The Nissan Magnite AMT has been part of our long-term fleet for about a month. I drove it for more than 500 km during this time, strictly within city limits. I couldn’t venture out on the highway in this car, more on that later. The Magnite XV Premium AMT Dual Tone is priced at Rs. 10.48 lakhs (on-road, Mumbai), which is not bad at all considering the overall package on offer and the price range of the competition.
Before the Magnite, I was driving the Honda Amaze CVT, which is powered by a 1.2-litre NA petrol motor producing 90 PS and 110 Nm of torque. It had decent performance on offer and a very smooth CVT. Jumping straight into the Magnite AMT was a different experience altogether. The 1.0-litre NA 3-cylinder petrol engine produces 72 PS and 96 Nm of torque. This setup along with the 5-speed AMT immediately feels quite lethargic to drive.
First up, once you press the push button to start the engine, it takes around 5-6 seconds to respond. Slot the gear into D and it takes a while to get into creep mode when you lift the brake pedal. Then you need to dab the throttle with relatively more input to get it going. Initially it takes a while to pull and there is a significant lag from the AMT gearbox while shifting. However, once you are in the third and fourth gears, it starts pulling in a linear fashion.
This motor is better suited for sedate driving within the city conditions because at higher speeds, it strains itself by revving higher constantly. For highway driving, it’s better you go for the turbo variant with CVT transmission. In this 1.0-litre NA AMT setup, the engine hovers around 3000 RPM and at this point it is quite audible. Imagine doing these speeds constantly on the highway. This was one of the reasons I didn’t want to take the Magnite out for a long drive.
In terms of fuel efficiency, the Nissan Magnite AMT is light on the pocket, offering around 15 km/l in the city. Imagine driving in the peak summers of Delhi with AC on full blast and bumper to bumper traffic conditions. Talking about the AC, I must say it is very impressive. I used to keep the auto climate control setting at 23.5°C and it would cool the boiling cabin within a few seconds.
The interior looks nice and sporty with the all-black treatment. The steering wheel is good to hold and offers decent feedback, being light at low speeds and gaining some weight as you speed up. Some owners of the initial batches of the Magnite used to complain about the steering wheel not returning to the centre after a tight turn. However, Nissan has managed to address the issue very well and our test car’s steering returned to its centre position seamlessly.
The Nissan Magnite comes with an all-digital LCD 7-inch instrument cluster with some bright graphics that some won’t appreciate. However, it displays all the information you require like outside temperature, instant fuel efficiency, average fuel efficiency, driving range, tyre pressure monitoring system and more.
It also comes with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system. It offers some of the best features of this car. First up is the wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay feature, which is super convenient and works really well. As soon as you get inside the car and hit the start button, your phone instantly connects to the system and you don’t need to plug-in or play around with your phone to start using Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.
The second feature that is very useful and spoilt me is the Around View Monitor Display or the 360° camera setup. The output quality on the screen is average but it does give you an idea of your car’s whereabouts. It lets you cover those extra gaps in the parking in front of you. Even the sound quality from the music system is very impressive. A friend of mine who drives a Hyundai Creta, sat in our long term Magnite and appreciated the audio experience from the OEM speakers.
The Nissan Magnite scores high in comfort and space. The ride is good, more on the softer side. The seats at the front are supportive and well cushioned. The rear passengers get ample legroom and headroom on offer. There are rear AC vents to further add to the convenience and even rear arm rest with cup holders. 336-litre boot space is good enough to do airport duties for your family and some long trips. However, talking about long trips, I would recommend you to go for the turbo variant.
The only pebble in the shoe is the underpowered engine and laggy AMT, otherwise the overall features and convenience on offer with the Nissan Magnite AMT is on point, considering the price range.
