We drive Nissan’s answer to the Hyundai Creta to find out if it’s a viable option.

Nissan’s made-for-India Kicks is finally here. Based on a more robust chassis, this version of the Kicks has more ground clearance, a more SUV-like stance and a thoroughly updated interior. It also comes with tried-and-tested mechanical bits, is feature-rich, and, on first impression, looks like a strong challenger to the bestselling and currently undisputed segment-leader – the Hyundai Creta.

What is it?

While the Kicks in most other markets around the world is based on the same platform as the Micra, this one inherits the Duster’s tough DNA, and is based on an updated version of the M0 platform that also underpins the Renault Captur. However, like the Duster, the Kicks has a proper SUV stance with its tall upright cabin, a flat bonnet and tough body cladding, all of which give it a beefy, macho appearance. What has also helped is that a lot of the design work and final detailing has been carried out in India and, truth be told, the designers have managed to blend the edgy detailing and robust architecture quite nicely. Design elements like the sleek projector headlamps that flank the signature V-shaped grille, the sharp cuts on the flanks, the boomerang-shaped tail-lamps, the 17-inch diamond-cut alloys and the roof rails, all work well. And so do the blacked-out pillars, which along with the two-tone orange and silver paint scheme are a unique combination. In terms of size, the Kicks is also larger than the Creta in every dimension. It is also 55mm longer and 32mm taller than the Captur.

What is it like inside?

Nissan seems to have gone the distance to lift the appeal of the interiors. The chocolate brown leather cladding on the dash gets white contrast stitching, the door pads are beautifully finished, there are brushed silver accents and you even get quilting on the leather seats that lend a premium touch. What really gets your attention, however, is the new 8.0-inch floating touchscreen that not only looks good, but is smooth, slick and performs well. Also attractive are the ‘butterfly-type’ meters that flank the digital speedometer and then there’s the steering that’s nicely built too. The dummy buttons on the steering wheel, however, are quite an eye sore and the fuel gauge looks unusually large as well. Also, on closer inspection, you can see a few hard plastics in not-so-important places and some carryover bits from its siblings have been included, ergonomic flaws intact – stuff like an elbow rest that sometimes fouls your elbow when you change gear, a narrow but deep glovebox and the seats that are placed a bit too high. In addition, there aren’t any cupholders in the central console, there’s no elbow box and, in this era of smartphones, there’s just one USB slot. The saving grace here, however, are the door pockets that are large and easily hold 1-litre bottles.

The upright seating position means visibility is good; the front seats are broad and accommodating and there’s more lateral support on these very comfy cross-stitched leather seats. While there’s plenty of seat adjustment, the steering only adjusts for rake, and not reach. Also missing, is a dead pedal, and space in the footwell is compromised due to the protruding centre console.

Getting into the rear is quite easy thanks to doors that open wide. There’s a reasonable amount of space in the back, and while the dark interiors make it look smaller than it is, there’s plenty of headroom and adequate kneeroom. What is also nice is that even a third passenger wouldn’t feel unwelcome here thanks to the adequate seat width and an almost flat floor. And another nice touch is the dual-operable parcel shelf that can be opened from inside to access the large 400-litre boot.

Nissan has included some segment-first kit like a 360-degree camera, leather dashboard inserts, and an Eco driving mode. The features list includes 17-inch alloys, four airbags, cruise control, auto LED projector headlamps, cornering lights, climate control, hill-hold assist, vehicle dynamic control, rain-sensing wipers and a digital speedometer, amongst others. It does, however, miss out kit like a sunroof, curtain airbags and wireless phone charging, many of which are available in the recently launched Hyundai Creta facelift.

What is it like to drive?

The Nissan shares its powertrains with the Duster and Captur, so it gets a 1.5-litre diesel mated to a 6-speed manual and a 1.5-litre petrol mated to a 5-speed manual (not tested here). There are currently no automatic options.

