the Nissan Note aims to provide the low
running cost and fun drive of a
supermini but the practicality of a much
larger car let's see if it does that and
what's the improvements are over the
outgoing note the new model has a more
upmarket look ditching the boxy stands
for curves and sleek lines the improved
headlight design and 15 inch alloy
wheels found on the mid-range model make
it look more grown-up than before it
scores highly for practicality and is
one of the biggest in the supermini
class comes complete with the handy
little hooks for very small bags and is
plenty big enough for my large suitcase
better than that if you avoid the
entry-level model you get this handy
movable floor which positions up like so
and then you have secret storage your
valuables better than that though slide
the seats forwards and this boot becomes
the biggest in class fold the seats down
and it's even bigger slightly bigger
than the Ford s-max yes I said s max not
B max now obviously with the seats all
the way forwards it does impact on
passenger space however if you're small
you probably won't notice the reduced
legroom especially if someone like me or
my mum is sitting in the passenger seat
and five foot four and a half in case
this is your first car buy a video if
you watched don't make it your last and
with the seats all the way back even
tall people will find there is plenty of
legroom and plenty of headroom
up front there are loads of improvements
over the old note that adds to that art
market feel the curved dashboard white
backlit dials and gloss black centre
console all improve this now grown-up
super mini
spec is good to all cars come with
Bluetooth and cruise control and if you
go for the center that's someone with
the 15 inch alloy wheels you get climate
control sat-nav tinted rear windows and
steering wheel mounted audio controls
plus there is plenty of adjustment in
the seat so you should find a
comfortable position for driving
if parkings not your strong point fear
not because you can opt for safety
shield which includes a 360 degree
camera which makes light work of parking
it's also incredibly easy to drive
around town thanks to its light controls
it feels more comfortable on European
roads than before thanks to a new
suspension setup and nicely weighted
steering overall it sticks to the road
better than the outgoing model and feels
more composed than a Honda Jazz there is
a choice of engines but the best one to
go for is a 1.5 diesel because it is
free to tax feels powerful enough for
normal everyday driving and return
seventy eight point five miles to the
gallon
the 1.2 liter supercharged petrol engine
isn't bad either but it's more suited to
town trips rather than long-distance
motorway journeys is there anything bad
to say about the new note well like with
anything there are negative points to
consider and even though there has been
an improvement with the handling it
still isn't quite as much fun to drive
as a Ford Fiesta and again the interior
has had an improvement but it still
feels a little bit cheap next to the
Volkswagen Polo and then the engines are
a little bit noisy under acceleration
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having said that nissan makes very
reliable cars the note offers more space
than many of its supermini rivals and is
better value than a lot of the mini MPV
s if you're still unsure then why not
have a look at my review of the renault
clio here mats review of the Ford Fiesta
here and don't forget to subscribe to
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