Hello hello. Fellow N18-generation Almera VLT owner here. I've been keeping an eye on this thread before I got mine last year. I opted out of the Tomei bodykit even though it was offered free at the time because I actually prefer how it looks without (still has the stock black bootlid spoiler though). Feels like a bit of a dead weight to me tbh.

I'm not sure if it's even a white car thing or a paint quality thing - could just be the environments you're driving through. I have mine in Monarch Orange and it picks up stuff too depending on the weather and dirt in the environment.

I'm curious about the 360 camera's speed limit too. I've never had to use it past certain speeds where it cuts off but let me know if all it takes is a software tweak.

Haven't felt any issues with shifting from P to D, etc. If this hasn't always been the case for you, you might wanna get it checked.

As for getting stuff changed within the warranty period, I think they'll only entertain your requests if they officially diagnose a problem, so there's that.

If around 110km/h and below, no issue. Just tried up to 140km/h along Kesas highway between Klang and PJ and it doesn't feel too stable and a little floaty, so I brought the speed back down to 100km/h. The stretch of highway along Kesas near Shah Alam is not even and undulating but still that is no excuse for the floaty feeling of the vehicle. Due to the light weight of the vehicle, it's not very stable at high speeds up to say 130 or 140km/h but if around 110km/h it should be fine.

For city driving it's quite perfect due to the light steering(easy to manoeuvre) and low petrol consumption. For highways, no issue at legal speed limits but floaty feeling at higher speeds.

It looks OK but in reality the car is really struggling at that speed. I've not driven the car past 140km/h as it is mostly used for city driving.

This Almera has a small 1.0-litre turbocharged engine and the nature of this design is to save fuel. With hard acceleration or driving at high speed, the engine emits a loud and weird sound as the roar of the engine is different from naturally aspirated engine, and it's not a pleasant sound. It's a loud and unpleasant high pitch tin can sound from the small turbo engine if you drive the car aggressively. The sound from the engine gives you a feeling that you are abusing it if the driver does hard acceleration or hitting close to top speed. It's the opposite experience with a powerful 2.0 litre NA engine where the normal robust roar of the engine gives you a feeling of assurance that the vehicle is doing fine even if you push it hard.

FWIW I don't feel confident driving the Almera turbo at high speed even at 140km/h due to the soft floaty suspension, and would be less inclined to abuse the car by driving at higher speeds due to the small capacity turbo engine. The nature or advantage of this vehicle is good fuel economy at low city speeds driving and a smooth, comfortable and quiet drive. I actually feel much safer doing 200+ km/h in the Ford Focus than 140km/h in the Almera. The Ford is not only much more powerful but a stable car when driven at high speeds. Well, that's another story. Horses for courses. Most people usually buy Nissan for smooth, comfortable and quiet drive. If you want speed and power then there are better choices, in my experience.

Right, in terms of stability at high speeds, as I mentioned earlier the fastest I've traveled so far, only once is hitting 140km/h along Kesas highway between PJ and Klang. Along one stretch of the highway it's very undulating and it's where the car lost its composure. Perhaps on good levelled highways the car is stable at higher speeds. However, in direct comparison to the Ford Focus the stability of the car is down two or three notches. The Focus kept its composure very well even though the roads are undulating and not even. Somehow the suspension or chassis is able to contribute to the overall stability of the vehicle when travelling at high speeds even on undulating and uneven roads. The same cannot be said with the Almera as the feeling of the vehicle losing control is prevalent when travelling at high speeds on uneven roads. The wobble or sway of the vehicle from left to right is significantly higher.

As for the loud and annoying tin can roaring sound from the turbo engine, I was referring to pedal to the metal whenever one does hard acceleration. With slow build up of speed ie half pedal to metal, the sound from the engine is still acceptable and not too loud. When travelling close to top speed, one would need to pedal to the metal or you won't get close to the desired speed, so you will get this loud and weird sound from the turbo engine. The message I'm trying to convey from the aforementioned points is it's not advisable to drive the car aggressively by doing pedal to the metal at any given speed ie.when cruising at 60km/h you suddenly wish to quickly burst to 100km/h, or driving close to top speed as shown in the video above since this will put a lot of stress to the small capacity engine, coupled by the loud and weird high pitch tin can sound from the turbo engine. The Almera is not suitable to be driven aggressively anyway as in attacking corners and bends at higher speeds due to the loose steering which does not have much feel. It's more for slow, comfort, quiet and sedate driving, and in this area the Almera excels.

sorry kinda disagree for 0w20 engine oil wear out faster etc, if u read thru the other section of Engine Oil Reviews/Technical talk, with engine oil analysis, the 0w20 provides great protection for the engine. why 0w20 or 0w16 nowadays are purely for better fuel economy but same time they provide great protection from fully synthetic-based oil. Only old man workshop keep pushing customer to use 5w40 cz out hot weather etc. Summary, use manufacturer recommended viscosity.

3 cylinder vs 4 cylinder, again due to fuel economy reason.

What is the service interval anyway? For my Porsches and the Merc, it’s once a year… what’s it for the Japanese makes?

Thanks bro. My cars are all 10k or a year … which was very different from the early cars that I used to drive. Back then it was something like 5k or 6 months for my first Honda City!

as mentioned, there are few oil analysis sample for 0w20 on the thread mentioned, no issue for engine concern, let alone heat at high speed. GT86 with 0w20 no issue for the engine wearing etc. Again follow car manufacturer's engine oil viscosity.
btw the same engine 1.0T use 10k km service interval while TCM use shorter interval for profit?

Yes agreed. This Almera is very good for KL city driving. We haven't brought it to outstation highway trip yet but believe it would be equally satisfactory when traveling within the speed limit or slightly above.

As for cornering capabilities, I haven't really driven the car like I used to on my (currently sold) Ford Focus since the Almera is mainly driven by my dad. However, it's decently capable mainly due to suspension. IT's just the steering feel which lacks feedback, accuracy and sharpness for spirited drives but in normal driving there are no complaints. In other words the steering of the Almera feels a bit loose.

Yes, I did look at the Ultra Racing bars before as Nissan's service centre actually provide installation of these Ultra racing bars Stage 1 and 2. However, I didn't proceed with it as I felt that the Almera is fine as it is and for the fact that we are all satisfied by the way it handles, as a family-orientated comfort sedan. I don't drive the way I used to drive (on the Ford Focus) as it's now mostly slow and sedate driving. Nowadays the criteria is more to slow and comfort driving than fast and furious racing on the race tracks.