Round two! Ding! Ding! Ding!

MANILA, Philippines – This is not the first time that Nissan Motor Philippines (NMPI) launched the Teana, but this time, the gloves are off. It was back in December of ’08 when I was given the first drive of this car, which if you will recall, was roughly the same time that the world was going through a heavily publicized economic meltdown and most people needed to reach up just to touch the bottom.

Call it cold feet, hot heads or the fear of a lukewarm response, but just as we started to roll the printers for the February 09 issue of C! Magazine, we got a call from a frantic Marketing Manager screaming, “Abort!” It was too late, of course, so we had to run the cover story but were able to change the headlines to: “Missing in Action” And that was the last we heard of the new Teana. Until last weekend at the 3rd Philippine International Motor Show.

In hindsight, it turns out that it would have been the perfect time to launch the car, considering the auto industry’s staggering growth over the last two years, but nobody was to know that back then. Besides, as they say, it’s better late than pregnant.

The Teana sits in the Camry and Accord class and now has one more foe to worry about – the very chiseled Hyundai Sonata. It may not be able to send those brands cowering in fear, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t have its market.

Its biggest selling point is that it can deliver the same regal ride as any of its European counterparts, but at a fraction of the cost. It has all the space you can reasonably expect from this class, all generously wrapped in top quality leather, plus it has that awesome double moon roof. There’s plush carpeting and a very tastefully designed cream-colored interior, plus a smooth and quiet engine that never intrudes into your conversations. It is, I admit, a very pleasant place to spend time in.

The design is quite an aggressive (and welcomed) step forward, and hints at its strong European influences. Handsome may be too strong a word, but it has good road presence and a commanding aura about it; more importantly, it can hold its own on any five star hotel driveway. To put it simply, you won’t be the first person the security guard tries to usher away when you’re not properly parked.

It doesn’t immediately strike you as a Japanese car, which is not entirely unplanned considering it shares the “D” platform with the Renault Laguna, and it’s extremely large shoulders offers plenty of room for five. Basically, it has been improved from every single angle, although I’m really not sure why Nissan chose to do away with the projector lamps up front and conceal the twin exhaust pipes that gave the previous Teana a little more road respect.

Nissan will argue that the Teana has never been about being sporty; still, a few cues would have been nice. But if you’re looking for comfort, it puts forward the most convincing case. It has the supplest ride in its class and is the only one in its price point that features an ottoman as standard. This is a great idea. Problem is, they put it in the wrong seat. Because it is in the front passenger seat, you really do run out of foot well space. I can imagine a child or a very small adult getting full benefit from it, but if you’re old enough to file a tax return, you’ll only be using it as a conversation piece with friends. Maybe they should have called it an ottochild. Then again, it could have been worse. They could have put it on the driver’s seat.

In hindsight, it would have been better to swap that feature for a rear seat recliner – with or without an ottoman. But I will confess, I’m a huge fan of those air-conditioned seats that pipe in cool air through the perforated leather, keeping your backside nice and fresh after a long sweaty trip through Metro Manila traffic.

Aside from the cooling action, the front seats are very comfortable and supportive, featuring 8 way power adjustments and memory for two seating positions. It is complimented by a respectable stereo system that now plays MP3 discs, but strangely, lacks the Bluetooth connectivity for hands free phone usage that is readily available in cars costing half as much.

The faux wood grain treatment works beautifully with the color scheme of the interior, and although it won’t fool the termites, it is one of the nicer shades I’ve seen. The center dash features a huge LCD information center that displays all the vital bits of info, but sadly does not double up as a reverse camera. For a car this big, that would be a welcome feature, but even more worrying was the test unit’s omission of even the garden variety parking sensors.

Previous Teana owners, however, will appreciate the extra bump in power coming from the larger 2.5 liter V6; this may not seem like all that much on paper, but with the addition of a new Xtronic CVT putting it to the ground, it is actually quite noticeable. It delivers 182bhp at 6400rpm, while peak torque creeps in from 3200-5200rpm, giving it more than enough juice in City conditions. Although at a hefty 3368 pounds, a fully loaded out of town jaunt will have you pleading for some extra horses or at least a set of paddle shifters, especially during overtaking maneuvers.

Honestly, it may sound like I’m giving it a hard time, but in fairness, the Teana is very good for what it was designed to do. It just has some incredibly strong competitors to deal with, that’s all. It is a worthy contender that will please the loyalists, but it needs to tone up if it really wants to start taking some decent night sleeps away from Honda, Toyota and now Hyundai. A few more goodies and creature comforts should help lure the odd showroom straggler that is undecided.

Fundamentally, it is a good car. And after two weeks of driving it through just about every road condition imaginable, I would wholeheartedly recommend this car to the type of person that prefers to be chauffeured, and someone who appreciates the extra space; it may not be able to take on the Camry and the Accord at the traffic light dashes, but from the back seat, who cares, right? It is quiet, refined, has a multi-awarded engine capable of returning decent fuel economy when driven sedately, plus it has a trunk big enough to swallow the entire stock market, should it ever come crashing down again soon.