[thoma]

The log book

Today was a hectic day. Had to make many decisions. This was our 22nd day after booking a Micra Diesel XV Premium, 2013 model. The wait was horribly frustrating towards the end; as the dealership had no clue as to when a 2013 model will be sent from the plant. They had even asked us to wait another 15 days to confirm any dispatch! Can you imagine someone waiting over 20 days for a Micra Diesel when the Swift Diesel was readily available at my place? Yes, my dad had fallen terribly in love with the drive-ability of the Micra Diesel, that it was difficult to think of another car for him at present. But now, we thought enough is enough and the first thing today morning we did was to drive straight to the dealership. Upon pestering further and more, the availability and alternate choices were revealed one by one. Our color choices were Silver and White, though we gave Black as a second option earlier. In fact, the dealership had been showing non-availability of Silver and Black to the Chennai plant against our booking, but the plant kept on sending 2012 models, as per the dealer. Today, we were decided in our mind, to change our preference from the XV Premium model to the base model, but ended up buying the XV Premium. Also, there were 2013 XV model (the base variant of the Micra Diesel) available at the dealership, but in Black.

But, why not Black? I personally, and dad, have found it difficult to spot Black cars in the night especially when they come from a by-lane or are parked on the road side. No, I'm not joking. Such are the lighting conditions of the roads in Kerala. Moreover, the Black was non-metallic. Though, in contrary to GTO's liking expressed in the official Micra thread, I felt that Black to be much suitable for the Micra as it covers some feminine lines (or rather curves and bulges). So Blade Silver it will be.

Why we insisted on a 2013 model? No, it was not considering resale value, but solely because we wanted to make sure that we get an un-abused vehicle. Earlier, we had bad experiences from Daewoo and Chevrolet on the same matter. Initially, when we booked the Micra, we were promised delivery of a 2013 model within a max of 20 days. And the sales rep maintained that 2013 models have started arriving at the dealerships. Alas, when days passed by, the rep and ourselves found out that it was not the case with the XV premium variant. The sales of the XV variants outscore the XV Premium just because it is more VFM. And the manufacturing plant had much stock of 2012 XV premium models. Even, 2012 Silver XV Premium had arrived at the dealership a good 10 days back, against our order, I am given to know. Since we were adamant on 2013, the sales rep never asked us if we wanted a 2012 model. But today, it was not the case. The 2012 model had a 20k offer even 10 days before today. Unfortunately, 5 days before today, the price, across models, have been hiked by 15k. So it means that we could have got a good 35k less than the price it is today, had we known and decided for the 2012 model when it arrived. Confusing, right? The gist of the story is given as the last sentence in the next paragraph.

Why we finally settled for a 2012 model? There seemed not much point in waiting endlessly for a 2013 Micra when our only requirement is that we do not want a car that had been with the dealers for long. Since the current 2012 models available at the dealership had been here only 10 days ago, we could safely assume that it had not been abused. The odos on the 2 cars showed 21 and 14 kms. The only disadvantage is that, we could have got the very same car for 7.12 lakhs and that too, 10 days before; instead of wasting that much time and at the current price of 7.27 lakhs.

Why we went for the XV Premium over the VFM XV variant? It is a jinx in our family to look at lower variants and end up buying higher variants. The Micra Diesel basically have only two variants, the XV and the XV Premium. The XV cannot be termed as a true base variant as it does have many features over the base variants of other cars. Vice versa, we cannot call the XV Premium as the true top end model as it lacks important safety features including passenger air-bag and ABS! The difference between the two variants is half a lack rupees. For this money, you get four alloy wheels, 15” wheels and tires, automatic A/C, rear defogger, rear spoiler, front fog lamps, leather wraps on the steering and gear lever, chrome finish on the inside door handles. While I fell in for the alloys (yes, I love stock alloys on most cars compared to after-market ones) and the fog lamps, dad couldn’t live without the chrome on the door handles and the leather on the steering and gear lever. Nobody was too interested in auto A/C as we never used it much on our Baleno. But after buying, it turned out that the auto A/C of the Micra is too good. The chrome on the door handles are a must in my opinion as it breaks the monotony of the Greige interiors. Though these could be put as extras by the dealer, we decided to go for the top model. There was a special edition named Primo for both the XV and XV Premium models with a 2-DIN head unit, side decals, metallic White color and parking sensors.

