Took delivery of my '08 NBM xB2 on 6/28.

One short trip from PSU to Baltimore and just commuting back and forth to work - 700 miles so far.

I'm gonna try to stay away from the "generic" good ride, lots of room, etc. type of review and stick to my impressions on some of the specifics.

Initial Impressions:

SEATS - Seats are OK. My old SE-R Spec seats were far more comfortable. Seating position is a bit awkward. Telescoping wheel would be a welcome addition. I am an average 5'9" Asian and I can find a position where the pedals are comfortable and my arms can reach the wheel comfortably without seating nearly upright (like dining room chair). Maybe that's why it feels so much like an SUV.

DIALS/GAUGES - Someone else noted that all the dials are far away. In particular, the trip A/B switch and the clock/MPG/etc buttons are REALLY far, but everything else is OK.

RADIO - The (basic) radio works well. I think the radio changes volume according to road noise (?)... and it seems to overdo it. I could be completely off on that one. Heh. The iPod feature is great except you don't see a full iPod menu. For example, I can't navigate through podcasts or genre's.

STORAGE COMPARTMENTS - There's definitely a lack of small storage compartments. I bought the pads from eBay, so now it's a little bit better. I keep coins on the left of the wheel, my cell phone in front of the gauges, iPod in the center console between seats, napkins on the driver's door, pens/manual/sunglasses in the glovebox. Haven't found a useful thing to do w/ the space on top of the glovebox or the space under the rear seats yet. Also, the space over the spare is also kind of useless. I do like the space on the sides of the spare. I keep my jumper cables on one side and the ice scraper thing on the other.

BUGS - This thing catches bugs on the windshield ... A LOT. Bug cleaner wiper fluid is next "mod." It seems to catch bird poop a lot too (through no fault of its own I assume).

MPG - I got about 27mpg on 85% hhwy/15% city (calculated on fillup) - only calculated one trip

VISIBILITY - Rear visibility is OK, not great, but totally drivable. I am not that tall and I can't see the traffic lights on 50% of intersections if I'm the first car. Probably WORST problem so far. Forward visibility is odd, but you get used to it. The dash is definitely a bit high.

RATTLE - there's one rattle coming from the passenger side somewhere... grrrr

TRUNK - small. yet big. You can stack a lot of stuff on top of each other. Two golf bags will NOT fit next to each. You can sort of stack 'em on top of each other, though. I've fit a tennis bag, bowling bag, golf bag, guitar, music stand, couple of bags, etc. without folding the seats down. (yea... my car is the sports closet).

CARGO NET - I'm putting this one on a totally different category. BUY IT. It keeps all my crap from falling out. Best investment on the xB so far.

PASSENGER IMPRESSIONS - "I feel like a kid." Everyone felt "small" inside the car. Everyone complimented the leg/head room. The rear windows roll all the way down, but you can't really rest your arm on the window...

DRIVE - Golf kart. Sounds like it. The engine has that "electric" sound to it. It's definitely quiet, but no character whatsoever. Power is good. Great torque/pickup. The handling is also like a go kart. Pretty light steering on low speeds. Great turning radius. EASY, EASY, EASY to drive. Compared to my old '05 Sentra SE-R Spec V, '01 Volvo S40.



I'm sure there's a lot more, but I'll stop here for now.

 

You can adjust the degree of volume compensation. Can't remember how the radio buttons are labeled so I can't give a step-by-step instruction, but it's explained in the radio manual.

Thanks for sharing the review!

 

Good review jinsungpsu!

I just came back from Florida so I'll add my 2 cents in the categories you created.

SEATS: They are a bit stiff but they stay comfortable for several hours. They are more comfy than the gen 1 seats. I think most of that comes from the larger size. I haven't done a lot of spirited driving yet but in the few quick corners I've done I felt like I was held in place better than the gen 1 seats.

DIALS/GAUGES: I agree 100%. I flipped through the different selections many times on my trip and it's a pain to have to lean so far foward to reach the buttons.

RADIO: I have the premium radio and I turned off all the sound enhancing options. It really isn't a great system. I'm looking forward to upgrading all the speakers, adding subs, and amps.

STORAGE COMPARTMENTS: I agree 100%. I miss the oven!!!. I don't like the pocket below the far left air vent because it's in the sun almost all the time.

BUGS: I caught a few but it actually seems like much less than in my gen 1.

MPG: During the trip and during my first week driving it to work which is 96% highway I calculated 29 MPG.

VISIBILITY: It's good out front and to the sides. Not having the furthest rear window like the gen 1 is a challenge at certain intersections. Trying to backup is also a challenge because the view through the rear glass is limited and again the furthest rear windows in the gen 1 aren't there.

RATTLE: {crossing fingers} None

TRUNK: Held all of our luggage and purchased items easily. A bag did fall out when we opened the hatch at home. I think I'll be in the market for the net.

PASSENGER IMPRESSIONS: My wife likes it. It has plenty of room but the door and center armrests are usless.

DRIVE: Much smoother and quieter than the gen 1. One bumpy or coarse roads the noise level jumps up a bit. A little sound dampening and it would be super quiet. It seems much flatter in turns like interstate offramps. The power is very smooth and moving around in traffic is super easy. Hopping into a faster lane and matching speed is effortless. It's easy to rundown the car ahead if you don't check your speed. I took it up to 94 MPH one time playing around and it went there pretty quickly. I'd say if you like the TC but need more room, the XB is wagon version of the TC.

 

I'm curious on how difficult relocatin the tach a/b and time/mpg/etc button would be.

I feel the same way as you.
The information is there.
And its great.
But as another 5'9" asian, it would be so much more convienient if those toggles weren't so far away.

I've got 3000+ as of now, and I still have no rattling.

I enjoyed reading your review.

 

I didn't think I was going to need my Scan Gauge II, but I installed it today (the second day with the xB2), because I'm already sick of reaching up to check everything. Now I just leave it on the clock and I have everything else, at a very convenient distance, on the Scan Gauge.

 

Ummmm Scan Gauge II?

 

Check it out. www.scangauge.com

I had it in my Gen 1 and I loved it! Lovin it even more now that it's in my Gen 2.

 

Here's some pics of my Scan Gauge II and where I mounted it.

 

Nice. Looks like a great color match.