Nissan Micra CVT 2013 & Hyundai i10 Automatic Test Drive

[rafian]

Dear rafian, thank you so much for initiating the discussion, I was following the thread for some time as am in look out for a city car (automatic).

I do have few questions to the respected members.

1) Micra CVT do have an Overdrive option, was this option active during your test drives? Has anyone done a TD with and without activating? If yes, is there an evident difference?
2) MID indicated an average millage of 10.7. What Nissan claims is a mileage of 19? Can this difference be due to driving style? Or in reality expectation of mileage should be in and around 10-13 in city?

thanks

1. Micra CVT has a sports mode. It can be turned on by pressing a button placed on the gear stick, where you usually have the overdrive button in a typical geared automatic car. The sports mode provides higher level of pick-up by keeping the rpm higher. I think it is helpful but even in normal mode I found the pick-up to be quite responsive. It might come handy while merging into a highway or in a challenging overtaking adventure. In any case, expect the pickup to be as good or slightly better than geared automatics with similar engine power.
2. In the first TD, the car showed mileage of 8. In the second it showed mileage of 10.8. I wouldn't go by that. If you want to know how bad a car's mileage can be, checkout the reading in the TD car. I had talked to two existing owners of Micra CVT who have driven the car for just 2 weeks, one drives within the city, he claims a mileage of 12. The other drives in city and to Coorg, he claims a mileage of 14.

My take is you might get a mileage of 8 to 16 depending on how you drive and where you drive. For example: I would expect over 15 while driving on the Mumbai-Pune expressway at an optimal speed - that's close to ideal driving condition. And 12-13 within the city with A/c on.

Btw, fyi, in my experience i10 AT gives 8-9. Hyundai service center claims that it gives 10 though. Not true.

 

[jeev12]

Many thanks rafian. very clear with what to expect in terms of performance and mileage.

 

[rafian]

Update: I called couple Nissan dealers to check how soon I can get the Micra CVT (blue color). And guess what? they don't have a clue when they could deliver the car. It seems the blue color is not in production - But they are not able to confirm anything. And I am told that maximum bookings are for the blue color Nissan Micra.

If anybody has any updates on this topic please share...

 

[rafian]

Don't mean to bring in a new brand into this topic thus making it off-topic. Consider this post to be tied to CVT discussion only. Thanks.

I met a friend's friend today who owns an Audi A4 CVT. I actually saw the car parked but didn't get a chance to take a ride. I got a chance to interact with this guy for some time. I asked him how's the CVT treating him? how's the rubber band effect? He didn't know what rubber band effect was. I explained him a bit of CVT (whatever tiny bit I know) but he seemed to be knowledgeable about the technology. And he said a lot of things in utter praise of the car but it all boiled down to two things: He is madly in love with CVT's pick-up and smoothness. And his main reason to buy the car was based on CVT experience. He says he would probably never buy a non-CVT car.

 

[jeev12]

Thanks rafian. This is very interesting information, but with my limited knowledge I think the gear ratio of Audi will be different to Micra, which could have possibly nullified the “rubber band effect".

 

[rafian]

Thanks rafian. This is very interesting information, but with my limited knowledge I think the gear ratio of Audi will be different to Micra, which could have possibly nullified the “rubber band effect".

I think the gear ratio of xtronic is a lot more than earlier versions of CVTs. Based on my reading the Nissan Micra, Sunny, Altima, etc., all have very good gear ratio. I think it's the power of engine that could make a difference in the "rubber band effect".

During my recent trip to Mysore, on the way back I saw an Audi A4 overtaking us and disappearing. I was driving Ertiga and tried my best to catch up but couldn't. I drove ahead of every other car that was ahead of me but couldn't catch up with the A4. At that time I had no clue that A4 runs on CVT. Couple weeks after that trip I got to know that many german cars (including A4) run on CVTs. And I had posted a link on one of the threads in TAI that has the list of cars (world wide) that runs on CVT.

With the awareness gathered so far, I am confident of the CVT technology. My biggest worry about buying Nissan Micra CVT is Nissan's feeble service network. If you discount that, Micra CVT is a winner!

 

[jeev12]

thank you rafian, as per reports Nissan do have plans to expand the service network..lets hope for the best :)

 

[Gurrala74]

@Rafian

I have seen one blue micra CVT being delivered today when we took our Sunny CVT for accessory fitment. So blue is very well available it seeems

 

[rafian]

Thanks Gurrala74 for relaying that information. I again got a call today from the dealer saying they cannot tell when the blue micra cvt would be available. They've no clue. Further the manager told me that it could take up to 2-3 months and that's just a wild guess.

 

[Gurrala74]

@Rafian

I just spoke to the show room guy and got confirmation that blue color is on shortage. The one which I have seen at the showroom as booked some 3 months back and presently there is no confirmation that when the blue color will be available. Few of customers already cancelled their booking for blue color after the wait and gone for some other color.

So it looks to be blue is a problem, so you need to look at the other colors

 

[paguj]

Hi Rafian,

I am eagerly waiting for your car to get delivered. so that I can get ownership review on this forum.

Good luck with your bookings.

 

[rafian]

Just stumbled upon this review:
2013 Nissan Micra CVT Vs Honda Brio AT - Comparison By Overdrive

Thought of sharing...

 

[blrsri]

We have had the Micra CVT for the last 2 weeks..getting the blue color was a problem, had to settle for silver..

If we are light on the pedal, I get a mileage of 13 in Bangalore traffic..highways its 17-18..feature wise its completely loaded..had an i10 automatic before and this one is way better than that..more stable at high speeds and overtaking is a breeze..

Few things to watch out for:
Stock tyres are from MAXIS, I got it changed to Bridgestone at the dealer itself

Things it could have had:
Indicators on the ORVM's
Fog lamps for CVT model
Projector headlights

Still on TR reg..dealer says the reg will happen this weekend!

 

[rafian]

Hi blrsri, could you please share the model and the price of your new Bridgestone tires.
May I know from which dealership you bought your car? Is it Shahwar on Kasturba road?
Thanks a lot.
I've my booking for the blue - hoping I get the car soon.

 

[ajit4u2k]

Yet to see the face-lifted Micra on roads.