Micra Garage stats overview... forum members love their 5-speeds, SR's and base S's

[MetroMPG]

For your amusement & information, here are some current stats from our Micra Garage.

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UPDATE: skip to the end of the thread for the latest numbers.
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(Note: the numbers refer only to the Micras & 1 March...)

• 44 Micras (including one March)
• 27 manual transmissions (!!!)
• 16 automatics
• 1 transmission not stated
• 16 "S" trim
• 8 "SV" trim
• 19 "SR" trim
• 1 "Tekna" trim (MicraK13NL's 2011 Micra)
• Of the 16 "S" cars, 13 are the base car (manuals)

The manual transmission love in this forum nearly brings a tear of gratitude to my eye!

[aftica]

Yep, I wouldn't own anything but manual.

Personally, I would pay extra for a manual in any car I buy I bet a lot of ''car'' guys feel the same... luckily mfg's don't realize this ....OOOPS
Actually, they do realize this of course, but just use the manual as a low sticker price loss leader to grab the attention of the general population, who love their automatics.

[MetroMPG]

Yep, I wouldn't own anything but manual.

Yessir, I'm pretty much the same.

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Know what else really caught my attention: the number of base S manual Micras in the list: 30%!! Thirteen Ten Grand Tin Cans! And surprisingly, the lowest number represented in the garage is the SV trim, which Nissan has repeatedly said will be the highest volume seller.

It's surprising because someone said the company expected only 4% of Micras sold to be the base model.

Obviously the forum doesn't represent the general Micra-owning population, and I'm pretty sure S manuals aren't selling at a 30% rate overall. The explanation that leads me to is: owners on the "extreme" ends -- S and SR -- seem to be more likely to be Micra enthusiasts and make garage entries for their rides. AlphaMicra and his well-documented love for his SV notwithstanding.

[AlphaMicra]

SV Micra owners will tend to get automatic, and also probably tend to not spend a lot of time in automobile forums. I'm probably and outlier; not many people of my generation have had as positive an experience with their first cheap car (think Hyundai Pony, Pontiac Lemans).

[dani3d]

All my life I drove a manual car but now I choose automatic so that my mom and husband can also drive it if needed. Also, I really did not like the manual transmission in the Micra because I thought the first gear was useless. If I would have got a manual Micra I would have rarely use the 1st gear. Even with my Probe I did not use it often. Also I would not have gain much in fuel economy from it because I tend to drive a manual car like a racing car, can't resist lol!

[Daox]

Still, it is a little odd that the trim they're probably selling the most of are the least of here on the forum...

[AlphaMicra]

First gear is lots of fun off the line, I've used it many times to get the advantage in the lame duck lane red light drag race, where someone creeps up with a more powerful car on my right in the lame duck lane that's ending past a red light. The couple of seconds of that wicked first gear makes them get back in line and shows them the stick shift Micra isn't the pushover they thought it was. The fact that my wife will have to learn to drive stick is another consideration, it makes it "My" car (though I'll gladly teach her when she's ready). It's also nice to decide when to shift. The pre-programmed shift points in the automatic don't take into account traffic conditions; I'll shortshift and lug in heavy traffic at every opportunity, which I'm sure makes up for my lead foot otherwise.

[MetroMPG]

Also I would not have gain much in fuel economy from it because I tend to drive a manual car like a racing car, can't resist lol!

Ha! It pays to be honest with yourself.

SV owners will ... probably tend to not spend a lot of time in automobile forums.

Seems to be the case, at least for now.

You know, this reminds me of a possibly similar situation, back when there were lots of 2nd & 3rd generation Suzuki Swifts and its twins the Fireflies/Metros still running around. Like the Micra, there were 3 main trims/models, and it was the extreme "ends" of the range that generated the most forum activity on teamswift.net (first auto forum I frequented).

There were plenty of enthusiasts for the sporty 1.3L twin-cam cars -- 100 hp! And there were lots of fans of the 1.0L 55 hp economy versions. But not a lot of action from the owners of the middle-of-the-road trim, single cam 1.3 ~70 hp cars, which probably sold in the highest numbers.

Obviously not exactly the same as the Micra, which has the same drivetrain is in each trim level. But you get the idea.

[dani3d]

yes, that's exactly what you have to do to get fun from the first gear, and that's what I would probably do very often with this car if I had a manual. It is in deed nice to decide when to shift, but the problem is making the right decision

Driving an automatic completely change my driving style. I went from a fast performance driving style, to a slow and eco-friendly one. It's too damn tempting to drive performance style with a manual.

I've used it many times to get the advantage in the lame duck lane red light drag race, where someone creeps up with a more powerful car on my right in the lame duck lane that's ending past a red light. The couple of seconds of that wicked first gear makes them get back in line and shows them the stick shift Micra isn't the pushover they thought it was. The pre-programmed shift points in the automatic don't take into account traffic conditions; I'll shortshift and lug in heavy traffic at every opportunity, which I'm sure makes up for my lead foot otherwise.

[MetroMPG]

Update: I did a little housecleaning, and we now have 83 Micras/Marches in our Micra Garage.

Here are the fresh stats:

(Note: the numbers refer only to the Micras & 3 Marches.)

Transmissions (out of 82, 1 not stated)

• 55 (67%) manual transmissions
• 27 (33%) automatics

Trims (78 trims indicated. 5 were not indicated.)

• 29 (37%) "S" trim
• 26 (33%) "SR" trim (including one March SR)
• 23 (29%) "SV" trim
• 1 (1%) "Tekna" trim (MicraK13NL's 2011 Micra)

10 Grand Tin Cans

• Of the 29 "S" Micras, 24 (83%) are the base car (manuals)!