Nissan Sunny 2020 Review - Prices, Specs, Variants, Features and Mileage

What are the variants of Nissan Sunny?

The 2020 Nissan Sunny is more or less unchanged since its introduction. It is so dated, that Nissan has not bothered to change its variant nomenclature either! The car can be had in a Petrol or a Diesel engine. There are a total of six variants on offer (three for each engine). Prices kick off at Rs. 7.07 lakh for the base petrol variant and go all the way till Rs. 9.93 lakh for the top-spec diesel variant.

The top of line petrol model comes with a CVT gearbox and that's about it with the variants on offer. The features on offer are just basic as compared to the competition and the latest addition was a 6.2-inch infotainment display which frankly came in a lot lately.

Which variant should you go for?

The top-end XV Diesel offers maximum bang for the buck, for it has all the equipment that one will need for daily commutes. With the Diesel engine, you get great fuel economy and good drivability.

Petrol makes sense in case you’re looking for a better performing car. One can opt for the XV variant in Petrol guise, for it comes with smooth CVT transmission to make your daily drive effortless and convenient.

Nissan Sunny April Discount Offers:

Nissan is offering a  bunch of offers on its line-up and the onslaught of BS6 conversion and the recent lockdown has widened this spectrum. Nissan Sunny is offered in an interesting bundle of offers which are listed below.

This offer is valid on a pan-India basis.

Also Read,

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Volkswagen Vento is also treading down a similar path as the Nissan Sunny. Or is it?

What are the powertrain options in the 2020 Sunny?

Nissan Sunny is powered by the same set of Petrol and Diesel engines that were available at the time of its launch. The Petrol is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit, churning out 99 bhp of power and 134 Nm of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels via a five-speed manual transmission. First things first, refinement levels are a notch below the segment norms. The car feels sluggish in the bottom end, but the engine comes into its own when revved hard, and after 3000 RPM, the progress is smooth, however, not fast! Coming to the gearbox, the five-speed manual is a bit slouch, but is sure slotting with well-defined gates.

The biggest downer? The car’s gearing! First gear is short, expectedly, however, what’s surprising is, the third gear is even shorter! This is a major bane, for you’ll be downshifting a lot more often than say, a Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, which has brilliant gear ratios. One can also choose the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) gearbox with this engine, which can be had in the top trim only (XV). Expectedly, performance is adequate at best with smooth shifts. This gearbox is for those who seek convenience, and enthusiasts will surely give it a miss.

The other engine on offer is the tried and tested 1.5-litre four-cylinder Diesel engine, called the K9K. This engine is available in multiple states of tunes and does duty in almost all the Renault and Nissan cars. In the Sunny, it is available in a lower state of tune. Power and Torque are rated at 84 bhp and 200 nm, respectively. Nissan claims to have worked on the low-end power delivery in this engine, and it shows. Turbo-lag is minimal, and power is available in the lower-end of the rev-range.

This run of the mill engine has proven its worth and is known for its excellent fuel economy and drivability. The gearbox is a standard fare, a five-speed unit which is sure-slotting and responsive. Refinement levels are acceptable, but nowhere close to the benchmark, which happens to be Hyundai Verna.

On the spec sheet, the Sunny has the least power figures in comparison to its rivals. While the market is slowly tilting towards Petrols, our choice remains the potent oil-burner, purely because of its drivability and efficiency.

How quick is the Nissan Sunny from 0-100 KMPH?

No surprises here, the Sunny being the least powerful car, has dismal 0-100 acceleration figures. In the Petrol guise, the car takes around 13 seconds to reach a ton, while the Diesel’s 0-100 is timed at 12 seconds. A combination of having the least powerful engine along with poor weight management makes it a sluggish one.

The Verna shows who’s the boss here, with its segment-best 0-100 kmph figures in both the powertrains and one of the main reasons for it is its impressive weight management which helps amplify the already pumped up engine performance.

How nimble is this long car from Nissan?

With a long wheelbase and soft suspension setup, the ride quality is compliant. However, it is nowhere in the league of the Volkswagen Vento. The suspension okayish and the sunny absorbs the bumps and potholes fine but the at high speeds does have a little body roll and the handling isn't very responsive when compared to the rivals. The car feels more at home in city traffic than on highways, the tight steering helps the car to manoeuvre well in tight conditions.

Sunny has a 5.3 m turning radius which isn’t very impressive but it is a byproduct of the length of the car. But the car is easy to manoeuvre in the traffic since it is the narrowest among the rivals. Even when compared to Vento which is from a segment lower the car still is narrower. Nissan has set

How firm is the braking setup from 100-0 KMPH?

Although Sunny is a long car, it isn’t very heavy. It was designed on Nissan's lightweight V platform, as a result, it performs well under panic braking. It gets a usual disc and drum braking setup, at the front and rear, respectively. That, along with ABS, EBD and BA help stop the Sunny without any nosedive.

All the cars in this segment are equipped with a disc-drum setup which helps in providing a fine balance of cost-effectiveness and performance. Lower kerb weight also plays an important role in braking performance and the added length of Nissan Sunny gets nullified with its least weight of the lot.

How impressive are the mileage figures?

The Sunny boasts of good efficiency figures for its class, however, it still lags behind the competition. Its sophisticated rivals not only offer better performance but better fuel efficiency figures as well. Again, Nissan's dullness in updating its line-up as per the market has caused it to fall back in the most important section as well.

The mileage figures were unheard of when the Sunny was launched. But now in such an aggressive marketplace, it doesn't even blow the dust! Nissan should revamp its impressive big-sedan before its too late.

