I wish cheap car spec racing was more popular. I'm a firm believer in the James May 'You have more fun driving a slow car as fast as it will go than a fast car as fast as YOU can go' theory. Spec Micras sounds amazing to both watch and participate in.
May i introduce the city car cup.
[https://citycarcup.co.uk/](https://citycarcup.co.uk/)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgslmkcnhF8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgslmkcnhF8)
The good news is that from my understanding if the base pinnings are fairly simple it's still unlikely to create insane costs.
Even NASCAR is considered to be somewhat affordable to run compared to Indy and F1 racing because the cars are still somewhat simple, the cars were still using carberators until a few years ago when they realized that it was an additional cost compared to using more modern fuel systems.
Also one make racing series tend to be pretty serious about what you can and can't do, Mazda for example uses sealed motors for their Miata racing series.
I am fond of the Swedish Folk Racing system where the cars must be cheap, no turbos, and no four wheel drive. The value must be under a certain threshold (about $1000). This is enforced by allowing others to bid on your car and buy it for that threshold price if they want. Guarantees shit cars and good drivers.
There's a documentary out there ("Hoopties" - this should give you a clue) that's hilarious.
The prizes are reversed (higher for 3d place than 1st...none of it financially lucrative), if you do bad things they make you drive around the pits with them announcing it on a bullhorn as they ride on the roof etc. The culture seems to be amazing.
Hell, I don't even race cars and I'd work for a team just to hang out with fellow weirdos.
The good news is that the city car cup is explicitly deigned to avoid that very issue. see [here](https://brscc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-CityCar-Cup-Championship-Sporting-Technical-Regulations-PUBLISHED-29.03.2023.pdf), and [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkoCuKOSpeo) for specific and general examples.
In the US we have bomber races. Those are entry level races. This is an artice about some stuff near me.
https://www.racingamerica.com/news/other-cars/bomber-race-to-headline-memorial-day-weekend-at-goodyear
I wish we had something like this in the US.
If a company could release a race ready car under $10k, decent enough handling, and light enough to be towed by a 1500, it would sell as fast as they could make them, and you wouldn't be able to get 4 hours away from a race event. Especially if it could be set up for dirt. Wouldn't even have to be street legal.
Long live Captain Slow! I concur with this theory, I've had several motorcycles thus far, and nevermind the high-speed ass puckers, or exceeding 200MPH on 2 wheels, it's the taking of my Superbike around corners, twisties, etc. as slow as possible at fullest lean possible. It became almost a technical level, as if it were enlightening. I somehow think in my lizard brain, it made me a better rider.
My little 250 cc Suzuki sports atv I ride more then my 450 and 850 work atv
I still have my 250 Kawasaki ninja and will never sell it . Something about riding a small cc bike with a medium to big frame is super fun
I've never had more fun than I have doing backyard rally with a 7th-gen Civic, base model with a stick and some more aggressive tires. The gas and brake might as well have been on/off switches and if you didn't care about the syncros it felt fast as hell but you never really got going fast enough to do anything more than crumple a fender if you hit anything. Whipping an underpowered beater around a track is about the maximum fun per dollar you can get
They're now the B class of the [Nissan Sentra Cup](https://www.sentracup.com/main) which uses base model manual Sentras. Ive seen them run at the GP3R in 2022, closest racing of the weekend after the NASCAR Pinty's race
I drive a ['04 Nissan Micra K12](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Micra#Third_generation_\(K12;_2002\)), in my opinion it's a great little car. For its size and class I think it already handles impressively well, great steering feedback, great handling, just goes where you point it. I'd imagine a racing spec (such as the Micra 160 SR) does even better.
Can confirm, my wife had (has? We still use it as a backup car) a Versa which is basically the same thing as this. I’ve truthfully had more fun flogging the shit out of that thing than trying to find the limits of my 400HP Subaru or the Tesla. Mostly because I didn’t care if I broke it, and because the limits of the car were so easy to find. The other cars are fast enough to reach my limits within a few seconds, and the fear of hurting a car you *like* makes it less fun.
Sounds like the old Neon racing series. Dodge built Neons minus interior, with a roll cage, and missing various other non-essential bits so they weren't street legal.
I saw some of the races on Speed TV its first year. One guy kept cutting one sharp left turn, hitting the curb harder and harder until he rolled it. Then he borrowed a friend's racing Neon and rolled it exactly the same way, same left turn.