The diesel engine is the familiar 110hp K9K motor that makes 240Nm of torque and here its character remains largely unchanged. As before, it’s a bit rough at idle but smoothens out once it starts spinning faster. There is a fair bit of turbo lag below 2,000rpm and at low speeds there is a fair amount of clatter too. Turbo lag, however, is a bit less than on the Duster or Captur and as the engine is eager to rev it rewards drivers with its meaty mid-range performance once the turbo starts singing. It’s at its strongest between 2,100-4,000rpm, so remain in its powerband and overtaking on the highways is rather effortless and performance is strong. What’s also nice is that this engine feels smooth and jerk-free at low speeds and neither the clutch nor the gears are cumbersome to use. The steering is a bit weighty at parking speeds, but it lightens up as soon as you start to move. 

What’s also quite impressive is the manner in which it rides. Happen to miss a speed bump or a pothole at speeds, no problem – the Kicks simply takes it in its stride, only tossing your mildly, no big crash from the suspension; and the ride remains composed and settled at speed, too. Even at low speed it does its best to keep road shocks to a minimum. Then there’s the handling, which is neat and tidy too. The turn-in is quite sharp, especially at speed, and this means you need a steady hand on the wheel, and there is some body roll too, but straightline stability is good and it does have a fair amount of grip around corners. The body roll is well-contained and the brakes give you a fair amount of confidence too.

Should I buy one?

The Kicks does many things right. It is robust and it portrays a sense of toughness, it rides and handles well, the diesel engine has more than enough grunt and the interior is both well-built and generously equipped. Yes, the diesel engine is a bit gruff, there are a few ergonomic issues in the cabin and there’s no automatic option. Still, if Nissan prices it well, it could finally have a strong contender on hand – one that can truly offer a credible alternative to the Creta.

Courtery:- Autocar

We finally get some seat time on the new Jawas and have the full first ride review for you.

The internet has been ablaze over the last few months over the topic of the new Jawas. Now, after reporting on every possible aspect of the motorcycles, apart from how they are to ride, we can finally share what they’re like away from the glare of indoor lights and out in the wild.

Eye candy
For starters, they really do look quite lovely. To quickly bring you up to speed, Jawa ‘launched’ three bikes last month, but the more powerful, bobber-style Perak won’t be ready for sale till about August 2019. The Jawa and the Jawa Forty Two, meanwhile, will reach showrooms shortly and these are the bikes you’ll be reading about here. The Jawa is a fervently faithful recreation of the original Type 353 model, and it’s instantly recognisable, right to the point that villagers on the highway in Rajasthan came up and asked when Jawa had returned. That kind of recognition of a product from people who probably have no connectivity to the internet and no real interest in new motorcycles is something I’ve never seen before.

The authenticity that leads to this comes in details like the iconic teardrop headlamp that wraps around the handlebar, a pretty chrome-sided fuel tank and dual exhausts that look like they came straight off the old bike. But some things had to change, of course, and while the curvy side panels do look similar they’ve grown in size and are now plastic instead of metal. The wheel sizes that used to be 16 inches now span 18 at the front and 17 at the rear. And most of all, the engine no longer has that unique rounded shape, but the new one really is a treat to behold, sort of like that one centrepiece that grabs the attention in a well-furnished living room.

Courtery:- Autocar

Huge expectations surround Classic Legends’ Jawa Motorcycles. Why? Combine Jawa’s pedigree, ageless style, modern mechanicals, and sensible pricing and you get a ride that will, and has, riders banging down the showroom doors. But, when you walk through the door and hop onto the saddle, will the Jawa live up to your expectations?

Classic Legend

The magic of the Jawa, for me, is in its stance which has been inherited from classic Jawas. Like a sculpture depicting strength and grace, the Jawa’s design flows from a nonchalant face to a purposeful chest, before tapering off into an athletic rear. It also exudes history in the way of logos used on the tank, the side panels, on the horn and the plain lettering on the headlamp glass. The gorgeous engine, the cooling fins (on a liquid cooled engine!) and the crankcase cover make it look properly old-school! To make the modern Jawas as clean and classy as possible, the handlebar lock is tucked away under the triple-clamps and the ignition switch is under the tank. Classic Legends claim that the decision to use a rear drum brake, for now, was also dictated by the same reason.

