Cruising joy

What we like:

Refined ride and cabin that is spacious and plush

What we dislike:

CVT gearbox does drone on a bit in Sport mode

The Teana comes with a complicated multi-link rear suspension with ZF Sachs shocks. This is good news because the Teana’s handling is really quite a surprise when you start to push it beyond its comfort zone.

I’m not suggesting for a minute that the Teana is fun to drive or in any sense of the word dynamic, but throw it around a corner too quickly and you’ll find out that the car has the tendency to oversteer slightly rather than understeer. In normal driving this translates to an agile and accurate car that is easy to pilot and corners quite precisely.

The suspension is however set up to be more comfort oriented, which means that body roll is quite evident as the whole car feels soft and plush like the everyday cruiser it was meant to be. It is comfortable along all but the roughest of roads, which can be a bit bumpy if you drive too quickly.

That said, beyond some tyre noise that permeates the cabin, driving the Teana is as refined as it gets in this segment and you could even conduct an interview in the car like I did without any problems at all.

Power comes from a 2.5l inline 4 (sadly the V6 is lost to time and carbon dioxide) which makes 170 bhp and 234 Nm mated to Nissan’s Xtronic CVT transmission. The transmission isn't intrusive or particularly different from a conventional auto box until you put it in Sport and listen to the engine drone endlessly as the car holds gears longer. In your everyday drive you’d probably be happy that the fuel consumption is helped by the CVT and not put the car in Sport very often anyway so that’s not much of a cause for concern.

The linear power delivery from the engine is a refreshing change from western turbo lurching and sudden power surges although it does make the Teana feel more laid back rather than sporty. So if you’re looking for a solid, reliable, spacious and comfortable car to use daily for the next 10 years, this should be high on your shopping list.

Credits: Story and Photos by Alvan Sio