Automotive design, just like the latest fashion, can be a fickle affair. Automakers have a fine design line to straddle with new products, between bold and bland. Keep too conservative, and buyers may dismiss a new vehicle, however great, as too boring; but go a little too outside the norm, and it sure will be the talk of the town but it might not be the success it was hoped to be.
The latter is the story behind the current-generation Quest minivan. When it was being planned, market research had shown that buyers were looking for a minivan with edgier styling - inside and out - and Nissan rose to the occasion with a design that broke away from the cookie-cutter ideal of what a minivan should be.
The result, introduced in summer of 2003 as a 2004 model, wasn't really that far out from the mainstream, but for minivan shoppers the heart of the market is more function-over-form, brawn-over-beauty. To put it another way, the terms 'fashionista' and 'minivan buyer' are almost oxymoronic. The Quest was rather widely criticized for its instrument panel design, which sacrificed some ergonomic common sense for fashion and futurism, and for its perceived quality (although JD Power and Associated did name the Mississippi-assembled Quest the most-improved model in the firm's 2005 Initial Quality Survey). On the other hand, the Quest has almost unanimously been complemented on its carlike performance and sporty driving dynamics, so there was little that needed to be changed beneath the surface.
So it was back to the drawing board for some mid-cycle design changes. The result is what qualifies as a major redesign inside and some slight design tweaks to the outside. The changes are almost entirely cosmetic, though interior function promises to be much more straightforward than before.
First, looking at the exterior, the changes are subtle. The basic shape and sheetmetal is still the same and relatively unchanged. The front bumper fascia and grill have been redesigned for an updated Nissan family appearance; new wheel designs are offered; door handles are now chromed; headlights and taillights have been revised. And, perhaps most notably, there's an classy new chromed, beveled roof rack that's offered on all but the base model and replaces the more integral one on the outgoing Quest.
The interior is a different story. With its so-called "urban loft" interior - quite possibly the boldest, most stylized interior ever in a U.S. minivan - the Quest made waves in the design world, and it's been named the best-designed interiors in the business by several in the upper echelons of automotive design. But while the Quest was appreciated by those who value unique design, mainstream buyers were a little bewildered by the whole package. Nissan clarifies, specifically, that some buyers who were drawn to the Quest were a little discomforted by the general interior appearance, the odd center instrument cluster at the top-middle of the dash, and the lack of a center console. The basic message: keep it unique, but make it more functional.
Smoother, more functional inside
2007 Nissan Quest |
Inside, there are significant changes throughout, and they're quite noticeable to anyone who's acquainted with the quirky current Quest. For starters, the gauge cluster is no longer in the middle. The perfectly functional set of round analog gauges is now in place behind the steering wheel and visible through a side range of angles. The dashboard as a whole is smoother and more horizontally continuous. The center control stack has been thoroughly revised, with redesigned audio and climate controls, and the control screen has been liberated to the position high in the middle of the dash where the gauges used to be. There's also standard wood-tone or metallic trim (depending on the interior color scheme), and the knee-busting (at least for tall folks like me), sharp, plasticky edge of the center control stack has now been rounded and trimmed. In addition, we can't be absolutely sure of it, but it feels as if the surface of the control stack is angled down more than before, allowing the driver a better view of the buttons without having to lean forward (the audio and climate-control buttons themselves have been redesigned).
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