Nissan Almera & Honda CR-Z

Recently, I noticed that finally Japan automotive car makers are releasing 2 new models to the Asia market. The models are Nissan Almera and Honda CR-Z respectively.

Shall discuss these 2 models, firstly the Nissan Almera.
The Nissan Sunny, like the Toyota Corolla, has been a 'bread and butter' family sedan since the mid-60s - at least two generations of Singaporeans have grown up with memories of having one of these vehicles around.

The first Almera was in the 90s, a 5-door hatchback model that Nissan produced in the United Kingdom. It looked like a tidied-up Fiat Tipo, but its mechanicals were largely borrowed from the Sunny 1.6. It was only sold in limited numbers in Singapore, as back then most Singaporeans preferred sedans such as the Sunny.

As for the new Almera's styling, it is definitely a case of 'form follows function'. This means that you will only appreciate the Almera's funky, unconventional lines only after you take a look at the amount of legroom the rear passengers get, and into the huge, almost 500 litre boot. To put things into perspective, the Almera has probably more rear legroom and a larger boot than a full-sized executive saloon.



In order to achieve this remarkable feat of space-efficiency, the designers have had to alter the proportions of the Almera from that of a conventional mid-sized family sedan. Firstly, the Almera shares its platform with the new Nissan March, albeit with its wheelbase stretched by 110mm. While this is not the first time Nissan has done this - the Latio and previous March also shared a platform - but this time it is more obvious. Park the Almera next to another sedan, for example, you will notice that the entire passenger cabin assumes a tall, hatchback-like profile, which draws attention to steeply raked bonnet and windscreen.

At the rear, aft of the sloping roofline, the Almera stretches its boot further back than other cars in its class - allowing it to have such a commodious almost 500 litre boot. Stylistically, the cues are taken from the Nissan Teana, but this does little to disguise the Almera's unusual proportions.

The most obvious giveaway is the March's eye-catching and unique doughnut shaped climate-control interface. Once again, it works really well, and since it's a sophisticated digital unit, there's nothing wrong with carrying it over from the March.

The person that judges the Almera by its look, does so at his/her own peril ? behind those unusual and unique proportions, the car is probably the most spacious cabin amongst its rival 1.5-litre sedans, and even rivaling much larger cars. The Almera's straight-forward mechanical set-up, while seemingly unimpressive, is probably very economical and efficient. And if you're turned off by the outwardly simple dashboard, a close inspection will reveal the fact that the Almera is really well-equipped and luxurious.

The next car to share is the Honda CR-Z!

The CR-Z was created from a project to create a sporty coupe for the second decade of the 21st century. The compact dimensions, light weight construction and aerodynamic design bring a dual benefit of improving performance, but also cutting fuel consumption and emissions.

The wide and low stance is enhanced at the front end by the unusual one piece grille, which extends above and below the front bumper line. This grille is a key feature of the car’s “face”, with a pronounced raised area of the bonnet flowing from its top line right up to the base of the windscreen. The wide tapering headlights, with day time running lights elegantly integrated into the lower edges, extend towards the edges of the strongly flared wheels arches.

The CR-Z is the first car to combine a 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine and the IMA system, giving excellent fuel economy and great emphasis on driver enjoyment. This 112bhp engine is combined with a 13bhp electric motor which also boosts torque, with an impressive 78 Nm at low to medium engine speeds. The combined power figure peaks at 122bhp with a healthy 174 Nm of torque.

Performance and driver enjoyment can be seen as a conflicting need to good fuel economy and exhaust emissions levels. The CR-Z’s 1.5-litre, 16-valve, i-VTEC, petrol engine provides driver enjoyment with its enthusiastic engine note, willingness to rev and broad spread of torque. At the same time its modest capacity, boosted by an electric motor can achieve excellent fuel economy and low overall exhaust emissions, including the all-important CO2 emissions. The CR-Z is the first Honda hybrid, since the original 1-litre Insight to use a four valve per cylinder head with the IMA system.

Honda’s engineers have developed the 3-Mode Drive System for the CR-Z, which allows the driver to alter the characteristics of the car depending on their needs and the environment the car is being driven in. By significantly altering the responses of the car, the CR-Z’s new system allows drivers to adapt to different road and traffic situations.

The 3-Mode System alters the behaviour of the hybrid drivetrain and the power steering assistance as well as the throttle mapping between the three modes. SPORT Mode sharpens the throttle response, changes the behaviour of the IMA hybrid system to provide more electric motor assistance and increases the weight of the electric power steering.

Technical Specifications
Honda CR-Z Hybrid 1.5 (M)Engine
Type: SOHC i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine with Integrated Motor Assist
Displacement: 1,497cc
Max Power (bhp): 122 @ 6,100 rpm
Max Torque (Nm): 174 @ 1,000 - 1,500 rpm
(Both figures are for engine and electric motor combined)

Dimensions
Length (mm): 4,080
Width (mm): 1,740
Height (mm): 1,395
Wheelbase (mm): 2,435

That's all for my discussion. Have a cherry night!