Why we went for the Micra over others? Our requirements and the petrol vs diesel decision: We, I and dad, will be mostly driving the car and my wife should also be able to take it occasionally. So we were on the lookout for a nimble yet fuel efficient car capable of the occasional highway run. To put it simply, it was the drive-ability of the Micra and my love for diesel engine that did the trick. We had test driven the Swift, Liva, Polo, i20, Beat, Figo and Punto apart from the Micra. More on our back to back drives can be found at this post and this post.

[thoma]

The delivery

The delivery process was smooth and nothing much to write except a few point on the dealership. The dealer at our place is EVM Nissan, Kottayam. The only grouse I have with the dealer is that I got only 20k as discount for a 2012 model even after much haggling. And I got to know that this 20k discount is provided by Nissan rather than the dealer themselves. Mats and flaps worth a 2k are the only freebies that the dealer gave. Of course, at the time of delivery, we were surprised with the customary box of chocolates, neck rests, an excellent Poppy perfume, a micro-fiber towel, tissues and the leatherette folder. Monetary apart, I should admit that the delivery experience was excellent. Brand Nissan scores high here. The same dealer deals with Volkswagen at my place but I couldn’t find the same courteous nature at Nissan, there.



At the dealership, EVM Nissan, Kottayam


My review will be incomplete without a special mention on the sales executive we had. We had come across many sales executives in our life and this one is very different. He is thoroughly knowledgeable at the same time straight forward. I was surprised to meet such a gem among sales guys who want to increase his sales by helping the customer rather than mere hog-washing. He is Sabin Sasi of EVM Nissan, Kottayam. We had met other sales persons elsewhere who may be straight forward but lacking in knowledge. The original sales executive assigned to us was Praveen, but he had taken a long leave for his marriage in between. He too was much courteous.



Mr. Praveen on the left and Mr. Sabin on the right, my sales executives


The price break-up

A related post.

Vehicle invoice amount (including a VAT of 78386 @ 13.5%) = 659020
Accessories (floor mats, mud flaps, luggage mat, seat covers, exhaust finisher and labor on all items!!!) = 9521
Extended warranty (up to 80000 in total or an additional 2 years from the normal 2 year warranty) = 5578
Insurance (B2B) = 24793
Road tax (why does the govt. want to take tax on tax?: road tax is calculated on the invoice amount which includes VAT) = 52830
Registration charges = 550
Logistics and delivery charges = 6000
Discount on insurance (for a 2012 model) = -20000
Discount on accessories (includes free mat and flaps) = -1881
Total amount paid, OTR (including a loan) = 736411



Customary? gifts - my wife loved the perfume

[thoma]

The good, the bad and the others

Unlike my boring descriptions above, I think I will now stick to the bullet format. Moreover, I tend to get lazy fast. At the time of this review, the odo reads 948 kms. I’m told that there is no service check-up at 1000 kms. May I take the liberty to quote a few points from GTO’s official review of the Micra, to which I do not have a single word to add on to. But hey no, I’m not into reviewing his review, but anybody reading a review of the Micra should not miss these points.

Originally Posted by GTO

The diesel Micra is the new king of city driveability. Turbo-lag? What turbo-lag? There isn’t any! Torque is available instantly, with the engine feeling like a naturally-aspirated diesel.

One fly in the ointment is the excessive engine shake (felt inside) at start up and shut down. Then, the engine also takes a rather crude, clattery note at high rpms. The beauty of this motor isn’t in driving spiritedly at the redline. It is better that you upshift at 2,000 - 2,500 rpms, move on to the next gear and maximise efficiency.

Originally Posted by GTO

A generous greenhouse (glass area) lends an airy feeling to the Micra’s cockpit. The light greige (grey + beige) interiors feel fresh & chirpy. That said, Nissan should definitely have given some darker accents to break the monotony of “greige”. Simply put, the grey effect is excessive.

The driver’s seat is not height-adjustable, but it’s not positioned too low either. Hence, frontal and lateral visibility is top notch (except for really short drivers). The A pillars don’t create a blind spot nuisance, and the large windscreen gives a super view of the road ahead. This is a rare modern car where the driver can actually see the bonnet.

Each control feels relatively solid to use. Interior part quality is much better than in the Swift, and fit / finish are above the segment averages. Don’t get me wrong though, the Fabia & Polo are in a different league altogether with their classy interiors. Micra plastics are of good quality, and some bits like the switchgear really impress with their premium feel.

Front seat occupants get excellent space. There is sufficient clearance between your knee and the steering wheel as well. The Japanese sure know how to get the most functionality out of their interiors. Headroom is sufficient, front and back. The rear seat has adequate legroom; outright space is more than the Swift / i10, and amongst the better of the segment (save for the Indicas). However, the bench could use better cushioning. The under-thigh support is very poor! On the other hand, the large rear windows are welcome.

