The redesigned Nissan Versa has many virtues and a couple of vices for the price of a song

The designed 2012 Nissan Versa small sedan is a little longer with a slightly lower roofline. (Photos courtesy of Nissan)

BY MARK MAYNARD

The once subcompact Nissan Versa sedan has been re-engineered on a larger platform and restyled with enough interior capacity to push it into the compact class – but with subcompact pricing.

With starting prices ranging from $11,750 to around $18,000, Versa now has more appeal, ranging from misers to young families. It has incredible back seat room and a trunk for elephants.

Versa is still sold in hatchback body style, too, but it is unchanged for 2012.

The sedan has the same width as before but is a half-inch longer and not as tall on the same wheelbase of 102.4 inches. The exterior styling may not be head-turning, but it is much more proportionately sound than the old model.

The interior is neat and tidy with some creative swirls, sweeps and arcs to break up the black plastic.

Starting prices for the Versa sedan range from $11,750 to around $18,000.

Versa sedan pricing

Pricing ranges from $11,750 to around $18,000, including the $760 freight charge.

The base model comes with a five-speed manual and air conditioning, a two-speaker audio system, stability and traction controls, and six air bags. For a baseline comparison, the base Honda Civic does not have standard AC or a radio.

The S model can be optioned with a continuously variable automatic transmission, $1,770, and such niceties as cruise control, two rear speakers, a trunk light, and some silver trim accents, which aren’t allowed on the penny-pinching base car.

Moving up to the SV with CVT, $15,320, will add more conveniences, such as cruise control, power windows and locks, remote locking, upgraded seat cloth, some chrome and silver trim accents.

The top-line SL, today’s tester, starts at $16,320 and was $17,190 as tested.

Check current Nissan Versa pricing here.

Versa sedan performance

All models are powered by a 109-hp, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine and five-speed manual or second-generation CVT. Nissan says the continuously variable transmission has gearing typical of a seven-speed transmission.

Fuel economy is 27 mpg city, 36 highway on regular unleaded, or 30/38 mpg with the CVT. That compares to the Civic at 28/39 and the Hyundai Accent at 30/40.

Performance is decent but with some engine noise on uphill grades as the transmission adapts to the load. I made a three-hour round-trip run to LAX and could have driven longer. Ride quality is good for this class, but there is some wind push from big trucks on the highway and road noise on concrete surfaces. The high seat point helps visibility and easy entry.

Interior Features

Interior spaciousness is deceiving from the outside. There is front seat room for a 6-foot-5 male with a 6-foot male sitting comfortably in the back seat. There is no rear center headrest, but the SL model does have a split-folding back seat to boost the 14.8-cubic-foot trunk.

One of the Versa virtues of soft armrests is gone (not hard now, but not as cushy as they once were). And for long-distance commuters, an option for a front center armrest/storage box would be welcome (Hyundai does this for Accent). And don’t expect a vanity mirror on the driver’s side, only the passenger side.

There is much attention paid to a 40 mpg highway rating in the latest crop of small cars. But Versa is credible for its 30 mpg city and multi-function capacity.

The front-seat headroom will accommodate a 6-foot-5 male with a 6-foot male sitting comfortably in the back seat.

The 2012 300 SRT8 is a show of force and finesse with its 470-hp, 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 and 5-speed Auto Stick transmission.

New car test: Chrysler 300 SRT8 with the big, tire-smoking Hemi gives a big-guns salute that will make American sedan drivers sit a little taller in the seat.

This 470-horsepower, “big” Hemi, 6.4 liter V-8 is a likeable, over-the-top show of force – with luxury finesse. It will smoke the rear tires like a drag car, launch to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds and get 23 mpg on the highway on the daily commute.

Redesigned last year, the 300 sedan is an example of company survival. Engineers, designers and CEO agreed on a goal and went to work. The new styling is a revolution when it could so easily have defaulted to evolutionary change.

 For a closer look: http://veh.cl/31c

Nitpicky issues

The previous sedan, which went on sale in 2005, was a good car with nitpicky issues – weak interior quality and cheap-looking plastics not worthy of a flagship sedan. All that has been resolved and the 2012 model rolls as quietly as the best luxury European sedans.

There are 10 models of 300 with choices of rear- and all-wheel drive, the new Pentastar V-6 and two Hemi V-8s. Big news for the V-6 models is the addition of an eight-speed automatic. The extra gearing pushes V-6 highway fuel economy to 31 mpg for rear-drive cars and 23 mpg combined city and highway. AWD sedans will get a combined 21 mpg city/highway.

Pricing ranges from about $28,000 to $50,000-plus for the top-line SRT8, today’s test car.

Serious displacement

The 300 SRT8 has a big, booming drive quality. For a sedan that weighs 4,365 pounds, the beefed up hydraulic steering has a direct feel and crisp response. There is no grab from the mighty Brembo disc brakes. And power roll on is smooth and linear – but when those big guns go off, you know you’ve been hit with some serious displacement.

A new “active” exhaust system also allows straight-through  passage to mid and rear mufflers for that heavy sound ’o power.

The five-speed Auto Stick is the last of the old that needs updating, but Chrysler isn’t saying when that will be for the V-8s. Automatic shifting is aimed for fuel consumption, with the engine switching to four cylinders when possible.

Sport mode – selected on the billboard size digital screen on the center stack – amps up the excitement, but manual shifts are inelegantly performed and with no engine-rev-matching downshifts. Sport mode also stiffens the suspension nicely for enhanced grip but it, elegantly, does not hammer the occupants.

The 8.4-inch color touchscreen has a performance page that includes timers for 0-60 mph, eighth and quarter mile. There also is 60-0 mph braking distance and lateral and longitudinal g-forces. But it’s still awkward that Sport mode can only be selected on-screen and not by a handy-to-reach button.

Performance numbers

Chrysler says the 300 SRT8 will do 0-60 mph in the high 4-second range; the quarter mile in the high 12-second range; and 0-100-0 mph in less than 16 seconds. It has a top speed of 175 mph and takes 120 feet to stop from 60 mph. Also standard with any SRT8 model is a performance-driving course (www.DriveSRT.com)

And the driving is an enjoyable hands-on experience. There’s room at the steering wheel for a robust, 6-foot-4 male and even good back seat legroom for those behind. The panorama moonroof, $1,295, opens the cabin experience and can be enjoyed open at highway speeds, while most of these whip up painful buffeting.

The interior has snap and sparkle, especially with the no-cost option of red leather. Two large gauges are bright with Sapphire Blue lighting and chrome in an appealing Rolex-like treatment. The leather-wrapped and heated SRT steering wheel has a flat bottom to help thigh room.

Heated and ventilated front seats are standard (back seats are heated) and also standard are heated and cooled front cup holders. The generous 16.3 cubic-foot trunk is expandable by a 60/40 folding seatback.

The soft-touch “cast-skin” plastic used on the dash top and door panels is almost too skin-like with a rubbery-rich feel. Some of the old plastic is still visible down low in the car where it really doesn’t matter.

The 300 SRT8 sticks its big and bold Audi-like nose in the center of credible competitors from the East and West, but when the tire smoke clears, this is American performance at its best.