[W.A.G.7]

I came across this video on youtube (from Overdrive magazine's channel) in which they have taken a look at the lower two variants of the Micra i.e. XE and XL. In my opinion both variants look too drab compared to the top end XV version. Of course the video has been taken at night so unless the interiors are checked out in broad daylight it is too early to comment on it.

The biggest change you notice is the lack of the discman style automatic climate control. The manual AC controls look especially in the XE version. The only saving grace for the XL variant is the silver coloured music system (carried over from the top end model) which does it's bit to liven up the interiors.

Check out the video:

YouTube - Nissan Micra First Look on OVERDRIVE

[vishnana]

Great Review GTO !
I saw a youtube video showing the New Micra reaching the top speed of 173 Kmph , here is the link ,

YouTube - Nissan_March_ShortTest_to_173kmh.wmv

can any one give me Top speed figures for other 1.2 litre engines currently on sale here , this will be intresting though .

[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by avishar

Are you sure?i think the tax benefits also include 1.5L diesels and under it.

Yes. It is 1.2L for Petrol and 1.5L for Diesel AFAIK.

1.5L Diesel on Micra will give a very good Power/Weight ratio. Logan's engine is known for good mileage too. I wonder what Nissan is waiting for!?

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by avishar

Are you sure?i think the tax benefits also include 1.5L diesels and under it.

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

Yes. It is 1.2L for Petrol and 1.5L for Diesel AFAIK.

1.5L Diesel on Micra will give a very good Power/Weight ratio. Logan's engine is known for good mileage too. I wonder what Nissan is waiting for!?

Sorry, my mistake, the excise duty has changed from 8% to 10%. In a weird way, I thought that the capacity limit had been reduced. Apologies.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

I came across this video on Youtube (from Overdrive magazine's channel) in which they have taken a look at the lower two variants of the Micra i.e. XE and XL.

While the lesser variants don't have the funky climate control (amongst other things), I much prefer their all black shade to the XV's all grey. As mentioned in my review, the black seat upholstery also felt nice & soft to the touch.

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

Yes. It is 1.2L for Petrol and 1.5L for Diesel AFAIK.

1.5L Diesel on Micra will give a very good Power/Weight ratio. Logan's engine is known for good mileage too. I wonder what Nissan is waiting for!?

That's correct. Excise concessions are available to petrol engines < 1.2L and diesel engines <1.5 L.

[mohandas]

Originally Posted by GTO

As a Team-BHPian, you booked a car without test-driving it? I'm surprised. I even recommend testdrives to someone buying an S Class.

GTO,

Thanks a lot for your replies. Really appreciated.

I booked the car early in order to get the delivery sooner. Of course, I plan to take a detailed test drive and only after I am satisfied, I will go ahead with my purchase. The dealer, here at Hyderabad, has promised me to return the full booking amount within 3 days if I am not satisfied after the test drive. So, there isn’t really any risk except loosing the interest on that 50 grand.

Now, some more questions for you as I am concerned particularly about the engine performance after reading your review. And I am looking for answers relative to the segment to help me decide.

1>Is the engine in the Micra a free revving unit?
I love to revv the engine and don’t mind shifting gears So for a person like me, what is the relative performance of Micra (in-gear) compared to others like Swift/Figo/Polo/I20 etc (not considering refinement/noise)?

2> How is the handling compared to the I20, particularly at high speeds? When I test drove the I20, I was really disappointed with its handling – the feather-light playstation-like steering being the main culprit. This was the main reason for rejecting it and along with that there was the weak AC (can’t live with it in the Hyderabad summer). Hope Micra is better than the I20 in the handling front. Can you kindly comment on this?

3> Somewhat unrelated question : Frankly all cars I have test driven like Swift/I20/Jazz have poor low end response. My friend’s santro 1.1 engine beats all of them in lowend torque hands down. The only car which had good low end response is the Fabia but that was rejected due to other issues. I am just curious to know – Why is the K-series engine considered as the best in the segment?Is it because of the free revving nature? Even I founbd the 1.2 Vtec of the Jazz to be smooth and free revving during my test drive and it develops more power as well.

Your answers will be really important for my final decision. Waiting for your replies. Thanks again!

[RGK]

@Mohandas - I think you were supposed to book swift and then you decided on Figo and now you are planning finally for Micra - Correct me if I am wrong.

On seeing your questions I see there are no budget constraints for you and you have a very very wide range to pick and choose and may be creating the confusion.

