For my trip to Colorado last week, I'd reserved a compact car from National Car Rentals. On arrival at the Denver Airport, I had a choice between several Chevy Aveos and Kia Rios, or a Nissan Versa. I chose the Versa --- a 2009 4-door sedan, 1.8L engine, automatic transmission, with 2632 on the odometer at checkout and 2958 at return. You can get a decent idea of a car's personality over 3 days and 326 miles...and here's what I think of the 2009 Nissan Versa.


Exterior Design: The Curb Appeal Element...
Small cars, as a rule, aren't usually head-turners. They don't get raves from the car magazine writers, but they still each have their own signature design elements, and some are better looking than others. I personally like the Nissan Versa.

The car strikes me as generally sharper at the edges, and better defined than competing small cars. I don't care for the "rolling bubble" look of competitors like the Toyota Yaris, and even the Kia Rio these days is too rounded and nebulous for me. It's like the car's afraid to make a statement. I've heard the Nissan Versa actually gets some of its design elements from Renault, which surprises the bejeezues out of me since I don't believe I have ever in my life seen a French car that didn't put the "Ugh!" into "ugly".

For a small car, the Versa ain't bad. Nobody's ever going to drool over it, but it's well proportioned and inoffensive. I like the big windshield area and the generally clean lines of the vehicle. The notch look of the sedan is less natural and less aerodynamic than the sleeker lines of Versa's available hatchback body style, but overall, just a few oddities. I think the back quarter panel area makes the car look kind of squat and puggish, and I think the dinky little windows to the front of the exterior rear view mirrors are just plain freakin' bizarre. I suppose it gives the driver a slight chance to reduce a bit of blind spot space to the sides, but honestly, how much difference is a weird little 3-inch window going to make?


Interior: Comfort and Convenience Factors...
Driving the Versa is a pretty comfortable experience. I like the front seat comfort, which is firm and supportive, and I like the instrument cluster design and usability. Seats are plain looking and the fabric isn't going to impress anybody, but they do the job. The car's features are generally par for the course, but the average car in the United States is a very plush creature to begin with, so even in its barebones guise, the Versa delivers a decent driving experience.
The dashboard is clean, without unnecessary doo-dads or ornamentation. I like the clearly visible round analog gauge clusters, which I coiuld see even with the steering wheel tilted up for my taller guy driving style. The shifter has a nice smooth action, and I like it's natural feeling and placement to my side (I'm sorry, Honda, I just can NOT get used to have a shifter on the dashboard!)

Window and door lock controls are right where I expect them, though I had some problems getting the passenger windows to go down. I expect it's more an issue of my own unfamiliarity with locking features than a failure of the control itself, but that was the only weird usability nit I had (and usually I have a LOT of usability nits --- however, the interior of the Nissan Versa is quite simply, intelligently designed with form following function and an emphasis on simple elegance). I especially like that Nissan gives you some sleekness and a dash of aluminum here and there --- it helps the car avoid the "plastic syndrome" that makes lower end cars like the Dodge Caliber feel so cheap and non-competitive. (Lower end Chrysler products LOVE themselves some plastic, don't they?)

Back seat space is surprisingly flexible and adequate, even for good-sized adults. I'm 6 feet tall, and I only had to move the front seat up a notch or two to have enough leg room in the back seat that I was scrunching my knees up to my chin. It's certainly no Cadillac, but I could see myself sitting here for an hour or two journey without complaints. Wouldn't want to do a cross-country road trip there, but for a short journey, no problem. The rear seat space is also intelligently and cleanly designed, mercifully free of gimmicks or doo-dads. It could seat three kids in a pinch, but realistically two adults or teens. There's speakers and junk catchers in the door panels and a pull-down console in the rear center with drink holders, just in case the kids want a beer for the road. (Just kidding....you know I would NEVER advocate underage drinking when it might mean less chilly brewskis for moi).

Speaking of chilly brewskis, there's ample room in the trunk to stow a few cases of golden elixir --- 13.8 cubic feet to be exact, if you believe the folks who put together Nissan's web site (www.nissanusa.com).


