One of our sportier road test staff numbered me off to write this report on the 1.8 Almera Tino: "You seem to get fun out of counting lockers and cubby-holes," he sneered, buzzing off to grind a camshaft or pore over the regulations for next year's Formula 3000 championship."Fun" is over-stating it somewhat, but I'm certainly on the side of the compact MPV, when some critics come down on this whole class of vehicle for being soft, roomy, high-set, well-equipped family transport instead of something which might, with a bit of tuning, win the British Touring Car Championship. I take the view that BTCC-winning cars are completely useless when it comes to ride comfort, low noise levels, luggage accommodation and somewhere to hang a Chinese take-away.The Tino scores high marks on the Chinese take-away scale. In fact, those of us who like fussing around with - OK - lockers and cubby-holes know that Nissan is quite correct in saying the Tino has 20 different places to stack, stow or hang things, including (in this model) under-seat drawers and even a couple of rear-floor baskets in which children can be encouraged to keep their toys, crayons, games, lightly-used chewing gum and all the rest of the paraphernalia the little perishers . . . er, the delightful kiddiewinks tend to take on their travels.You can also get a fair amount of innocent fun moving, removing and adjusting the five individual seats, to check on Nissan's claim that there are 24 different seating configurations. There are.The point about all this stuff, of course, is that a car meant to be suitable for business, family and leisure use must be as adaptable as possible, and you have to hand it to Nissan for making the Tino just that.The SE2 is the third-up model on the Tino ladder, and it comes with features like 16" alloy wheels and a single-CD player on top of the pretty full SE specification. ABS and brake assist are fitted right through the range.I was quite pleased that the test car had the 1.8-litre Sunderland-built petrol engine and a five-speed manual box, firstly because we have a CVT Tino coming soon, and secondly because I have already done all miles I want to, thank you, behind Nissan's Spanish-built direct-injection 2.2.The 1.8 is no pass-stormer, having the entry-level Tino engine, but it zips along well enough, and settles into quite a brisk motorway cruise. Like all compact MPVs, the Tino comes with softish suspension and body lean on corners as standard. While I'm not suggesting it's any kind of sporting car, I found that it would jink enjoyably along winding country lanes. Having a good view from the high seating position helps.One thing Nissan is particularly good at, and it's done the trick again with the Tino, is that it makes well-damped and smooth-acting controls and switches. The gearlever may have a longish travel and a slight wobble, but it whips around the gate, and there's no graunching. Indicator stalk, wiper stalk and fascia switches all work equally well.Nissan has given the Tino a fresh-looking interior and attractive fabrics. I like the fact that the centre rear headrest is a slim affair, hardly obscuring the rearward view at all.There's a deep-set and neatly-styled instrument cluster, the heating and ventilating controls are quite unusual, being metal-look and chunky, and the radio controls, scattered apparently at random, aren't as eccentric as they seem at first. They're easier to use than some of those types whose push buttons are too small for the fingers of anybody over the age of six weeks, and they're designed so that it would be pretty pointless trying to pinch the radio. It wouldn't fit anything else.The Tino has good all-round visibility and a deep windscreen. It's fitted with that weird type of wiper which lets penny-pinching manufacturers just about get away with fitting left-hand drive wipers on RHD cars. But the vertical sweep, on a UK-specification car, still comes at the passenger's side.Out in the country and dashing along motorways the Tino seemed competent without being thrilling, and it's certainly able to carry a large amount of clobber. Isn't that what a family MPV is all about, rather than being a potential front-row placer at Snetterton?The Tino has come into a market sector where there are already a number of well-established competitors. But its designers have taken a few hints and included some features their rivals hadn't thought of.Second opinion: The extraordinary thing about the Tino is that it is so much better than more conventional versions of the Almera on which it is based. I think that in many ways Nissan spoiled the hatchback when it developed the second-generation model, but the Tino is a fine addition to the still young but already explosively competitive mini-MPV market. Within that market it is hardly ground-breaking (think Citroen Xsara Picasso rather than Fiat Multipla), but that won't matter to people who simply want the job done well. David Finlay. Engine 1769cc, 4 cylinders Power 114bhp Transmission 5-speed manual Fuel 36.2mpg Acceleration 0-62mph: 12.7 seconds Top speed 107mph Price £15,300 Details correct at publication date
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