Datsun mark their
re-launch with the all-new hatchback, Go. Is it as stunning a package as is its
pricing is attractive? Read on to find out
In Greek
mythology, a phoenix is a bird associated with the sun, obtaining new life by
rising from its predecessor’s ashes. Automobile brand Datsun (‘Dat’ from the
initials of the founders and ‘sun’ from honouring the
sun in the Japanese flag) was in existence from 1931 to 1986, before parent
Nissan phased it out; quite like the mythological bird, though, it was born
again in last year and is all set to launch its first model, the ‘Go’ hatch,
any time now. Will it help the brand to take wing in India? We get behind the
wheel in an exclusive first drive for the media.
A first
look at the car might suggest it comes from two segments higher than it
actually belongs to, because, contrary to what you might expect to see,
exterior design is quite good. Head-on is the best angle to view the car from,
with the blue Datsun badge occupying pride of place at the centre
of the large chrome-ringed hexagonal front grille.The
swept-back headlamps are attractive and make for good visibility as well.
For its size, the Go is amazingly light. Just 769kg. And that means better fuel efficiency
The clean
lines continue along the side as well – a sharp crease starts at the lower edge
of the front door and continues along the side, with an upward kink just before
the rear wheel-arch. The 13-inch tyres look tiny when
viewed in combination with the massive gaps between the tyres
and the wheel-arches.
The rear is
admittedly bland, with the simple tail-lamps and rear hatch doing the style
quotient no favours.
Large headlamps claims to reach wider and
further than those on other cars in this segment
Inside the
car is a somewhat different feeling. The instrument console is dominated by the
large analogue speedo, with a small digital display at its bottom right. The
digital display does include a tacho, instantaneous
and average fuel consumption, and a digital trip meter, but the display itself
is too small to be easily legible and is thus not of much use.
The gear
lever is mounted on the console so as to free some floor space and allow easy
egress for the driver from the passenger side in case the parking space is
tight. The parking brake is the pull-and-twist type; it is simple enough to
operate, but your hand could get caught between the brake and the centre console due to the tight space on offer. Also, with
both the gear and parking brake levers mounted on the centre
console, space in the foot well is tight and your left knee keeps knocking the centre console.
The barebones dashboard does away with a
conventional music system, and the plastic quality feels cheap
Instead of
a conventional music system, the centre console has
the ambitiously named MDS or Mobile Docking Station. Essentially it is a holder
for a mobile phone/tablet/portable music-player and also provides an aux-in
port for audio, a USB port for charging, Bluetooth connectivity, a knob to
control volume and a speaker in each front door. One glaring problem here is
the fact that when you place your mobile phone in the holder, it covers one
complete a-c vent, thus blocking the cold air and also exposing the phone to a
continuous blast of cold air. There are no provisions for speakers in the rear
doors nor in the boot, which does not have a parcel tray either.
The Datsun Go comes powered by a 1.2 litre engine that produces 104 Nm of torque at 4,000 RPM
that is more than sufficient to rapidly accelerate and place the Go at 100 km/hr in under 13.3 seconds
The door
pockets are spacious and include a bottle-holder each, while the glove-box is
the open type and has decent storage space. The overall quality of plastics is
disappointing – they feel low-rent and are quite hard to touch.
Power
windows are available only for the driver and front passenger, and neither the
driver’s door nor the centre console have controls
for the passenger-side window, so the next time you pull over for directions,
you will need to stretch out to operate the passenger window. Also, the wing
mirrors are neither powered nor internally adjustable.
