Interiors and Ergonomics
The Terrano`s interiors have been given a lot of beige treatment along with some black panels, all of which award the cabin with an airy and upmarket feel. In the XV Premium trim, it comes with all the toppings such as leather wrapped steering wheel (without audio controls), leather wrapped gear knob with chrome inserts, leather upholstery, and zebra wood door trim finish amongst others. Worth a mention here is that despite all the good looking interiors, the Terrano suffers from plastic quality. The plastics are rather hard and doesn’t help with invoking a sense of ‘premium-ness’. However, even though you might find an odd gap within the hard plastics, the same parts have a built to last feel and do not suffer from any rattle despite the pounding the car was put through.
The parts sharing with the Duster is evident, especially with the instrument panel, indicator stalks, door panels and overall dash design. Undoubtedly, the Terrano`s cabin looks smarter due to the squared off central AC vents and a push to release storage compartment atop.
The central console houses the 2 DIN Audio with integrated CD/MP3/FM/AM with Bluetooth, Aux in and USB support.
The AC controls are un-ergonomically placed under the stereo and ahead of the gear shifter lever. It also provides two cup holders ahead of the gear shifter lever and a 12 V socket. Another inconvenient feature remains the ORVM adjustment knob, which is placed right under the handbrake lever. This renders it in operational on the go.The headlight level adjuster knob is again oddly placed next to the hood release lever near the driver footwell. The passenger side contains a recessed storage as well as a deep, lit glove compartment.
The XV spec car also gets a dedicated central rear AC vent which is placed between the front seats however only carries a single circular vent and gets a 3 speed blower. The rear AC vent works best at level 2 while it gets noisy at level 3, it is also very effective since we missed it while driving the lower spec XL variants. The AC vent along with the transmission tunnel hump does mean a lot of compromise on the `leg room` for the third middle passenger.
The rear power window switches have been oddly placed as well and are inconveniently far behind on the door panel to be operated with ease. The XV variant comes with leather upholstery and adds to the premium feel of the interiors. The perforated beige leather panels of the seats have good quality while the fabric covered seats on the XE/XL and XV variants is nothing special to write home about.The support from the wide front seats themselves is adequate and come equipped with lumbar adjustment ( XV ) as well.
The rear seats though a bit firm, lack under thigh support and passengers over 5`10” might find the rear leg room congested.
The boot space, at 475 litres, is more than enough to contain most of our weekend luggage and then some more. The tough and recessed parcel shelf spanning the entire boot section is good to dump things on the go without having the fear of it moving around while the car is driven enthusiastically. The Terrano also gets a 12 v socket behind the rear passenger on the left, as well as dedicated roof mounted reading lights. Lift up the carpet in the boot and it reveals a flat floor. The spare wheel is tucked under the car and can be accessed by lowering the spare wheel cradle. This in particular is a thoughtful design and will turn out to be a boon when the boot is loaded with luggage. Also, it will also keep interiors from soiling during tyre replacement.
Go to next page to read about the engine and gearbox
VERI NICE CAR