Micra Biology (Nissan Micra S in general)

Member Name: kfingleton

Product:	Nissan Micra S in general
Date:	03/06/01 (297 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reliable, quirky looking

Disadvantages: Quirky means ugly in this case but this car has nothing on its rivals

Living in the big smoke as I do, there is a wealth of cars around, from the classic to the latest model. But as space is such a premium in the congested, polluted modern Scottish city there are an abundance of tiny little cars known as "city cars". Like lice in the hair of a six year old, these little pests are all over the place. As a rule I would never buy one, but I have driven a few. One such car is the Nissan Micra.

Of course it would be very stupid of me to review this car purely from the point of view of an enthusiastic driver because if you’re actually referring to this review to make a decision on what car to buy, you’re not interested in my point of view. So I will strain to put myself into the shoes of the pensioner or the young female student. This is not an easy task for me, so be warned.

My knowledge of the Nissan Micra comes from the fact that both my mother and one of my older sisters both own them. There are two in the driveway of the family home and when they sit there idle, all they do is reduce the value of our property. But having had plenty of driving time in a Nissan Micra 1.0 S five-door, I think I have enough acquired knowledge to give you an informed opinion of this car.

Anywho, on with the business of reviewing this little midget…

The Micra Mk II has been around for nigh on 8 years now, which by modern standards is a ridiculously long time for a platform to be around. The Micra has won European Car of the Year but that was in 1993 according to my sister’s car sticker and the Micra has been usurped many times since.

Styling-wise it is charming to some, dopey to others (i.e. me). Those big headlamps give the car a bemused look, as if it’s startled to still be in existence. It looks like a big mould of play dough and it certainly has aged considerably in the styling stakes. Edgy is the new round in terms of car fashion and the Micra is considerably out of
fashion.

Inside things don’t get much better. The dash may have improved for the extremely basic and sparse original version, but it still houses minimal standard kit and it’s still got that cheap looking grey plastic that looks like it’s been remoulded from the inside of an old Ford Transit. The car has such luxuries as a radio (oooh!) and a driver’s airbag and deadlocks. But that’s it. For air-con or electric windows you need to pay extra on this most basic of basic models.

With only a single airbag and no mod-cons like ABS, this car probably isn't as safe as its competitors. I don't have any Euro NCAP figures to hand but I don't think that the Micra would be altogether too bad in terms of safety, but would not compete with the likes of the Renault Clio (a car the next Micra will share its underpinnings with) or the Skoda Fabia.

Space is constantly improving in this class of car, but sadly not in the Micra. It remains all too true to its name with barely room for two in the back seat and heaven forbid that a tall person ever had to sit in any of the seats. They’d need to put their head out of the optional sunroof. The seats are too hard and you sit far too upright for my liking. This does give you better visibility and I suppose you might get used to it but it doesn’t feel right to me. The Toyota Yaris has plenty of well thought out cbby holes but the Micra offers few of these. The car hasn’t really developed in these criteria since the Mk II came on the market.

On the road it doesn’t fair much better. Lawnmowers probably have bigger engines than the tiny 1.0 litre unit, pumping out a whopping 59 bhp at 6000 revs. This car will take almost 16 seconds to reach the 60 mph mark and the little torque there is (59 lb ft) feels like it comes in far too far up the rev range. While I admit that most Micra owners don’t care about this sort of thing, this sort of
speed is intolerable for anyone and unsafe if you ever need to accelerate away from danger. If you don’t weigh too much it will pass 90 mph if you happen to take it onto an Autobahn, but this car is about as far from a performance model as it’s possible to be.

It’s well mannered on the road though. The steering is quite precise and very light, which is of course part of the appeal to the elderly driver. City parking is cinch in one of these little rats. The ride is a little too rough, especially if you push that little 998cc engine. At even 60 mph the car starts to vibrate and rattle and you can feel chassis just cannot cope on the open road at all. Obviously in the city you’ll be lucky to reach 30 mph and there is no doubt that this is the Nissan’s natural environment, but just about every other mainstream model in this class out performs it.

You may now be wondering what exactly the advantages of buying a Micra are after all this negativity. Does it have a big boot, for example? Well let’s put it this way, if you were asked if the Tories were electable you would answer the same way as I would for boot space.

What the Micra can offer its owner is low running costs. The group one insurance and almost 50 miles to the gallon offer both the student and the pensioner a massive financial incentive. This group of buyers tend not to be very high up in the engineering stakes when it comes to cars breaking down too, but the chances are that the Micra never will. All this comes at just over £7000 new, but the resale value is not good.

In the shoes of the old age pensioner or the female student, I would have to say that I cannot recommend the Nissan Micra. The Toyota Yaris is now old enough to be bought second hand and is a car of countless advances in quality, plus that famed Japanese reliability (which the Micra also enjoys a slice of). The Skoda Fabia blends looks with all the qualities of the Yaris
and even the ageing Peugeot 106 / Citroen Saxo are superior to the Micra.

As my normal self I detest this car, but this has not shrouded my judgement in this review. The simple fact is that the Nissan Micra can no longer cut it. Nissan need to release their replacement pretty soon and judging by the top two cars in the class, it needs to create something very special.

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