A fine hazy morning to start the weekend with, plan was to rush towards airport and catch a flight for Amritsar. Apparently, all of us settled in place, and quite unobvious about what’s going to be special for the Nissan Terrano’s first anniversary, no it wasn’t the “4×4 version” instead the same outgoing Terrano, nor even the Anniversary edition, was given to us for driving it like a ‘Son of Soil’!
The concept was unusual for all of us, but when the plans of next two day of trip unfolded precisely after reaching there, it became clear the motive was to raise the voice for Terrano of being capable to suit typical Indian driving conditions, reaching far beyond where our thinking couldn’t make out that an international player of automobile can go this extreme with its compact SUV.
The mildly shimmering afternoon of Amritsar, after the refreshment in hotel, gave us a flag off for Punjabiyat, a place conducive for farming wheat and sugarcane with lush field laying its examples in typical Punjabi manner, falls at an odd 70-km drive (taking approximately an hour) en-route to Jammu, or our ultimate destination – Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. Now, the concept for anniversary drive took an imminent turn and directed how the Terrano is actually derived towards the terminology of Son of Soil.
Quite precise to say, the qualities of people in Amritsar being strong and willing to serve the country always, Terrano fills in the same space with its ultimate adaptability and toughness. The essence of it was delivered when traditional Punjabi lunch was served on “charpoys”. Further shoots and videos were a touch away from the shutterbugs’ zombie. Wary of village life, our cameraman also tried his hands on the farm tractor. Locals got amazed to see such a beautiful SUV running easily on the fields, with its immaculate ground clearance eating up every type of terrain thrown to it for the evening snacks.
The journey to destine then swept past leather-type roads underneath the tyres. Our hobbies of stopping amidst the route and sipping teas, refreshments and lighting up the white-sticks were fully-accelerated like the way Terrano did. Sun began to melt its way down to the dusk, and need for covering the retinas with glare became obvious. But the shutterbugs continued to do their job without breaking a sweat – as the backdrop was tentatively a feat for their lenses. Small time businessman and vendors can be seen downside the roads hurrying to rush back their dwellings. Some even asked us for the lift, but as we were in the rush to Palampur, Jhelum River in the meanwhile was also left to be explored at its core.
This connecting river to India and Pakistan wasn’t having the water flow at all, left us disappointed of testing the Nissan’s only SUV in India for river-crossing. In compensation, the dried river-bank paved way for testing pebble-trotting skills and a bit of off-roading. After lurking out from that crest of nature, on the top of our heads was to reach the Palampur before the dusk spawned to its darkest form. Finally, we made in time to the breathtaking view of hotel, which accosted us with the cocktails and dinner.
The experience that received on this trip was filed to be memorable for the further time to come, and also every time we see the Terrano swooping past on our roads.
To brief about the technical details, Nissan Terrano given to us was consisted of 1.5-litre diesel engine producing 108.5bhp @ 3900 rpm and 248Nm of max torque @ 2250 rpm mated to a 6 speed manual transmission, with all traction transferred to front wheels. Disc brakes are calibrated at the front and drum at the rear. Suspensions were a bit stiff on the part to soak up the bumps at ease. Combination of responsive steering and aptly tuned suspension makes up for character of adventurous as well as emotional just like a son of soil. Designed to usurp large cargos and comfortable seating of four deepens it further. To relive those experiences in real-life, the 5.2 meters of turning radius and not so extensive length of 4331mm are to the last tips of Terrano’s definition to “son of the soil”.
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