Nissan Micra 1.5 dCi 2017 first drive

The old Nissan Micra was way off the pace of the modern supermini class. Poor ride quality and handling, a brittle feeling interior and dumpy looks made it hard to recommend to anyone. Thankfully Nissan learned its lesson and has tried much harder with its replacement.

Sharp creases replace cartoon curves on the outside while the interior has a large dose of soft touch plastic and attractive trims. It’s also lower and wider than before in an effort to make it more agile. Benchmarks include the Volkswagen Polo, Mazda 2 and our current favourite, the Ford Fiesta.

We’ve already tried Nissan's turbo petrol Micra in the UK, but this is our first chance to try the 1.5-litre dCi on our side of the channel. At the moment, this is the quickest Nissan Micra currently on sale, but is it also the most fun?

Not even the best diesel supermini is a particularly refined thing, but the Nissan Micra dCi is one of the quietest of its ilk. Fire up the Renault-sourced unit and there’s minimal vibration through the steering wheel. There is some clatter when idling that gets much more noticeable under hard acceleration, but it settles down to a hushed cruise. Thank, in part, the standard acoustic windscreen for that.

With 89bhp, the dCi isn't particularly quick, but the engine does pull cleanly from low rpm and is brisk enough for motorway work. Long gearing means you’re often a ratio lower than feels natural but it does help economy. Going off the trip computer, we saw 50mpg without too much difficulty. As you might expect from an engine 600cc larger than the turbo triple, there’s a good chunk of extra weight over the nose of the car. The good news is that the steering has a bit more weight, if no more feel. The bad is that turn in isn’t quite as immediate, even with the stiffer springs that diesel models are treated to.

That’s not to say it doesn’t ultimately feel agile. With the help of Intelligent Trace Control (small amounts of braking pressure applied to assist turn in), it can cross country surprisingly quickly - grip is good and it resists understeer well. Shockingly, this is a Nissan Micra that it's possible to have some fun with.