Nissan’s family hatch gets masculine and more user friendly. Nissan Motor India have given their Mica hatchback a face-lift and we had the honour of being a part of the first batch of journalists who experienced it today morning in the temple city, Madurai.
The body panels of the new car are more sculpted and it gets new colour schemes, along with cosmetic changes that give it a sharper look. It has a new front end, which includes the new shape of the headlamps, front grille, radiator vent, front bumper and fog lamps. At the rear end, it has a redesigned cluster of lights inside the tail-lamps, which have LEDs.
Interiors are in beige like the old car but the fascia is while the armrests on the doors have sections in silver finish to give the car a premium look. It is also more feature rich than the old car but best of them are found in the top variants of the car. The New Micra has the same petrol (1.2 litre, 76 PS, 104 Nm) and diesel (1.5 litre, 64 PS, 160 Nm) engines that are mated to a five speed manual gearbox.
However, Nissan have also added a CVT gearbox in the Micra range and is mated to the petrol engine. The Micra automatic has one PS more than the manual car and Nissan also claims it to be more fuel efficient. The Micra petrol has three trim levels, named as Xl, Xl (O) and XV CVT while the diesel is available in Xl, XL (O), XV and XV P (premium).
The new Micra feels more or less the same from behind the wheel. The engine is powerful enough for city use, the suspension soaks in the bumps without any complaints and responds precisely to steering inputs. The has a roomy cabin which can seat five people comfortably and a boot space of 251 litres gives decent storage space. In short, it is still the nice family car it always was but with better looks and a hassle free transmission. Nissan hasn’t revealed the price of the car, nor have they announced the launch date yet. For more details and an update on the price and availability of the Micra face-lift, read the July issue of Car India.
