The (not so) little beauty!. Review on Nissan Micra

When I went in for the Micra Diesel I had comprehensively driven and mulled over for more than a month the other competitors like the Fabia, Punto, i20 and also the New Swift(could not drive this one:)

Of all the cars the Micra stood out in terms of the sheer brilliance in the drive department. The way the engine delivered both in terms of pickup and linear response made an immediate mark on my mind. I dilly dallied a lot on making this purchase because the removal of certain safety features like the ABS and PS Airbag, hurt a ton. But finally the Nissan brand and the great feeling that I carried with me of the test drives made the day in helping me take a decision.

I have driven the car now for close to a couple of thousand kilometres and the following is what I feel about it

PROs -

1. The Drive - linear power delivery with minimal turbo lag, outstanding pickup and in-gear driveability(20-80 in 3rd gear and 40-100 in 4th)

   
   




2. Mileage - In city(in the worst of bangalore traffic and roads) is around 15 kmpl and highway mileage is in the region of 21-23 kmpl

   
   




3. On board computer - Gives me on the drive mileage and the mileage for any given trip(I need to reset though) apart from other figures such as DTE. There are 2 trip meters.

   
   




4. Seating comfort - I would give it an A- due to non availability of driver seat height adjust. All other passengers including some very huge friends of mine have heaped praise on even the much criticized rear seats of the Micra.

   
   




5. Feature listing - the comfort features are brilliant, like the Auto climate control, the start stop button(its amazing), the completely automated mirrors(mirror adjustements as well as open and close) and the 15 inch alloy wheels

   
   




6. Stunningly good road clearance - though on paper the ground clearance is just 154 mm, the shock absorbers dont collapse when people sit in the car like most other cars with much higher on paper GC. This has resulted in hardly any serious scraping incidents unlike some of the cars well known for this issue(some of which I owned in the past;)

   
   




7. Shock Absorbers - Good but not outstanding.

   
   




8. Internal plastic part quality is very good

   
   

CONs

1. Lack of critical safety features like ABS and Passenger Side Airbag

   
   




2. Lack of seperate Rear Seat headrests

   
   




3. Lack of driver seat height adjust

   
   




4. In all of Karnataka there is only one agency called Shahwar Nissan to take handle the car. Nissan seriously needs to have a relook at this strategy if indeed it is one:). So far though service agents and other people in the customer care chain have been good.

   
   




5. The internal beige or Greige as Nissan would like to call it is very easily soilable

   
   




6. The gear shifts are not the best in the business but one can live with