Well what can I say - I love this little car - there are a few little things here and there that I think "why did Nissan do it like this" but overall, I am quite impressed!
Myself and my wife are expecting our first child in June, and our existing K11 was showing signs of getting on a bit, only 65k miles but the list of things that needed doing and keeping on top of was getting longer and longer. It was also a 3 door when we needed a 5 door to lug a baby seat in and out, so we thought whilst it had a bit of value left and some available cash, we would trade it in.
Over the years since I got rid of my 200sx and bought a house I have had that "need" to get something with a bit of excitement. the wife has always said no to cars like a 350z even though they were in our price range. To be fair, she is right but hey ho - I may have a mid life crisis at some point and buy a GTR with our life savings haha!
This is where I started looking at the Micra DIG-S. They are not that much more expensive than the N/A 1.2 K13's and with the benefit of no road tax (at least, at the moment!), estimated MPG of 50-60 and supercharge, it ticked all the boxes!
It took a number of months of thinking and pondering and looking on the local Nissan dealer’s website before I actually decided that it was time to do something about it. Went for a test drive and was initially impressed. I was on good behaviour however so didn’t really chuck the car about as much as I wanted to, but initial impressions were good. In the end, we didn’t go for the one we test drove, but one as we found on at the same dealer in a red-ish colour with only 4500 miles, 9 months old and for less money than the white one (which was 12,000 miles and 18 month old - go figure!).
So we bought it and I collected it last night. Oh what a fun drive home that was. Finally managed to push the little 3 pot harder and I was actually really really surprised as to how well it accelerated, when making progress in this its very easy to forget how quick you are driving compared to the K11 1.0 I had just driven 30miles to the dealer from work, its gets to speed with ease! Ok, its not the fastest car on the road but it can put up a good fight against most things (traffic light GP has just become a whole heap easier to win lol). Oh and it was the first time I got to hear the supercharger whine properly, that with the 3pot throb just made for a really fun drive back home! Exactly what I had been looking for!
So the bad/not to my taste points, there are not many but I have picked up on the following:
1. A very small problem, but there is no aux power socket! Instead there is a 3.5mm audio jack and a USB port for the Nissan Connect system. Now, I did test it this morning and was relieved to find out that it is powered and will charge my phone. As to how much power it gives out though compared to a normal "cig lighter" charger as my phone (HTC One X) is quite a power hungry phone when it gets going. I would have preferred an aux socket; maybe retro-fitting one somewhere could be an option (although I don’t want to start cutting and taking things to bits)
2. Supercharger "lag". Yeah yeah, its belt driven and it should be instant boost, however after some digging I understand that the supercharger is on an electronic clutch and only comes into play when "making progress" or there is a requirement for more power such as going uphill. The rest of the time, the super charger is bypassed. There are times when I want to make progress and the expected power just isn’t there as quick as you would expect, or the super charger does not kick in at all. Maybe I just need to spend more time driving it to get to grips with it better. After all, this engine was not designed with performance in mind, but how efficient it can be by reducing drag as much as possible
3. Speedo - In all the Nissan's I have owned, the speedo has gone up in 10's (so 10,20,30...) and a little red mark where 30 was, and in newer cars, where 50 was! However the speedo in the K13 goes up in 20's and no little red marker at 30 any more so it’s less easy at a very quick glance to tell what speed you are actually doing even though the speedo is rather large!
4. I have never experienced auto stop function before, but I find it a bit over sensitive in the K13. There are a load “ifs”. I think if I remember correctly…
1. Engine up to temp and driven a distance
2. Battery voltage is reading correct
3. Blowers not on de-mist setting
4. Rear de-mist is disabled
5. AC is turned off
6. Driver is in the seat with seat belt on
7. All doors are shut
8. No movement in steering wheel
9. Gear in neutral and clutch pedal up
10. Handbrake or foot brake on (I figured out that you can “change over” foot to hand with the engine in auto stop without the engine kicking in as long as I cross over
Getting the engine going again is easy, too easy, any slight movement in the clutch pedal or steering wheel and it fires up which is a bit of a pain really. I am sure I will get used to it….. or just disable the function!
Anyway, that’s the first 30 miles covered! Will get some pics up later and see if I can point things out to people as it could be handy reference for others who are looking to buy!
