Nissan Serena C27 AUTECH

Nissan made AUTECH as their new premium sub-brand that blends sportiness and premium quality on everyday Nissan vehicles and the first outing for the AUTECH brand is none other than Nissan's best-seller minivan, the Serena C27.

2018 Nissan Serena AUTECH

Before explaining what's it all about the new Serena AUTECH, what is this AUTECH brand anyway? AUTECH was known for making specially customized Nissans under the Axis and Rider banner as well as making special edition models. With the banner of "Premium Sporty", Nissan's AUTECH sub-brand wants to be their answer to Honda's Modulo X line of specialty vehicles and the Serena C27 is just the start of the story.

Known to be the replacement of the Serena Rider specialty vehicle, which is made by AUTECH of course, the all-new Serena AUTECH features special cosmetic treatments inside and out but they didn't bother touching the specs, which means, the S-HYBRID powertrain with total energy management that takes charge to the sub-battery unit, eco motor, idling stop, the MR20DD 2.0L petrol engine, and the CVT remains the same as the normal Serena.

The Serena AUTECH features a specially-made front face (including that fancy looking grille), LED fog lamps, side slip protector, special rear bumper, special rims, and suede interior, not to mention the special Shining Blue exterior paint. For the SPORTS SPEC upgrade, the Serena AUTECH comes with MICHELIN PILOT SPORT 4 tires, specially reinforced body, specially made suspension that is somewhat between comfort and twitchy, special ECM, Electric Power Steering, and Vehicle Dynamics Control. Although it looks cool on the road, it's not as sporty as it hoped for and in the case of having three kids in the middle, it rather just spoils the taste when used as a family car but so what? It's a Serena and this is what it was made for.

The Serena AUTECH starts at 2,985,120 yen for 2WD models while 4WD models start at 3,218,400 yen.

Expect more additions to the AUTECH range when the X-TRAIL and the Note joining the AUTECH fleet very soon but don't get too excited just yet because although sporty in looks, they behave pretty much the same as your average Nissan.

Photo: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.