‘Nissan of a gun, these cars are amazing!’

THE NISSAN Leaf at a recharging station

THE 40-MINUTE shuttle bus ride from Tokyo Big Sight to Nissan Global headquarters was a sneeze—if you’d compare it with Manila’s urban congestion at 9 a.m. While I was torn between basking in Tokyo’s multilevel road network, enjoying the seemingly futuristic view of electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid taxis zipping past our media tour group, or poofing into a ninja nap, the Nissan Global headquarters appeared behind the Sogo department store by the river.

The building, completed in 2009 in time for the 150th anniversary of Yokohama port opening, is a modern testament of how a legendary brand can rise from a decade-long financial crisis, when Japan’s GDP fell by $1 trillion, to become a dominant force in the future of motoring, in particular electric vehicles (zero emission) and autonomous driving (zero fatality).

It’s a monument to Nissan Global CEO Carlos Ghosn’s

Nissan Revival Plan, which commenced from the historic merger of Nissan and French automaker Renault in 1999 to become what many economic analysts consider to be one of the most spectacular corporate turnarounds in history. By 2010, Nissan unveiled the historic Nissan Leaf, the most successful EV and best-selling EV in the world.

And as if on cue, our group chanced upon one along the driveway entrance doing a 30-minute quick charge for 80 percent capacity—about a range of 160 kilometers, about Makati to Tagaytay and back. Not bad at all.

While I looked forward to touring the whole HQ itself including the adjacent Nissan Global headquarter gallery replete with a car showroom, a heritage corridor and a gallery café, we were booked for a more delightful and sensuous activity: test-driving a slew of the most recent Nissan cars—

most of which will not be available in the Philippines because of righthand and legislation (hybrid and EV) restrictions.

There were dizzying choices: the wagon-type subcompacts Dayz and Dayz Roox; the EV van e-NV200; the high-performance Nismo series: Juke

Nismo, Note Nismo, March

Nismo, Fairlady Z Nismo, the hybrid versions of X-Trail and Serena; and finally, the 3.5 Highway Star premium variant of Elgrand.

25-minute intimacy

A quick briefing revealed the choices were made by Nissan for us: we were to take the assigned test cars on a 7.5-kilometer city drive through the tunnels with occasional riverside views in Yokohama, a good 25-minute intimacy with these motor marvels.

X-TRAIL smart rearview mirror

The first of five for me was the white Note Nismo currently displayed in the Tokyo Motor Show. The newest member of Nismo lineup, this car can stun any similar hatchback with specially-tuned HR16DE engine under a custom front grille, front and rear bumpers, side sill protectors, roof spoiler and Nismo Red electronic folding side mirrors.

I was dying to drive this art piece before I wet myself from excitement. The test-drive secretariat’s instructions were pretty simple: follow the preset route on the GPS, obey Japan’s strict speed limit (50 km per hour), turn right at the first intersection when the GPS says turn left, and enjoy. There was no time to get out and set the vehicles for photos or videos, the secretariat emphasized, and mentioned safety and traffic reasons as well. This guy could have read our minds and saw our gung ho intentions.

The push start was nothing new, but the feeling of driving something rare and virginal was so. What I could never get used to in right-hand drive cars, however, was pulling down the wiper lever for signal lights.

For a driver with delusions of alpha male driving a supreme symbolism of male potency and car technology, this frequent fumbling would throw his self-conscious and leave him second-guessing. Perhaps, this was the reason the driver of a blue

e-NV200 in front of me turned left, and I unwittingly followed him, while the voice inside me was screaming with the secretariat’s Brit accent “turn bloody right.”

For the next 30 minutes, I found myself wrestling with a Japanese GPS console and its cryptic, robotic voice while driving through the building bus alleys, pier side streets, a couple of bridges, and finally, a very tall Ferris wheel.

I couldn’t find the Home button—something you can do easily with Waze app through its target icon. And when I did, after swallowing my humongous MacGyver pride and calling the emergency hotline to the secretariat who guided me over the phone, the friggin’ GPS in Kanji led me to the Shinko Clock Tower instead of the Nissan Global headquarters.

From there, I spent the next 20 minutes waiting for the secretariat’s rescue vehicle to guide me back to HQ.

When I arrived at the basement parking, the test-drive personnel informed us that due to time constraint, we should pick our last test unit. I figured I could squeeze two more if I drove fast enough.

So I hopped inside the nearest parked X-Trail Hybrid. The ride was exceptionally quiet, especially below 40 kph when the electric motor was working, shown on the console as a blue LED-lit battery icon. The high stance and view and good suspension of an SUV were readily palpable so there’s a feeling of safety throughout the drive. I had always dreamt of driving a Prius, but this one, I think, was better.

The smart rearview mirror, which showed an unobstructed view of objects behind the vehicle, was also nifty. But I was not sure if the less-than-HD details (vertical lines across) of the smart rearview mirror display were cosmetically pleasant.

Then the most definitive experience of this trip had come: driving the two-seater, 6-speed Fairlady Z Nismo in brilliant white pearl with red trims. Powered by 3,696-cc VQ37VHR engine, especially tuned for Nismo, the Fairlady Z Nismo spelled high-performance. Engine output has been boosted, thanks to a special dual exhaust system and a new ECM (tuning computer).

On paper, it boast of “better cornering performance with excellent stability by way of a custom-tuned suspension system, sportier tires, increased body rigidity, upgraded brakes and a specially-tuned powertrain.”

Well and good. I would have wet myself dry with thrill and excitement but I found it tragic seeing myself driving the most super-duper souped-up car ever—on Yokohama’s stop-and-go traffic and a 50-kph speed limit. In shift stick.