Roomy, economical, well built and a bit of fun

The new Micra gets a few mild changes which make for a major upgrade. 

Design Review

Not often does a comprehensively updated hatchback hit the market, one that has been on sale for decades but hasn’t really come of age yet. It’s called the Nissan Micra and it’s the sort of car that makes no fuss whatsoever about what it does. While the first few generation models (third generation, in particular) managed to grow a pretty big fan base, thanks to the quirky looks and impressive performance, it’s the current generation Micra that sticks out like a sore thumb for reasons more than one.

Ever since it’s big debut at the Geneva Motor Show back in 2010, the Micra has been conceived more as a feminine city car. Not helping the matter is the fact that the ever-rising competition is breathing down its neck. Naturally, a drastic facelift for 2013 was due.

Unlike a few new models Nissan has dished out in the recent past, there’s nothing over-the-top here as far as the design of the Micra facelift goes. The car now gets a major design overhaul, making it look relatively masculine. Up front, the bulbous front-end gets a new grille with a V-shaped motif (also found in the Juke crossover) redesigned headlamps, front bumper and fog-lamp housing. 

With a side profile that barely has any lines at all, the Micra fails to evoke any sort of emotion when viewed in profile. The upgrades in the rear are marked by new LED taillights, bumper and revised tailgate. As for the overall design, the Micra might not be a clear winner in its segment but the mid-life facelift does make the hatch whole lot better to look at.            

User Experience Review

Inside, the Micra facelift features a new blend of beige and black plastics with gloss finish. The circular theme for the various controls found in the outgoing model has somewhat made way for square units. The air-con vents, for instance, are square shaped and are similar to the ones found in the Sunny sedan.

Although the layout of the dashboard is well laid out, the positioning of the buttons do take some time getting used to. Once settled in, the Micra feels reasonably roomy with loads of headroom. The rear seat legroom, on the other hand, is just about adequate although three occupants abreast would still be a squeeze.

The Micra facelift easily raises the bar when it comes to the equipment list. With standard equipment in the top-of-the-line diesel variant including goodies like keyless entry, electric mirrors, reverse camera, push button start, alloy wheels, four airbags and ABS, the Micra boasts of features found otherwise in cars costing twice as much.

As for the variants, the Micra facelift is offered in a total of six trim levels – XE, XE Plus, XL, XV CVT, XV DCi and XV Premium DCi. The list of features varies heavily between the top-spec diesel and the equivalent manual petrol as the latter tops out at XL, which isn't laden with too much of equipment.   

Performance Review

Like the heavily updated exteriors, Nissan has made a fair bit of upgrades underneath too. The Micra facelift, as a result, gets a new CVT automatic gearbox option for the petrol powered model. The CVT unit is basically the same as the one found in the Sunny albeit with a few tweaks to suit the smaller 1.2-litre petrol engine. 

The CVT or the ‘X-tronic’ as Nissan calls it is nothing like a conventional automatic gearbox found in the majority of automatic cars on sale today. Instead of a fixed number of gear ratios, a CVT can offer up to 1,000 shift patterns to provide an optimum blend of performance and fuel efficiency across varied driving conditions. All it takes is a gentle prod on the throttle and the Micra picks up speed seamlessly without any jerks that would usually be associated with a conventional automatic gearbox.

But the gearbox in this car has a downside. As is the case with CVTs, the rubber band effect certainly makes its presence felt in this hatch. Push the throttle pedal hard and the gearbox lets the engine rev till nearly the redline. What’s also not helping here is that while you hear the engine wining, the Micra doesn’t feel particularly quick, especially when there are more than two people onboard.   

The Micra facelift also benefits from improved sound insulation and reworked suspension to make it handle a bit better. All said and done, the power figures of about 78PS and 105Nm from this in-line 4-cylinder engine aren’t something to go gaga about. The performance too, isn’t terribly exciting, but then small family hatchbacks aren’t designed for the enthusiasts anyway. What the Micra is suppose to do i.e. ferry occupants in reasonable comfort, it does well.      

So what’s the verdict? The new Micra facelift is one car that could help Nissan build up its position in the small car segment of India. The sea of improvements and additional equipment seem alluring enough to attract new car buyers into the showrooms. As for the competition, there’s the usual list of Maruti Suzuki Swift, Volkswagen Polo and the Renault Pulse, however, with its impressive new design, more equipment and the addition of an automatic option; the Micra facelift makes a good first impression, the second time around.