Sporting a whole different look, the Almera turns heads with its sleek Emotional Geometry styling. It rocks the trademark V-motion grille, and boomerang-shaped headlights and taillights. It also features other unmistakable Nissan design cues like the kick-up C-pillar and floating roof.

The merits of the Almera though are more than skin deep. Positioned as a tech leader in the small sedan segment, it boasts of a segment-exclusive turbocharged engine. The 1.0-liter HRA0 inline-3 may be small in size, but it’s a definite heavyweight when it comes to torque. Its 152 Nm figure—arriving early on at 2,400 rpm and staying onto 4,000 rpm makes it one perky car to drive in the city.

This best-in-class torque makes the Almera pull away easily even when fully loaded. From stoplight to stoplight, there’s no need to push it hard to get full power. This gives you the confidence to squeeze in and out of traffic. Even better, on the highways or even on steep inclines, like the ones going to Baguio, it offers enough power for accelerating and even overtaking.

More than the Almera’s excellent real-world performance, it’s also filled with cutting-edge technology befitting its role as the segment’s tech leader.

For instance, it uses what Nissan calls Mirror Bore Coating, a technology found in the engine of the high-performance Nissan GT-R. Instead of inserting traditional cylinder liners, molten iron is sprayed into the bore, which becomes the cylinder wall. This mirror bore coating is ultra-thin and improves cooling, reduces engine knocking, and makes the engine lighter. If it’s good enough for a GT-R, it’s certainly more than enough for the Almera.

Second, it uses an Electronic Wastegate. Instead of a mechanical wastegate, electronic actuators can precisely control boost levels, reducing turbo lag and improving engine response and acceleration.

Finally, the multi-point fuel injection system improves overall engine efficiency while generating less tailpipe emissions.

The merits of going with a downsized engine (along with the segment’s first auto-stop technology) enables the Almera to achieve high levels of fuel efficiency. You can check out our full review here, but during our week with the Almera VL Turbo N-Sport, we managed a combined city/highway mileage of 18.18 km/L—13.69 km/L in the city and 21.27 km/L on the highway. Those are pretty crazy figures.

Nissan’s decision to adopt a smaller engine also reaps benefits when it comes to long-term ownership. During the course of five years, the total Preventive Maintenance Service or PMS cost for the Almera comes out at just PHP 64,288.10. That’s less than PHP 1 per kilometer (PHP 0.92 to be exact). Even when factoring the price of today’s high fuel prices, total ownership cost comes out at just P 5.45 per kilometer. You can check out the full breakdown in this chart, and how it compares to its leading competitors.

It's clear that the all-new Nissan Almera ticks the right boxes not just in style, but in performance, fuel efficiency, and most important of all, ownership experience. But don’t just take our word or math for it. Test drive the all-new Nissan Almera yourself and feel what it’s like to drive the most high-tech small sedan out there today. 

The all-new Nissan Almera is now available in all Nissan dealerships nationwide. Check your nearest dealership’s health and safety guidelines first before scheduling a test drive. For more information on the Nissan Almera, click here.