Nissan Cabstar

The Nissan Cabstar has got a very basic looking interior cabin which seems to be frills-free with a minimal amount of comfort and convenience features on offer here. However, what is present in abundance is the number of cubby holes and storage spaces in the cabin, which make it hugely practical.

The two spoke steering wheel with its wide design for the center boss as well as the rectangular panel for the all analog instrument console makes for a very basic looking instrument console. What looks even more plain-jane is the wide center console, which has a broad layout with curved upper and lower surfaces.

This entire center console is divided into multiple compartments – the upper one having a large opened glove box, and two more panels with stacked storage bins, one of which also houses the manual controls for the air conditioner. There are two additional covered glove boxes on both upper and lower layers of the dashboard on the co-passenger side.

In addition to all these storage spaces, the Nissan Cabstar has a few more – center seatback console in between the seats, a multi-purpose box at the back of the cabin and temperature-controlled cup holders at the corners of the dashboard.

The Nissan Cabstar has got the traditional squared-off stance and boxy looks for its passenger cabin. However, there are some interesting design cues which are unique to the Cabstar and sets it apart from the rest of the light-duty trucks on sale.

The frontal stance of the Nissan Cabstar has a rectangular windshield, which has mounts at its lower edges for the very curvy looking overhangs for the large rearview mirrors. The thing which gives the Nissan Cabstar a very striking identity here at the front profile is the extremely long vertically laid trapezoidal headlamp clusters, at the top of which are placed amber-coloured turn indicators, with separate halogen lamps below them. The front grille on the front apron of the Nissan Cabstar looks sleek with its horizontal layout and a horizontal kink at its lower edge.

The side design of the passenger cabin of the Nissan Cabstar looks boxy, and the large looking windows on the sides with their tapered lower window-line make the cabin look even larger. The truck exhibits its basic appeal even more with the bare bones looking wheels with no proper wheel caps as well as curved design for the black plastic door handles. The long rectangular deck at the back of the passenger cabin makes the Nissan Cabstar look long in total.

The Nissan Cabstar feels rugged and well built under its boxy skin, with the truck getting an old school suspension setup of leaf springs at the back and a slightly more modern double wishbone with torsion bar spring at the front. The truck claims a commendable payload capacity of 1820 kgs.

The Nissan Cabstar comes with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine as the standard powertrain option available for it. This engine can be had with either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic gearbox, and with both the transmission options, the maximum power output is rated at 130 PS and peak torque output stands at 178 Nm.

Mirroring its bare basic approach of lack of comfort and convenience features in terms of safety as well, the Nissan Cabstar packs in only the essentials in the form of a driver airbag, reverse parking sensors, engine immobilizer and ABS with EBD and brake assist. However, compared to other light-duty trucks in the market, this list of safety features is the best.

While the petrol engine of the Nissan Cabstar is not as tractable as the diesel engines in most of its competitors, the overall refinement and load-carrying capacity of the truck is praiseworthy for its size and dimensions. The Cabstar promises reliability in its engine and mechanicals, though a few additional features in the passenger cabin would have uplifted its appeal even more.