Quite a long time ago, when personal finances were going through what the pundits call a 'double-dip' recession I needed the use of a car that would be frugal, yet practical.
In my own case it was more of a quadruple-dip and I was at college studying in order to better myself so that I could earn the money to avoid the quintuple-dip situation. This college course necessitated a fairly hefty mileage while juggling home, kids and work. So at the time I got my hands on what was quite a new little car at the time - a Nissan Micra.
When I collected it, nothing really went through my mind other than 'it'll do for what I need'.
I drove that little Micra for thousands of miles up and down the M27, A36, A46, M4 each weekend for several weeks, and the more I drove it the more I liked it. Therefore I had a somewhat positive memory of the Micra long before I took delivery of this their latest model.
It's almost impossible to compare the two side by side. The philosophy remains the same - small, economical, reliable etc. but the newest Micra has certainly dispensed with the no-frills aspect of motoring. This is now a small car that pretends, very successfully I must add, to be a big car.
Trim and equipment levels are amazing for the price and the performance and handling on all sorts of roads belies the fact that you're still in a small hatchback car. It's quiet, reasonably smooth and even on long motorway stretches at legal speeds it feels much bigger than it actually is. The equipment levels are as good as I'd expect in many cars costing double and not only that they seem to integrate seamlessly into the trim as though they'd belonged there all along.
Manoeuvrability is unbelievable, with one of the tightest steering locks I've ever seen. On the negative side though I did find the clutch control quite 'heavy' and 'lumpy' when in stop-start traffic on an incline. As was expected, the Micra delivers exceptionally good economy returning well over 400 miles out of its tiny tank.
After journeying several hours from our Principality base to the Home Counties and back we were none the worse for wear and if anything commended the comfort and appointment of the endearing little Micra. It's no load-lugger though, with a fairly restrictive luggage space with normal configuration, although with the rear seats stowed flat it became a much more practical solution. The split rear seats made it quite versatile, especially when there's a 1-child plus lots of luggage situation to contend with. There are isofix child seat fittings on both sides and access and egress were fine for even someone of my own generous frame.
So it's more of a single, couple or SMALL Family car than many popular models, but a brilliant way to get not just around town, but between towns and further - cheaply and comfortably.
Nigel Crawford
August 2011
Model Driven: Nissan Micra Accenta 1.2 Manual. Price OTR £11,150. | 
The Volvo C30
