24/03/08
- Price9645
- We like...Cabin storage spaces
- We don't...Silly pedals
Revamped supermini stays sensible for 2008, despite crazy touchesClimb aboard this likeable small Nissan for the first time and a shock awaits. This is a car that sensible people love to drive, right? The cabin is mostly beige, that safest and dullest of all colours. So why is there, lurking in the footwell, a set of racer-boy drilled metal pedals, factory-fitted as standard? It’s a bit like discovering that your tweedy old aunt owns a skateboard and keeps her wallet on a thick length of chain.
It’s not even as if Nissan has followed through by sport-ifying the Micra elsewhere. The wheel is the standard plastic rimmed three-spoker, while the gear shift looks nothing special. True, this model wears a rear spoiler and alloy wheels, but they’re discreet.
Yet if Nissan has gifted us an easy-to-spot visual blunder, there’s much else to admire. The Nissan Micra’s buzzy 1.2 motor revs freely if noisily and punts the car along quickly. It feels faster than its 0-60mph time suggests.
As superminis go, it’s titchy, so it feels easy to place in town traffic. Those giant headlamps stray into view at the base of the screen, helping you place it inch-perfect through tight gaps.
The controls are light, though the gears can stick until warmed through, and it takes the bumps comfortably and quietly.
Space is an issue. It’s tight for four and a real squeeze for five, although there are three belts sited in the back. Luggage space is okay and you can boost it by sliding the rear bench forward. The Micra has terrific in-cabin storage, though. Flip the base of the front passenger’s perch and there’s a space big enough to swallow a handbag. The glove box is big and next to it a useful fold-out hook nestles – perfect for groceries or a takeaway. The door pockets are fair-sized, too and there are the usual spaces for small bottles of water or cans of pop.
This current-shape Micra’s been around for five years, but in 2008 its headlamps glow blue and its grille wears an added dash of chrome. Little else has changed: for now, it dsn’t need to.
- Engines1.2
- Power78bhp
- 0-60 mph13.5sec
- Economy47.9mpg
- CO2g/km139
- Insurance groups3
- EuroNCAP
- Airbags4
- Seats5
Motors.co.uk value verdict:
