Hi Megs
Totally agree with Netix. Its about how you drive them (& in turn how much fuel you want to use). My DH wants to get a chip on ours which will increase power & apparently reduce fuel consumption, so we just have to save up for that. In saying that, its not entirely a slug, but its certainly not going to win you many races! Of course we have the auto too, the manual may be (or seem) faster, not sure as I haven't driven one. Ours is White & decked with towbar, steel bullbar, tinted bonnet protector, side protectors, rust proofing & lifted suspension. One major advantage I forgot to mention is that the boot lifts up - rain, no problems loading or unloading the boot - you can hide under it! There are certainly plenty getting round up here & I know Nissan in Qld are doing ST-L manual diesels for $52990 drive away at the moment. This is pretty much the equivalent of our 2007 Ti.
Have fun test driving!!