Undoubtedly, it is the Jawa (Jawa - Jawa, yes) that takes its ancestry very seriously. In the maroon and chrome combination, you would be forgiven for thinking it is the classic! However, a choice of smashing colour options gives this purist lots of spunk. The younger and bolder looking Forty Twoswaps the Jawa’s large valanced mudguard for a tighter design. It heightens the aggression by cloaking the chassis, fork covers and headlamp brackets in black. The smaller headlamp, as the speedo pod isn’t integrated into it, makes the face less bulky too. The speedo pod sits offset to the right, but shares the layout with the Jawa. This includes a digital readout for the odometer and two trip meters, an analogue speedometer and fuel gauge. Interestingly, the speedo needle sweeps downwards from the 3 ’o'clock position! The biggest change on the Forty Two is the flat and wide handlebar that is also finished in matte black.

If you are looking to size up the Jawas versus the Royal Enfield, the Jawas will look lighter and more athletic. This is despite the specs being closely matched. For instance, at 1369mm, the wheelbase is on par with the Classic 350!

Fancy bits?

Toyota will launch the all-new Camry Hybrid in January. We go down to Thailand to get a first drive of the tech marvel headed here.

New cars, that’s what we are all about, here at Autocar India. Often, however, new cars aren’t strictly new. This is because, in today’s world, the term ‘new car’ can be stretched and distorted sufficiently to accommodate even cars that have just been majorly updated. A new bonnet, a new nose a new interior, new tail and, hey presto, it is an all-new car.

But is it any wonder that carmakers do this? The cost of development gets halved, the already-stretched engineering department saves years and years of development time, and then evolving and working with an entity you already know is much easier the second time around. Clever. 

The car I’m sitting behind the wheel of, however, is clearly new – of this, I have no doubt. No, the new Camry hasn’t suddenly turned into a corner-carving BMW 5-series, and nor has Sport mode turned it into a track star. It’s just that this new car feels so much ‘tighter’ and so much more comfortable at speed, even at first acquaintance, it’s clearly a big step ahead in driving manners. Where the previous-gen car felt like the chassis was made of tightly bound spaghetti, and it flexed and squirmed every time it was presented a challenging situation, this new car feels so sure-footed and confident, it’s truly bodes well for Toyota’s all-new TNGA platform. But is it really as good as this brief first impression? I have to get more of this.

As luck would have it, I stumble on the perfect road, an as-yet-unopened section of elevated freeway that snakes and weaves its way through some suburbs near Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Yes, there is some light traffic on the first bit due to an early off-ramp, but after that the road just goes on and on.

Lap one is more a voyage of discovery, an exercise in restrain; I don’t want to run into a carelessly discarded concrete block around a blind corner. So I tippy-toe through the tighter bits, and don’t carry much speed at all. But again, the car feels so much nicer to drive, even at these speeds. The steering has more weight in ‘Sport’, it actually feels like it is connected to the front wheels (finally), and some communication even filters through to my fingers when the front wheels load up in a corner. Yes, it does roll when I go faster and it does feel like it is 5m long, but, there’s plenty of grip and the Camry just hangs on gamely, even when I start to push harder. Wow.

Just how has Toyota managed to take such a massive leap forward? Well, to begin with, the torsional rigidity of the car has gone up by a huge 30 percent on this new TNGA platform. The company has even dipped into its deep pockets and pulled out enough money to pay for an independent rear suspension. The steering system has clearly been designed with drivers in mind.
There’s sufficient grunt from under the bonnet as well. In ‘Sport’, combined power from the petrol-and-electric hybrid powertrain is 211hp, and this comes flooding in when I lean hard on the right pedal. You first get a serious hit of torque from the electric motor, the 2.5-litre motor seems to have a nice strong mid-range and though there’s no tachometer and the eCVT automatic isn’t the sportiest gearbox around, the Camry even accelerates hard all the way to redline if you use the paddles behind the steering wheel. And while performance isn’t huge, it still is brisk; expect a 0-100 time of around 10sec. Also, please remember, this new car will deliver between 16-18kpl, even in real-world conditions.

