X-Gear moves Livina into top gear
By: Henrie Geyser
Nissan has added a new model with Camel Man features to its popular Livina range. It's called the Livina X-Gear and its quite a cool little wanna-be muscle man.
It has hints of its X-Trail and Qashqai DNA but it doesn't have any rough stuff abilities nor was it designed for the mud-and-sand playgrounds of its bigger brothers.
It's a cool city slicker that scores brownie points for cute and cheeky, rather than for punch and bundu-bashing. And as plaything for fun-loving outdoorsy types or as a trendy small family runabout it certainly deserves the title of flagship of the range.
Besides its cutesy-pie looks, it is light on juice, boasts with impressive specifications and is very attractively priced.
There are two specification levels to choose from - the X-Gear Visia at R140,000 and the X-Gear Acenta at R152,500 (which to me is the most attractive option of the two and well worth the extra R12,500).
The X-Gear is powered by a 1.6-litre petrol engine that produces 80kW and 153Nm of torque which is enough for it to gallop happily along at 120 km/h with four big boys aboard. If you give it the whip it will get to about 180 km/h, although probably not in record-breaking time.
On our test drive between Lanseria Airport and Parys it seemed a little lacking in pep, particularly in higher gears. But, in mitigation, it was quite windy and the vehicle was brand new and probably still a tad stiff in the oily bits. And the energy-sapping Reef altitude doesn't help much either.
But once it gets to legal speeds (and a dash more) the progress is very pleasant. The living quarters are well-insulated and there is very little engine, road or wind noise.
The steering is light, but not enough for it to become vague and it makes parking a pleasure.
Nissans have good gear boxes and the five-speed manual shift on the X-Gear is a pleasure to play with.
Driven like a good citizen it should sip about 7.1-litres per 100 kilometres in a combination of city and open road driving and the other good news is its low emissions of only 165g/km which should please the Save the Planet prophets.
Little tough guy features that really make the X-gear look good are roof rails, bold front and rear bumpers, matt black over fenders, door guard finishers, side sill protectors and nifty 15-inch alloys.
The cabin is attractively decorated in black and silver, and the black upholstery (although bum-burning warm in summer) is practical and easy to wipe and vacuum once sticky fingers, dog hairs and salty wetsuits come in to play.
The girls and boys with their toys will like the 60/40 rear seat split and the fact that the front passenger seat can be tilted to transport lengthy items such as surf boards, wake boards or skis of up to 2.40m long.
Comfy features include electric windows and air conditioning and the Acenta even brags with an in-dash radio 6 CD front loading audio system.
Driver airbags come standard on both derivatives and the Acenta also has a passenger airbag. Both variants have a high mounted stop lamp and front seat belt pretensioners and the Acenta really impresses with ABS brakes, Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist.
Although it has a typically boxy SUV shape the X-Gear handles the corners really well, thanks to good body rigidity and a suspension system made up of struts in front and an H-shaped torsion beam layout at the rear with internal rebound springs and ripple-control shock absorbers.
Both variations come standard with Nissan's anti-theft security system (NATS) which includes remote keyless entry, immobilizer and panic alarm and they have also been “marked” with Nissan's Microdot theft deterrent.
Service intervals are every 15,000km and the X-Gear prices include a three-year/60,000km service plan and a three-year/100,000km warranty.
Nissan is already a key player in the competitive B segment of the market with reputation-builders such as Micra, its existing Livina models and Tiida and the new X-Gear is more than capable of holding its head up high in this exulted company.
More by Henrie Geyser
More...ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Henrie Geyser has worked as a journalist in Cape Town, London and Windhoek for the Argus Company (now Independent Newspapers) and spent 12 years at The Cape Argus in Cape Town. He then owned and ran a public relations consultancy for 13 years. He joined the online publishing industry through iafrica.com, where he worked for five years as News Editor and Editor. He now freelances for a variety of print and online publications, on the subjects of cars, food and travel, among others; and is a member of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists.
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