Cool subcompact returns to Canada this summer
Many manufacturers — Ford and the other domestics, especially — are slowly abandoning the sedan segment, but Nissan appears to be doubling down. Hot on the heels of its all-wheel-drive Altima and the first competitive Sentra in at least 20 years comes news that the subcompact Versa sedan is coming back to Canada.
Subcompact more in name than size, the 2021 Versa’s calling card will no doubt be its versatility and roominess. Simply put, no other small car in the segment feels quite as large. The cargo capacity, for instance, is listed at 425 litres, but it feels more like a genuine three-hoffa trunk. OK, I’m exaggerating a little, but at least two full-sized golf bags or rotund little union/mafia potentates — whichever you’re in the business of hauling — will slide onto its low load floor without too much problem.
The cabin is equally roomy, especially in the rear. Technically, there’s 787 millimetres of legroom in the rear, but even that more-than-competitive specification doesn’t do the Versa justice. In the how-much-room-doi-have-behind-a-six-foot-driver test, the Versa excels. Indeed, between the expansive cabin and the useful trunk, the Versa makes a good argument that you don’t need a crossover to be practical.
It’s also a little sexier inside, the plastic trim bits an upgrade from small Nissans past, and the two-tone seats are covered in an upscale weave. Unusually — because these days, all infotainment screens are perched atop dashboards — the Versa’s touch screen is integrated into the dash. It gives what’s otherwise a basic interior a touch of class.
As for more traditional concerns, the Versa shares a platform with the very popular
Kicks, their wheelbases are identical — in fact, right down to the millimetre. It also shares the crossover’s 122-horsepower, 1.6-litre in-line four-cylinder engine, as well as its optional CVT — which, to counteract the sometimes tedious comportment of CVTS, has some artificial “gears” built into its programming. The main difference in powertrains between Versa and Kicks is that the base Versa gets a stick shift — a five-speed manual, to be exact.
Scott Pak, Nissan’s senior manager of product planning, says the Versa’s main differentiator may be its host of safety features. They include “intelligent” emergency braking with pedestrian detection, rear “intelligent” emergency braking, lane-departure warning and high-beam assist. Throw in the blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert, and you have the entire suite of Nissan Safety Shield 360 gizmos.
As for the cost of all this goodness, Pak will only say that the Versa will be competitive on a feature-by-feature basis, and Nissan Canada will only release pricing closer to the Versa’s late-summer launch. In the meantime, it’s a pretty sexy subcompact.