Nissan Carnival: Patrol and Leaf Showcased

Nissan marked 10th year of its operations in India by holding an experiential event that showcased some of its products and cutting-edge technology. I happened to be there; at the Nissan CARnival at the Buddh International Circuit this Friday, and boy was it fun! Usually I wouldn't deem the experience of driving 4 cars for a total of 20 minutes over the course of 5 hours, fun. However, this was totally worth it. I will explain.

First, I drove 3 cars around 2 slaloms. I tend to get a little nervous when someone's watching me, irrelevant of what I am doing. Anyway, I got into a Nissan Sunny first, and after knocking down 2 cones in my first lap, I only drove over the corners of 1-2 of them in the second. I had done well, but I wanted to take a shot at it in the Micra - I was sure I would do better in it. Turns out I wasn't wrong; I aced it. Sure, I didn't speed my way around it, but I was happy.

Up next was the Nissan Leaf - my first time with an electric vehicle and a left-hand drive. Just so you know, the left-hand drive bit didn't matter much because one can't truly understand the difference unless it has been driven in city traffic. Moving on, the slalom set-up for the Leaf wasn't 'tight' - quite unlike the one for the Sunny and the Micra - perhaps they didn't want any harm to befall their precious. Not like one could have done much with it there.

Last one on the list was the Nissan Patrol, and I haven't seen anything as surefooted as this 400bhp monster. The folks at Nissan had set-up an 'off-roading' section to allow attendees to experience the SUV's prowess. Well, there were 2 such sections, but I only had the time for the 'tame' one. I enjoyed it anyway. I drove it over a dune, and honestly, it was a tad scary; at one point, the only thing in my line of vision was the sky. That's exactly when I was screaming internally, and the instructor went, "How is the view up there?" The best part was the fact that the Patrol was at much ease as the instructor. If it could talk, it would have told me, "Quit being such a baby, and bring it on! You don't know the things I can do." No kidding.

All in all, it was a great day - long after the drive had ended too.