Driving the Versa: Power and Performance Factors....
For a little car, the Versa is surprisingly adept at handling just about every demand I made of it. We were driving the Versa in mid February winter weather up and down mountain roads in the ski region of Summit County Colorado. The little Versa proved surprisingly peppy on steep 6% uphill grades along Interstate 70, able to keep up well with the 65 mph traffic flow, and passing other traffic without problems. It didn't drop power or lose headway against the competition, and I thought its acceleration was perfectly adequate for safe, efficient merging. Backroads were covered with a layer of packed and slushy newly fallen snow of only an inch or so overnight, but the Versa maintained traction well and had no problems handling the slushy conditions. Colorado skiiers seem to prefer Subarus over every other kind of vehicle, and they certainly are the safest, most capable type of vehicle for winter driving conditions, but the Versa did quite well in light winter conditions.

I've read reviews complaining about the lack of anti-lock brakes on the Versa, but I thought the Versa's braking with its standard front-disc, rear-drum setup was perfectly fine. Even for quick stops, it didn't tend to lock up and the car is light enough that it stops quite quickly in any quick reaction situation.

In the city, the Versa was really in its element. It's a lithe, nimble little car that's peppy in city traffic, brakes quickly, and can maneuver in tight streets and into small parking spots. Normally, I love my Cadillacs, but when I'm in a downtown parking garage, or doing a 3-point turn in a side street, I sure don't need the heft and bulk of a big vehicle. Little cars rock for city driving!


Versa Engineering and Technical Mumbo Jumbo...
The Versa is a front-wheel drive vehicle available with a 1.6L or 1.8L 4-cylinder, 16-valve aluminum engine. The 1.8L kicks 122 horsepower at 5200rpm. The 1.6L gives you 107 horses under its hood. Versa's got a 102.4 inch wheel base, is 66.7 inches wide, and 176.0 inches long. Car and Driver magazine says the Versa does zero to 60 in 9 seconds flat and does a standing quarter mile just a whisker under 17 seconds.

Fuel economy is ho-hum at 26 city, 31 highway (the smaller 1.6L 4 cylinder allegedly does 34 highway). I suppose those numbers are about as good as today's auto industry cares to perform, but I think they're inadequate and all manufacturers should strive for over 30 city and 50 highway. With a curb weight of 2652, according to the Nissan web site, there should be some spare fat that a careful engineer could trim. (MPG numbers are available on the web at: www.fueleconomy.gov)


Safety Factors....
The Versa has most of the same basic safety features of other cars in its class, including driver and passenger front airbags, sensors that switch off passenger airbags when light passengers are seated there, child seat anchors in the rear, and thosee annoyingly oversensitive tire pressure idiot lights that come on whenever the temperature dips down a few degrees, the car hits a bump, or you drive it on a day ending in the letter "y". Somebody, somewhere thought these were a good idea, and now every car in America seems to have 'em. I hate those things...

In crash tests, the 2009 Nissan Versa scores 4-star ratings for front driver, passenger, and side impacts, with a 4-star rollover rating. In my opinion, these results are unimpressively average since there are competing models of similar price and weight that performed even better in crash tests and would be better choices for the car buyer who makes safety his or her primary criterion (for example, Honda Fit got 5-star ratings for front, passenger, and side impact, though it too got a 4-star rollover rating). Safety minded consumers should also compare the Honda Civic which outperformed Versa in crash tests and which also has more extensive safety engineering features, including standard anti-lock brakes.

Unbiased car safety information is available on the web at: www.iihs.org and www.safercar.gov


Overall Opinion on the Nissan Versa...
Not a bad little car. If gas prices head back upwards again, I'd definitely think very seriously about getting something like this. I like the Versa's interior configuration and attractive and usable interior design, and I like the way the car handles in both city and highway traffic. I think I'd compare it very closely to the Toyota Corolla and Honda Fit before buying though, since the Corolla gives you more space and better gas mileage at a similar price point and the Honda is more nimble, agile, and fun, plus it gets better scores on the safety factors. Still. If the Nissan dealer made me the right offer, I could see one of these sitting in my driveway.

Good, solid, economical car. Nothing fancy, but not a bad choice. That's MY bottom line!
Amount Paid (US$): 10000 base
Condition: New
Model Year: 2009