When the first Nissan Cefiro entered the Philippine market, it created a stir with the enthusiasts because it offered a 2.4-liter inline-6 engine wrapped around a sporty four door body.  However, because of its steep price, the original Cefiro did not become a huge seller, and alas, it disappeared.  In the in-between years, Nissan tried and failed to introduce such models as the Nissan Bluebird, Bluebird Altima and the Cedric to fill in the gap that the Cefiro left. 

In late 1996, much to the delight of the Philippine motoring press (us included), a new Nissan Cefiro was launched.  It was the first car in the Philippines to have such gizmos as automatic climate control system, keyless entry, electromagnetic trunk and gas tank releases and a 6-disc CD changer for a price less than one million pesos.  A great offer, indeed.  We bought a silver one ourselves, but we soon noticed that it was not a great offer after all. 

Less than 3 days upon using our new car, we quickly noticed several missing / ill-fitting trimmings that could have resulted from a bad assembly line: things such as the trunk place cover (to prevent metal cuts), center wood grain panel cracks and ill-stitched plastic on the center console.  However, despite these rather 'small' defects, we found the car to be pretty flawless.  In fact, we considered it was one of the best value for money cars in the Philippines. 

Nissan's 2.0-liter VQ engine is a very refined power plant.  The power of its 24 valve V6 is masked in an aura of silence whether at idling or even cruising on the South Express Way.  The sound is nearly as whisper quiet as the air con fan setting of 1.  Moreover, the engine is not only whisper quiet, but it also feels even.  The engine tone does not break its wonderful voice within the normal revving / driving range.  The boys at Nissan must have done a lot of overtime to get this much refinement and quietness from a V6 engine, an engine regarded by most experts as the hardest to balance.  However, despite being quiet and refined, the Cefiro lacks the pulling power to blast away from stoplights and the like because of the relative heaviness of the car's body as well as the lack of immediate response from the VQ engine.