The latest Nissan Micra enjoyed a significant growth spurt over its predecessor and reaps the benefits: the cabin is now jolly roomy – in the front at least, and there is an abundance of large cubbies and storage areas to house all the paraphernalia of life on the road.
You do pay the penalty for that swooping roofline, however – it cramps rear headroom significantly. Children will be fine in the back seats, but adults are not as well accommodated as in many rivals, such as the roomy Skoda Fabia.
This cramped feel in the back is compounded by the small rear windows – an outcome of having rakish looks that favour a sharply rising window line and low roof.
The Micra’s boot is a convenient 300 litres and will easily swallow the family shop or luggage for a weekend away. There’s a large well underneath the luggage compartment which is big enough to take a full-size or emergency spare wheel, although these are cost options (a can of spray gunk is standard).
Will it fit in my garage?
The Micra has had something of a growth spurt compared with the old curvy car, but it doesn’t look it on first inspection – those sharp looks disguise it well.
Compared with some of its closest rivals, though, the Micra is quite compact. The Fiesta, Corsa and Ibiza are all longer than the Micra. That’s great news for buyers looking for something easy to nip about town in that will squeeze into small parking spaces.
Where you might struggle is with visibility. The Micra may well be a small supermini, but the penalty for striking exterior styling is a restricted view out, especially when you want to look out of the back.
Still, the ability to add parking sensors and 360-degree cameras helps, although the lens quality of the cameras isn’t particularly good. We’d save some money, stick with the sensors, and perhaps practice your parallel parking if you’re worried about dings.
Will my luggage fit?
At 300 litres, the Micra’s boot is about par for the course for a supermini, with a square space offered that’s practical and useful enough for the weekly shop or a weekend away. There’s nothing overly clever about the set-up though, and some may find the loading lip quite high, especially if you’re lifting heavier items up and over it regularly.
Folding the rear seats down is easy, opening up a 1,004-litre total load area, which is less impressive than that of the SEAT Ibiza at 1,165 litres, while the Fiesta manages to trump the Micra with 1,093 litres of space.
Extra storage around the interior isn’t particularly remarkable, though. There are useful door bins and a couple of extra cubbies dotted about, but that’s about it when it comes to practicality. The front centre armrest adds a little comfort, but is a token gesture towards storage, accommodating little more than a deck of cards inside it.
Safety
Five-star Euro NCAP crash-test result
Raft of electronic systems to keep you safe
Six airbags standard across the range
The Nissan Micra Hatchback scored an excellent five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test when sampled in 2017.
Every model has six airbags, Isofix attachments front and rear, electronic stability control, tyre-pressure monitoring system and automatic headlamps.
Nissan really has thrown the kitchen sink at its small car in safety equipment – it packs many features not normally seen in this class. Automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection is standard, so the car will apply the anchors autonomously if it detects an impending impact. It was the first supermini in Europe to offer this potentially life-saving feature.
And all UK Micras also include lane-keeping functionality, traffic-sign recognition and the ability to flip your main beam headlamps up and down automatically, to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic. Clever stuff.
Basic equipment
The basic equipment list includes equipment that is standard across all versions of the Nissan Micra Hatchback.
ABS
Driver`s airbag
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Front electric windows
Front fog lights
Height adjustable drivers seat
Isofix child seat anchor points
Passenger`s airbag
Remote locking
Side airbags
Equipment by trim level
To view equipment options for a specific trim level, please select from the following list:
Equipment included on some trim levels
3x3 point rear seat belts
Air conditioning
Alarm
Alloy wheels
Audio remote
Body coloured bumpers
CD
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Heated mirrors
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
Lumbar support
Metallic Paint
Parking sensors
Partial leather seat trim
PAS
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Service indicator
Steel wheels
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Traction control
Acenta equipment
Acenta standard equipment
Alloy wheels
Audio remote
Cruise control
Acenta optional equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Air conditioning
Body coloured bumpers
CD
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
Metallic Paint
Parking sensors
PAS
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Steel wheels
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Traction control
Acenta Limited Edition equipment
Acenta Limited Edition standard equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Air conditioning
Alarm
Alloy wheels
Audio remote
Body coloured bumpers
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Lumbar support
PAS
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Traction control
Acenta Limited Edition optional equipment
CD
Climate control
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
Metallic Paint
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Steel wheels
Bose Personal Edition equipment
Bose Personal Edition standard equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Audio remote
Body coloured bumpers
CD
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Heated mirrors
Lumbar support
Metallic Paint
Parking sensors
PAS
Sat Nav
Service indicator
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Traction control
Bose Personal Edition optional equipment
Steel wheels
Kiiro equipment
Kiiro standard equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Audio remote
Body coloured bumpers
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Metallic Paint
Parking sensors
PAS
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Kiiro optional equipment
CD
Climate control
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
Steel wheels
Traction control
N-Connecta equipment
N-Connecta standard equipment
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Cruise control
Heated mirrors
Sat Nav
N-Connecta optional equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Audio remote
Body coloured bumpers
CD
Cloth seat trim
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
Metallic Paint
Parking sensors
PAS
Rear electric windows
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Traction control
N-Sport equipment
N-Sport standard equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Audio remote
Body coloured bumpers
Cruise control
Heated mirrors
Parking sensors
Partial leather seat trim
PAS
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Steering wheel reach adjustment
N-Sport optional equipment
Cloth seat trim
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Steel wheels
Traction control
N-Tec equipment
N-Tec standard equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Audio remote
Body coloured bumpers
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Parking sensors
PAS
Sat Nav
Service indicator
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Traction control
N-Tec optional equipment
CD
Climate control
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
Metallic Paint
Rear electric windows
Steel wheels
Tekna equipment
Tekna standard equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Audio remote
Cruise control
Heated mirrors
Parking sensors
Sat Nav
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Tekna optional equipment
Body coloured bumpers
CD
Cloth seat trim
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
Metallic Paint
PAS
Rear electric windows
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Traction control
Visia equipment
Visia standard equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Body coloured bumpers
Cloth seat trim
Steel wheels
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Visia optional equipment
CD
PAS
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Traction control
Visia+ equipment
Visia+ standard equipment
3x3 point rear seat belts
Air conditioning
Body coloured bumpers
Cloth seat trim
Steel wheels
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Traction control
Visia+ optional equipment
CD
PAS
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Euro NCAP Rating – 5 stars
The Nissan Micra Hatchback was tested by Euro NCAP in 2017 and was awarded a 5 star overall rating.
This overall rating is calculated from the following individual ratings:
Euro NCAP provides motoring consumers with a realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in Europe.
The safety ratings are determined from a series of vehicle tests, designed and carried out by Euro NCAP.
These tests represent, in a simplified way, important real life accident scenarios that could result in injured or killed car occupants or other road users.