Micra a bullet-proof package

HAS BROUGHT OUT THE SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR TO THE BELOVED DATSUN 1200 900cc turbocharged engine a compromise between performance and economy.

So, first: a declaration. I like Nissans. The first car I drove – and in which I got my driver’s licence – was one (although it was a Datsun 1200 back in those days).

I also own, and am waiting to finally get around to restoring, a 1964 Datsun Fairlady sports car (no problem if you’ve never heard of it, not many people in South Africa have).

I once had a girlfriend who owned a Datsun 1200 two-door. It didn’t end well – the relationship, not the car.

When I met the one I would settle down with, I demonstrated my bona fides by buying her a Datsun 1200 (somewhat used, it must be said).

To me, Nissan as a brand has always meant bullet-proof reliability. I have seldom heard horror stories about Nissans breaking down.

Even after the Japanese carmaker teamed up some years ago with French auto giant Renault, with its patchy reputation for quality, I still did not see (or hear about) any change in Nissan reliability.

Apart from reliability, Nissan’s products have always been reasonably good when it came to fuel consumption.

I once took my mother’s Datsun 1200 on an 8 000km-plus trip from Harare in Zimbabwe, right around South Africa down to Cape Town and back.

And one of the reasons I was able to do this on the little I had saved in my job as a junior reporter was that the little Datsun sipped fuel.

I certainly don’t remember any “wallet anxiety” at filling stations, as I have experienced in more recent cars I’ve owned.

In many ways, the Nissan Micra is the spiritual successor to the Datsun 1200 of all those years ago.

And Nissan is selling it strongly on its supposed excellent fuel economy. I say supposed because the fundamental premise behind the Micra – and other similar small cars on the market right now – is open to debate.

That basic assumption is that a small-capacity, turbocharged petrol engine offers the best compromise between fuel economy and performance.

In the case of the Micra, the three-cylinder, 900cc motor puts out 66kW of power and a useful 140Nm of torque.

The idea is that when you need the power, you get it from the turbo. But under low-load conditions it delivers the consumption you’d expect from a tiny motor.

Sadly for Nissan and the other manufacturers touting this miracle solution, cars have to be driven in the real world.

And, in that world – especially up here on the Highveld – the small engines have to be worked harder than their larger, non-turbo equivalents. Which means that consumption is not nearly as good as the carmaker promises.

For the Micra, Nissan swears you will get a combined city and highway figure of 5.1 litres per 100km. Perhaps if you tossed it down a mineshaft you would.

In Gauteng’s streets, though, you’re going to get more than 7l/100km in city driving and to the low 5s on the highway.

That’s still great, by the way – but not exactly what the marketing guff says.

Also, I must honestly say, the Micra can be a bit of a time machine because it spirits the driver back to the 1990s, when turbo lag was a real phenomenon.

So you need to work around the fact that there is a delay before the power arrives and then, when it does, it does so in a whoosh. Get that wrong in an intersection and you could get up close and personal with a taxi.

You learn to drive around the lag, though, by revving the engine and slipping the clutch a bit … after which the Micra leaps around.

However, neither of these techniques are conducive to lower running costs in terms of petrol, or of clutch linings!

Mind you, this judgment also applies to the Micra’s competitors, which also use small, turbo motors – although lag is more noticeable in the Nissan.

All that said, the Micra is still an appealing package.

It’s one of the best-looking small hatches on the market, has top-notch safety features and the usual array of driver and passenger comfort and amusement features.

It’s fun to drive, it’s comfortable and it is, most of all, a Nissan.

And, that might just be enough to clinch it.

Good-looking hatch with topnotch safety features.