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Thread: Have you owned other Nissans? Driven an OLD Micra?

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  1. #1
    Administrator MetroMPG's Avatar
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    Have you owned other Nissans? Driven an OLD Micra?

    I've owned exactly one Datsun/Nissan, a Sentra wagon:




    Not the actual car - mine was painted sexy beige!

    Without even knowing, it perfectly meshed with my current interest in fuel economy: at its introduction it was (if you believe wikipedia) the most fuel-efficient car available in the U.S., according to the EPA:

    43 MPG (US) city (5.5 L/100 km), 58 highway (4.1), 48 combined (4.9). (Though that's likely the rating for the 2-door sedan, not the porky wagon with a roof rack and suspiciously unaerodynamic looking angle to its rear tailgate.)

    The good fuel economy was not surprising, considering the 67 hp 1.5L 4-cyl engine, 5-speed manual transmission, and light weight (~1875 lbs / 850 kg).

    Mine was a sweet, low-miles first generation with both "Nissan" and "Datsun" badges on the tailgate. I owned it less than a year while going to university and remember it fondly as a softly sprung, pleasant car to drive. It had a calming effect -- definitely did not encourage sporting driving!

    I've never driven a Micra before the Canadian K13.


    Photo: daveseven - http://flic.kr/p/aw1T87


    Picture is a first gen ~1984 Micra captured in the wild in Alberta in 2011.
    Attached Images Attached Images  

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Micra S manual: 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.5 mpg (Imp) ... 20.0 km/L ... 47.0 mpg (US) ...


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    I tried an 84 Micra I was not impressed at all, the car came into the shop I was working at with cvt issues .. lol ya think
    The only Datsun I ever liked was the old 510, they were indestructible.
    I only ever owned a B210, it was way better then the Micra but still way below the 510.

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    Junior Member RedDevil's Avatar
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    I drove a 12 year old first gen Micra in a test drive for a colleague of mine, buying his first car, too scared to test it by himself.
    He bought it and still had it 3 years later when he parted with the company.

    Had a second gen as a hire car on the Azores. Nice car, but was overwhelmed with the view.
    Another second gen with CVT as a courtesy car, which was in dire condition and no fun to drive.

    My brother in law had 2 Sunnys (liftback and hatchback) which I drove occasionally.
    And I have owned an Almera; bought it at 7 years and 150,000 km, doubled both age and mileage.
    Name:  DSC_0246_edit x.jpg
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    Here it is, left of the Red Devil, the farewell photo.
    Last edited by RedDevil; 02-20-2014 at 07:13 PM.

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    I was driving one of these about a week agoName:  nissan-mm-r-cup-car-01.jpg
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    But that's as close as I've been, I was kinda disappointed they didn't call it a march, like I'm used to seeing the car labeled throughout the gran turismo series

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    Gran Tourismo

    Quote Originally Posted by 1000mc View Post
    I was driving one of these about a week agoName:  nissan-mm-r-cup-car-01.jpg
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    But that's as close as I've been, I was kinda disappointed they didn't call it a march, like I'm used to seeing the car labeled throughout the gran turismo series


    yup,
    gran tourismo is the only place I've ever seen these cars
    I've owned 26 cars, never owned a nissan
    but I've driven a few altama's and Maxima's and sentra's

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    Administrator MetroMPG's Avatar
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    another Nissan in the family

    My brother actually just picked up a 2005 Nissan X-Trail (which was not sold in the U.S; predecessor of the Rogue). He lives on an unserviced road and needs the ground clearance and AWD to get in & out in the winter.

    Not quite a Micra, but surprisingly fuel efficient (he got the manual transmission). He's seeing 6.3 L/100 km / 37 mpg US on the highway (at the 100 km speed limit)

    EDIT: well that turned out to be quite wrong! Uncalibrated ScanGauge was waaaaay off. (11.2 actual.)

    Last edited by MetroMPG; 04-01-2014 at 03:25 PM. Reason: updated fuel economy

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Micra S manual: 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.5 mpg (Imp) ... 20.0 km/L ... 47.0 mpg (US) ...


