Nissan has introduced its first diesel passenger vehicle to South Africa, the Micra 1,5 dCi Tekna.
It is the first three-door Micra on our market and the reduction in size does give it a certain agility that the other Micras lack. Then again, it also has a turbo-diesel engine and is surprisingly one of the most driveable turbo-powered cars I’ve come across recently as it doesn’t suffer from the usual lag one experiences on turbo-powered vehicles.
The upgraded Micra comes standard with 16-inch alloys, front foglights, electric windows, air-conditioning, central locking, dual front and side air bags, anti-lock brakes with brake assist and electronic brakeforce distribution.
It has a power output of 60kW and the 185Nm of torque is available from as low down as 2000rpm.
To be honest, I didn’t expect much from the Micra and thought that I would have to work quite hard to get any sort of performance out of it, but I was wrong.
It accelerated easily to its top speed of about 170kph and felt quite stable at this speed. In fact, it felt as if it might even be capable of more than its top speed, which is quite something for this cute, little car, and I had the air-con on full-blast.
The interior of the car is comfortable for the driver and front passenger, but there really isn’t much space for anything other than a garden gnome or two at the back. However, given that it’s aimed at a young market, you’re really not going to need space for an entire family, so let’s not be too quick to criticise.
Nissan claims this lively car averages about 5,4 litres/100km and to prove this it drove the car through four cities in four countries on one 42-litre tank of diesel.
From Gaborone in Botswana, through Pretoria in South Africa, Mbabane in Swaziland and ending in Maputo in Mozambique, the Micra diesel finished the 963km trip averaging about 82kph and using only 31 litres of diesel with an overall consumption of 3,3 litres/100km.
Nissan hasn’t confirmed the price of the Micra yet, but consumers can expect it to be about R140 000. Service intervals are at 10 000km.