Diesel do nicely

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Nov 10, 2006

Byline: By Steve Hughes

Nissan is remarkably strong in the diesel car sector, partly due to its shared development with partner Renault.

The Japanese car company has built its reputation upon reliability and durability while he French car giant established itself at the forefront of oil-burning engine technology long before it achieved its current cult status.

Now the two companies are ideally positioned to take advantage of the surge in diesel popularity, which continues its upward trend unabated.

Nissan and Renault share the same 1.5-litre diesel engine for their Micra and Clio models, which in the case of the former is the mid-power 85bhp unit that offer 60mpg economy and 110mph performance with sprightly performance. The same engine is used in the larger Note model, which offers the space of a mid-range MPV for the cost of a supermini, with prices from under pounds 11,000 in diesel form.

The Note is bigger and heavier than the Micra so economy falls to about 55mpg whilst the performance is around 105mph, which are both extremely impressive figures for a 1.5-litre diesel model.

There are also diesels in the X-Trail, Pathfinder, Patrol and Terrano 4x4 ranges, which include a 2.2-litre dCi in the X-Trail, a 2.5-litre in the Pathfinder, a 3.0-litre in the Patrol and a choice of that engine plus a 2.7-litre turbodiesel alternative in the Terrano.

On the second-hand market there are also diesel versions of the Almera compact and Primera family models up for grabs, both of which are impressive in their respective classes.

The only word of warning here is that the Primera was a favourite among private hire companies because of its reliability and durability so it is essential to consider buying only from an established franchised dealer whose cars have been subjected to thorough history checks.