EVALIA: WINNING THE FAMILY SPACE RACE
Providing room for seven in passenger car comfort
- Affordable family transport - Family resistant
- Space for seven adults and luggage
- Best in class load space
- Easy to drive, cheap to operate
- Practical sliding side doors
- Innovative equipment available including parking camera
- Built in Spain for Europe
‘Affordable family transport' usually means ‘basic'. Not in the case of the Nissan Evalia. In addition to seating up to seven in spacious surroundings, Evalia performs like a car and rides like a car. It is blessed with passenger car comfort levels and passenger car features.
Evalia starts from a very strong base: the award winning Nissan NV200, the International Van of the Year 2010. Despite its compact overall dimensions, NV200 has unmatched interior space and the result is an unbeatable combination of practicality and comfort.
"The same qualities that led to the crowning of NV200 as International Van of the Year can be found in Evalia. It's compact, easy to drive and extremely practical but it has the added benefits of comfortable seating for up to seven and many passenger car characteristics.
"Best of all it feels like a passenger car with quality features such as unique cloth trim, aluminium-like surrounds to the dials and centre console full trim ," said Sebastien Danvel, General Manager, Marketing Vans and Trucks, Nissan Europe.
Available with either five or seven seats, Evalia has ample room for passengers and their luggage - even the rearmost pair of seats can take adults in comfort. With all the seats in place, there's 900 litres of load space available. But with the rear seats folded, that available rises to a remarkable 2,900 litres.
Like NV200, Evalia has a choice of three engines: two diesels and one petrol. All are fully Euro 5 compliant and offer an ideal combination of performance and frugality.
Evalia in detail
Designed in Japan but with key contributions from Nissan's European RD and design facilities, Evalia is built alongside NV200 at Nissan's Barcelona manufacturing plant in Spain.
Using a version of Nissan's B-platform, Evalia has enhanced handling and ride comfort. Its compact external dimensions - 4.4m long, 1.86m tall and 1.69m wide - make it ideal for threading in and out of traffic.
Parking, too, is exceptionally easy, thanks to the standard electric power steering. The side doors slide open and shut allowing passenger ingress and egress no matter how little space there is between parked cars. A rear view camera - standard or an option depending on the model grade and country - also helps to make parking and manoeuvring as easy as possible.
The clean, functional design combines styling cues from Nissan passenger cars but adds a few unique features such as the dramatic upswept swage line framing the door glass. The side windows extend virtually the full length of the vehicle, and are unencumbered by doorframes or body pillars to complete a pure, uncluttered look. For much the same reason, door handles are flush rather than proud of the bodywork.
At the front, Evalia has a new interpretation of the Nissan grille which flow into the slim wraparound headlights. Chrome highlights on the grille distinguish Evalia as do the body colour bumpers, doors handles and door mirrors. At the rear, Evalia has a wide-opening top hinged tailgate.
Chassis
The strut-type front suspension is mounted on a rubber-insulated subframe to isolate road noise and vibrations and features combined coil-over-strut assemblies and a forward lower link. An anti-roll bar is attached directly to the strut assembly to help provide better body roll control under cornering while ripple control shock absorbers enhance ride comfort.
The rear suspension is also mounted on a subframe with rubber insulation and features single semi-elliptic leaf springs on either side.
Ride comfort and handling are further enhanced by Evalia's rigid shell which features reinforced sills with four cross members. Yet despite the added strengthening, the entire structure has been created to reduce overall weight as much as possible for the benefit of handling and fuel economy.
Safety features include a high intensity cabin structure and extensive door impact absorption material to help protect the occupants in a crash. Driver and front passenger airbags are standard. To help improve pedestrian safety, energy absorbing materials are used in the bumper, bonnet and cowl.
Standard features include electric power steering with variable assistance, anti-lock brakes (ABS) with Electronic Brake Assist (EBA) and Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD). For added security, the Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) is standard or optionally available depending on the model.
Engines
Petrol versions are powered by Nissan's familiar light-weight, low friction HR 1.6-litre twin cam. Developing 81kW (110HP) and 153 Nm of torque, the all-aluminium design has four valves per cylinder, continuously variable valve timing, multi-point port injection and vane-type continuous intake cam phasing.
Both diesels are powered by versions of the Renault-Nissan Alliance K9K 1.5-litre dCi unit. Developed by Renault, the 1,461cc eight-valve common rail unit has been acclaimed for its economy, low emission and exceptional drivability. The entry level 1.5 dCi turbodiesel develops 66kW (90HP) and 200 Nm of torque and is mated to a five-speed gearbox driving the front wheels.
It has now been joined by a more powerful and flexible version of the unit developing 81kW (110HP) and 240Nm: peak torque is available from as low as 1,750 rpm. Coupled to a six-speed gearbox, CO2 emissions are just 166g/km. Both engines have a diesel particulate filter.
Low cost of ownership has been boosted by extended service intervals. Oil changes are now needed every 30,000 kms or once a year for the diesel versions.
Interior
The commanding driving position is enhanced by unique dials and instruments, while the centre console is enhanced by aluminium-like effect trim around the radio and dash-mounted ‘joystick' gear lever. Aluminium effects can also be found around the door handles and on the steering wheel giving a quality look and feel.
Unique cloth trim also provides a quality feel at the same time as being easy to keep clean - vital in a practical family car. The centre row of seats have thicker backrests and longer cushions for added comfort, and they split on a 60/40 basis to increase load space. The seat backs fold flat and each assembly folds forward to ease access to the rear.
Folding tables with cup holders are fitted to the rear of the front seats, beneath which are double pockets: a mesh outer pocket and a zippered interior one for added security. Another practical feature is the incorporation of a 12v power socket in the bottom of the front seat and accessible to passengers in the middle row - perfect for charging a mobile phone, using a portable DVD player, a game console or a mobile fridge.
Access to the middle seats is made easy, thanks to sliding doors on both sides, and sturdy grab handles mounted high on the B-pillars.
Where fitted, the twin rear seats in the third row have enough head and leg room for adults to use them comfortably. When not needed for passengers, they can fold flat to increase load space or be folded away completely to either side of the rear cabin. All the seats remain with Evalia at all times.
There's full carpeting throughout while doors and side panels are covered in neat plastic mouldings many of which incorporate extra storage opportunities. There are fold-away cup holders in the panels beside the third row of seats, bottle holders in the sliding side doors as well as at either end of the instrument panel. The full-length roof lining incorporates three interior lamps, one above each row of seats.
Among the innovative features is a rear parking camera. The camera, mounted in the rear number plate surround, sends back images to a small display mounted in the main instrument panel. The display includes parking guide lines. In models fitted with Nissan Connect, the class-leading satellite navigation and communication system, parking images are displays on the centre screen.
Other options include heated front seats, cruise control and speed limiter, side privacy glass, intelligent key, and full automatic air conditioning.
"Evalia provides exceptional levels of space and comfort for families on a budget. Despite the compact exterior, clever packaging has maximised interior space.
"But there's much more to Evalia than good looks and a spacious interior - as part of the NV200 family, its pedigree is unchallenged: owners can be assured that its dynamic performance is outstanding," says Alcaraz.