Myself and my wife are expecting our first child in June, and our existing K11 was showing signs of getting on a bit, only 65k miles but the list of things that needed doing and keeping on top of was getting longer and longer. It was also a 3 door when we needed a 5 door to lug a baby seat in and out, so we thought whilst it had a bit of value left and some available cash, we would trade it in.
Over the years since I got rid of my 200sx and bought a house I have had that "need" to get something with a bit of excitement. the wife has always said no to cars like a 350z even though they were in our price range. To be fair, she is right but hey ho - I may have a mid life crisis at some point and buy a GTR with our life savings haha!
This is where I started looking at the Micra DIG-S. They are not that much more expensive than the N/A 1.2 K13's and with the benefit of no road tax (at least, at the moment!), estimated MPG of 50-60 and supercharge, it ticked all the boxes!
It took a number of months of thinking and pondering and looking on the local Nissan dealer’s website before I actually decided that it was time to do something about it. Went for a test drive and was initially impressed. I was on good behaviour however so didn’t really chuck the car about as much as I wanted to, but initial impressions were good. In the end, we didn’t go for the one we test drove, but one as we found on at the same dealer in a red-ish colour with only 4500 miles, 9 months old and for less money than the white one (which was 12,000 miles and 18 month old - go figure!).
So we bought it and I collected it last night. Oh what a fun drive home that was. Finally managed to push the little 3 pot harder and I was actually really really surprised as to how well it accelerated, when making progress in this its very easy to forget how quick you are driving compared to the K11 1.0 I had just driven 30miles to the dealer from work, its gets to speed with ease! Ok, its not the fastest car on the road but it can put up a good fight against most things (traffic light GP has just become a whole heap easier to win lol). Oh and it was the first time I got to hear the supercharger whine properly, that with the 3pot throb just made for a really fun drive back home! Exactly what I had been looking for!
So the bad/not to my taste points, there are not many but I have picked up on the following:
1. A very small problem, but there is no aux power socket! Instead there is a 3.5mm audio jack and a USB port for the Nissan Connect system. Now, I did test it this morning and was relieved to find out that it is powered and will charge my phone. As to how much power it gives out though compared to a normal "cig lighter" charger as my phone (HTC One X) is quite a power hungry phone when it gets going. I would have preferred an aux socket; maybe retro-fitting one somewhere could be an option (although I don’t want to start cutting and taking things to bits)
2. Supercharger "lag". Yeah yeah, its belt driven and it should be instant boost, however after some digging I understand that the supercharger is on an electronic clutch and only comes into play when "making progress" or there is a requirement for more power such as going uphill. The rest of the time, the super charger is bypassed. There are times when I want to make progress and the expected power just isn’t there as quick as you would expect, or the super charger does not kick in at all. Maybe I just need to spend more time driving it to get to grips with it better. After all, this engine was not designed with performance in mind, but how efficient it can be by reducing drag as much as possible
3. Speedo - In all the Nissan's I have owned, the speedo has gone up in 10's (so 10,20,30...) and a little red mark where 30 was, and in newer cars, where 50 was! However the speedo in the K13 goes up in 20's and no little red marker at 30 any more so it’s less easy at a very quick glance to tell what speed you are actually doing even though the speedo is rather large!
4. I have never experienced auto stop function before, but I find it a bit over sensitive in the K13. There are a load “ifs”. I think if I remember correctly…
1. Engine up to temp and driven a distance
2. Battery voltage is reading correct
3. Blowers not on de-mist setting
4. Rear de-mist is disabled
5. AC is turned off
6. Driver is in the seat with seat belt on
7. All doors are shut
8. No movement in steering wheel
9. Gear in neutral and clutch pedal up
10. Handbrake or foot brake on (I figured out that you can “change over” foot to hand with the engine in auto stop without the engine kicking in as long as I cross over
Getting the engine going again is easy, too easy, any slight movement in the clutch pedal or steering wheel and it fires up which is a bit of a pain really. I am sure I will get used to it….. or just disable the function!
Anyway, that’s the first 30 miles covered! Will get some pics up later and see if I can point things out to people as it could be handy reference for others who are looking to buy!