[longhorn]

Originally Posted by mohandas

3> Somewhat unrelated question : Frankly all cars I have test driven like Swift/I20/Jazz have poor low end response. My friend’s santro 1.1 engine beats all of them in lowend torque hands down.

I can bet you TD'ed the old Swift with the G13 engine. That was known for poor low end torque. What you need to TD is what you can buy now - the K12M Swift.

Originally Posted by mohandas

The only car which had good low end response is the Fabia but that was rejected due to other issues. I am just curious to know – Why is the K-series engine considered as the best in the segment? Is it because of the free revving nature? Even I founbd the 1.2 Vtec of the Jazz to be smooth and free revving during my test drive and it develops more power as well.

No offence meant, but I can't believe that you TD'ed every hatch under the sun but didn't check out the K series gems. The K12M is a dream to drive. This engine has the best torque spread(read excellent drivability) among all the hatches available in the market today. You will hardly find a flat spot. Very responsive right from the word go. And the FE is on the higher side too. My sincere advice - Just TD the K12M Swift and you'll know where I'm coming from.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by mohandas

Is the engine in the Micra a free revving unit?
I love to revv the engine and don’t mind shifting gears So for a person like me

Its performance is par for the course. No road burner, the Micra isn't, and it performs its duty as a city hatch.

the feather-light playstation-like steering being the main culprit.

As mentioned in my review, the Micra's steering weighs in sufficiently well at speed. It's not excessively light to get you scared.

Why is the K-series engine considered as the best in the segment?

Its an all-rounder, that's why. The 1.2 K series is refined, has good driveability, fuel efficiency and doesn't get coarse near the redline either. For years, buying a Maruti meant ending up with a compromised engine. Now, it's the best of the pack.

[mohandas]

Originally Posted by RGK

@Mohandas - I think you were supposed to book swift and then you decided on Figo and now you are planning finally for Micra - Correct me if I am wrong.

yEP! you are right. But you see, the whole process of buying a car is like a multi-round interview. I do the 1st level screening and then my family takes care of the final round. Figo 1.4 was rejected on that round. In case of swift, I decided to wait to check out new players and there was also a rumor on the facelifeted swift.

Originally Posted by GTO

Its an all-rounder, that's why. The 1.2 K series is refined, has good driveability, fuel efficiency and doesn't get coarse near the redline either. For years, buying a Maruti meant ending up with a compromised engine. Now, it's the best of the pack.

Thanks a lot, GTO. I appreciate your response.

[veerendra.kiran]

I've got the following mail from Queen's Road showroom, Bangalore. Sharing with the forum in case anyone is interested. I've re-formatted the mail for better viewing in the forum. Also, removed irrelevant content as per Team-BHP's guiding principles. I've seen similar mail on Sid's scoop thread, but this one is specific to Bangalore.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir / Madam,

We are pleased to announce the launch of Nissan small car Micra on May 25, 2010. Micra received overwhelming response when bookings opened on May 25, 2010. We have received orders for 200 Micras so far and this trend is certain to continue. Please find attached specifications and colours of Nissan Micra.

Showroom: 15, Queen’s road, Bangalore 52 (Near Congress office) – Display on Sundays also.
There are four variants in micra, namely XE, XE+, XL and XV. Tentative onroad pricing would be between Rs 4.85 lakh and Rs 6.45 lakh.

XE: Delivery between Aug 20 and 25, 2010.
Tentative onroad price - 484,809.00
AIR BAG (DRIVER SIDE), POWER STEERING, TILT STEERING, MANUAL AC, DRIVE COMPUTER, ROOF ANTENA

XE+: White, silver and red available for delivery by July 25, 2010. Delivery of all other colours (Black, Blue and Orange) between Aug 20 and 25, 2010.
Tentative onroad price - 537,969.00
XE features + SEAT COVER (FABRIC BLACK AND SILVER COMBINATION), STEERING COVER (PURE LEATHER BLACK AND SILVER COMBINATION), FULL WHEEL COVER, MUSIC SYSTEM (OE) WITH 4 SPEAKERS

XL: Silver and white available for delivery by July 25, 2010. Delivery of all other colours (Red, Black, Blue and Orange) between Aug 20 and 25, 2010.
Tentative onroad price - 585,211.00
XE features + FULL WHEEL COVERS, INTEGRATED MUSIC SYSTEM WITH 4 SPEAKERS WITH AUX-INPUT, REAR WIPER AND WASHER, TACHOMETER, PARCEL SHELF, POWER WINDOWS, REMOTE KEYLESS ENTRY

XV: Delivery between Sept 20 and 25, 2010.
Tentative onroad price - 645,380.00
XL features + RETRACTABLE MIRRORS, DOOR MIRROR ELECTRICALLY ADJUSTABLE, CLIMATE CONTROL, INTERIORS BEIGE COLOR, INTELLIGENT KEY WITH PUSH BUTTON IGNITION, FRONT PASSANGER AIRBAG, ABS+EBD+BA, FRONT FOG LAMPS, SECURITY ALARM

NOTE: PRICE ARE INDICATIVE ONLY, FINAL PRICES AS APPLICABLE AT THE TIME OF DELIVERY WILL HAVE TO BE PAID BY CUSTOMER.

