All New Nissan Lafesta Highway Star (CWEFWN/CWEAWN)

2012 Nissan Lafesta Highway Star

The arc Nissan fans been waiting for has arrived! The all new Nissan Lafesta Highway Star provides a perfect blend of style, performance, comfort, and ecology, fused into one unique package. The all new Nissan Lafesta Highway Star is sourced from the Mazda's Hiroshima Plant and in fact, the new Lafesta Highway Star is essentially an OEM version of the third-generation Mazda Premacy/5 (CWEFW).

When Nissan asked Mazda for their own version of the third-generation Mazda Premacy, there is only one condition before this Nissan version of the third-generation Premacy became a reality; discard the Nagare design.

It's good to say that the all new 2012 Nissan Lafesta Highway Star looks good without Mazda's Nagare design flowed from the third-generation Mazda Premacy/5 because the Nagare design will ruined its Highway Star status. How did the Highway Star trim became a sub-name for the new Lafesta? It's simple, the Highway Star variants in most Nissan minivans such as the Elgrand E52, Serena C26, and the Nissan version of the Suzuki Palette/Palette SW known as the Roox are highly successful and the reason to create a spin-off model is to provide a blend of style, performance, comfort, and ecology for the customers. What we're worrying now is Nissan halted production of the old Lafesta and the remaining will be sold under a new name "LAFESTA JOY" to differentiate it to the Mazda Premacy-sourced spin-off.

2012 Nissan Lafesta Highway Star interior

Open those two sliding doors with the use of the remote and you are ready to explore its 6+1 seater capacity. The middle seat at the 2nd row can be adjusted to make it as an armrest of as an access to the 3rd row seats. The new Nissan Lafesta Highway Star is born to be a multipurpose passenger vehicle and we salivated over it if we want to find one as a converted grey market import. Hey, does this Nissan version of the Mazda Premacy would come to Hong Kong soon? Not sure but be patient.

2012 Nissan Lafesta Highway Star

The all new Nissan Lafesta Highway Star is available in three engine types. First is the LF-VE (2.0L 4-cylinder DOHC S-VT) engine, second is the LF-VD (2.0L 4-cylinder DOHC S-VT DISI) engine, and third is the LF-VDS (2.0L 4-cylinder DOHC S-VT DISI) engine with the Idle Stop & Go feature. The LF-VE engine has 139PS/6,500rpm of power output, 17.9kg-m/4,000rpm of torque output, and fuel economy of 11.2km/L (10-15 mode). This LF-VE engine is exclusive to the 4WD variants. Meanwhile, the LF-VD Gasoline Direct Injection engine contributes a power output of 150PS/6,200rpm, 19.0kg-m/4,500rpm of torque output and 15.0km/L (10-15 mode) of fuel economy. Available at the Lafesta Highway Star J Package. The LF-VDS engine has the same specs as the LF-VD engine but it is equipped with the idling stop function, making it the sixth member of the Nissan Pure Drive range. This function can shut off this engine when stationery like for instance, stopping at the red light. With this feature, fuel economy is 16.0km/L (10-15 Mode) so this makes it a class-topping minivan because of its superb ecology.

The all new Nissan Lafesta Highway Star comes with five exterior colors such as Crystal White Pearl, Aluminum Silver Metallic, Metropolitan Grey Pearl, Sparkling Black Pearl, and Copper Red Pearl.

My Comment:

Perhaps this is a spin-off, I can't call it a new generation but with the all new Nissan Lafesta Highway Star, you can experience a new blend of family carrier on the go. Without Mazda's Nagare design, this is something we can fall in love at. It's odd that the front view has the grille of the Nissan Serena C26 while the whole body was derived from the third-generation Mazda Premacy/5. This minivan felt like it was taking a face off against its rivals face-to-face. I'm sure we can pray to have one as a converted gray market import from Subic, Manila, Port Irene, or wherever the heck Japan surplus cars are sold. The all new Lafesta Highway Star looks good without the plain-looking Nagare lines. Sounds cheesy but flattering.

Photo: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.