Nissan MicraMicra is very important to Nissan, and it’s easy to understand why. It is far and away their best seller and has continued, year on year, to consolidate the foundation upon which the company has been able to build its unique range.Unique in the sense that it manages to mix brand name desirability at one end with an honest, unpretentious, practicality at the other. Qashqai, Navarra and the new Juke embody traditional Japanese virtues of quality and reliability while also evincing some degree of character and, in the latter case, even a sense of fun on the lines of the marque’s wilder sports models.Like its larger stablemate, Note, Micra goes in less for agression and currently ubiquitous ‘edge ‘ in favour of user-friendliness. Twenty-first century equivalents of the Anglia and Cortina, they are the natural choice of the shrewd necessitous motorist with no real interest in motorcars per se.With no image to project and no particular axe to grind, these buyers are all the more concerned with suitability to purpose and what they’re getting for their money, which means a new Micra must be especially responsive to its core buying public. Nissan long ago realised that fancy names, such as Cedric, don’t carry any weight with these people.Pursuing this philosophy, the latest incarnation of the firm’s baby is actually slightly more conservative in appearance than its predecessor. Gone even are the jolly little sidelights that gave it such a singular aspect and acted like the plastic markers they used to put on giant lorries to show you where the front corners were.Parking has been isolated as the single greatest concern of the average Micra owner and, although the two forward reference points are no more, a great deal of thought has gone into achieving the greatest possible all-round visibility, and parking sensors have become a standard fitment.This is aided still further by an extremely impressive turning circle which, when set alongside Micra’s five-door practicality goes a long way toward making it the ideal town car.But the new design doesn’t rest on compact exterior dimensions and parkability – even though higher spec models even come with an advanced version of park-assist. The large windows and glass roof give the interior a sense of space which is by no means all illusion. It is possible for two adults to sit in relative comfort in the rear sealts, and the general ride quality is far superior to that associated with minicars in general. Rear damping is not all it might be, however. I travelled in the back of our test example for a while and, though I didn’t feel unduly restricted, I did become a little seasick on country roads.Luggage-carrying capacity is also a marvel of space management and once again it is clear that Micra ticks all the boxes for practicality and economy.Probably its greatest advantage over the outgoing model though, is the remarkable increase in levels of accommodation and equipment. Economy town car it may be, but new Micra is by no means a poor relation, with the aforementioned parking gismos, stability programmes, Nissa Connect nav and communication systems and, thaks to a brand new ultra-rigid floorpan, a sense of solidity and integrity to be envied by some larger and much more expensive cars.Dave Randle - Feb 2011
Nissan Micra
Micra is very important to Nissan, and it’s easy to
understand why. It is far and away their best seller
and has continued, year on year, to consolidate the
foundation upon which the company has been able to
build its unique
range.
Unique in the sense
that it manages to
mix brand name
desirability at one
end with an honest,
unpretentious,
practicality at the
other. Qashqai,
Navarra and the new
Juke embody
traditional Japanese
virtues of quality and
reliability while also
evincing some
degree of character
and, in the latter
case, even a sense
of fun on the lines of
the marque’s wilder
sports models.
Like its larger stablemate, Note, Micra goes in less for
agression and currently ubiquitous ‘edge ‘ in favour of
user-friendliness. Twenty-first century equivalents of
the Anglia and Cortina, they are the natural choice of
the shrewd necessitous motorist with no real interest
in motorcars per se.
With no image to project and no particular axe to
grind, these buyers are all the more concerned with
suitability to purpose and what they’re getting for their
money, which means a new Micra must be especially
responsive to its core buying public. Nissan long ago
realised that fancy names, such as Cedric, don’t carry
any weight with these people.
Pursuing this philosophy, the latest incarnation of the
firm’s baby is actually slightly more conservative in
appearance than its predecessor. Gone even are the
jolly little sidelights that gave it such a singular aspect
and acted like the plastic markers they used to put on
giant lorries to show you where the front corners
were.
Parking has been isolated as the single greatest
concern of the average Micra owner and, although
the two forward reference points are no more, a great
deal of thought has gone into achieving the greatest
possible all-round visibility, and parking sensors have
become a standard fitment.
This is aided still further by an extremely impressive
turning circle which, when set alongside Micra’s five-
door practicality goes a long way toward making it the
ideal town car.
But the new design
doesn’t rest on compact
exterior dimensions and
parkability – even though
higher spec models even
come with an advanced
version of park-assist.
The large windows and
glass roof give the interior
a sense of space which is
by no means all illusion. It
is possible for two adults
to sit in relative comfort in
the rear sealts, and the
general ride quality is far
superior to that
associated with minicars
in general. Rear damping
is not all it might be,
however. I travelled in the
back of our test example
for a while and, though I
didn’t feel unduly restricted, I did become a little seasick
on country roads.
Luggage-carrying capacity is also a marvel of space
management and once again it is clear that Micra ticks
all the boxes for practicality and economy.
Probably its greatest advantage over the outgoing
model though, is the remarkable increase in levels of
accommodation and equipment. Economy town car it
may be, but new Micra is by no means a poor relation,
with the aforementioned parking gismos, stability
programmes, Nissa Connect nav and communication
systems and, thaks to a brand new ultra-rigid floorpan,
a sense of solidity and integrity to be envied by some
larger and much more expensive cars.
Dave Randle - Feb 2011
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