New Nissan Micra CVT: Ownership Review at 500 Kms


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Completed 500 km on my Micra CVT. Below is a review.

Choice of car:
The car had to be an automatic as they offer much more fun and an enjoyable/relaxed driving experience. [glasses]
I try to drive safe (read: slow) whenever on the road (kids, families/human lives at stake), high speed driving is for racing tracks only, not commuter roads.
A sedate driver, I don't exceed 50-60 Kmph within city and 80-90 Kmph on highways.
Was not interested in anything above 4 m (paying any additional 12% duties to govt. didn't make sense to me).
Car to be used mostly within city/short highway runs with limited/no luggage.

Important criteria for selection -
1. Mileage
2. Safety (airbags)
3. Interior NVH
4. Smooth to drive
5. Light colour interiors
6. Price

Looks were not important. Functional features were most important. (Pretty headstrong am I, mind dominates heart).:stupid:

Cars considered - Hyundai i10, Honda Brio and Nissan Micra
i10 sportz auto priced close to 6 L OTR. Brio and Micra were almost same (approx. 7.35 L)
i10 and Brio are one size smaller, had less comfort and convenience features (ex. no auto AC, auto-folding mirrors, keyless entry, start stop button etc.).
All cars are powered by 1.2 L petrol engines. i10 & Brio with a 4 cyl (80/88 hp) while Micra has a 3 cyl (77 hp). No significant difference in peak torque values of the engines.
i10 has a 4-speed torque converter auto box. Brio has a 5-speed torque converter automatic. Micra has a torque converter CVT.
Advertised mileage of the cars - Brio (~16 Kmpl)/ Micra (~19 Kmpl)/i10 (don't know)

Test drive of the i10 auto was disappointing. It wasn't smooth, engine/transmission felt strained and ride was bumpy/jerky. I suspect part of the problem was that the test drive vehicle had been roughly used. Though the interior shades are light and good, felt the quality of plastic material used not as good (subjective opinion). Sportz variant doesn't have airbags either. I was not impressed.

Test drove the Micra first as it appeared to be more value for money proposition in the short term. It was smooth to drive, felt adequately powered. The CVT kept the revs low helping keep car silent inside. On paying careful attention during idling I was able to feel a feeble 3 cyl thrum only, it wasn’t a deal breaker; disappeared during drive. Dash computer displayed a mileage of 10.7 Kmpl.

Brio test drive car was not available.

I booked a white or brick red (if available) Micra. It was delivered after 1.5 months.

Dealer - Shivalik Nissan Pune.
Selling the car is less than 10 % of the job done as far as dealer experience/relationship is concerned. Long term service and support from dealer is most crucial.
I will cover this later and update in future.
Dealer initial insurance (New India/ICICI Lombard) quote was more than 6000 in excess of best available in market (Tata AIG). On showing online quote dealer agreed to offer Tata AIG at close to quoted price.

Pros:
1. City mileage with AC on 100 % of the time (14 Kmpl as per dashboard computer, manual calculation shows around 13.5-14 all on city roads)
2. Very low NVH on good roads. On broken roads there is road/tyre noise as in any other car. Ride/handing is Ok.
3. Pleasure to drive anywhere, power is available on tap easily, overtaking is easy. Engine and transmission have been mated well.
4. Dead pedal built into floor of car

Cons:
1. At idle, if you are very careful to notice you can feel a slight engine thrum from the 3 cyl engine. It disappears in drive.
2. Nissan's limited sales and service network.

Problems till now:
Bad roads in Pune resulted in the passenger window glass developing a rattle (on bad patches). I am hoping that it would be solved in first service.

Features I would have liked in the car
1. Driver arm rest
2. Side and curtain airbags
3. Cruise control (though not many roads where you can use because of lack of lane and speed discipline on our highways, situation may improve in next few years)

I would have preferred if the car had the above features instead of auto AC, auto folding mirrors, push button and keyless entry.

Still to assess quality, durability and reliability as those can be appreciated in the long term only.

Pics taken with my mobile phone.

30102013485.jpg

Copy of 30102013487.jpg

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30102013496.jpg
MID showing mileage of 14.1 Kmpl.
30102013484.jpg
 
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Re: New Micra CVT: Ownership review at 500 kms

Congratulations on your new ride. A very good choice given your requirements. The mileage figures are great. Wish you many happy miles!
 
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@ ajit4u2k : Congrats on the new ride bro. Very well written review. You should have considered the Brio as the I Vtec engines are a gem to drive but i am not aware about the gear box. About CVT Gear boxes i am not having much knowledge about it but what i have heard and read is that it chooses a certain RPM for speeds so the car is very monotonous in sound at almost all speeds but again this is what i have heard no personal experience of driving them. About three cylinders you will always have the noise from the engine but now a days technology should have reduced it.
Please upload some pictures of the car as the review is incomplete without them
hope you many miles of enjoyment. [clap]
 
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Congratulations on your new car buddy . But no ownership report is complete without pictures [:)] kindly post some pics of your new ride please .
 
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@Sandykudva: Thanks. [:)]

You are right about the engines. Having driven both a Corolla and Civic in the US I can say having i-vtec or a vvt-i in an engine does improve the performance. Unfortunately the humble 1.2 L 3-pot in the Micra doesn't have vvt technology.

I am averse any kind of noise inside the cabin and fortunately the cvt just manages that by keeping rpms low throughout the range of speeds and even while overtaking. Engine noise is negligible except at very slow speeds, only a slight vibration(mentioned it as thrum) at idle which is not noticed unless you are very carefully looking for it.

Will upload pictures, it takes some patience to upload them with the slow speeds that I have at home.
 
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Congrats buddy!! You have made an excellent choice.

CVT is powerful and fuel efficient at the same time. Nissan CVT is better choice over Honda AT
 
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@ ajit4u2k: As i said the technology these days have changed so surely there will be a lot of difference in the 3 Pot then and the 3 pot now the last one which i had driven was my uncles Fabia and the Wagon R so was saying with respect to them.
On automatics as said i have not much knowledge about them as i am an hardcore car crazy guy who prefers and manual to an auto the only auto which really impressed me was the DSG box others no matter the technology do feel sluggish ( Personal Opinion ).
Also the fuel economy you are getting is mind blowing, my friends I 10 just manages a 9 in the city and 12 on the highway.
 
Thread Starter #9
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Congratulations on your new car buddy . But no ownership report is complete without pictures [:)] kindly post some pics of your new ride please .
Thanks. [:)] I will post pictures in a day or two. Takes some time to upload these.

Congrats on your Micra. I am impressed by the FE, hope it improves further after run -in
Thanks. I too hope it improves after run in. I will try to update any changes in mileage on this thread[:)].
 
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Thread Starter #11
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Congrats buddy!! You have made an excellent choice.

CVT is powerful and fuel efficient at the same time. Nissan CVT is better choice over Honda AT
Thanks. It definitely appears to be better choice, period.[:)] Lets see how it pans out in the long term.
 
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Congrats Ajit,

Currently I am in the market for a good petrol car. I have shortlisted
1. Micra cvt
2. Hondacity mt with sunroof manual transmission.
3. Third option was the zdire zxi, but I feel that the above two options are much better.

I found out micra breeze to drive in the city. But I am confused and waiting for more test drives. How is the dealer? As the dealer in west part of Pune is yet to arrange a proper test drive since two months. Seemed least interested to sell the car.

Previously I had an i10 automatic and micra is much ahead of little i10 auto. I used to get 12-13 kmpl in Pune traffic with 100% ac on.
 
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