Everyone’s read about, heard of or actually done the Mumbai – Goa drive. Entire movies have been made about the journey and many others have made some reference to it during the story – telling process.

I’ve made the trip a few times, but I had to check out this particular coastal highway, called the MSH 4, with its promise of pristine beaches and ferry rides across creaks. The going is not all smooth and the roads can get pretty narrow, so I had to choose my transport carefully. And guess what came trumps in the lottery, yes, the Nissan Terrano it is.

The Nissan pretty much chooses itself for this trip. The airy cabin with its large windows ensures that you get a good picture of the scenery passing by and although there were just two of us making the trip, the fact that there was room for five meant we could’ve taken a few more friends along or gone around the country side giving the good village folk rides along the way. For those with larger families who think they could have done with seven seats, well, look at the boot that you get instead. It’s cavernous. The air-con does a good job of keeping things cool and the updated dash (compared to the Duster) sure looks nice. There is still a bone to pick though. Despite the fresh design there is still no place to store litre-sized water bottles anywhere except for the little strap at the bottom of the rear air-con vent. Shame, I know, but something for Nissan to fix on their next update I suppose.

On the road, the Terrano does well too. The 1.5-litre diesel remains untouched (the test car was the 110PS version), but the sound insulation in the Nissan has been improved and makes for a peaceful cabin. Don’t get us wrong, the rev happy engine sounds quite entertaining, but it isn’t for everyone. The strong mid-range on this diesel makes it work tirelessly and manages some great efficiency as well. With road conditions varying from narrow by-lanes going through villages to wide open highways, the Terrano managed to steadily better 15kmpl despite bursts of enthusiastic driving.

But, then with a car with such a beautifully balanced chassis and suspension that refuses to buckle over any sort of road condition, there are few who will not give into the temptation of having a go with it. Nissan has taken time to correct a particularly nasty steering kick-back issue, which plagued the Duster on rough roads, to improve the experience even further. The rear bench remains a good place to be, with six-footers fitting in without any bother even for long drives and a single vent with an air volume regulator delivering some added comfort as well.

The Nissan Terrano may qualify to only be a compact SUV with front wheel drive and five seats. It manages to fit in well enough in urban conditions and works incredibly well for weekend getaways with friends and family. You can pack and over-pack for a journey, especially one like this and still have plenty of room in the boot. In fact I even contemplated turning it into a mobile bed for a night as I struggled to find a hotel in the middle of Maharashtra’s incredible coastline. Add to that, the fact that this car is actually great fun to drive as well.

On narrow and sometimes broken bits of road, the Terrano feels perfectly at home, patiently riding out the rough bits before munching on some corners on its way up a hill. To tell you the truth, I’d rather have this car’s incredible driving dynamics and the huge boot instead of a full-sized SUV, it just makes so much sense.

So, if you’ve recently bought a Nissan Terrano, show it the great outdoors and it will show you what road trips are made of.

(The author is a freelance motoring writer. Opinions expressed are his own)

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