Nissan Micra 89 GS (Nissan Micra (1983-92))

Member Name: Aurorabmth

Product:	Nissan Micra (1983-92)
Date:	01/02/05 (2239 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, Economical, Fun

Disadvantages: Not good at carrying weight, Bad choice of colours

I've had my Micra now for three years.
When I bought it, it was a steal. An Old couple had, had it from new
and got it Nissan serviced yearly. I got it with just 27k on it :-)

Anyway It's been fantastic.
It's a 1.0 Engine, which OK it's not the fastest thing in the world but
it's fun. Be warned it's heavily weight ratio'd. If you the driver weigh
next to nothing like myself, you'll feel like you've got in a 1.6 or something.
If on the other hand someone else gets in, you feel like your towing a caravan.
It does bolt off at quite a rate, I'd say 0-30 not many small engine cars could beat it.
(Alot of suprised looks at traffic lights :-) It's just 10m down the road that you run out of gears.

Mines the five gear version. And not many people believe this possible but
I have got it up to 99mph admitidely going down hill, but with 2 other people in it.
It's top speed actually seems to increase with weight, because it otherwise shakes too much.
Personally tho I don't recommend going above 85 unless you've got some sort of evil
demon after you or something!

Economy wise... I've yet to see better on a car of this size.
I can get up to 50mpg out of it. Admitidely that means driving like
a crazed tree hugger using everything you can to keep the momentum up.
But still averages of 45mpg are achievable if you choose the right gears.
On the motor way do an average of 70mph and you can get 350miles out of
30 litres of fuel. Go over 70 and your speedo needle will go up proportional
to your fuel level going down!

Mine has been kept exceptionally, and it's only just starting to show the first signs of
rust :-(
However it's so easy to bring it up shining and looking like new, as it's the lovely (cough)
gold colour and so laquered. Buy yourself a new set of hubcaps (I recommend the
five pointed cheapo ones from Wilkos) and a can of back to black for the trim and
you can really make em shine, if you want.

The interior does leave something to be desired however it is functional.
Theres nothing really missing from it that you get in newer cars.
Be warned however that the stereo and speaker(Yes non plural!) is appalling. Be prepared to rip it out if you like your music!
The seats have plane style leavers for leaning back and forth, which are good. The GS has a boot leaver which leaves many other student cars wanting :-)
The extras of the GS and GSX are good to have. Especially the rear wiper!
My GS also has a tilt and remove sun roof. Not many people know about the remove bit. Read the manual and all will be explained! It's a nice feature. Can be done at traffic lights in 15 seconds once you've got the nac!

Be warned real Nissan parts are expensive. I've been quoted £8 for an engine mounting
nut! However you can pick them up at numerous Nissan breakers for next to nothing.

Buy a pair of MaxWhite headlight bulbs (£15) because the ones that come with it are not good!

Matenence is fairly easy with a Haynes manual.

It aint big, but you can fit a 19" Mountain bike in the back if you take front wheel of the mountain bike.

Summary: