Nissan Terrano First Anniversary Drive – Amritsar To Palampur

Experiencing the Terrano through North India reminds us why it is such a practical car

India is a big market for cars but a majority of volumes come from small cars, namely hatchbacks as they are the entry-level offerings for most car makers. Defying the norm is Nissan whose top-selling car in India is the Terrano, the company sold 1538 units last month while its hatchback, the Micra, managed to sell 812 units. How does this matter? Well, when Nissan was planning to launch the Terrano, most people thought it simply won’t work. It’s no secret that the Terrano is nothing but a Renault Duster underneath. Thus, a badge engineered vehicle at a premium doesn’t sound like a recipe for success but Nissan made it work as customers are willingly opting for the better looking Terrano over its Romanian doppelgänger.

The Terrano has a lot of importance in Nissan’s India portfolio, it is also the flagship locally manufactured vehicle for the Japanese automaker. Just recently, Nissan celebrated one year sales of the Terrano and the same was marked with the launch of the Terrano Anniversary Edition. The company kept an experiential drive of the car for the media but did not give the anniversary edition car to us as they are limited in number (to 450 units) and were thus not inducted in the company’s press fleet. The Anniversary Edition car gets a slew of added features, the most notable is the heads-up display.

So in order to celebrate the first anniversary of the Nissan Terrano, we drove the car from Amritsar in Punjab to Palampur in Himachal Pradesh during our leg of what the company calls ‘Son of the Soil’. Before we dwell into anything, let’s focus a bit on the interiors of the car. The Terrano has similar interiors as the Duster but Nissan has done a good job of uplifting the cabin. While plastic quality remains the same as the Renault, visually everything looks so much better and that definitely adds to the feel good factor of the SUV.

Punjab is rightly called the land of the Lions and the state is known for its people who are strong, simple yet courageous. That’s where the relation with the Nissan Terrano emerges. You see, for most the Terrano might be just another car but if you look at the big picture, it’s a car which fits well with us Indians. Why so you may ask. Our road condition beg us to have a car which can traverse all terrains with ease while also having ample space for passengers and luggage. The Terrano fits in these boots quite well.

One big requirement in India is high ground clearance, the Terrano has ample clearance so much that we took it through the lush fields and it just sailed through without hurting its underbelly. The high seating also results in a good driving position but what impresses most is the ride quality. When driving through Himachal, we were both baffled and stunned to find the roads being no match for the scenery. Pathetic road conditions with broken tarmac all around meant passengers would be quite disturbed when traversing such roads but no such feeling as the Terrano’s suspension did a fine job to absorb all in its stride with relative ease.

The Terrano is available with three engines, we sampled all three on this drive event. Of course it’s the 110 PS diesel which has the most punch but the 85 PS has always been our choice as it has just the right clutch feel and is devoid of much lag, making driving a breeze at low speeds. The petrol mill isn’t popular but has good enough grunt and redlines cleanly too. All these engines impressed us with ample overtaking power as due to the narrow highways, we needed instant punch to dispatch other slow moving vehicles in a jiffy.

The Nissan Terrano feels very well adapted to Indian road conditions

Usually with SUVs, one has to compromise on driving dynamics but the Terrano has such fantastic body control that we enjoyed every bit of the journey, pushing the car through the twisty bits of Himachal with the steering responding to every input. The only thing we don’t like is the over feedback from the wheel when you are turning on bad roads, there is some vibrations channelling through the steering. But the car-like driving feel makes the Terrano effortless to pilot and Nissan will bring in the AWD version next year, so those who want off-roading ability, this Nissan will soon have the hardware to take you places devoid of asphalt.

We ate some region specific food on the drive; Norbulingka on the left and Punjabiyat on the right

Nissan had organised the drive very well and we visited some really nice places to satiate our hunger. On the left is Norbulingka which is a replica of the original Norbulingka Monastery in Tibet, which was set up by The Dalai Lama. On the right is Punjabiyat (means to be a Punjabi) where we even drove a tractor on the lush fields where Sugarcane and Wheat is grown. We sat on charpoys and had a tradition Punjabi meal which comprised of ‘sarson ka saag’, ‘makai ki roti’, ‘dal’, ‘lassi’ and ‘jalebi’ among others.

The experience of driving the Terrano through a multitude of road conditions showed us how capable this car is. Right from city, villages, highways, mountain roads to farming fields and stone filled tarmac, the Terrano was unperturbed and kept going about its business without any fuss. This car suits our driving conditions and manages to overcome the worst you throw at it thanks to the mix of SUV character and car like dynamics. The Nissan Terrano is with little doubt the ‘Son of the Soil’ and more than the car itself, it’s the experience you have by taking it to places which gets etched in your memory for a long time to come.

Further Reading –

Nissan Terrano Review
Renault Duster vs Nissan Terrano
Ford EcoSport vs Nissan Terrano vs Renault Duster

Picture Editing – Sri Manikanta Achanta