Originally Posted by
apalsson
+1
I have had 3 GUs, a 2001 manual, 2005 auto and 2009 manual
The 2001 was a bit "sluggish", especially taking off. We towed an Ultimate Offroad Camper a lot behind it and even the sub 1,000 weight was a bit of a load on it. This got fixed with a DTronic chip
The 2005 came about as a Novated Lease car through my work. For some reason, I never liked that car. At the time, we had a 23.5 foot caravan and towing it was a non-stop struggle. I think this car was probably the most sluggish of all of them
When I bought the 2009 a few months ago, I specifically set out to find a stock, low mileage manual car. This one had some 46,000km on it and was completely stock.
The main difference between it and the 2001 is much better power on takeoff but I often wish I had a bit more grunt at higher RPM. We tow a 1500Kg offroad van with this one and it's often a bit slow
Another difference is definitely in the consumption. When towing the Ultimate on difficult outback tracks, the 2001 used some 14 - 14.5L/100Km. When I tow the new van (even on highways), I hardly get much better than 18L/100Kms
Even though I loved my old 2001 and it never let me down in any way, I still feel the 2009 is in many ways a better car. Back with my old one, the grenading was becoming a known issue so I always had it in the back of my mind and therefore bought extended warranty from Nissan that I kept active till I sold the car. I don't have the same concerns over the engine in the new one. There seems to be plenty anecdotal evidence out there that the latest CRD engines have less issues than the old 2001
When/If budget allows, I might consider a chip for this one to try to address the consumption issue a bit