Review: a month into my new 2018 Micra SV 5spd
Hey everyone, about a month into my new 2018 Micra SV 5spd in Gunmetal Grey.
The distinctive face of the car, and the size. It looked like a fun, affordable car. Test drove a 2015 at the dealer, thought about grabbing it, then decided the extra money towards the fresh factory warranty and extended warranties was worth the piece of mind. Now I've got a car that I can take care of for a long time.
This Micra is replacing my totalled Mazda3. I really miss that car, but the Micra is turning out to be a pretty good alternative.
This is my daily car. I will drive to work in this, drive my partner to work sometimes, going anywhere around the GTHA in it.
I like how small yet functional the car is. It's got room on the inside, and the controls and dashboard are simple. The backseats can fit two adults, and the hatchback holds a full grocery load. Perfect. I am entertaining taking it camping this summer instead of my partners truck.
My favourite feature is the body panels. They managed to make the car look cute without making it look too bug eyed like the older Yaris. Aside, anyone else think the older Yaris coupes look awesome? With the car being the size that it is, it's fairly easy for me to wash and detail it by myself.
I find the SV package to be worth it. The car so far hates having the A/C turned on though, so I save it for highway cruising instead of city driving. I like the cloth trim on the doors and the trim on the seats, although I will be adding seat covers for longevity and to change up the look. One thing I want to do, and will post about, is try and convert this car into an SR trim using the guide of posts from other micra-forum users. I will be dipping parts to replicate the colour options availble on the SR.
Driving this around has been weird to get used to, but lately I feel like the car has warmed up to me a little. The idle sometimes drops a little too low when the engine gets around to operating temperatures, but it hasn't stalled on the road from that yet. Being a small car, I wasn't ready for all the vibration you can feel. Once the car is warm, I feel an occasional shudder that I can't quite figure out. It feels like a stutter from the engine, but it doesn't feel like I'm losing a piston on idle or anything. Perhaps it will work itself out after the break-in. I've already been to the dealer once about it and they looked it over and went for a drive with me, and didn't feel anything was off.
Another small point, is that with the transmission being basically on the floor and with a long shaft as a result, it feels like a truck transmission with a really long throw. With the size of the car I don't think there are many options to fix this.
City driving is peppy and it's not hard to keep up with traffic or pass people. Since this is smaller than my Mazda in displacement and overall size, I don't drive it super aggressive, which is great on gas and safety. Highway driving is fine, 100kph is do-able. Windy days suck though as the car gets knocked around easily. Because I am still in the break-in period I haven't done much highway driving. I will be taking the Micra to the CTMP race weekend coming up, so that will be its first long highway trip.
Fuel economy meets and exceeds a little bit of expectations. Tank is smaller than my former Mazda3's tank (55L vs 41L) but the fuel consumption is about the same (The Mazda was on the Skyactiv platform).
I think the Micra is a great, simple, affordable platform to do aesthetic and minor engine mods on. I'm loving it so far as a small city car for a couple who needs to get around.
