AURORA | When death, taxes and the $100 barrel of crude oil were the only three things you could count on, small commuter cars dominating the roads seemed just as certain.
The future seemed full of miserly engines that ran roughshod through acres of wasteful sheet metal, to teach us that karma from a decade of Hummers would manifest revenge via slow-moving traffic jams.
I am wrong. I can admit that — now.
The crystal ball certainly didn’t portend the 2015 Nissan Versa Note, nor its many competitors. In a world full of $55 crude barrels (the price as of press time) and semi-affordable gallons of gas, it would almost be certain that road warrior gas-guzzlers would make meat of econoboxes in a Texas-esque universe of excess. (I might be getting carried away, I know.)
But the small entry cars like the Nissan Versa Note exist for an reason: they’re stepping stones for the brand: Buy the small guy now and afford the big guy later. As a result, we’re still living in a very good era for small cars.
For that reason, a huge importance is still placed on cars like the Versa Note. Although the economies of scale allow huge global carbuilders to eek some kind of profit from the massively made, lowly priced cars (a very small number) for the most part, these cars are “loss leaders” for manufacturers. These itty-bitty cars are the $400 flat-screen TVs to get you through the door, hopefully you’ll buy more to justify staying open for 24 hours through every holiday. Jeez.
Which brings us to the Versa Note. It’s cousin, the Versa, used to be the most affordable car in America at under $10,000 off the lot. For that much, you bought a working engine, hand-cranked windows and a horn. Don’t ask for floor mats or a wash — just get off the lot. Nowadays the Versa doesn’t carry that distinction, and quite frankly, it doesn’t want to. The Versa Note — the Note signifies that it’s a hatchback — starts at under $15,000 and is still the better pick between the sedan or 5-door model. (The fifth door is technically the hatch.)
For just over $16,000 to start the Versa Note is equipped with a Bluetooth hands-free system, rear backup camera, 40-mpg highway fuel economy and automatic transmission. All models come with a standard 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine with only the base model offering a 5-speed manual, the rest are paired with an automatic.
For 2015 Nissan introduced the SR model, which is the sportier-looking package with bigger front and rear bumpers, fog lights and 16-inch alloy wheels. Our test model was an SR and from the exterior, it would be the likely pick for anyone with a Y chromosome. To be fair, the Ford Fiesta — one of the Versa Note’s competitors — may still look a little more aggressive in comparison, but the exterior is slightly better this year.
And in the game-of-inches battle for budget buyers, the little stuff can make a huge difference. Inside the Versa Note is plenty spacious, with seating for five and 60-40 rear folding seats in the back. The rear seats don’t immediately fold flat, but that didn’t bother us much picking up and hauling plenty of big cargo from Walmart with the rear seats down. The interior of the Versa Note is really the selling point, as the car seems much bigger on the inside than outward appearances would let on. The Honda Fit, by comparison, is slightly smaller on the inside and has 2 fewer cubic feet of cargo room.
As we wound through city streets, going from stoplight to stoplight, the Versa Note was confident, albeit a little taxed. The 1.6-liter Nissan engine, which produces 109 horsepower isn’t as powerful as the Fit, but it really didn’t matter in stop-and-go traffic. Accelerating 0-60 takes almost 10 seconds, which happens on busy city streets approximately never. On the interstate however, punching the car up to 65 mph felt like a bigger ask.
Chalk its leisurely pace up to a carefully programmed transmission, designed to wring every drop of gas for every mile it’s worth, or a heavy holiday lunch, but the Versa Note isn’t much of a speed demon. It’s fine, but it seemed like the Versa Note didn’t have the same punch and fun of driving a Fiesta. A smarter man once said that it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast, than drive a fast car slow. We agree.
But for what it is, the Versa Note is a solid entry in an automakers’ world of creating good impressions that will last into bigger, more expensive cars later. What the Versa Note SR makes headway in exterior styling, maneuverability and interior capacity it lags in drivability and creature comforts. (Younger buyers will almost inevitably buy a better stereo.)
Our tester clocked in at just over $19,000 with a 5-inch color display, satellite radio ($660) and floor mats ($180). And for a car that seemed on the march toward cheap-car domination only a few years ago, that’s still good value for money.