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    I had a Nissan Rasheen a few years ago... that was based on Sunny mechanicals. I've driven the mid-2000s Almera a little, and neighbours have had the previous incarnations of the Micra including at present the 'bubble' shaped version which was really popular in the UK in its time. I seem to see some evidence of the styling of this new Micra returning to that shape.

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    Administrator Daox's Avatar
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    What is the overall impression of the Micra in the UK?

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    The Micra has always been very well regarded over here, for reliability and frugal motoring. As for the new model, I only have press reviews to go on; I am not sure I've even seen one yet in real life...

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    Senior Member AlphaMicra's Avatar
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    Bought my 1990 in 1995. I went with an automatic, because used stick shifts have generally been abused, as a rule of thumb, and I wanted something that was treated gently so I could abuse it. It was very well maintained, had all its service records, I knew it had not been in an accident because the thin sheet metal had all the dings and dents in the original paint one would expect from a 5 year old car. It had 12" wheels.

    I could put $20 in the tank (at 1995 gas prices) and drive back and forth to school, work, and shopping for nearly a month. Being a 3 speed automatic, mileage was not nearly as good for me at highway speeds. It liked to go at a steady 90km/h. Over that, it let me know it was working.

    Around town, it was zippy and responsive. I had no trouble keeping up with traffic, though it would not win any red light drag races. Out on the highway, I did manage to get it up to 140 km/h once on a downhill with a good tailwind; that's when I lost the heat shield from the catalytic converter. Besides that, I learned to get a good run at steep hills if there was more people in the car than just me if I wanted to maintain at least 100km/h by the top of the hill on the highway. I believe a 5 speed stick shift would have made this car perform better on the highway.

    The turning radius was incredible. I could do a U-turn almost entirely within my own lane of traffic. This made parking a breeze in even the tightest of parking spots.

    I put on a set of aftermarket fog lights. Turning them on resulted in a very noticeable drop in engine power, so I only used them when it was truly foggy and driving was slow.

    It was not a car made for high speed twisties. There was plenty of body roll, and it would give up fairly easily. It wasn't outrageously terrible, I merely had to observe posted speed limits around said twisties.

    It had great ground clearance; combined with the short wheelbase, the Micra had some decent off road capability, and I was known to take it down some pretty terrible roads that were supposedly only passable with a 4 wheel drive vehicle. One time, Highway 401 was shut down due to a jackknifed tractor trailer in Kingston, Ontario. It was freezing rain; when I stepped out to the highway, I nearly fell. Traffic was backed up all the way nearly to Cobourg, but I had missed the last exit and was trapped in non-moving traffic. The other side of the highway was completely empty of traffic. The guy in a 4x4 in front of me pulled off to the side and drove through the grass ditch up to the other side and drove in the opposite direction. I also pulled off to the side, took a good run at the ditch; the ground clearance and short wheelbase kept me clear from hanging up at the bottom, and the light weight of the car meant that I made it up the other side with relative ease, in spite of the freezing rain slicked grass. I turned and traveled the other way on the highway to get off in Cobourg so I could take Highway 2 back to Belleville. In my rear view mirror, I saw other motorists attempt the same thing, only to get stuck in the bottom of the ditch.

    There's a set of railroad tracks on Thornton Road just south of Gibb in Oshawa that, if I hit at just the right speed in the Micra, would launch my Micra into the air, and it would neatly settle back on the road on the other side of the tracks without any trouble or harm to me or the car. Other cars get destroyed if they hit those tracks at any decent speed.

    There was no factory tint, so I'd get sunburned through the side windows. This is why I tinted them, which seemed to attract the attention of the police who used to not even notice my humble little Micra but since then would issue a ticket if I even went 10km/h over the speed limit.

    The car responded to my minimalist sensibilities, yet was still very fun to drive. Easy to work on as well. Hard to believe that, back then, with my minimal knowledge of automobiles, I managed to change out a broken rocker arm in my engine.

    Being older and more responsible now, it's doubtful I'll want to launch my new Micra into the air, but I think the stronger engine will help it perform well on the highway and do more than hold its own in city traffic.

    In our culture obsessed with absurd excess, the Nissan Micra is my counterculture car of choice.
    Be sure to visit my blog at mymicra.com!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Micra SV manual: 6.4 L/100 km ... 44.3 mpg (Imp) ... 15.7 km/L ... 36.9 mpg (US) ...


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