In our April 2010 issue, we gave you a first look at the Micra during Renault-Nissan’s plant opening on the outskirts of Chennai. And while the car looked pretty good indoors, it has a lot more presence on the road.

With the sun beating down on the flaming orange of one of the test cars, you could clearly see all the delicate curves and creases on the cheeky body of the new Micra. The largely rotund shape, as well as its arched window profile, make it instantly recognizable as a Micra. Nevertheless, in an attempt to appeal to a much wider audience, it has lost some of the quirkiness of the previous model. Gone are the headlamps that sat proudly halfway up the bonnet, and the rear wheel-arches that seemed to protrude beyond the bodywork – all of which means that the new Micra isn’t as polarizing as its predecessor, which is as intended of course. Mind you, it’s still a friendly shape with a number of interesting details.

It has a pair of creases on the bonnet that appear to separately frame the front grille and Nissan emblem. In profile, it has a mildly ascending crease on the lower part of the doors, which completely transforms an area that would otherwise have appeared slab-sided. The rear has retro-esque tail lights with a conspicuous crease above them that blends nicely into the rear hatch. The truly interesting piece of design here, though, is on the roof. It has a rear lip spoiler that’s integrated nicely into the roof design – giving it an almost muscular look. This helps the air flow more smoothly off the body, which reduces aerodynamic drag and in turn increases efficiency. The roof also has two boomerang shaped creases in the middle, which, at first glance, leave you wondering just what they’re there for. Well, the engineers point out that the roof creases actually eliminate the need for a brace in the middle of the roof structure, which is typically employed in most cars.



Think of a large, flat pane of metal – you don’t have to be an engineer to realise that it’ll flex without a supporting brace. The grooves on the roof alter the load distribution of the metal, and therefore prevent it from flexing – a simple solution to a complex problem. But why go through all this trouble? For two kilos apparently – that’s how much Nissan says it saved in weight by eliminating the roof-brace. Moreover, as is the case, it’s always useful to reduce weight high up in the vehicle, as it lowers the center-of-gravity. And since the Micra is built on an all-new platform, Nissan have been able to reduce weight in the floor as well, not to mention in a host of components such as the fuel tank and exhaust. Lower weight, of course, means higher efficiency.

The car we tested was the top-of-the-line XV variant, which had a chrome strip in the front grille, plus front fog lamps, as well as body coloured wing mirrors and door handles to differentiate it from its lower brethren. No individual badging on the different variants however.

On the whole, since the wheels are positioned at the four corners of the body, the car has quite a purposeful stance. The rounded silhouette of the car actually makes it look smaller than it really is. In fact, it’s roughly the same size as the VW Polo with which it’ll compete directly in the Indian market.

From the inside



If you like the exterior design of the Micra, you’ll love the interiors as well – with its curves, creases and soft touch materials everywhere. And if you think that the Nissan engineers depleted their reserves of energy while debating and designing the crease in the roof, you’d be wrong – because they’ve very evidently spent a great deal of time and effort in debating and designing the size, shape, and texture of every single surface in the interior.

What strikes you first of all is the sheer volume of space inside the cabin. Thanks to the exterior design, and the wheels being pushed to the four corners of the vehicle, a large amount of space becomes surprisingly usable inside the cabin. Legroom is more than sufficient – even in the rear with a 6-foot tall driver seated directly in front of you. And headroom is a sheer revelation – you could almost wear a top hat in the back seat. Also, the boot is deep and therefore quite usable. In addition, the rear seats fold down for additional cargo space if need be. The overall design is actually quite clever – in terms of creating usable space inside the vehicle. The only clue that you’re in a small car is the limited width, which means that only two adults would ever be comfortable in the rear. It also means that the Micra doesn’t have a proper dead-pedal. It’s not completely devoid of one however – it does have a foot rest of sorts, just not a full size one owing to limited width in the drivers’ foot-well.



There’s an additional piece of intriguing science to fill you in on. The Japanese engineers explained that they’ve used a micro-grain material in the interior plastics, such as the dashboard and instrument cluster – reason being that the micro grain doesn’t reflect light directly into your eyes. Therefore, the surface appears less plasticky, and the human mind perceives higher quality. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised when I actually got into the car during the day, and found that it did actually seem to work – after all, it sounded too much like an academic theory that you’d expect to be better on paper than in practise. In fact, all the surfaces within the cabin are of very high quality – certainly more so than most of the cars the Micra will be competing against, even the VW Polo. To the extent that you actually don’t miss even a leather cover on the steering wheel.

