I'VE HAD A hard time telling friends what the Nissan Tiida is. I can't make it out. The Tiida stands taller than my idea of a 'normal' saloon, such as the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla. It has the look of a wagon and the bulk, and a big boot of, say, an Opel Zafira or Subaru Impreza Wagon. Nissan prefers to call the Tiida a 'sportshatch', but I don't see much sportiness. To me, the Mazda3 is sporty; the Audi A4 Avant is sporty. The Tiida? Well, there's too much empty space between the wheel and its arch, in my book.
If the Tiida were a guy, it might suffer from an identity crisis. An unusual-spelling name - pronounced 'T-da' doesn't help either. So, welcome to the world of cross-over vehicles, where nothing's what it seems. Inside this 'thing', the dashboard is deep to the edge of the windscreen, and there are little, multi-purpose-vehicle-like quarter windows. You also sit taller in the Tiida than in a normal saloon, with headroom to spare, as you might in a van. Then, all of a sudden, the Tiida becomes a compact-sized hatchback when you notice that the boot is close to the tailgate.
Legroom is good; seating is comfortable and their armrests and backs can be folded down. The rear seats, by the way, can be slid, to and fro, to increase rear-passenger or boot space that's quite generous. The Tiida could grow on you too. The dashboard also looks different to those in typical Japanese saloons. Two round air-conditioner buttons set the Japanese tone for the minimalist centre console, with more storage above it. The three main gauges overlap for a sporty image and the aluminium trim opposite the front seat looks clean and simple. The Tiida reflects the elegant simplicity of Japanese home living - a theme that has set Nissan apart from other Japanese manufacturers in interior design.
The Cabron seats feel durable and easy-to-clean, and you'll find an electric sunroof; air-conditioner with a Plasmacluster ion generator that was first introduced in the Presage. I like the 10-disc CD stereo and the Tiida's interior ambience, even if the blank patch on the centre console seems a void. The Tiida's tailgate is wide in the mid-section and narrows down to knee level, but a diamond-shaped tailgate can be as tantalising as the Alfa-Romeo 156 Sportwagon, or as dorky as the Suzuki Aerio. The Tiida is in between.
Please don't ask me about the overall style of the car. I don't know. You might go for the Tiida, if you can handle its identity criss-cross, or versatility. I'll just say the Tiida looks very promising in the sales brochure.
The Tiida's design won't appease the traditionalist, go-with-the-crowd, Hong Kong motorist. It's not as edgy as the Mazda3, nor as utilitarian as an Impreza Wagon. The Tiida just looks left-field, with its bug-like, bulging, pointy front and rear lamps. A double-deck engine cover thickens the car, and a moustachioed grille has the studded, criss-cross sliced look of Cantonese stir-fried squid. I don't know how much influence Renault has on the Tiida's styling, but somehow the car seems to beg for the French make's badge. Renault's influence is more pronounced underneath, however. The 109-horsepowered, 1.5-litre engine isn't the same as the unit in the Sunny or other Nissans, but a new design that will be shared with a future Renault model. The underside of the Tiida's rear shows an elementary torsion-beam suspension instead of Nissan's usual, brilliant multi-link beam type, which can limit the body's lateral swaying.
The Tiida feels fine, however. As you'd expect from a 1.5-litre, $153,800 Japanese saloon, this hatchback's comfortable and smooth with a floatiness on the road that can become a bit choppy on the New Territories' rougher surfaces.