First drive: Nissan Micra has hit potential

IT IS about to turn five-years-old overseas, but Nissan Australia is confident the Micra still has what it takes to be a hit Down Under.

The bug-eyed light car will be launched here in November as a five-door hatchback aimed directly at established rivals including the Toyota Yaris, Honda Jazz, Ford Fiesta and Suzuki Swift.

Nissan Australia hopes the new rounded Micra will do better than the first generation model which lasted just two years before the British-built model was killed off in 1997 as the exchange rate pressure took its toll.

The Micra is still produced at Nissan’s Sunderland plant, but Australia will source its Micras from Japan, which enables more competitive pricing.

Nissan Australia is yet to lock in pricing for its light-car fighter, but the Micra would need to be priced around $16,000 if it was to line-up directly five-door versions of its main competitors.

The final price will also by influenced by specification levels and whether Nissan offers the Micra with a manual transmission.

Nissan Australia marketing manager Ross Booth said the company has announced it will bring an automatic, but would not confirm or rule-out a manual price leader Micra.

The new Micra might have taken its time to come here, but has been a strong seller for Nissan in Europe and especially England since it was launched in 2002.

Booth said the fact that the Micra was getting-on did not pose a problem for Nissan Australia.

“From a product cycle perspective, obviously it is getting toward the end of its cycle, but our research has told us that from a design and driving perspective it is right on the money,” Booth said.

A new Micra is expected to arrive in Europe from 2009, by which time Booth hopes the Micra will have cemented a place in the Australian light car market.

The Micra sticks to the standard formula of light cars, with a small economical engine, agile handling and hatchback practicality.

Unlike some of its rivals, the Micra will only be offered as a five-door to start off with, as that is the only model made in Japan.

A three-door Micra may make the ship to Australia if there is sufficient demand, but would come with a price premium given its sporty positioning and the fact that it comes out of England’s Sunderland plant.

The Micra will launch in Australia with one engine, a 1.4 –litre four-cylinder.

This in-line twin-cam engine generates 65kW of power at 5200 revs and 128Nm of torque at 3200 revs.

Although it does require premium unleaded, the Micra is expected to have impressive combined fuel economy figures comparable to its rivals, standing somewhere between 6 and 7 litres per 100km.

That figure will at least be more impressive than the 0-100km/h sprint time of the automatic Micra – a positively pedestrian 15 seconds.

European Micra customers can also choose a 1.5-litre 65kW diesel and two other petrol engines – a 59kW 1.2-litre petrol and 81kW 1.6-litre petrol.

Of those, only the 1.6-litre petrol engine has a realistic chance of coming here, as it powers the sporty three-door Micra Nissan Australia is considering.

The transmission confirmed for Australia is a conventional four-speed automatic that feeds power to the front wheels.

Nissan is currently replacing most of its regular automatic transmissions with no step continuously variable transmissions (CVTs), which are now used in the Maxima, Murano as well as the new Dualis and X-Trail, and it is expected the next-generation Micra will also run a CVT. The manual gearbox available with the 1.4-litre petrol engine overseas is a five-speed.

The Micra runs a regular light car suspension set-up including independent strut front with a torsion beam axle at the rear.

An electric assisted rack and pinion steering system has been tuned for easy turning at low speed.

Braking power is provided by disc brakes on the front and drums on the rear.

Nissan Australia says all Micras will be fitted with anti-skid brakes, while front driver and passenger airbags will also be standard.

The Micra is very similar in its dimensions to the five-door Yaris, although it is slightly shorter and taller.

The Nissan is 3719mm long, 1660mm wide, 1540mm tall and has a wheelbase of 2430mm.

As you would expect from a car in this class, the Micra is quite light, tipping the scales at just 985kg.

Final specification for Australian models is yet to be confirmed, but the 1.4-litre Micra sold in England rides on 15-inch steel wheels, comes standard with airconditioining, electric windows and mirrors, trip computer, body coloured wing mirrors and a six-speaker sound system.