The top model of the Micra has several additional tricks up its sleeve as well. In fact, small car buyers should prepare themselves for technology they haven’t previously had the pleasure of experiencing. Of course, the top-of-the-line Micra has an in-built stereo with good sound quality. But it also has electronic side-view mirrors that open-and-close automatically when you lock and unlock the car. The XV Micra even has keyless-entry-and-start, which is a Renault-Nissan standard. And that means you simply need to have the i-key (intelligent key) in your pocket or handbag as you approach the vehicle to pull the door handle and unlock the door. You then depress the start-stop button – a-la your favourite supercar – to fire up the engine. If the battery in the i-key happens to go dead, you can slide out an actual key from the fob and manually open the door. The start mechanism will still be able to perform one-way communication with the key fob in order to ensure that the car starts. We know this because we tried it.



The small car technological tour-de-force doesn’t end there. You also get climate control in the top model, which is regulated via a seemingly space-age circular pod in the center console. In addition, you get one-touch (up-and-down) electric windows with anti-pinch technology, which means the windows will stop automatically if they sense an object in their way – like a child’s arm or hand. On the safety front, while every model get a drivers’ airbag, the XV gets dual airbags, as well as ABS, EBD (Electronic Brake-force Distribution), and brake assist. On a more basic level, yet still important, it also gets a rear wiper and demister. And while Nissan have redesigned the horn pad specifically for India – to make it easier to blow the horn of course – they desperately need a louder horn as well.

Nissan claim that airbags were given preference to ABS in customer clinics, which is why they chose to equip all cars with a drivers’ airbag versus an Anti-Lock Braking system. Bear in mind, though, that if you’re in an accident in which the airbag actually deploys, the incident could likely have been avoided completely if the car was actually equipped with ABS.

On the whole, the overall quality is truly a revelation in this class – all the controls, stalks, and knobs feel well engineered and solid. The air-condition seems to work quite well in Indian conditions, with circular vents mounted on top of the center console that direct cold air to the rear very effectively. There are a few places where you can tell that Nissan has attempted to cut costs however. There are no vanity mirrors in the cabin for instance. Plus, the door panels in the XV have a fabric insert in front, but not at the rear. However, these are small details that you can overlook in an otherwise fantastic cabin.

On the road



Thus far, the Micra has proven itself to be quite interesting on the outside, and very good on the inside. But the true test is from behind the wheel. To begin with, the Micra will be offered with a 1.2 litre, 3 cylinder, petrol engine producing 75 horsepower and 104Nm of torque at 6000rpm – specs that are eerily similar to the VW Polo.

The first thing that the Nissan engineers told us was that they’ve completed 800,000 kilometres of testing in the new Micra, which is equivalent to 20 times across the globe – and that should certainly ensure that we don’t experience too many problems on the road. They also challenged us to detect any vibration from the powerplant, which is a common complaint from 3 cylinder engines. Nissan has developed a rotary outer-balance, which is positioned just outside the engine block to reduce vibration. Typically, engines have counter-rotating balance shafts to serve the same purpose if required, but the rotary balancer used here appears to be another innovation from Nissan that works quite well. At idle, the engine has a throaty note that’s common with 3 cylinder units – one that I find decidedly less than objectionable actually. And, of course – as expected in light of the challenge – the engine feels extremely smooth considering its configuration.

Get going, and you immediately understand what Ishizuka-san meant when he said that ‘Micra-ness’ stands for ‘user-friendliness, which is a car that’s easy to drive and park.’ Masaki Ishizuka, by the way, is the Chief Product Specialist at Nissan, and has been on the Micra project from the very beginning – needless to say, after spending almost 20 years on this model, he considers it his baby.

