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FOR some cars, the selling point is exterior styling; think
Mitsubishi Lancer. For others, it’s the pricing—consider the Kia
Picanto. There are those whose deal-clincher is the engine, like the
Honda Accord V6. Or spaciousness, as in the case of the Toyota Hiace
Super Grandia. Or handling, as vaunted by the BMW 3 Series.
Every vehicle has a strong feature that its
assembler likes to harp upon in marketing campaigns. Usually, it’s
the one feature that makes the vehicle stand out from its class
rivals, or the one feature that is not present in the competition.
And in these times of high fuel prices, nothing beats a selling
point that has a direct impact on fuel economy. Hence, you’ll see
print ads for supposedly frugal diesel vehicles or for
small-displacement engines or for some ingenious engine technology
that results in better fuel mileage.
For Universal Motors Corp. (UMC)—distributor
of Nissan commercial vehicles—the best selling point for the new
Navara diesel pickup is the number six. Yes, as in six gears for its
manual transmission. Six gears when the Navara’s mortal rivals
only have five.
Yes, this pickup has other selling points. Its
4x4 version’s 2.5-liter, four-cylinder common-rail turbo diesel
now boasts the most horsepower (172 horsepower [hp]) and the most
torque (403 Newton-meters [Nm]) in its class, besting the Toyota
Hilux 4x4’s 158hp output and the Ford Ranger 4x4’s 380Nm of
torque. At 3,200 millimeters, the Navara’s wheel base is easily
the longest in class, beating those of the Hilux (3,085 millimeters
[mm]) and the Isuzu D-Max (3,050mm). At 225 mm, the Navara 4x4’s
ground clearance is also tallest in class (the Hilux has 212mm and
the Ranger has 207mm). Finally, the Navara’s ladder-type frame
consisting of eight cross members improves upon the conventional
six-cross-member chassis of the competition.
And yet it’s the extra manual gear that Nissan
chooses to trumpet in the Navara’s marketing thrust. Last week, I
found myself joining UMC’s first media activity in ages, aimed at
highlighting the Navara’s aforementioned selling point. The title?
“The Nissan Navara Six-Speed Challenge: The Freedom of Six.” The
event—as is the trend these days—was a
driving-slash-quiz-slash-sports competition among, yes, six teams
tasked to perform, yes, six challenges. Frankly, I was surprised
they didn’t ask us to show up at six in the morning. That would
have driven home the concept of six more thoroughly.
I got paired with Manila Bulletin’s Aris
Ilagan and The Philippine Star’s Jeff Reyes, which meant I had
very low expectations from my team. Especially since one of the
teams we were to compete against had Auto Review’s Ron de los
Reyes and Manila Bulletin’s Anjo Perez as members. About three in
four motoring media contests had been consistently won by either Ron
or Anjo; maybe having kids to support does increase one’s
competitiveness.
The first challenge would prove to be extremely
crucial. A mere quiz on the Navara’s specifications, the exercise
would have been awfully simple were it not for its tricky nature.
The test supplied numerical figures and we were asked to identify
what they were. For instance, “5,230” meant the Navara’s
overall length. The tricky part was that you had to also indicate
the unit of measurement, as stated in a very fine print which nobody
outside my team bothered to read. To make things trickier, the quiz
was “right minus wrong,” evoking memories of the stereotypically
cruel biology teacher you had in high school. Needless to say, all
teams got a negative score in this test—except my team, which got
(ahem!) all correct answers. It pays to always read the fine print.
But you should know that already if you’ve been married once.
The second challenge was all about navigation.
We were required to drive the Navara through specific routes in the
city before we could make our way to our destination in Subic. Here,
Jeff’s navigational skills came in handy. He directed Aris, who
was driving, fluidly through obscure side streets that only a
philandering man would know. Which made the whole thing such a
pleasant surprise, because Jeff has always been a family man. Goes
to show a man could be a monogamist and still know dubious places by
heart. We topped this one, too. Not bad for a team that was already
discussing beer during the breakfast briefing.
The third challenge was the most important, as
it showcased the Navara’s greatest selling point. UMC asked us to
drive on the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway on sixth gear, and
whoever was able to do this the longest won the challenge. This
challenge was given the most number of points, underscoring UMC’s
intent to stress the fact that only the Navara has six forward gears
in its class. So what if this pickup has one more gear than the
others? Well, the more gears a transmission has, the more
fuel-efficient it becomes—not to mention the acceleration is
smoother and the shifting more linear.
If you’ve ever ridden a multi-speed bicycle,
notice that the topmost gear requires the least effort from your
legs. It’s the same with automotive gearboxes. More gears enable
the engine to operate in a more relaxed condition, thereby allowing
it to use less fuel. It is this advantage that UMC wants to tell the
fuel-weary public.
The fourth challenge is sort of just a
confirmation of this whole “six gears are better than five”
thing. It’s a test of fuel economy. Our team consumed 11.19 liters
over a distance of 167.9 kilometers, good for 15 kilometers to a
liter. Our mileage was second only to that of Ron and Anjo’s team,
which extracted 16.6 kilometers from every liter of diesel.
The fifth (off-road driving) and sixth
(tent-pitching/kite-flying/kayaking) challenges were merely icing on
our victory cake. We again first placed in the latter activities, no
doubt due to the expertise Aris had acquired from regularly pitching
a tent in his garage whenever his wife wouldn’t let him inside the
house.
We won the event, to make the story short.
Effortlessly even. And I guess it’s the same degree of ease that
six gears provide any diesel engine. You barely notice it at all,
but it turns out you’re a winner in the end in terms of fuel
savings.
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