The last thing you'd call the old Primera was dashing or flamboyant. But that's all changed. Nissan has given its new Primera doses of street cred with a dramatically fresh approach to family car design - and there's lots of advanced technology. On top of all that, the new car rides and handles as competently as the original, writes Andrew Hamilton
Just launched on the Irish market, the new Nissan Primera should be guaranteed second looks in any street or car park. Its predecessors didn't get much attention when new although, of course, the Primera has been a strong seller in the highly contested family and fleet segment where there are other heavyweight players such as the Ford Mondeo, Renault Laguna, Toyota Avensis, Citroën C5, Peugeot 406 and Opel Vectra, a new version of which will be going on Irish sale next month.
Nissan design people in the past didn't want their Primeras to look too dashing, too flamboyant. The customers in the segment were conservative, they argued, and wanted a conformist profile. The old Primeras certainly had that but it's all change now and the bold newcomer will get street and car park cred. It is, according to Nissan, "the first tangible representation of our new product direction bringing together bold styling, innovative design and advanced, yet easy to use, technology."
In defence of the old car, we have to say it was one of the best-handling family and fleet cars around - certainly until the arrival of the latest Mondeo. That's a credit that was deserved and never properly acknowledged. We are glad to report then that in its ride and handling new Primera is as competent as ever, well controlled with impressive amounts of grip. Twisty Irish roads just a couple of weeks ago confirmed a reputation for superb body control and immense adhesion.
We were driving the new Primera in its Acenta four-door 1.6 litre form, with an Irish ex-works price of €24,895. The 1,596 cc 16-valve engine developing 109 bhp also does service in the less expensive Visia version, at €22,995 ex-works, which also comes with climate control as standard: all Primeras have it. For now, only four-door cars are available: the five-door hatchbacks come on stream during the summer.
The 1.6 litre Primera engine with continuously variable valve timing, picks up cleanly and revs freely: only towards the end of the rev range does a lack of zip become noticeable. On our test it was nimble in passing out traffic conveying a strong feeling of agility. There's a lighter feel to it than the class-leading Mondeo, accounted for no doubt, by the fact that the Mondeo is almost 100 kilos heavier.
Nissan has taken a dramatic fresh approach to family car design, both externally and internally. On the outside the lines are sleek and sculpted and Nissan claims the radical profile is proof that their engineers and designers have forsaken convention "and mastered the art of thinking in a different direction."
It is actually very difficult to see where the Primera begins and ends because of those sculpted lines and steeply-raked front and rear end. Help is at hand, however, and getting into tight parking spaces was made easier.
While other parking systems warn you with bleeps, the new Nissan has a rear view camera that actually shows you how close you are to the vehicle behind, with a clear picture on the central display. Nissan's promotional words for the car of "Drive and never look back" are literally true. The Primera is just as radical inside the cabin. All the instruments and switches are mounted centrally. We liked the seven-inch colour screen sitting at the top of a near-horizontal console incorporating all the settings for the audio and air conditioning systems, trip computer and satellite navigation.
Compared with the old car, the test Primera had a softer suspension aimed at giving a more comfortable ride. Nevertheless handling remains precise. On the open road, there's little or no noise: Nissan has done an impressive suppression job.The Primera won our heart too, for its economical nature. We drove back to Dublin from West Cork where the car had its Irish press launch and fuel consumption stayed around 38 mpg.
Back again to that camera. At first we thought it was a gimmick. The more we drove the car - and reversed - the more we liked it. It's clever and useful. Our test car was also wired to accommodate Nissan's "integration solution" for mobile phones. Drivers simply placed the handset into a cradle that is compatible with most makes of mobiles. The mobile is then integrated into the central command and audio systems hands-free torque can be easily managed through the telephone and audio control buttons on the central console. New Primera customers will pay around €120 to have this facility fitted.
The 1.6 litre Primera should win new customers from competitors, particularly as Ford and now Opel don't offer 1.6 litre engine sizes in their Mondeo and new Vectra models. Nissan is saying that 60 per cent or more of Primera sales will be of the 1.6 litre and they are thinking particularly of companies where 1,600 cc is the limit.
The Primera is a stylish and accomplished family and fleet car that brings new lustre to this highly competitive market sector.