Nissan Terrano Review: Price, Specs, Features, Mileage, Variant & More

Click though the slides to read the detailed review of the Terrano compact SUV.

Length: 4,331 mm
Width: 1822 mm
Height: 1671 mm
Wheelbase: 2673 mm
Ground Clearance: 205 mm
Turning Radius: 5.2 meters (same as Duster)

You may think the Terrano and Duster are the same vehicles in different skins. Turns out, Nissan has done some work altering its vehicle's dimensions. The Terrano is actually 16 mm longer and has an overall height that is 14 mm shorter than its Renault counterpart. Since the ground clearance remains the same the Terrano has a slightly lower head room.

Like we said, Nissan's design department has paid special attention to Terrano's styling to make it stand apart from the Duster. Looking at the face of the Terrano it is instantly recognizable as a vehicle belonging to the Nissan family.

The 'Heritage Grille' as Nissan calls it, with its broad chrome ‘V' shaped bars, is characteristic of most new Nissan vehicles worldwide. Be it the Pathfinder, X-Trail, Qashqai or the Juke crossover. It symbolises toughness and we agree that it certainly looks more rugged than the Duster.

The headlights are entirely different from the Duster. And we must say, the angular design looks much more modern than the Renault's rounded units. The headlights have a thin black surround. The projector style fog lamps arereminiscent of the Duster.

Changes at the rear are not as extensive as in the front. The only difference are the tail lamp clusters. The clusters are split in the middle, with one-half appearing on the boot door. This adds variety to SUV's look.

The side is where the Terrano and Duster resemble the most. There are some minor differentiating factors though, which, when pointed out become obvious. For instance, the B & C-pillars are blacked out, instead of being body coloured like the Duster.

The roof rails look and feel solid enough to hold a reasonable amount of weight in place. Besides being functional, they also add to the sportiness of the SUV. Also, unlike in the Duster, the entire length of the rails appear in the same shade of colour.

The two top end variants get 16 inch diamond-cut machined alloy wheels, with a design unique to the Terrano.

The dual tone outside rear view mirror caps are standard. The mirror positioning controls are placed between the front seats near the hand brake lever, like in the Duster. Something that is not preferred by everyone.

Anyone who's been inside a Duster will be instantly at home in the Terrano. The interior is familiar. To start with, the changes that do appear come in the form of a differently shaped chrome trimmed central air-vent...

The steering wheel on the Terrano has silver coloured plastic inserts. Surprisingly, steering column mounted quick access buttons are missing even in high end trims. Particularly, since the Duster features this. The buttons (remote control) are however, available as an optional attachment that can be strapped on to the steering wheel.

The storage compartment at the top of dash comes with a lid, making it more useful. Whereas, the Duster comes without the lid.

The beige and black dual tone dash on the other hand, will be missing in the base trim. It has instead been provided with an all black dash. The audio system in the Terrano is also not the same as the Duster.

The cabin is spacious, with ample legroom. The driver seat height has two adjustment settings. Even with the slightly lowered roof the headroom is still sufficient enough.

The rear seats comfortably seat three adults, with decent leg room. These seats can also be folded to expand boot space.

The silver trimmed inner door handles, power window controls and door mounted speakers have been picked up as it is from the Duster.

The boot offers 475 liters of storage area (same as the Duster). With the rear seats folded, this goes up, to a cavernous 1064 liters.

Nissan Terrano comes with three engine options - a 1.6 liter petrol and the 1.5 K9K turbo diesel which comes in two states of tuning.
For complete engine variant details you may read our earlier post.

Six and five speed manual transmission options are on offer, which drive the front wheels. Recent rumors speak of an all-wheel driven Terrano that could make an appearance soon, as a way to differentiate it from the lower priced Duster.

Mechanically, the Terrano is exactly the same as the Duster, inheriting all of its positives. The Terrano feels comfortable while cruising on the highway. Turbo lag in the diesel unit, though present, will soon be forgotten once the engine rpm hits mid-range. The vehicle feels well planted even at high speeds, without any significant vibration.

Nissan claims a mileage of 13.2 kmpl for the petrol, 20.45 kmpl for the 85PS diesel and 19.01 kmpl for the 110 PS, which is once again the same as the Duster. Considering the Terrano and Duster weight about the same the real world mileage figures of both vehicles would be similar.

Terrano comes in five trim levels of XE, XL, XL Plus, XV and XV Premium
Driver airbag
Engine immobilizer
Central locking
Seat belt with retractor on all seats
Power window
Keyless entry
Power steering with tilt
Foldable rear seats
Adjustable front seat headrests
Integrated 2 DIN audio system with CD/MP3/AM/FM, USB, Aux-in, and Bluetooth (except for XE trim).

16 inch machined alloy wheels
Silver finish on roof rails
Chrome tipped exhaust
Leather seats covers & leather strapped steering wheel (XV Premium only)
Lumbar support
Passenger side airbag
Rear parking sensors
Rear AC vents with independent control and cigarette lighter.
Touch screen infotainment system (optional)

Bronze Grey, Pearl White, Blade Silver, Sapphire Black, Sterling Grey, Fire Red.

Nissan Terrano XL (104PS petrol): INR 9,79,300
Nissan Terrano XE (85PS diesel): INR 9,59,999
Nissan Terrano XL (85PS diesel): INR 10,66,300
Nissan Terrano XL Plus (85PS diesel): INR 10,94,050
Nissan Terrano XL (110PS diesel): INR 11,33,300
Nissan Terrano XV (110PS diesel): INR 12,16,350
Nissan Terrano XV Premium (110PS diesel): INR 12,46,350

Everything good that can be said about the Duster holds good for the Terrano. Performance on the highway, handling in the city, features among others. However, remember that the Terrano will also cost at leat Rs 50,000 more. For the premium you pay what you get is a more agressive looking vehicle, with a few extra features thrown in.

Considering how the car actually looks and for the extra bucks being spent, Nissan could perhaps have made appropriate changes to make the Terrano perform better than the Duster while driving off-road.

However, if you prefer to stick to the road all the time and prefer its looks over the Duster, then the Terrano would be the right choice to make.