Nissan Micra long term review, final report

After spending a year as part of our fleet, this hatchback had by now entrenched itself into our long term family. Owing to its compact size, it was easy to take the Micra out for a spin to test its grit on the city roads, and it left us quite impressed.

I used the car mostly to make my way from home to work. In traffic, it’s a breeze to drive, thanks to its peppy three-cylinder and 1.2-litre motor. It’s punchy and has good part throttle responses, good for getting to those gaps in traffic. The throttle response is a bit jerky and does need some getting used to in bumper-to-bumper situations. On open roads, as you step on the accelerator, the mid-range makes overtaking quite easy. The engine pulls all the way to the 6,800rpm limit, but this is not something you’d want to do very often for two reasons: first, because the 1,198cc engine sounds thrashy at these revs and second, almost all that noise will filter into the cabin, which is not very well insulated – you may even have to yell to be heard over the din.

The steering is light and easy to use, especially in the cut and thrust of Mumbai’s unruly traffic. At the same time, it’s quite accurate, making the Micra a good handler. The decent dynamics are also evident in how willing the car is to being chucked around corners. Yes, the suspension is soft and this leads to a bit of body roll, but nothing that will take away from the driver’s confidence. Also, the soft suspension setup allows the Nissan to manoeuvre broken roads efficiently and quietly. Aside from its good urban manners, the Micra does pretty well on the highway too, owing in part to the strong responses from the petrol motor as you pile on the revs, and in part to the good straightline stability. What takes away from the otherwise decent driving experience are the weedy tyres. They don’t afford much grip and will prevent you from being adventurous in this car.

In terms of features, even this middle-trim car is well specced. There are useful features like keyless go, which is extremely handy when you need to get in, but have your hands full. The Bluetooth audio system works well, but there aren’t any steering-mounted controls. Of note is that on this mid-level car, the horn extends to the sides of the wheel and this allows for seamless driving (this feature isn’t available on higher trims).