Versa rental for a week in Alberta

[dspace9]

On my vacation to Alberta and British Columbia last week, I had a Nissan Versa for my car rental. Was interesting to compare the Versa with my Mirage daily driver, these being the last remaining econo boxes.

I didn't have high expectations, but after I week, I can say I liked the Versa. Fuel economy was really good, best read out on the dash was 5.4 L/100 kms, and that was in city driving in Calgary. Tank is bigger than my Mirage, and cost more to fill obviously.

I liked all the "luxury" features that spoilt me on my vacation; features i live without with my Mirage. Like automatic
transmission, cruise control, wireless cell phone charging bay, auto climate control with AC. And power windows in the back.

I really got used to the spoils, especially cruise control, and automatic. Just put in D and go. Made highway driving a real breeze. Another thing I noticed, wayyy more front driver leg room.

Blind spot monitoring was nice to have, and not intrusive. The lane monitoring gets annoying though. Backup camera is something I never relied on, but helpful sometimes in tight parking spaces like at our hotel in Canmore, with their itty bitty parking lot. Never had the automatic braking engage, and that's just fine with me.

Versa's ride smoothness was also better than my Mirage, perhaps cause of a longer wheel base and just a bit bigger sized car overall.

The dash and interior was also a step up from what I'm used to, half the front is a screen....and Nissan did a nice job designing the car to look like a mini Sentra or Altima. The flat bottom steering wheel was more sporty looks than functioning any differently.

Overall, I like my Mirage, but the Versa is a pretty good car too. Seemed to be put together well. For a cheap-end new car, I'd buy it before a Kia or Hyundai, or a Chevy Trax.

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[OrganicFoxes]

I honestly love the current gen of Versa and I am planning on getting one. Here is the model and color I have chosen next to my current car. Do I really NEED a new car? hell no lol, the Versa is for sure a WANT but I have been researching it for a few months now. Finally starting planning for getting one, I am thinking of waiting for the 2025 model since it might be out by the time I am ready to purchase one.

[7milesout]

For a cheap-end new car, I'd buy it before a Kia or Hyundai, or a Chevy Trax.

Me too. Do they still offer the Versa with a 5-speed? That's what I would want. Nice post.

[7milesout]

I honestly love the current gen of Versa and I am planning on getting one. Here is the model and color I have chosen next to my current car. Do I really NEED a new car? hell no lol, the Versa is for sure a WANT but I have been researching it for a few months now. Finally starting planning for getting one, I am thinking of waiting for the 2025 model since it might be out by the time I am ready to purchase one.

To be honest, you CANNOT buy a Versa, until we have an Atlanta Mirage meetup. I'm not allowing it. I am loosely starting to plan a meet-up, but my main hold up is it's not 100% clear when my Navy son is ... gone for a long time. Until then, I'm not committing any weekends.

[Fummins]

Did the Versa drive like a fake automatic? I drove a customers rogue around the block one time and I knew it was a cvt but it pretended it wasn't with stepper motors in the transmission making it feel like it was shifting gears. It was completely different from the Nv200's at work that drive more like a Mirage or a snowmobile.

[7milesout]

Did the Versa drive like a fake automatic? I drove a customers rogue around the block one time and I knew it was a cvt but it pretended it wasn't with stepper motors in the transmission making it feel like it was shifting gears. It was completely different from the Nv200's at work that drive more like a Mirage or a snowmobile.

I drove some CVT one time that did that. It was insulting ... I felt insulted and disgusted to drive it. OEM Marketing thinks people want to feel shifting, and think they're we're too stupid to know the difference if they fake in some shifts. For maybe 85% of the CVT population that might be true. However, a CVT is advantageous if it works in the way it was born to work (like a snowmobile). Reliability, that's a whole nother issue.

[OrganicFoxes]

To be honest, you CANNOT buy a Versa, until we have an Atlanta Mirage meetup. I'm not allowing it.

hahahha don't you worry, the mirage will still be in the family. Going to feel like a boss with 2 key fobs to choose from when going out. Hm, do I want to take the legal golf cart or the baby altima today?

[OrganicFoxes]

Did the Versa drive like a fake automatic? I drove a customers rogue around the block one time and I knew it was a cvt but it pretended it wasn't with stepper motors in the transmission making it feel like it was shifting gears. It was completely different from the Nv200's at work that drive more like a Mirage or a snowmobile.

Kinda, at lower rpms it feels like a cvt but when you step on it you get those fake shifts. One thing I HATEEE is that the rpms go up whenever I go up a hill of any kind, like it shifts down for no reason even on the slightest hills. Then I have to use more throttle since the engine speed is higher. Every modern Nissan I have ever driven does this and it is insanely annoying. When I get my Versa there are a few cvt "mods" I want to do, one being trying to figure out if I can disable that. Maybe there is an angle sensor or something I can unplug or rig to make it think it is always on a flat surface? No clue but soon I am going to dig into some wiring diagrams and see if it something simple like that.

[OrganicFoxes]

Me too. Do they still offer the Versa with a 5-speed? That's what I would want. Nice post.

They do but only on the base model which is stupid because most are not buying the manual for the lower cost. The manual was also an afterthought and kinda glitchy. If you stall the car it goes into a limp mode and gets all confused. The car also has some type of vtec thing and you can hear it, but they didn't tune it for the manual so it can't even stay in that "vtec mode" when you shift at 6k or so. Not sure how it works, it is def NOT vtec but it's like simulated or something? I really don't know.

[dspace9]

Me too. Do they still offer the Versa with a 5-speed? That's what I would want. Nice post.

I heard that the 5 speed is available only in the USA in the base model Versa. Only auto in Canada for this model year. I'd rather have a stick too, but now I have a girlfriend who wants auto. And I pulled a muscle fairly recently to the point I was in physioththerapy that affects my left leg sometimes even now.

Did the Versa drive like a fake automatic.

This is different from what OrganicFoxes is saying, I found the CVT to be.... like a CVT, no discernable "gears", just higher revs when you step on it.