Delivery of the vehicle would commence by July 15, 2010. We expect availability at the rate of 75 vehicles per month. Delivery schedule subject to change based on further customer orders.

There are a few XE+ and XL vehicles available for delivery by July 20, 2010. XV vehicles can be delivered by end Aug 2010. Delivery indicated is subject to change, depending on additional orders that we may get, before you choose to book one.

Booking amount will be Rs 50000/-. Terms and conditions of supply will be as per contractual document to be signed at the time of booking.

Car is on display in showroom at number 15, Queen’s road, Bangalore. We invite you to kindly have a look at the car and consider our car for your purchase.

Thanks & regards

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My notes:
1. I think XL is awkwardly priced. Bangaloreans will end-up paying 50k for Rear washer and wiper, Tachometer, Parcel shelf, Power Windows, Keyless entry. I feel someone at Nissan did not do they homework properly on product placement, and not just with XL variant.
2. XV delivery dates confuse me. One place it says Sep 20-25 and another place Aug! Probably a small lot will be available in Aug for customers who already booked.
3. I wish someone with better writing skills compose these emails to prospective customers. I had a hard time getting the mail content; amongst all the fonts, colors, capital letters, etc and had to scroll up/down/sideways to get the data required for me. I tried my best to make it more readable here, with the least amount of time that I can invest. I still hate those capital letters.
4. When I joined this forum, I had an feeling that my first thread on this forum would be for a Micra initial ownership. Due to pricing and dealership experience so far, that feeling is drifting away, slowly.
5. Like someone already said, looks like Nissan does not want to over-sell Micra; not till they get more dealerships across the breadth and width of the country.

[RGK]

I have not physically seen the car, but I feel it is extremely overpriced. These prices would help Beat and Figo Diesel to sell more.

[mohandas]

RGK,
Road taxes in Bangalore are the highest which jacks up the on-road price.
Basically the ex-showroom price for the top-end XV model is 5.3L approx, which is similar to Swift. Why do u think this is extremely overpriced?

All:

What do u think should be the competitive pricing of Micra top-end XV model ?
The competitors of Micra and the respective prices for the top-end models (approx) are as follows:-
Figo range – 4.5 lakh
Ritz – 5 L
Swift 5.3 L
I20 – 5.8 L
Polo/Punto – 6 L

IMO, it should be in the range of Swift = 5.2 to 5.3 L

[RGK]

Agreed - Karnataka tax is adding up the price bit more. But if you take the base variant at 4.84 + decent stereo = 4.95 and compare with other entry level models of other competitors - the prices are on the higher side. This is what I compared and the entry level Micra has driver side Airbag which is a +ve.

It is better to know the exact pricing on July 14th and then rate it.
Micra should be rightly priced as this segment has become a highly competitive and also Nissan is definitely do not have the branding of VW.

OT - My doubt is why only driver side airbag - seen the same in Logan DLS also. Is that mean driving alone will lead to accidents and hence one airbag. I think if Airbags are made a feature then it should be a minimum of two.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by veerendra.kiran

I wish someone with better writing skills compose these emails to prospective customers. I had a hard time getting the mail content; amongst all the fonts, colors, capital letters, etc and had to scroll up/down/sideways to get the data required for me.

This isn't the first time Nissan's dealer emails have caught our attention. On Sidindica's earlier Micra thread, one poorly composed email had everyone in splits!

Originally Posted by RGK

It is better to know the exact pricing on July 14th and then rate it.

Absolutely. Lets wait for the official launch and then compare prices / value.

My doubt is why only driver side airbag

The top-end variant has dual airbags, just as the rest of the segment. On the other hand, the lower & mid-range variant have a driver airbag (only) which neither of its competitors have. Lets give Nissan credit where its due. The entry-level and mid-range variants are the most price sensitive. Yet, Nissan is atleast giving a driver side airbag, which no one else does.