The previous Camry was all about comfort, while this new car rides extremely well too. In fact, over bad roads, where the previous-gen car would get tossed around a bit, this one feels much more absorbent and much less reactive. It even rounds off bumps better, taking the edge off nicely. Even the brakes are very reassuring; there’s plenty of bite earlier on, and when you squeeze harder, retardation increases in a linear manner. It’s just that at low speeds, in start-stop traffic, the brakes tend to grab a bit, making you unnecessarily pay more attention to them.

We hit a patch of traffic; and it’s here that the new Camry finally begins to run in pure EV mode. It has a less powerful e-motor, but truth be told, I can’t tell the difference. What I do notice is that the car is even more silent and refined. Insulation is significantly better, there’s no real whine from the motor, and when the engine finally does kick in, the integration of the two powertrains is much more seamless. When traffic is light, I quite enjoy driving in this mode. The torque from the motor makes cruising along feel effortless and there’s even enough grunt to overtake with just a tap on the accelerator. Unfortunately, the Camry’s pure-EV range is negligible.

While weekend warriors are sure to enjoy driving the new Camry more than the current version, in India, this new car will be more about travel in the rear. So eventually I stop, jump out and get into the back. Here, I’m once again impressed by the reclining rear seat, super lower-back support and width of the cabin. The seat is placed a bit low, but once I stretch out, comfort levels are quite high. There’s even a good amount of support for your thighs and the seat cushioning seems just right; not too hard, not too soft.

What I also really like is that the elbow rest has a screen and feather-touch controls. From here, you can control the rear air-con, the seat-recline function and the audio system. And, as earlier, you can electrically adjust the front passenger seat for more legroom too. The new Camry also has an electrically operated rear sunblind, manual side blinds and a pair of conveniently located USB ports below the rear air-con vents. Legroom is a bit more than the current car’s, but there’s still no competing with the Skoda Superb, which clearly seemsto have been engineered with basketball players in mind.  

The seats up front are even more comfortable. Built on massive frames, good enough to keep most XXXL-size American drivers comfortable, they offer fantastic support for the upper and lower back, and good shoulder and thigh support as well. The seats are also cooled, and finding a comfy driving position is also easy as the power-adjustable steering has a wide range of adjustment. What also helps is that visibility has been improved. The A-pillar has been made slimmer, the side mirrors have been moved to the door and, as a result, the blind spot is much reduced now.

The layout of the dash, however, is typically Toyota – and, truth be told, a bit boring. The touchscreen and the buttons around it work well, as do the buttons and knobs. But we’ve seen this theme on so many Toyotas, a degree of fatigue has set in now.

And while the touchscreen works well, the interface is outdated. A software upgrade is long overdue here. There is, however, a nicely executed colour screen in between the dials, and what’s impressive is that the driver gets a head-up display.

Quality levels on the inside are clearly improved as well. The doorpads are solidly constructed, the buttons and switches on the steering have a quality feel to them, the gear lever and its leather shroud are beautifully put together too. There’s even a feeling of solidity in the cabin. This is especially true of the leather-covered lower half of the dash and the vents that feel built to last. Even the door shut is quite impressive. However, some plastics, like the buttons on the right of the steering wheel and the cupholders, aren’t impressive and I’m not a big fan of the faux-whitewood finish, either.

The Camry in this HV Premium trim comes loaded with kit. Not all of it will be available to buyers in India, as the focus will be more on rear-seat passengers, but you can expect it to come with paddleshifters, wireless charging, a sunroof, traction control, stability control (ESC) and brake assist.

The car in Bangkok also gets cross-traffic alert at the rear (it helps you reverse out of a parking lot safely), blind-spot monitoring, dynamic radar cruise control, lane-keeping assist and even pre-collision brake intervention. It also comes with phone-based features like geo-fencing (that sounds an alert if your car goes out of a pre-designated area), parking alert, Find My Car, vehicle tracking, and in-car WiFi.

Nicer to drive, more comfortable to sit in, more efficient, and blessed with Toyota’s halo of reliability and dependability; thenew TNGA-based Camry Hybrid has a lot going for it.

Toyota is set to launch the new Camry here in January at an expected price of Rs 39 lakh. This high price is sure to limit appeal. What a shame that FAME 2.0 – the scheme in support of hybrid cars – never really took off.

Courtery:- Autocar