The Micra has an extremely light steering and very good turning circle, which should indeed make it a breeze to manoeuvre in our congested cities. It should be extremely efficient to run as well, and Nissan claims an impressive fuel efficiency figure of 18km/l – they cite the fact that a 3 cylinder engine has better thermal efficiency and lower friction as compared with a comparable four-cylinder unit. And I’m sure those figures are realistic as well, as long as you’re not in too much of a hurry though – because if you really step on the accelerator pedal, you will notice a distinct lack of low end torque. Peak torque kicks in at 4000rpm, and the Micra only seems to pick up speed north of about 2500. Thereafter, however, it pulls smoothly all the way to the redline. Nevertheless, for city use, as the car is clearly intended, it is quite sufficient. The Micra is about 200 kilos lighter than the Polo, but you don’t really feel that difference in terms of added acceleration on the road. The Nissan’s engine does feel more refined, but it doesn’t necessarily feel more spritely than the VW.

The Micra comes with 165/70 R14 MRF tires that seem to do the job. These are tires that are designed to be quite durable, and will therefore give away a little performance in terms of road-holding. We didn’t really get a chance to throw the car around too aggressively, but on the limited opportunities on the highway and some side roads, the Micra seemed pretty well connected with the road surface. On the highway, it was perfectly stable at three-digit speeds. The engine proved both tractable and smooth – it was turning over at a relatively relaxed 3000rpm at 100km/h in 5th gear, and even at 60km/h in 5th at 2000rpm it was very drivable. On the corners, body roll was well controlled with a chassis that felt very stiff and composed. In fact, I had the opportunity (and /or misfortune) to perform an emergency accident avoidance manoeuvre, during which the Micra stayed surprisingly composed throughout. The brakes work well – not surprising since the car we tested had ABS, EBD and brake assist. However, the brake pedal itself didn’t inspire too much confidence, as it felt soft and mushy. Gearshfits are quick and smooth, although engaging 2nd felt notchy on occasion.

Other than a lack of true grunt though, there are no real complaints from behind the wheel. Plus, the Micra is unfazed by anything other than the biggest bumps. Resulting from a stiff chassis and compliant suspension, the ride quality is actually quite good on Indian road surfaces (or lack thereof in most places). And lastly, visibility is good as well thanks to a large glass area, and, thankfully, relatively slim pillars that don’t hamper your view out of the cabin.

Nissan certainly appears to have achieved their goal of making an easy-to-drive and comfortable city car. The ‘Micra-ness’ certainly shines through. Not only does it offer a relatively tranquil driving experience, but it’s dynamically capable as well.

Verdict



So, the 5.6 million dollar question is – can you please all the people all of the time? Nissan have certainly taken their best shot with the all-new Micra. It retains just the right amount of attitude and cheekiness in design, while being practical and extremely well put together. Nissan have also made a sincere effort to cater to the needs of the Indian market specifically – redesigning the horn pad strictly for India for instance. They also seem to have struck a seemingly agreeable balance between attractive options on the different models – with the top model bringing a great deal of tech to the small car market. Moreover, Nissan appears to be very receptive to customer feedback in this regard, and they say they can alter the options list to suit the market very quickly – since the Indian Micra is manufactured on the same production line as those destined for export to markets like Europe.

On a macro level, the car is important not only for Nissan – as it’s the first global model not to be made in Japan, the EU, or the US – but for India as well, as Chennai is one of the four production hubs for the Micra, which also includes China, Mexico and Thailand. Moreover, Nissan is aiming for 100% localization in the near future. Currently, almost 90% of the car, excluding the engine and transmission, has been indigenized.

On a micro level, should you buy one? There’s no question that the Micra is an excellent machine. The main constraint for Nissan at the moment, however, will be really penetrating a competitive market. They have a dozen dealers across the country currently – a number that’s expected to increase to 40 by the end of the current fiscal, and reach 100 dealers by 2013.

True to the heritage of this model, Nissan have clearly conceptualised the new Micra as a city car. And whereas that would certainly be the case in Europe or Japan – in India, it would be the only car in many cases, which means it wouldn’t necessarily be constricted to city use. And that requires it to be serviceable outside the metros, which at the moment would be a challenge.

The Micra itself is a winner – it just needs a sales and service network to back it up. It truly is the perfect city car that’s both very well made and, importantly, friendly in nature. And our roads could do with a lot more of ‘friendly’ – wouldn’t you agree?