Brownie points go to the air-conditioner that instantaneously chills the interiors. Even in the hot Chennai heat, and sans any sunfilm, the Micra kept us comfortable. Storage space isn’t abundant as the main glove box is tiny (XV variant gets a second glovebox on top) and the door pockets are slim.

If I go on quoting, I will be, in all probability, making an exact replica of the official review. So, below are my personal likes and dislikes.

Likes:

In short, it is the engine, engine and engine. Then, the convenience gizmos. The A/C. The plastic quality, fit and finish. And the perceived low cost of maintenance of a Nissan.

- Absolute zero turbo lag helps a lot in drive-ability. I couldn’t practically find out when exactly the turbo kicks in or whether a turbo exist at all. But, listening to the sound from the engine bay, running with open windows, we can hear a slight whistle past 1500 RPM.

- Lower end torque and power on offer. This and the above factor together makes the K9K on the Micra a petrol motor beater, on instantaneous power delivery.

- Super-light steering for drive-ability. I didn’t have any lightness issues till 80 kmph. A word of caution too – the instantaneous power with the light steering can make a Micra a sitting duck if we overtake ‘blindly’. This means that if we are closing in on a slowing truck in front, and we think about overtaking, it is in split seconds that we land up in the next lane. So, do not overtake blindly and get carried away with the drive-ability. I came across this situation twice may be more because I needed to get fully accustomed to the drive-ability then.

- Light pedals again improve drive-ability.

- Good overall visibility due to the large glass area and the seat height offer better drive-ability.

- Superb A/C. I could be comfortable with 27 degrees most of the time on auto A/C. The auto A/C at this temperature does not chill your nose and ears, but is very comfortable overall. I guess the tinted glass is highly effective in blocking heat. If you either switch off the A/C or lower the window, we realize the cabin heat immediately. A point worth mention is the fan noise. It is the lowest among the cars I’ve been in, even at full speed. The throw is also good for the rear passengers.

- Excellent quality of plastics used which oozes out a premium feel. So is the case with the overall fit and finish. The grab handles are really sturdy, so are the switches and the key-fob. The control stalk’s switchgear near the steering does not produce any sound when operated! The orange lighting theme used also adds to the point.

- Key less Start/Stop for ease of operation. Just press the clutch and tap a button.

- Key less entry for ease of operation. There is no need to take the key fob from your pocket for entry / exit / start / stop.

- Automatic fold-able mirrors, folds when we lock the car. Adds to ease of operation. The ORVMs can be adjusted as well as folded electronically otherwise.

- The doors get locked automatically after a certain speed (I guess it is 10 or 15 kmph) and after exiting from the car. Adds to the convenience.

- Good FE. Please refer my FE log here. First full tank over 870 kms of mixed conditions fetched 21.2 kmpl. BHPians bravo82in and ManavJain have reported 22-24 kmpl in city and 27-29 kmpl on the highway consistently!

- Vibrations are muted. Good sound insulation except for the tire noise. Though the diesel clatter is on the higher side, the damping helps it not to feel like a tractor, unlike the 3 cylinder Polo and Beat.

- Longer service intervals at 10000km.

- Though the Polo and Liva are winners on the comfort front in my opinion, going over bad roads at medium speed in the Micra is not uncomfortable. Good.

- The low turning radius plus the light steering is a boon in tight spaces.

- I love the meaty exhaust finisher. Costs just ~650/-

Dislikes:

- Diesel clatter on pressing accelerator, irrespective of the age of the vehicle. A new Micra and an old Micra both will sound like an old TDCi motor.

- Gear shifter. This alone makes the Micra loose much premium-ness it posses. Though the gear slots perfectly, the sound is very clunky and there is lot of play. I’m wondering why Nissan couldn’t provide the build-quality of the noiseless wiper and headlamp stalks to the gear shifter!

- Brakes may be just adequate, but the initial bite is less, which makes it feel otherwise. The lower end torque cannot be fully tamed by the brakes at lower speeds. With such brakes, we tend to press more and once I locked the wheels inside the city!

- Lack of safety features on the top end model, including ABS and passenger air bags. Nissan, are you listening?

- Rear seat support – both the under-thigh and the neck. Even though the recent models have a head restraint, I felt it inadequate on long drives.

- Though the vibrations are muted, the engine noise is not fully.

