2008 Nissan Micra
December 10, 2007 by George Skentzos
When looks aren’t everything, the new Nissan Micra is the perfect super-small hatch to make stressful city driving a breeze.
There are sure to be some who would label the new five-door Micra as ‘cute’ – even chic, although most would agree, the Micra is certainly not your average hatchback.
It seems Nissan has designed the Micra to stop rather than go, formerly tedious city driving is a breeze with the four-speed auto taking the stress out of stop-start motoring, whilst speed sensitive electric power steering means parking is effortless – especially when you take into account the fact that it is only 3.7 metres long and 1.6 metres wide.
“It’s the ideal solution for city drivers who want a neat compact car with all of the trimmings, but at a very competitive price,”
It is powered by a 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine which churns out a relaxed 72kW and 137Nm, easily getting the feather-weight 965kg Micra off the line and through the rush-hour traffic using only 6.8-litres of fuel per 100km.
In the Micra the journey is just as important as the destination, with air conditioning and power windows standard to ensure stress-free transit, as well an an MP3 compatible stereo to keep you entertained.
Standard safety equipment includes anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution and brake assist, active front headrests and dual airbags.
The $1,700 Micra City Collection option package adds dual side airbags and curtain airbags as well as 15-inch alloy wheels and an MP3 compatible 6-stacker CD sound system.
With a starting price of just $14,990 Micra buyers will have plenty of cash left over for shopping centre forays.
Print it: 
Don’t you mean “[Nissan] has designed the Micra to stop rather than go,” ?
Yep, that would be the one, thanks for that!
I guess I just find it hard to believe the Micra and the GTR come from the same manufacturer.
I think it they should have called it the Egg, because when it gets hit by something larger Prado/Pajero, Commodore, Camry then it cracks open and all of its contents would spill out and die. Luckily you cant get too many people inside.
I’m with you Coz, they should have called it the egg!
It is at a great price,it costs only another thousand dollars over a two door Hyundai Getz. And by the way does any body like the styling?
And no mention here of its undercooked safety hardware. Is it true that it comes with a guts-slicing centre-rear lap belt only?
hahahaha …Gee your good with the words Golfschwein {you know your real name is a lot easy to spell than that}
Thats strange Duck calling it an egg???????? Quack quack !
Do you think they could have made the auto shifter any longer?? Looks like your landing a plane with that one!!
Your right BM,
if your sitting in the rear middle seat and the driver stopped suddenly, your body would probably fly forward so you get stabbed in the head by the shifter, due to the lack of reinforcement on the seatbelt. :P
yeeeeep {nodding head}….that could happen too! Perhaps one should try that before buying it….. may help with your buying decision.hehehe
The headlights have been stolen from the ka body camouflage kit.
WOW, a Noddy car!
Fantastic value for money, makes up for the WAY overpriced Dualis/Qualise? mini-suv
Watch its price drop, as it wiil, mark my words
Cheers
F-0
Wow. Ugly as a hat full of foreskins, that thing has a face like a beaten favourite. Girls with no taste who wanna stand out will be all over it.
Small, fuel efficient city commuter. I’d rather see 100 of these than the Hummers and trucks bouncing down West Terrace.
No this is Dumber than a Bummer Hummer…
hardly any difference with the previous model
I think its great more little cars are popping up! But anyway, seats look a little short, no tacho and no temp gauge? Reminiscence of a Tiida I think :P
Does it come standard with paper bags to cover the head when you are inside, and to puke into when you are outside?
Will be a challenge to recycle the bags when they run out.
Funny you should say that Momo, ‘cos that’s exactly what Hammond did from TopGear, he had to drive a pink Micra on the show, so he put a paperbag over his head while driving to avoid embarrasment.
The biggest problem with this car is not its style – which I quite like – but the fact that CAR magazine ran it up against the Peugeot 206 and Citroen C3 in a comparison test in their February 2003 edition. It’s open on my desk right now.
Yup, February 2003. In 2 months’ time, it’ll be February 2008. It’s virtually 5 years old, which explains the rear centre lap belt.
What sort of success are Nissan Australia expecting, or deserving of, when they have such contempt for the Australian market that they serve us up a 5 year old car?
SHAME! There’s a gaggle of Primeras and Skylines and associated spin-offs that Nissan could offer us to bolster their market share, but all of their execs are suffering from terminal can’tbestuffed-itis. Oh, that wouldn’t sell here. :(
Yes, I noticed a couple of things Hamster could have done to pimp up the car.
He should have puked in the bag, then blow it up and bang to spice up the interior.
Then do the same on the outside to repel any unwanted finger pointers.
Could be a way out when all bags are full, just trying to help.
I have an idea… If you drove around with a bag over your head all of the time, then you would be bound to run into all sorts of obstacles, and eventually the car might look better. But if that fails, keep the bag on your head and you would never really know how ugly it is.
Quote Golfschwein “Yup, February 2003. In 2 months’ time, it’ll be February 2008. It’s virtually 5 years old, which explains the rear centre lap belt.”
Same as Holden sending over the last model Vectra when the facelifted version was released in Europe 2 years ago. Seems like Australia is the dumping ground of old or runout models which don’t sell in Europe/Japan anymore.
Yes, Mistertwo, I was wondering how long Holden were going to keep flogging the Vectra…it went on. And on and on.
But clever Holden had a Master Plan…CRAPICA!
Well because the Vectra was selling so poorly, they had stockpiled enough to last them for two years before phrasing the Vectra out. Thinking about their options, Holden reallly should have tried the facelifted version before offering the Epica.
I can’t say that this is the most wonderful design produced by a car manufacturer I would to have known what these people were smoking when they came up with this,its just ugly and if I had to win one I would give it straight back. Not my kinda car at all, yet I see them on the roads daily.
Well fellas when you get over what every one else thinks about you driving it and drive it yourself you will have a little more idea about the car.
I am purchasing one this week as I have actually driven it and quite honestly think it is a cracking little beast.
It handles very well, is quite at highway speeds and feel like a refined Mini.
I will be driving this car for about 40000 km per year so I will be able to update all on the long term prospects of this vehicle. The fact that it is five years old already should say something for its success overseas.