Nissan Serena - minivan with twenty-two-year experience

Nissan Serena - a roomy and comfortable minivan that has survived three modifications since the beginning of production in 1990: C23 - 1990-2000, C24 - 2000-2005, C25 - 2005 and until now with restyling in 2012. Firm Nissan with enviable persistence does not deliver these cars officially to Russia and the CIS countries, despite a large number of owners and fans of such minivans.

The pedigree of minibuses of personal use with intra-body transformers is usually started from the famous Toyot's model Lite Ace. The answer of the other two Japanese auto giants were the Honda Stepwgn models and our heroine Nissan Serena. Until 1992, it was produced only in Japan, and then it was produced in Spain with the left rudder. Machines such modification C23 had a longitudinally located engine, rear-wheel drive and spring suspension from the rear, in contrast to the spring - in front. On the Nissan Serena with the most powerful engines: a 16-valve 2-liter gasoline, rated at 140 hp, and a 2.3-liter diesel with 75 hp. Since 1993, there has been a permanent all-wheel drive. In the hands of an experienced driver, such minivans cope with Russian country roads better than a multitude of parquet SUVs.

In 2000, the configuration of the Nissan Serena changed fundamentally: the engine was placed transversely with the drive to the front wheels, the rear suspension was made spring and independent, and the sliding doors were added from both sides. "Modernized" is also the interior decoration and design. The engines were reduced to two variants: a 2-liter gasoline engine with a capacity of 145 hp, and a 2.5-liter turbodiesel with a power output of 150 hp. And the last complete set was a marketing move for the European amateurs of powerful diesel engines.

The release of the modification of the C24 coincided with the time of the creation of the alliance Renault Nissan. But the real fruits of the merger of these auto-giants came in 2005, when the Nissan Serena minivan was released on the C platform, the C25 modification. Platform C, which is also used, for example, in the production of Nissan Lafesta and Renault Megane, allows to maximally unify and reduce the cost of production of externally different machines with the overall design and technology base of the engine chassis. The designers of cross-platform cars focus on inexpensive but impressive changes of hinged body parts and other minor innovations, such as rain sensors and "smart electronics". All this looks very impressive, but if the operation of the car is "non-heated", then the first breakage introduces into stupor the majority of "specialists" from service and repair centers. True, this is a trend not only and not so much Nissan, but the current global automotive industry in general.

In 2010, the minivan Nissan Serena went through design and electronic restyling, and in 2012 there was even released a hybrid version. However, the hybridization of the Serena S-Hybrid is half-way: with an electrical installation of 2.5 hp. It is only able to save fuel by helping the internal combustion engine in certain situations.

Minivan Nissan Serena, reviews about which are positive, you can consider a reliable car. Check it out for yourself! In Russian-language forums, it is sometimes mistakenly called Nissan Sirena, it is well-known to many drivers from Russia and CIS countries. It is often discussed, especially the description of the trip to the Nissan Serena from the Amur region to the Black Sea and back to the 40-degree frost without a single breakdown. Of the advantages are a large and comfortable glazing area of the body, an excellent overview for the driver, a "long-playing" and reliable suspension, a powerful enough, economical and reliable motor, ease of operation, a small turning radius. Among the shortcomings mention low ground clearance, unreliable ropechair cable, noisy motor at high revs, in older models access to the engine only from the cabin, in the latest versions - congestion by electronic automatics.

In conclusion, I want to say that the model, which is produced more than 20 years, is a uniquely successful solution. Secondly, modifications before 2000 and after it - two constructively and technologically different cars - pay attention to this.