Nissan cube – Day 4
The main purpose of any passenger vehicle is to move people from one place to another. More often than not, how they feel at the end of the trip greatly depends upon how they were delivered, so with that in mind, let’s look at passenger comfort.
The first thing to consider is accessibility. With some vehicles, it’s a torture test. Not so with the Nissan cube. Getting in and out of the cube is a delight, and when I say that, I mean for everyone – young, old and everyone in between. Parents with children who need child seats will love the accessibility of the cube. While getting into the rear seats there are no contortions required, no ducking of heads or climbing past folded seats. There are no restrictions as where to place one’s feet or when seated, having to lean forward, backward, sideways or tilting of one’s head so as to avoid rubbing the scalp against the roof lining.
Without actually being on a 4 hour trip as a rear seat passenger I cannot say with any certainty, but there does seem to be enough space and jiggle room to minimise passenger’s need to ask “are we there yet?” In hard terms, there is just so much real estate and people require a certain portion of it. How much they are allotted seems to be directly proportional to their state of comfort. Given this reality, the Nissan cube has assigned as much room as possible per person, particularly in the rear seats, to make any journey a relative joy.
Let the journey begin
OK – there are 5 cup holders for the rear seat passengers if you count the two in the centre arm rest, and 7 cup holders for the front seat passengers – enough already. That’s an average of 3 each for 4 people and 2 each for 5 passengers (and yes, those calculations are accurate). It’s like manufacturers are obsessed with competing with each other over triviality while losing sight of reality. Somehow I just can’t see a family making a decision to buy a new vehicle based upon the number of cup holders.
While travelling it’s nice to view the outside world especially while motoring along scenic routes and the windows in the Nissan cube are quite generous and are well placed to give adult passengers a good view. However, the waistline of the cube is relatively high and younger passengers may not get the panoramic view experienced by grown-ups. Alternatively they may develop an abnormal appreciation for the sky, clouds and tree tops.
Ventilation
First of all – there are 4 windows – huge windows which can allow huge amounts of fresh air into the vehicle. That’s all assuming the air outside is actually fresh.. Failing that there is both heat and air condition and I can assure you both work quite nicely. Yes the day I picked up the Nissan cube, not only was it raining, it was cold and the efficient heater was appreciated. The next day I was equally impressed with the air conditioning. Canadian weather is becoming more and more like a game or roulette. The controls for the ventilation are intuitive – cool/heat level, distribution and how much – not rocket science. Three push buttons – an ON/OFF for the air conditioner, and ON/OFF for the air recycle and an ON/OFF for the defroster. No need to study the manual and no need to remove winter glove to work the controls.
Music to your ears
Sound entertainment is delivered through 4 Speakers – one in each door. There appears to be a couple of tweeters located on the inside of the A-pillars but if they were speakers – they weren’t emitted any sound that I could detect. Perhaps these are the extra speakers found on the SL model. Regardless, the entertainment system in the Nissan cube does provide good clean sound that is enjoyable at any volume. Just don’t expect it to deliver an orchestral hall experience that can be measured on the Richter scale.
And while we’re on the topic of sound, the flat roof of the Nissan cube does seem to amplify the sound of rain drops. Perhaps this is why there is a wave molded into the roof panel that radiates from the centre outwards – just an observation.
More to come – stay tuned!