The Hockey Bag Test

Yes, cargo may be down on the competition, but that didn’t stop us from fitting a hockey bag back there with the seats down. It wasn’t just any bag, either; it was a bag full of adult-sized goalie gear, including a pair of leg pads. Getting it in and out of the Micra was much easier than many larger sedans I’ve sampled, that’s for sure. Even some larger crossovers are tougher, simply because of the higher liftover height. Have you ever felt a frickin’ fully-loaded goalie bag? It’s like 50 pounds or more. Yes, it would be nice if a completely flat load floor was left behind once folded, or if you could modify the load floor like you can in the Micra’s Versa Note stablemate, but at least we have split-folding rear seats as standard on all trims.

The Rest

Even at its most basic of trims, the Micra is not a bad-looking car; yes, the tall roof required for all that headroom makes it slightly awkward in profile, but that’s really more of a nitpick than anything. Plus, switch to the SR trim, and a host of finer details take your focus off the roof height.

While the SR trim doesn’t actually sit any lower than others, the larger two-tone wheels (base models get 15” wheel covers; these are 16” alloys) do give the appearance that it’s sitting a little lower to the ground. If that’s not enough, all sorts of customization can be done at the dealer level, from contrasting rocker panels, to different wing mirror caps and fog light surrounds. While the catalogue isn’t quite as robust as something you’d see from say, Mini, it’s nice to have the choice.

Me? Well, I’m a big fan of my tester’s Caspian Sea metallic paint, though it is one of two available colours that you have to shell out a little extra dough for. Yes, on the surface, the $135 required doesn’t seem like much, but when we’re talking about a car that relies on its excellent pricing as a big selling point, you can see how that supplemental charge will get some backs up.

While the interior is spacious, I wouldn’t exactly call it an exciting place to be. Grey seat fabric and plastic (your only choice) permeate throughout, and if it weren’t for my car’s infotainment system, this baby has rent-a-special written all over it. While A/C is standard on all but the base trim, there’s no option for auto climate control, so while I prefer knobs and dials to an all-touch interface, the plasticky items found here aren’t much to write home about. Remember: this is a car that starts at less than $10 grand.

I do like Nissan’s infotainment interface, though. Of course, you have to upgrade to the SR trim seen here (it starts at $15,988) to get it, but it’s easy to use, well laid out and still makes use of knobs and buttons instead of an all-touch interface, which I love. The 4.3” screen is smaller than some of the competition, though, and navi isn’t even an option but you do get a back-up camera. It’s just too bad the camera itself protrudes like an unsightly pimple from the rear hatch.

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