Of all the cars in this group, the Micra is by far the easiest to pilot around town. All of the controlls are delightfully weighted-even the unassisted steering, and press the throttle and the car will respond instantly.
The 16V engine loves to be revved, and allthough it has the least pulling power of the five cars featured here, it never feels under powered. Its a car that has to be driven hard to get the best out of it, both in terms of performance and handling, but it has the chassis to match.
It's great fun through bends and our only complaint is that the Micra rolls just a little too much and can't quite match the excellent Fiesta and Saxo for body control.
The Micra's toytown charm is continued in the cabin. Curves are echoed in the instrument binnacle, while the outrageous paint on our test car looked almost tame next to the seat fabric. Sadly the Micra does not have a sloid feel, the door trim flexes with pressure, and instrumentation feels like they would come off if you were slightly heavy handed.
Ergonomics, too aren't up to the best in the group, allthough the dials are clear and the switchgear easy to use. However the controlls for the ventillation and the sterio are slightly too far out of reach.
Generous
The bulbous shape of the Micra pays dividends in providing decent accomodation to all passengers. There's generous headroom up front, and you'll have to be a real six footer to complain about leg room. Space in the back is impressive, allthough the Micra cannot compete with the Corsa and Polo for cabin space.
Overall the Micra stands or falls on its looks. It has consciously gone all the way down the road to being a full-on fashion accesory, with its bright paintwork and jazzy interiors. Not one of the members of our test team came back from driving this car without a smile on their faces.
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Test Results:
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