- ORVM felt like incorporating a big picture on a small screen, thus making us miss spotting vehicle movement. Bad.

- Sound quality from the speakers are not to my liking - the bass is too much - not the thump type. A Sony could have done better. My wife disagrees on this point though.

- No USB port provided for the integrated head unit.

- Was initially happy with getting Bridgestone as OE tires, but tire noise creeps in and is highly dependent on the quality of road-tarring.

- The glove box storage space is pathetic. More cubby holes could be provided.

- Though the front seats offer good visibility, the lower back support it offers is nowhere great.

- I really don’t like high headrests. I need to stretch my neck over the head rest once in a while.

- Leg space at the rear is not too great when tall people are sitting at the front.

- The art-leather seat covers given from the dealership is horrible. It heats up like anything. Even the comfortable A/C is beaten by the seat-cover material. I get my shirt wet at the back, on long drives. Brand - Seato. Bad.

- I would love to have a temperature gauge. Good that at least the tacho is not missing.

- I’m sure the horn pad in the test drive vehicle extended to the spokes. It was a Primo version. But this is not the case with my XV Premium!

Neutral:

- Looks. Are subjective. I agree that it is curvy most of the part. This should be a hit among the fairer sex and vice-versa.

- Highway ability - all day comfortable cruising speed is 80 kmph at 2000 rpm in 5th gear. I don’t have a complaint.

- Cannot comment on high speed cornering and stability as this is not what I intend to do often. Though, on hairpins anything above 35kmph was scary.

- Leg space and ingress and egress for the front seats are above average. But not exactly at the back.

- The power band – the engine begins to slowly work up past 2000 RPM. So, 2000 RPM is more than enough for me to up-shift. The biggest of inclines took me to 2500 RPM. I’ve not revved her beyond that following the running-in instructions. To be precise, there is not much need

- Excessive engine shake upon startup and shutdown, which I have not much issues with.

- Though the Greige theme exudes space, it is a dirt magnet.

- Absence of Bluetooth and steering mounted controls. I'm not a fan of both.

- I do not / can not believe that the ground clearance is 153 mm. It did not scrape any of the bumps in my area. Maybe I can comment more on this in the longer run.

[thoma]

Pictures: Sorry, no SLR.



The Micra badge at the back and the Nissan logo on the bonnet as inset



The key-fob contains a manual key in case of emergency, which can be used only for opening the door. There is no key-hole for starting the engine. The battery in the key-fob can get conked off in a couple of years and the OE battery costs 650/- !



The pull handles, the key hole and the request sensor in black. The pull handles are real solid, but I doubt the longevity of the black rubber on the request sensor



The engine bay and the crooked oil-dip-stick. The bay seems tight on space. The turbo is on the other side of the engine, towards the cabin. No insulation on the underside of the bonnet



I love the meaty exhaust tip. This was added additionally as a genuine accessory and costs just the price of the key-fob battery! The exhaust has now extended towards the back of the car by a good 3 inches and I fear whether it will get hit on inclines and ditches



Tail lamp cluster. Reminds me of the sole of some footwear. Reverse lamp is present only on one side



Skinny tires make me feel that a good impact in a pot-hole can get the alloys hit



Bridgestone B250 175/60 R15. The spare is of the same size, but with steel wheels. I'm wondering whether the XV Premium model comes with Bridgestones instead of Maxxis. Saw a couple other XV Premiums with the B250. Not happy with the tire noise but am going to live with it



Upfront and up-close. The headlamps are just sufficient. May be I'll upgrade down the line. Fog lamps illuminate the road very close to them only. May be fog-lamps are made for others' visibility of our car than our visibility



Loved the mist sprayed on to the windshield. This is unlike a jet in other cars. Cleaner liquid, wiper and the cleaning are effective. But since the spray is a fine mist, I doubt whether the small holes will get clogged easily. Will have to wait and see



The leather wrapped steering wheel. The wheel as a whole feels a bit thin. A special mention of the Liva's steering here. I loved it, both the feel and the feedback



Another view of the Greige cockpit



The rear seats, leg and head space and the seat covers



I just hate the anvil like design for the arm rests on the rear door pad. the door insert pads on the front and the rear are made of different material! Plastic on the rear and fabric at the front. Note how the chrome breaks the excessive Greige



The under-body already comes with a protective coating, but I might go for the 3M coating more for sound deadening. Also, the OE coating is missing at few places



Caramel lining on the head unit? Jokes apart, the buttons are rock solid in comparison to many other cars



Caramel in the morning and tangy orange at night. Love the premium feel all over



Head on with the bug. Best angle, IMO



IMO, the worst angle, but this snap covers it somehow. How I wished the backward overhang of the rear bumper was reduced a bit



Another good angle which masks the femininity. But why on earth did Nissan provide those integrated strips on the corner of the bumpers?



