar owners.

But it is never going to be in a fight for bragging rights against the Ford Focus — or even the new Honda Civic.

The Tiida should be solid for Nissan, which has plenty of other new models — including the Murano and Navara — to light the lights in its showrooms. And there is always the 350Z.

So why the name change? Because Japan headquarters insisted that Australia use the global name for the car, and because Nissan Australia believes the Pulsar name will always be associated with cut-price motoring.

That's why Kim Cattrall is starring in the Tiida TV ads. She was signed to spruik the name, getting people used to the change and the right way to say it, not to push the car and its features. It cost Nissan Australia an estimated $1 million to land the Sex and the City star, but the plan is working.

People are getting used to Tiida, and even Nissan dealers are not as upset as they were about the loss of the Pulsar name.

Australia is the first country outside Japan to get the Tiida, and it is worth stressing that the car is Japan-centric.

It has become a global car, but only because international sales directors called for the car once they saw what had been developed for home sales in Japan.

That means the specification is a little skinny, compared with its rivals, and it doesn't have some of the flair of other recent Nissan newcomers.

The Tiida is a 1.8-litre compact that is available as either a sedan or hatch, and Nissan Australia has held the $19,990 price line for the ST starter car.

The action moves up through the ST-L and Q for the hatch and ST-L and fully loaded Ti in the sedan.

Standard equipment includes the compulsory twin airbags, aircon and CD sound, and the ST gets remote central locking and power mirrors. You have to pay extra for electric windows.

The ST-L picks up curtain airbags and anti-skid brakes; the Q and Ti get a leather steering wheel, overhead console, six-speaker sound and a passenger vanity mirror — which should be in every Tiida.

Prices run up to $26,490 for the Tiida Ti automatic sedan.

ON THE ROAD

The Tiida is a nice drive. It's no sports car, but the ride is smooth and comfortable, it has good grip in bends, and you would happily take it from Melbourne to the Gold Coast for a holiday run.

It is brisk enough for most city work, has good economy, and is commendably quiet. But all of that is not nearly good enough in 2006.

And the manual gearbox in the Tiida is absolutely the worst we have used since . . . well, forever.

The six-speed box itself is fine but the clunky, notchy and noisy shift is a disgrace for a company with Nissan's engineering ability and experience.

Thankfully, we spent most of our test time in a Tiida ST-L automatic.

And there was (just) enough equipment in the car to make life easy, but not exciting or luxurious, despite a $24,240 bottom line.

We were also disappointed by the seats, the dull steering, the level of standard equipment and the generally bland feel to the car.

The Tiida seems narrow in the cabin, but that could be because of the high roof compared with the sleek new Honda Civic.

The Tiida gets along pretty well with 93kW and 174Nm from its new four, but even the automatic is an old-style set-up with no manual driving mode.

And there are only four speeds, when a new Nissan should have five.

It does ride well, the brakes are good, and it is easy — much easier than a Civic — to park. It is a car that most people would happily take on any trip because it is light and easy and very quiet.

But the whole time we were driving the Tiida we were thinking about what it has to beat — actually, what it does not beat.

It is a good, honest car, but its rivals have moved a long way past it.

It will feel great to a Pulsar driver, and does look fresh in Nissan showrooms, but that's not enough.

Nissan knows what it has and is happy to have the Tiida, but we cannot help thinking that the car will get a pretty big boost when the first facelift arrives in Australia.

THE BOTTOM LINE

A solid, not stunning, replacement for the Pulsar should keep sales ticking over in Australia.
70/100