I want you to forget everything you know about the Nissan Micra.
No, seriously.
Everything.
The reason is that we all know what the last one was like (not fantastic), but this is
quite different.
Even Nissan admits that the last time round it wasn’t great, so it conducted a massive
series of surveys to identify what people hated the most about the Micra, and then set
about turning each of those on their head.
The result is a slightly larger, much more youthful and infinitely more modern small
hatchback that’s packed with colour and kit and all the things that modern, young
buyers want.
Virtually everything about it has been changed, so let’s get down to business and see what’s
inside.
It’s definitely much cooler looking, both inside and out.
You could say it’s a little over-styled the way some Japanese cars are, but it’s
lightyears ahead of the last Micra and on par with the most stylish cars in its class.
Visibility is good and it’s comfy to sit in too.
Now the new Micra starts from £11,995, and for that you get standard kit like LED daytime
running lights, Bluetooth, lane departure warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking.
We’ve got the range-topping Tekna trim, which starts from £17,435 and which includes
stuff like this leather steering wheel, a reversing camera and parking sensors, a seven-inch
touchscreen with all kinds of smartphone-integrated goodies and a Bose sound system which is a
£500 option for other trims.
Speaking of options though, like a lot of these funky, fashionable small cars where
they really sting you is with the add-ons.
The alloy wheels and funky orange/grey paintwork on our car?
£550.
The orange bits on these seats and dash?
£400, and so on.
As tested and with all the options, this car is tickling £20,000.
Consider this as well, if you’re a young buyer and you want something with a bit of
excitement, a Fiesta ST is the same price, while a Volkswagen Polo Beats Edition is nearly
£5,000 less.
There’s loads of room up the front there’s not quite so much back here in the rear despite
this Micra being some 17cm longer and 8cm wider than its predecessor.
Legroom is pretty tight, as is headroom even for those of average height like myself, so
if you regularly cart passengers about it mightn’t be ideal.
Still, there is a generously-proportioned and well-shaped boot, which with 300 litres
of space is pretty good for its class.
Fold the 60/40 split seats down and there’s 1,004 litres of space which again is good,
though if absolute practicality is a must the likes of a Honda Jazz will serve you better.
No worries though, as this new Micra is aimed squarely at da yoof, for whom how many pallets
they can fit in the back pales in comparison to how fun the car is to look at, to be in
and – usually – to drive.
To address that, Nissan has worked hard to inject the Micra with a bit more life, without
doing away with the previous car’s easy-to-live-with, easy-to-drive persona.
Luckily, this is a much better car to drive than the dull as dishwater last version, with
sharper steering and Nissan’s Intelligent Ride Control which manages body roll much
better than before and keeps the car surefooted through tight corners, over bumps and along
cambered roads.
It doesn’t have a patch on the best-driving cars in its class but it’s confident and
deft, and walks the knife edge between sensibility and entertainment while doing the slow-speed,
mooching around town thing well too.
It isn’t terribly fast, though.
At the moment, you can choose between the 89bhp 0.9-litre turbo petrol that we have
here, or a 1.5-litre diesel.
Later on, there’ll be the choice of a naturally aspirated 1.0-litre petrol, but it’s this
one that’s likely to be the best seller.
It’s got more guts than the previous 1.2-litre that’s for sure, but with a 0-62mph time
of 12.1 seconds getting up to motorway speeds and overtaking will take a bit of forward
planning.
As with all these tiny turbos you’re unlikely to hit the official fuel economy figures of
61.4mpg; we’ve managed around XMPG.
If you could summarise the new Micra in a line, it would be that it’s as good as the
last one was bad.
I know that mightn’t sound like terribly high praise, but it is.
It’s so different so much more improved, it genuinely rivals best-in-class cars it
could never have dreamed of before like the Polo and the Fiesta.
It's not perfect and we’d probably recommend staying away from the top trims and some of
the pricier options, as it can get expensive, but be sensible and the Micra is a highly
competitive and much, much improved small hatchback.