New 2010 Nissan Micra - review and launch event.

Ed

Fusion Motorsport
MSC Founder
Official MSC Trader
So the Micra Sports Club was invited by Nissan to attend the 2010 Micra Launch in Copenhagen. The responsibility to represent the MSC fell on James and myself, and so today (Monday 13sept) we headed off to Heathrow and boarded the plane courtesy of Nissan along with 30 odd other media reps to see what Nissans latest creation consisted of.

So the new Micra is based on what is called the "V" platform. This is no longer being made in the UK and instead is going to be produced in a few factories around the world. UK ones will be manufactured in India. The V platform is predicted to have a life of about 7-8 years and will spawn three vehicles from it. Its not a shared development with Renault. This car is a proper Nissan engineered car.

On arrival our group gathered along with a few Nissan reps and we all boared a coach that would take us to our hotel. The plan was running about 20 mins late so a quick check in at the hotel and freshen up later we then headed out for a meal.

This is where it got interesting! James and I ended up sitting next to none other than Tsuyoshi Kobayashi who is no other than one of Nissans chief vehicle engineers, and who oversaw the V platform development.

We discussed Nissans history including past and present vehicles in fact all sorts. Mr Kobayashi is without a doubt a very passionate man and is clearly excited by the new V platform base. A few interesting things I can right now confirm.

The 2010 'K13' Micra WILL be released with a supercharger optioin, in it looks like this will happen in early 2011. However this is not for performance reasons but for that of economy. It will feature direct injection 3 cyl petrol engine with a compression ratio of 13:1, and will emit just 95g co2/Km. This means it will be TAX FREE, which very very few cars can lay claim to. It will also feature stop-start technology again helping to bring down its emissions to those levels. Nissan are very clear by the fact that this is an exceptionally efficient engine.

Now I asked about performance versions and explained that I had tuned many Nissans etc. Mr Kobayashi said that its possible but not confirmed and Nissan is talking to Nismo about a possible Super Turbo version later... Its my view however that this is never likely to hit the UK but is cool none of the less.

So by this time the meal was over. We headed back to the hotel and then out to a local establishment where and James myself and a few other reporters took advantage of Nissans hospitality before all heading finally back for tomorrows test drive begins.

More to come later!!!
 
nice one ed :cool:
that supercharger one sounds like they,re going for an atkinson cycle type design eh (similar to the prius engine)
 
wow sounds great, did I read that correct. 13;1 compresion ratio?
Yes, a very high compression ratio. We've just been chatting to him again after a test drive (Ed I think is composing an update on his laptop as I post this). He also said last night that they were considering a Nismo version and that Nismo parts will be available. I'll leave Ed to explain what the car was like :)

James


Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
 
OK so James and I have both driven the new Micra for about 70 miles. We first chose to drive the CVT one since it was around the city and locality of Copenhagen. Initial impressions are very good. Its without a doubt a million times better to look at than the previous generation Micra. You can still see the influences from it, but equally it sits half way between the K11 as well. Its quite strange how this engine is 3 cyl. It seems almost backwards but power is 80PS from the 1.2 which is more than the K11 1.3 CG13 unit.

For a while the K11 CVT was the benchmark for small car auto gearboxes, however the 2010 CVT is definitely smoother more refined and quieter. Its also quicker to react to load changes and doesn't try to run away like the K11 did.

The Micra itself is pretty quiet for its size on the road. James and I can both vouch for its manoeuvrability and also visability which takes us back to what the Micra should be about.

We have to run to a press conference now but shall add more later.

After lunch were going to test drive the manual version.

More to come!
 
Some pictures of today so far :)
 

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do like the big pimping photo of Ed, all it needs now is a bit of photoshop.

I do like the front of the new Micra but the rear end is a bit meh for me at the moment, will want to see what a 3 door version looks like. Ultimately though i do hope they go down the performance route properly and there is a Micra that can stand its ground with Fabia vRS, Polo Gti, Suzuki Swift, etc

Mike
 
I do like the front of the new Micra but the rear end is a bit meh for me at the moment, will want to see what a 3 door version looks like.
There's going to be no 3-door version, although to be honest, I don't think there's much of a need for one any more.

Here's a press video we got with the press pack from Nissan:

[640flash]http://www.micra.org.uk/k13/player.swf?file=http://www.micra.org.uk/k13/micra_1.flv[/640flash]
 
Does look nice in the video, it's a shame there is no 3 door but can understand the reasoning behind it. I still do hope they make a proper sporty version.

Mike
 
That's fascinating. I've seen loads of pic's and thought it looked quite big. It looks much more Micra sized in the video :).
 
Id heard about the 3 cylinder supercharger version being purely emission related...but theres potential to get that shifted slightly, especially if its tax free, means youve got more money for tweak parts.

Nismo etc are bound to make parts for it as id think nissan will set up something like the mach cup for these.

I also personally quite like the look of it and can already picture it looking pretty cool slammed on some deep wheels.
 
Nismo are already planning to. I spoke personally to the chief vehicle engineer for the V platform from Nissan Japan. The supercharged one is apparently quite sporty to drive and to be honest I can believe it. Nismo will definitely make this better.
 
Lets just hope Nissan give the UK some of the extra goodies the Japanese will get.
It's coming with "park assist" which lets you know if the car can fit in the space you've just driven past!

I'll upload some pics when I get home of all that :)
 
Now that actually does seem like a micra, a from - to shot as mentioned above really does show it off nicely!!

Yeah i have to admit, i love the little 3 dr machines :D people hatem, but its funny watching people getting in and out haha, any idea on pricing?
 
Now that actually does seem like a micra, a from - to shot as mentioned above really does show it off nicely!!

Yeah i have to admit, i love the little 3 dr machines :D people hatem, but its funny watching people getting in and out haha, any idea on pricing?
Starting from £8,995 :)
 
Perhaps you may want to try at least posting something constructive.
 
Hehe, i have to say that it ant looking the nicest, but for once its veering back towards micra, which is certainly a good thing! plus the power options are seeming quite nice!
 
i like how it looks from the side for sure, i am sure it wouldn't be too hard to kit it up if looks really are a bother, i remember falling in love with the 350 k12 and all they did was kit it and suddenly it looked awesome, i wanna see nismo do something mad with it
 
seriously cannot beat the k11 and modern cars feel so underpowered and lifeless like its driving itself and last but not least it is bassed on the the ford ka chassis and alot
 
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