Nissan X-Trail offers 360° view of Season’s congestion
Do you want to freak out your balikbayan relative who has long grown accustomed to the rather "civilized" manner of driving in the Western world?
Take him or her to Edsa, or for that matter, to any busy street in Metro Manila during this Holiday season. Hear the shrieks and screams of terrified passengers who sound like their souls are about to part ways with their mortal bodies everytime an 18-wheeler creeps too near, or a taxicab speeds into an intersection, then stops inches, millimeters even, from your relative's side of the door, or when a motorbike decides to turn right coming from the extreme left lane, with only a millisecond to spare between your front bumper and the rider's right foot.
Yes, for us, that's a typical day of driving on Philippine streets. Pity your poor balikbayan relative, though, whose hair he or she must have entirely pulled off by the end of the ride, swearing to high heavens that they'll never do a "MacArthur" again to this crazy land.
Do we drive crazy? Or have we just evolved our driving reflexes to rival that of even the most skillful of Jedis?
Regardless if others do or do not equate our driving skills to driving intelligence, we have to face it: our driving senses are limited to what we see and hear. If one or both are compromised, so would our street-level decision-making.
Many features of the modern automobile already make it easy for us to make split-second decisions. But rare are those that make you drive more intelligently.
Just months ago, you wouldn't have imagined a crossover SUV like the Nissan X- Trail being among those rare few.
Prior to September this year, the X-Trail 4x4 wasn't equipped with the Moving Object Detection (sends a visual and audible alert when there’s movement around the vehicle), Blind Spot Warning (detects objects in the driver’s blind spot), Forward Collision Warning and Intelligent Emergency Braking (sends a visual and auditory warning, and applies an emergency break to avoid collisions), and Rear Cross Traffic Alert (alerts the driver to unseen vehicles while reversing) systems.
Before September, though, the X-Trail 4x4 already had an Around View Monitor (providing drivers with a 360-degree perspective for easier navigation) and the 4x4-I System (that automatically adjusts power distribution to give drivers full control of the vehicle as they take on challenging road conditions).
Now, the new X-Trail is imbued with such features that qualify it to belong in the Japanese carmaker's vision of the future of driving, as embodied in its Nissan Intelligent Mobility.
This writer witnessed its practical application when she was a passenger of the compact crossover at a private track inside Thunderbird Resort in Poro Point, La Union.
The track was exclusively created by Nissan Philippines for the motoring media to experience the X-Trail’s features.
I sat in front of a “blindfolded” X-Trail. Its windshield, and both its front windows were all covered, making the driver dependent solely on the X-Trail’s monitor while maneuvering around the track.
I saw the bird’s