The parting shot. Aston Martin anyone? Naah, Nissan it is.



Credits :

Special thanks to GTO’s accurate official reviews of the Nissan Micra, bravo82in ‘s ownership reviews, sidindica’s test drive reports, rnair’s ownership reviews and all those who helped me over the 'what car?' section.

[Rudra Sen]

Thread moved from Assembly Line to Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports. Thanks for sharing.

[swiftnfurious]

Beautiful report! My experience with the EVM Nissan was good too, for a Sunny TD. On someother thread I mentioned how the car bowled me over. Its a terrific driveable engine. Loved it to the core.

Thanks a lot for a lot of pics too! I am looking forward to know the service / spare costs, so please drive as much as you can. On another note, I think we should catch up sometime at Kottayam.

Wish you miles of happy & safe motoring!

[GTO]

Awesome review, Thoma! Congrats on the nippy Micra diesel. My Sunny might have more power, yet the Micra is so much (more) fun to drive. It's quite a fast runner, and the super-light controls & zero lag make it ideal for the city.

A hit with the women too. When the review Micra was parked down my office, my sister called me down so that I could open up the car for her. It's the only press car till date that she's taken such an interest in.

Thanks for sharing and do drive safe

[karan561]

Congrats on your buy THOMA,

Excellent review indeed, very detailed & covered almost all points with pictures

Is that spoiler STOCK fitment ?

Also this is the TOP Model right ? Lack of steering controls is surprising

[Rameshdude]

Wonderful review of this cute car, Thoma.

I would like to know a few things. How is the braking in slippery road ( did you drive during the rains, last week?) . This car is good in all aspects, but they shouldn't have trimmed on ABS and passenger airbag. I think the petrol version has all this. What is the logic in taking it off in diesel,which is the car that would be extensively driven.

Secondly, do you get a glare ? The top of dash board is pretty light shade.

Happy motoring.

[ssmani]

Nice report Thoma. I thought of buying Micro for its heart (K9K), it is a fantastic vehicle and very good FE. Little more boot space would have been a BIG plus. Finally, I bought it's (cousin) Big brother Duster with same heart.

Happy driving.

[ampere]

Awesome review! You are one amazing product snapper ! In future I would be on the look out for changing my i10 AT. The Micra CVT is already marked !

Congrats and all the best for future. Happy driving.

[thoma]

1000 kms in 10 days. No, this is not our regular usage. This is just for the sake of running-in. I wanted to do the running-in myself before handing over to dad. Going by our regular mileage, this should have been covered only in a month!

Originally Posted by thoma

This is too envious bravo82in when my Beat which costs much less return a paltry 9 in the city, that too running on the precious liquid - petrol! Eagerly waiting for the Sunny diesel to get launched to see a similar FE.

I am glad that I do not have my petrol Beat anymore. I couldn't find a single USP on the petrol Beat apart from the extremely low NVH. I regretted that buy and sold it off with a loss close to a lac rupee within 8 months. Not this time, though. FE is one of the USPs of the Micra. And it is easy to ride for FE as only a small nudge on the a-pedal is needed to keep the Micra run around happily. You never really need to over rev unless you are in a mad rush mood. And that is not going to get you anywhere either. Going by the trend of the average FE displayed on the MID, I have a feeling that the A/C sips more fuel than otherwise. IIRC, this has been reported by some others on the forum.

The moment you turn off the A/C, the cabin gets hot and no A/C in the sun means you are in a frying pan. This could be due to the huge glass area of the Micra. In the same breath, we have to applaud the A/C for working against this kind of heat.

Today, I did some running in the city and found that there is nothing called 'brushing the brakes' on the Micra. Brush the brakes and you are likely to hit the car in front. You have to apply the brakes firmly.

A point I missed in the review is about the bad shoulder support the driver's seat offers. In most other cars, I get cramps on the legs after a long drive, and on the Micra, it is the shoulder I get some pain.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Beautiful report! My experience with the EVM Nissan was good too, for a Sunny TD. On someother thread I mentioned how the car bowled me over. Its a terrific driveable engine. Loved it to the core.

Thanks a lot for a lot of pics too! I am looking forward to know the service / spare costs, so please drive as much as you can. On another note, I think we should catch up sometime at Kottayam.

