Driven: all new Nissan Micra
By khulekani / on September 18th, 2018 / in Car Reviews, featuredBy Rebaneilwe Semakane
The b-segment is busy and everyone wants a piece of the action. Nissan has legged a bit behind in this arena so their latest offering had to make more than a state. It looks like Nissan has just done that with the new Micra, especially when it comes to the looks. The former model had a more compact, bug-like shape but this one has taken on the shape of an everyday hatchback. Recently, I had the pleasure of having it on test; I was really keen to see what it has in store.
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Exterior
The new exterior design car is defined and sharp with expressive lines that make the car look much sportier than its rivals in its segment. From the front, the narrow headlamps stretch across the side of the bonnet and include signature LED daytime running lights. The car also has halogen headlamps. The new lights and Nissan’s familiar “V-motion” grille works so well in completing the beautiful front design.
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At the back, there are new boomerang-shaped light clusters and below them is the defined bumper that features a carbon-look finish as standard, and manages to hide the car’s exhaust pipe. Additionally, the number plate is now located right in the middle of the boot.
Adding to fresh looks are the new expressive colours. My test unit was energy orange. For someone who does not like bright colours, I couldn’t help but see how the car stood out when parked amongst other cars. Other exterior colours available are solid white, passion red, platinum silver, echo grey and power blue.
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Interior
This interior has done a whole 180. It is now bold and inviting; and you can immediately tell that proper quality material has been used throughout the cabin the moment you step inside. The interior has an expressive two-dash colour design. The seats also benefit from the two-tone design creating a more outgoing interior.
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The interior is not only solid and well designed but it is also practical. It has a flat storage slot for a phone but a few other items can sit there. The door bins are also quite big; I’m very fussy on these because I tend to throw things around. They can hold a water bottle and other miscellaneous items. The 7-inch touch-screen colour display on the Acenta and Acenta Plus models allows the driver to have access to music and maps and, Apple CarPlay is available.
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It is highly spacious, with enough space to seat five occupants comfortably.
Boot space is at a reasonable 300 litres but when the rear seats are folded down, it goes to a massive 1004 litres. The new Micra comes with six airbags as standard plus seat belt warnings. An Isofix child seat are standard in the vehicle and is also present in the front passenger seat. Electronic safety systems include Vehicle Dynamic Control, Anti-locking Braking System, Electronic Brake force Distribution and Hill Start Assist.
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Drive
The new Micra has a 0.9-litre, 3-cylinder turbopetrol engine that produces 66kW and 140Nm of torque. The 5-speed manual gearbox is such a joy to engage with and even tells you when you change up or down if you are a bit slow on that. I drove between two cities and the drive on the highway was a breeze.
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Nissan claims a fuel consumption of 5.1l/100km; I just went above it as I did 5.9l/100km, which is not too far off. Another thing to mention is the noise insulation in this car, which is fantastic. All you can hear is the gentle purr of the engine as most other noises from outside are minimized. This makes for a fantastic drive.
The Nissan Micra is covered by Nissan Assured and comes with a 6-year/150,000km warranty; a 3-year/90,000km service plan; and 24/7 roadside assistance.
Nissan Micra Visia: R233, 500
Nissan Micra Acenta: R257, 400
Nissan Micra Acenta Plus R272, 400