So today I had a booked trial for the new Micra. I was lucky, usually there are 2 sellers at my Nissan's local shop, but this week one of the seller was in holydays, so the other seller just gave me the key and lent me the car for 30mins. He had to stay at the shop so I was alone in the car and could test it in "any conditions"
So I stopped by and picked up my cousin that lives nearby Nissan's. I pushed the engine hardly, city driving and highway. Here is my quick review:
First good surprise, that I didn't realised when I sat in the car in the Japanese Nissan shop during the March meeting last year, the seats are incredibly comfy, tall enough, offering a very good bearing on the side where your humps rest, with quality textile and thick foam, they feel solid and safe.
Position for driving is pretty high, windscreen is large, like in the K11, and the space between the dashboard and the windscreen is not too deep, much better than on the K12. Pillars are not big (not like on the C3 for example, where they are very large).
Right after setting the seats, I've checked and setted the mirrors, side mirrors are huge, much appreciated it. The blind spot is really tiny, not like on the K11. You have space, tall people will be ok, like in the K11 (a little less maybe)
Stock sound system is more than OK!
On the other hand, the clocks cluster is not very clear, speed jauge is not very big, speed marks are rather thin and not easy noticed. I didn't saw fuel gauge ! I don't know if it was displayed on another screen or if it was displayed only on demand, maybe it's displayed only when you ask to see it.
Other major problem is that plastic feels VERY cheap; fragile and not well adujsted. The door cards seem to be badly and approximatively fixed when you knock or push on them, and the 2 glove box are a pure joke: too tiny and fragile.
Other example for the bad plastique: the indicators stalks are really bad, they feels empty, and they switch badly, they don't make a frankly "CLICK" sound when you put your side indicators; so I was troubled and didn't remember if they were ON.
The GPS and the heater console are... ugly, bad shapes, bad materials, bad colors: a big silver plastic round when all the dash is black, WTF ? it seems difficult to swap with a regular car stereo cd player, the sellers didn't managed to tell me how it was possible, he didn't knew.
Video of the inside:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdPVFF3CxwQ
Driving:
the engine is vivid and rather nipy when you go past the 3000RPM, but I was a bit disapointed by the 1st gear, a bit too slow at start, but remember its a eco car, and maybe I didn't found the good clutch deadpoint. On the highway it feel safe, even at 120KMH no vibrations, not too much noise from the engine, it feels smoother and less "pushed to the max" than a K11 1.0 at 120KMH. He makes you want to play with it, and I did
Spring system is pretty good, less hard than a K12 and less "floaty boaty" than a K11. Direction is pretty accurate and not too much assisted, so it results taking roundabout at high speed feels safer than in the K11 with stock springs.
The steering-wheel has a nice shape, good grip in the hands, touch feels good (leather) and is not too big. Again, something much better than in the K12.
Gearbox is longer than K11 gearbox, but not THAT long (way better than a C3 for exemple), changing gears is easy and smooth, I liked it. Pedals are big enough and precise. Brakes are efficient, I was impressed.
Video driving it :
http://youtu.be/Lj4JBad_VlI
To sum up; trying this car was a trap.
I wanted to try it just by curiosity, thinking that I would never be interested at all in buying it, but in the end, I have to admit that it was really pleasant! A lot more pleasant than same categorie other cars I already drove :Clio 2 and 3, Polo, K12 or C3. It feels nippy (a bit less than a 16V K11 tho, less nippy on low rev), safe, comfy and quiet. It's much better than the K12 imho.
With better dashboard, better plastics, 3 doors version, and a little more HPs, I could bought it, as a nice eco daily car. Let's wait for a phase2, I could be tempted to buy it
I Tthink it's something as a Micra fan you should experience if you have a Nissans dealers nearby you live. You will forget your prejudice