Thanks swiftnfurious, we will catch up some day soon. So we can soon expect another Nissan to the team? Will definitely update the thread on maintenance costs, but nobody should be looking forward to see much modifications on this thread. I like to keep the car mostly stock!

Originally Posted by GTO

Awesome review, Thoma! Congrats on the nippy Micra diesel. My Sunny might have more power, yet the Micra is so much (more) fun to drive. It's quite a fast runner, and the super-light controls & zero lag make it ideal for the city.

A hit with the women too. When the review Micra was parked down my office, my sister called me down so that I could open up the car for her. It's the only press car till date that she's taken such an interest in.

It is me who have to thank you GTO. It was your official review and the few ownership reviews on the forum that really helped me form opinions, even before the test drive of this cute bug.

I've found it good on the highways too, if one keeps the speedo around 100. I personally feel good to keep the needle around 80. Of course, the word 'highway' can take a whole different meaning outside Kerala. For Kerala, how ever good the road is, you have to expect a pedestrian carelessly crossing the road anytime. Of course, these are no reasons to crown the Micra a highway beater; there are other hatches that could cruise effortlessly on the highway.

Nissan have all the potential to become another Maruti or better, in India, and I am guessing they are moving in the right direction; but slowly and steadily. Just that they should not get lazy, looking at their own export numbers. Additionally, brand Nissan has a huge huge following in Kerala, as Kerala have a lot of Gulf-NRIs who swear by a Nissan.

Originally Posted by karan561

Is that spoiler STOCK fitment ?

Also this is the TOP Model right ? Lack of steering controls is surprising

The spoiler is stock fitment, karan561. It comes only with the top variant - XV Premium. Yeah, a top model missing many things - ABS!, passenger air-bag, steering controls, USB support! Personally, I can do without the steering controls, but I'm missing the others.

Originally Posted by Rameshdude

I would like to know a few things. How is the braking in slippery road ( did you drive during the rains, last week?) . This car is good in all aspects, but they shouldn't have trimmed on ABS and passenger airbag. I think the petrol version has all this. What is the logic in taking it off in diesel,which is the car that would be extensively driven.

Secondly, do you get a glare ? The top of dash board is pretty light shade.

I did not take her in the rains, last week

Very true on ABS and passenger airbag. The top variant on the petrol has all these. I really don't know Nissan strategy on this. But I guess this variant is competing with other manufacturer's middle variant (Swift, i20, Polo, Punto). That is why I said in my review that we cannot call the XV Premium as the true top end variant



I too thought the color of dashboard could be a nuisance in the sun, but no issues. Moreover, the driver's view is from a top to bottom direction, unlike other cars vice-versa.

Originally Posted by ampere

You are one amazing product snapper ! In future I would be on the look out for changing my i10 AT. The Micra CVT is already marked !

Product snapper! I'm elated, ampere

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by thoma

...The moment you turn off the A/C, the cabin gets hot and no A/C in the sun means you are in a frying pan. This could be due to the huge glass area of the Micra. In the same breath, we have to applaud the A/C for working against this kind of heat....

Why don't you work out a V-Kool / 3M VLT70(?) for the front and 3M for the sides & rear? That should take care of the heat part and should help in better FE too. And at the same time would not land you in trouble w.r.t the law enforcement. That's pretty much on my list.

Originally Posted by thoma

...So we can soon expect another Nissan to the team?...

Not really! Wanted to TD Micra (for my brother). They didn't have Micra, so ended up TDing Sunny! We still are in some discussions, a car might get added to our garage - too early to comment which one though!

[Vid6639]

Congrats Thoma and excellent review on the Micra.

I absolutely love the looks of the Micra. To me the cute looks of the Micra set it apart from the other cars. I am not a fan of the Pulse looks. The pulse may appear more male friendly but it does it by looking ugly!!

Good interiors, features and excellent motor. I also see that they have now fixed the headrests which were lame fixed ones earlier to adjustable type ones at the back. This was badly needed for rear passengers.

I would have back the Micra if it was available when I was looking around in 2011. The only big drawback from Nissan is removing ABS from Micra.

[guyfrmblr]

Congratulations on your new buy. The review is very much different from the other ownership reviews. You have covered some of the unique things which no one else reports. Loved it. Surprised to hear that even top end comes without ABS.

What tyre pressure do you maintain and what does the manual suggest? I saw a guy in Micra last week who was standing in front of me in a petrol bunk asking the attendant to maintain 35 psi.