The spare wheel is a space saver. The Micra can carry five people and has headrests and lap/sash belts for all five seats.

Interior practicality was obviously a prime consideration when the Micra was developed.

The rear seat bench can slide back or forward to expand bootspace or free up some extra legroom.

It is also possible to fold the seatbacks of the rear seats down to carry larger items.

The base cushion of the front passenger seat can be removed to reveal a storage container which can be used to keep valuable items out of view.

As you could expect from a model that has been on the market for this long, the Micra has been given a mid-life freshen-up.

The changes to the 2002 launch model are minor, including different wheels, fresh interior trim and sturdier bumpers better able to cope with European ‘touch’ parking.

Drive impressions:

YOU would be hard pressed to pick the Micra as a five year-old model.

The bug-eyed hatch might be older than many of its competitors in the booming light car class, but first impressions on English roads suggests it will put up a very good fight.

That is, of course, if the price is right.

Nissan Australia knows that at this cut-throat end of the market as little as $1000 could make the difference between a niche player and a high volume hero.

If the Micra is priced as competitively as Nissan Australia suggests, then it should do quite well.

The car seems to have all the right mechanical ingredients to be a sales success.

Then there is the styling.

It won’t appeal to everyone, but the Micra’s headlights that look like eyes and its cute bubble shape bring back memories of the 1990-96 Mazda 121.

The rounded Mazda was incredibly popular in Australia, not least because of its styling that was so popular with female buyers.

Interior styling is not revolutionary, but looks modern and all the controls are easy to use.

The test car featured white dials for the climate controls and sound system which stand out against the grey of the interior trim and look decidedly naff.

Its interior plastics might be quite hard, but they look quite good.

The overall impression of the interior is that this is a car that looks more expensive than it costs apart from one exception.

A body section between the sides of the rear seats and the rear doors that would normally be lined in dark plastic to match the doors, but is covered with a sort of compressed fibre (the type used for rear parcel shelves) which looks really cheap. Practicality will be a positive for the Micra, especially features like the rear seat row that can slide forwards for when you are not carrying passengers.

The Micra’s bootspace is adequate, but the sliding seat frees up a lot more cargo area.

Normally, hidey holes around a car’s cabin are fairly useless, but the space beneath the passenger seat could actually come in handy to store things like CDs or bigger items that are best left out of sight.

There are also two cupholders in the front and two more at the rear of the centre console for rear seat passengers.

The Micra could carry four adults fairly confortably as there is quite a reasonable amount of legroom.

Rear seat headroom is also generous and will provide enough for all but the tallest adults.

Seating is adequate in both the front and the back. The front seats are comfortable enough, even on longer trips but there is not all that much lateral support.

The model tested had a felt-feel seat trim that which looks and feels nicer than you expect at this price point.

It also had a rattle from somewhere in the back that was particularly annoying.

Driving dynamics often sit well down the priority list in the light car segment, but the Micra is one of the better-handling models.

It probably comes just short of the agile Ford Fiesta, which is the handling benchmark in the class, but the steering feels direct and there is very little body roll in turns.

Ride comfort has been retained though and the Micra’s suspension more than adequately dealt with potholes and bumps of the narrow Oxfordshire country roads we used to test the car.

It doesn’t set any new standards, but the Micra’s engine is adequate for this type of car.

Even with the automatic transmission of the test car, this powerplant provides enough punch to get along well enough and is reasonably smooth.

The automatic is adequate.

Our test car (with 200 miles on the clock) overheated during the test because the engine fan’s power was not connected properly.

It was a rare example of a modern car failing to proceed, but after the fan connector was clicked into place it returned to service.

Although it was embarrassing for Nissan England, any build quality concern raised by this incident are irrelevant because Micras bound for Australia will come from Japan.

GoAuto also tested a 1.6-litre three-door Micra Sport model which more involving than the standard Micra.

While only the most imaginative marketing chief would refer to this car as a hot hatch, the extra spice was certainly welcome given the sound chassis of the base Micra.