Nissan Versa Note

'bout time for another post, here it is,

The Nissan Versa Note

(credit: consumerreports.com)

To start, the Versa Note looks like that bean thing in Chicago, with swirly chair casters underneath it. It also appears to be the first car in existance that wears braces. The engine works as well as the body looks.

The engine makes a grand total of 109 horsepower. This is approximatley the power my fingers use to strike these keys to write this sentence. The 109 tired-out stallions reluctantly drag the Note frome 0-60 in 9.9 seconds. According to the interwebs, I can tie a tie faster than the Note can get up to (what you are supposed to do but no-one does on the) highway speed! Moving down the powertrain, the transmission is equally bad -if not worse- than the engine.

One of the two offered transmissions is a CVT. A CVT is pretty much a belt streched between two cones. It, in theory, is a good idea but -rather like a Tesla- it breaks all the time and is much louder than advertised. The 5-speed isn't great, either. Car and Driver said that "[the 5-speed] elicted a distinct 'meh'." The tires that get (barely) spun by the transmission are of similar quality as the rest of the car toaster.

The Versa sits on are Bridgestone Ecopia's all round. They are tuned for low rolling-resistance rather than grip. This makes the Versa run the skidpad at a not-perticulary-great .8 g, and it took a whopping 188 feet to stop from 60 mph.

So, the Versa Note. A silly name, a motorized jelly-bean wearing LEGO® tires and uses a rather noisy method of power conversion.

Do you have any thoughts about cars/cats? What drives you crazy? One post a week so stay tuned!