With a small 41-litre fuel tank, Sunny’s range is limited and is the least amongst its rivals. It has a more biased approach as the cabin flaunts very impressive seating space even in today's standards. But its high time for Nissan to up their game and reach at par with the likes of Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Hyundai Verna.

How has Nissan Sunny changed over the years?

Well, nothing has changed! It’s the same design that we saw in 2011. The exterior has remained the same, with some minor changes here and there. It has a long wheelbase and the sloping roofline gives a hint to what the cabin has to offer in terms of space.

For all the bulk, the 15-inch wheels look rather small. The chrome accents on the exterior do save the car from looking too bland and uninspiring but its age is rather evident. It looks like a baby Teana and we believe that it was the agenda that the automaker wanted to put forth. Well, back then it was impressive. Now it's just plain old and outdated

Overall the sunny is second to only Ciaz when it comes to length, however, it is narrower than the Vento. It has good ground clearance and scraping would be difficult. It also stays the lightest. The sunny offers plenty of headroom and it shows in its dimensions as it is the tallest car standing at 1515 mm from the ground.

Exterior Features

• Healthy chrome accents
• Boomerang shaped headlights
• 15-inch alloy wheels

How spacious is the CAAAR on the inside?

As is the case with the exterior design, nothing much has changed in the interior either! Some brushed aluminium accents and the new three-spoke steering do improve the overall ambience, however, it cannot hold a candle against the Hyundai Verna. The all-black interior theme now available does improve the feel a little bit but the quality of plastics still is not up to the mark.

Nissan has given the Sunny a touchscreen navigation and steering mounted controls to make it stand among the rivals. That said, the part quality still reflects Nissan’s efforts to keep the costs low. Sunny is a utilitarian car and though it deprives you of luxury, it offers practicality in return. With up to 8 bottle holders and plenty of storage spaces, one might end up forgetting where they kept what.

Overall the car offers enough headroom and legroom for all the passengers. Sunny is still a car that offers one of the most spacious rear seats in this class. The rear seats are comfortable, with good cushioning, but they lack under-thigh support. Again, the Ciaz is the segment benchmark here.

What are the various infotainment features on offer?

The XL and XV variants of the Sunny feature a 2 din infotainment system with aux-in-port and Bluetooth connectivity. The system is not the most sophisticated but it is paired with four speakers that offer decent sound quality. The screen also doubles up as the display for the rear-view camera.

This infotainment system is modern, however, it suffers from glare under direct sunlight. Moreover, it’s not the most intuitive one to use either and doesn't offer Android Auto or Apple CarPlay which is a bummer in this time of the century.

Infotainment Features:

• 6.2-inch touch screen audio-visual navigation
• Voice Command
• Bluetooth Connectivity
• 4 Speaker Audio System
• Phone Mirroring

How much cargo can the Nissan Sunny take in?

Nissan Sunny has a respectable 490-litre boot, which is decent for its class. The layout is clean and well padded. No misuse of space and the spare tyre along with its toolkit is neatly tucked away under the soft flooring. However, it is still behind the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, which offers segment-best boot space of 510 litres.

The opening is wide and which facilitated for better cargo transfer. But the bay is a bit high, and one will have to ‘lift’ their luggage to load it into Sunny’s boot. The cargo light is smartly positioned at the centre-right under the third brake light which allows for a wider vision spectrum.

While on-paper specs might not be overwhelming, the car can swallow a family’s holiday luggage easily which is closely followed by the Vento. Maruti Suzuki Ciaz is way out of Sunny's league whereas the Verna wraps things up in this segment.

What are the various safety features on offer in the 2020 Sunny?

Well, the Nissan Sunny is a ‘Global' car and is exported to many South East Asian countries from India itself. The car boasts of good safety kit, however, the car has not yet been tested by any global agency, and we shall reserve our judgement till the safety scores are available publicly.

On the reliability front, being a Jap, Sunny is a fairly reliable car. What makes the Sunny not so desirable is Nissan’s limited after-sales service, especially in 2-3 tier cities.

Safety Features:

• ABS and EBD
• Engine immobiliser
• Dual Airbags
• Rearview camera with park assist

How does the evergreen Nissan Sunny fare against the modern competition?

Nissan Sunny vs Maruti Suzuki Ciaz

In terms of dimensions, the Ciaz and Sunny are very similar. However, all the similarities end there itself. The Ciaz is much more contemporary, with better interior quality and class-leading boot space. On the performance front too, Ciaz trumps over Sunny. Throw in better fuel economy figures of the Ciaz and the Sunny will have its head down in shame.

Nissan Sunny vs Volkswagen Vento

Just like the Ciaz, the Vento too has some similarities with the Sunny, and that being, the dated design! While VW has worked on the Vento by providing some mid-life updates, the Sunny still looks the same as it looked in 2011. In terms of practicality and performance, the Vento is miles ahead of the Sunny.

Nissan Sunny vs Hyundai Verna

The all-new Verna is built from the ground up, and boats of the most modern design. In terms of interior space, the Sunny has an edge, however, when it comes to performance, interior quality and overall reliability, the Verna beats this Nissan, hands down!

Does the Sunny still manage to make a statement in this time and age?

Back in 2011, the Sunny made sense, for it had everything going for it, right from class-leading interior space to a brilliant Diesel engine. In 2020 though, the car stands no chance, since the competition has moved high up the ladder and have set the benchmark and expectations that the Sunny might never be able to match. In case you’re looking for a decently equipped beater car, the Sunny makes a little sense. For a daily driver, look at the competition and you’ll know why Nissan India is reporting financial losses every quarter.