THE Nissan Magnite is proving a popular choice among South Africans in the market for a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV).
The Magnite is crammed with safety features to keep its occupants comfortable, secure and safe.
“With the Nissan Magnite, driver and passenger safety isn’t a bolt-on afterthought. It lies at the heart of this exciting new compact SUV, which is built from the ground up with stability, road holding and impact protection in mind,” said marketing director of Nissan Africa, Stefan Haasbroek.
This starts with a rock-solid safety platform in the form of a high strength, impact absorbing efficient body structure.
Further structural stability is provided by an anti-roll bar for safer tight cornering at high speeds, thanks to the low body roll this affords.
Building on this base are an impressive suite of features designed to keep the new Magnite sure-footed and planted to the surface, whatever the conditions.
Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) helps prevent the wheels from locking up when the brakes are applied suddenly, allowing the driver steer in emergencies by restoring traction to the tyres.
Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) changes the amount of braking power sent to each wheel, providing stronger and safer braking performance in emergency situations.
Nissan Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) is the electronic stability control system found on Nissan’s vehicles, including the Magnite. It can help prevent under-and over-steer by reducing engine speed and applying the brakes individually on specific wheels.
Traction Control System (TCS) helps prevent wheelspin. When wheelspin is detected, the system automatically reduces throttle or applies the brakes to restore grip and keep the vehicle under control and moving forward.
Hydraulic Brake Assist (HBA) detects when the driver applies the brake suddenly, but not hard enough, and automatically applies full brake pressure to slow the vehicle down faster than the driver could do manually, helping to prevent a collision.
The seat-belt reminder system, for frontal occupants across all variants, ensures that safety is top of mind before even driving off. If the worst happens and a collision is unavoidable, the SRS dual stability system with pretension and load limiter seat-belt help to minimise the impact for the driver and passenger.
Hill Start Assist (HSA) helps stop the car from rolling backward when starting on an uphill, while a speed-sensing door lock, combined with central locking take the worry out of forgetting to manually lock the doors when setting off.
Additional peace of mind comes in the form of the electronic Tyre Pressure Monitor, which provides an early warning of any problems with the tyres.
Finally, the Around View Monitor processes video from four cameras to provide a composite birds-eye view as if taken from a camera right above the car.
This not only makes parking much easier, but will help the driver spot obstructions, including people, around the car.
