When the new Datsun GO was unveiled early last week at the Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon, there seemed to be more than an allegorical connection between the car brand and the venue. The ‘Bollywoodian’ flavour of the venue probably has a similar - aspirational, yet mass appeal – resonance with the Datsun brand tenet.

But the new small car seemed to be much more of an honest execution compared to the garish, theme-park style packaging of Indian culture and architecture that the venue attempts.

To say that parent company Nissan Motor is banking heavily on the revived Datsun brand to bring future volumes from emerging car markets like India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa is to put it mildly. And to convey the significance of the event – the global unveiling of the first new model from the revived brand – the top brass of the company were in attendance including CEO and President, Mr Carlos Ghosn.

For Ghosn, the new hatchback from Datsun also represents the fruition of a quest to build a low-cost car using frugal engineering that India is famous for. After initially making tentative attempts with a local partner, Ghosn directed designers from Japan and Datsun and Nissan engineers in India to work together in developing the GO. The much-awaited hatch will be launched officially and be available at Datsun and Nissan showrooms by the first quarter of 2014.

After our rendering and detailed expected profile of the car, here is a more first-hand impression of the final prototype of the GO.

Design

The face of the new small car from Datsun – the first model to bear the badge after more than 30 years – will be the face of every new Datsun model in the future. And, the important point is that it is likeable.

The GO will be a 5-door, front wheel drive hatchback having a wheelbase of 2,450mm. The car’s other dimensions are length – 3,785mm, width – 1,635mm and height – 1,485mm. The GO is said to have been built on a completely new platform, though it borrows some elements from the Nissan Micra. Like the Micra, the new Datsun GO also seems to manage to leverage interior space quite well given these exterior dimensions.

The large headlamps and the front bumper both seem to have gotten some simplistic design inspiration from the Micra. The chrome-lipped honey-comb bonnet grille is also an attractive addition, though I am guessing that the feature will only be offered in the top-trim variant. The side of the GO has at least three character lines that catch the eye. The prominent shoulder line that also gives the doors more thickness is the strongest line. This merges into the headlamp. A middle line that starts from the front bumper cuts through the front wheel arch, and ends into the tail-lamp. The lower door character line rises up at the rear and ends into the rear wheel arch, only to visually reappear as the rear bumper’s upper line. This line enhances the perception of length in the GO.

One of the most important design lines at the side of the car is that of the rear haunch. Cutting deep into the rear body panel and creating the image of strength and squat proportion, the haunchs’ line merges into the tail-lamp. The door handles are flip-open type. The window glass is almost flat, but sized generously to allow a considerably airy and well-lit cabin.

To enhance the perception of width, the B-pillar gets black stickering and there is a triangular extended black plastic panel that cuts into the C-pillar panel past the rear door. Though the rear door is narrower at the base than the front door, it wide enough at the seat level to ensure ease of entry and exit. The GO prototype’s 13-inch steel wheels sported Apollo Amazer 3G tyres and full plastic cladding. Alloy wheels may not be part of the package initially.

Just like we had predicted in Smartbuy’s rendering and the Datsun hatch profile we had written a few weeks ago, the GO sports a unique, raised position (above the shoulder line) for the door-mounted rear view mirrors. The result on the road could be fewer dings and scratches from fellow road users.

The rear of the GO is the most proportionate and simple part of the car. The tail-lamps are almost square in overall shape, with horizontal elements. The hatch door looks sturdy and has a fairly large rear glass. The prototype didn’t have a rear wiper, but incorporating one, where the logo currently sits, won’t likely be a problem. A third stop lamp behind the rear glass should contribute for increased safety. The recessed tail-pipe helped in improving the appeal of the GO’s rear. The overall fit and finish quality of the GO looks really good. Shut lines are tight and the design seems very purposeful, and yet aspirational.

Cabin

The GO’s interior has a lot of fresh elements, though there are a few borrowed bits from the Micra that are also quite evident. Parts like the top half of the dashboard, the round aircon vents, door handles etc are the ones that have been carried forward from the Micra. But the dashboard overall has a different fascia thanks to the new centre stack and the unique position of the gearshift stick and hand brake.

Though this is not a segment first for ‘B’ size cars – the Hyundai i10 already features it – the gear stick is mounted right into the base of the centre stack. To the top right of this lies the hand brake lever. Pull and twist the handle and the hand brake will be released.

Dual-tone colour theme, a neatly finished three-spoke steering wheel and a lot of storage options all around make the Datsun GO’s interior look quite upmarket. The overall impression is one of good material quality too, though there is a lot of plastic all around. The seats feature integrated head rests, but the squabs are quite flat and Spartan. The same goes with the rear bench too, though the bottom squab looked wide and relatively comfy. The seats will feature a 60:40 split and will fold flat for increased boot storage space.

With the gearshift stick and handbrake mounted on the dash, and the absence of the central floor sine or tunnel, there is free space between the two front seats. Datsun engineers have chosen to give the GO an extension seat squab in this empty space between the two bucket seats. With the bottom squab being almost flat, this almost looks like it can accommodate a kid in addition to two adults at the front. Hopefully, that was not the intention and instead it is meant to offer more space for XL-sized occupants.

There is no additional lap-belt for the middle squab at the front, but the issue that Datsun officials may want to look out for will be the backrest for this section which might block the flow of cool air from the front dashboard vents.

Another advantage of the flat floor and the small central squab at the front could be the possibility of allowing the driver or the front passenger to get out of either of the two front doors, where congested parking conditions demand it. One other unique feature of the GO’s interior will be the music system that would be offered with the higher trim variants will feature a smartphone dock for streaming music or taking calls.

Bottomline

The Datsun GO will likely be offered with the same 1.2-litre petrol engine that is currently offered in the Micra. It will feature a different state of tune and the five-speed gearbox that will be paired with it will also be offered with different ratios for improved fuel economy.

The car’s instrument cluster does not feature a rpm-meter, but I do see what looks like a rpm graph with gear slots mentioned at regular intervals. This could be something like a visual prompter for the driver to shift at the right rpm-level for optimising fuel economy. It is also good to see that there is enough room for a dead pedal next to the clutch. The steering could also be adjustable for tilt.

What’s missing in the cabin is a lockable glove box. With the possibility of the GO being offered with airbags being low, the space on the dashboard could have been used for a lockable glove box.

The GO will be offered with at least three trim variants. And prices will likely start from about Rs 3.25 lakh (ex-showroom).

>muralidhar.s@thehindu.co.in