Nissan Teana CVT

The first thing you notice about the new Teana is its massive black roof. Then you see those tall, wrapround headlamps and that big grille and you realise how much better it looks over the old Teana. Keep looking and you’ll see the Toyota Prius-like treatment for the C-pillar and boot and the new, angular tail-lamps that give the Teana exactly what it needed — a little more pizzazz. The top-end XV version gets 17-inch alloy wheels. It uses fully independent suspension and a conventional Macpherson strut setup. At the rear it uses a multi-link setup and comes with disc brakes all around. It is based on Nissan’s D-platform – a transverse engined, front-wheel-drive platform for powerful mid-size Nissans. Its design helps cut down the effects of torque steer by placing the engine lower in the car and therefore has the driveshafts almost parallel to the ground, making it easier to channel the V6’s claimed 180bhp to the front wheels.

The old Teana was known for its exceptionally comfy interiors and this one takes the standard up again. It feels like a living room with its very convincing wood finish and simply laid out, easy-to-use controls. You’ll love the perfectly cushioned and powered front seats and the calming effect the well-chosen colours have. Travelling in the Teana is like getting a massage – soothing and peaceful. You get heated/cooled seats, soft-touch buttons and that huge glass roof to allow in a lot of light. The keyless entry and go system is very convenient too. It’s a compliment when we say the only tiny fault was with the very narrow, almost-unusable door pockets. If you’re going to spend most of your time in the rear seats, look no further than the Teana. The seats easily rival the best sofas, there’s massive shoulder and back support and the space is more than adequate. The electrically adjustable calf support under the front passenger seat adds to the comfort. You’ll love the rear air-con vents and the nice airy feel that the cabin has. However, to provide maximum comfort to the two rear passengers, room for the third passenger is compromised. It’s best as a four- seater and a very good one at that.
 

The Teana is powered by a 2.5-litre V6 is bigger than the old Teana’s 2.3-litre version and with 180bhp on tap. The motor is very smooth and refined, but its problem is with the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT); when you want to make quick progress, the gearbox keeps the engine spinning near the redline, which means it’s quite audible. It’s perfectly quiet when you aren’t pressing on though. Performance is more leisurely than urgent but there’s that nice linear power delivery thanks to the CVT dishing out the perfect gear ratio all the time. Still, there’s that irritating rubber-band effect when you press the throttle – this is an engine that prefers relaxed progress to drag-strip runs. The transmission’s ‘Sports’ mode helps when you want to go fast but it’s still quite a way off from being sporty.

The Teanas CVT means the engine revs quite a bit, ultimately affecting the fuel economy. The Teana travels 7.2kpl in the city and 10.1kpl on the highway.

The Teana’s ride at slow speeds is very American car-like. The car bobs about and wallow over road undulations and its suspension is set up to pamper rear passengers. The suspension swallows bumps with utmost ease without any undulations filtering into the cabin. The only bumps that filter through are the sharp- edged ones and we put this down to the low-profile rubber.
As expected, asking this big softie to be a driver’s car is asking too much. There’s considerable body roll, the steering is quite dull, slow-witted and soaky but thankfully there’s enough feel for both high-speed driving and is light for low-speed manoeuvres.