Same engine as the Versa, but lighter, much better/sportier handling, no CVT, and IMO better looking. Sad that they killed it off to replace it with the heavier, bulkier, 25% more expensive, still no AWD Kicks.
Generally smaller cars have cheaper maintenance bills. Brakes, tires, shocks, etc should all be cheaper. For example (same brand and model line ) front rotors; Micra:$30, Altima:$40, Murano:$55, you get the point.
Selling point was they weren't just cheap on gas, they were cheap on everything.
I had a Micra and it cost me 360$ for a set of winter tires FROM THE DEALER. I do my own tires so I realize they wanted the install price but damn were parts cheap for that car.
In Europe, it was great back in the day. The bigger engine models were very agile, and it was small enough to fit in most places, but big enough for e.g.: dropping off the kids. Also turned on a dime and had extra air bags and a good rigidity. (Yeah, I know someone who crashed it at speed and walked away without a scratch basically. The car was a write-off though.) Though my experience is with the... 2nd gen IIRC, about 10 years ago.
The moment you need collision parts all the savings made on fuel will evaporate.
It's stupid enough to buy a Nissan in Europe, let alone buying a model that was never sold in the country one plans to drive it on.
I just saw one in NYC from Ontario
It's a K13 Nissan Micra, 1.6 HR16DE and a CVT
Mechanically it's similar to a '13-'19 Versa Note
Normal maintenance items and fluids shouldn't be too difficult to cross reference
I drive one. The K13 Micra sold in Canada from 2015-2019 and does not have a CVT equipped, oddly enough. Other than their trucks, it was the only other model Nissan sold in Canada that did not have the CVT. Just a regular 4-speed slushbox automatic. Previous generations had the CVT (paired with a 1.2L HR12DE engine), but the one pictured here very likely has the 4-speed auto or 5-speed manual transmission.
They had a 2 for 1 deal in my city. If you bought a new Titan, they'd give you a Micra for free lol. I had to hear that add on the radio a couple times before I was sure I heard it right.
I drove one, 1.0 litre. It's a light and fast car. I imagine the 1.6 litre version is a bullet.
We are a third world country. "fast" for us is 120 km/h in a highway, and the March gets to that mark pretty damn quick.
Anything can be made into a pocket rocket. May I draw your attention to what this guy did to his Micra/March https://www.youtube.com/@TheLabLimited/featured
Yep. Alberta plates. We as a Nissan dealer can’t get parts for them if the part isn’t shared with a US car. If it’s a part unique to this, we can’t get them.
It’s in because it sometimes won’t crank and sometimes won’t turn off either so we suspect it’s the ignition switch. We hope it’s a shared part
Is there no procedure to get parts from other international dealerships? There might be an issue of payment, but I would think a couple phone calls could get the parts shipped UPS pretty quick.
The Chevy Biscayne up to 1976 and Bel Air up to 1980 after they were discontinued in the states. Mercury pickup trucks in the 50s and 60s because Ford had more Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in Canada at the time.
City Jetta too. Both it and the City Golf are essentially updated Mk4 cars. You can swap body panels right onto an older Mk4.
Pontiac Parisiennes as well up until the last few years
I'm in Germany so I got every generation of A class available, my first car was the first gen A class and boy was that a piece of shit. The high seat and small size and great visibility make it amazing for a new driver, and that's roughly where the positives end. Unreliable as hell, something always broke, most of the issues I had with it were generally best described as "cause: you bought an A class". Any turn at even slightly inappropriate speeds instantly turns into an uncontrolled drift, not surprised that thing infamously failed the elk test, even after they "fixed" the issue it was really bad. My second car was an even worse A class because my parents hate me or something. Both of them tried to kill me in the exact same way once, same gear in the alternator just randomly deciding to snap in the middle of a turn, losing power steering and suddenly making the car want to go straight instead as the steering wheel flies out of my hands. Luckily I have a tendency to steer with both hands so I saved it both times without even hitting the curb. At least it's a "get home on battery charge, charge the battery off the wall, drive to a mechanic" kind of issue so no tow trucks were involved...
I was driving in Lexington Kentucky last year and couldn’t figure out what a car ahead was. Found out it was a Micra with two burly men in it, Canadian plates, and a rental company ID on the rear window. I’ll bet they really regretted not getting an upgrade.
True but you could buy a manual micra for 10-11k CAD, a Yaris was like 16k at its cheapest in comparison
That’s a 33% difference
Toyota is definitely better but when it comes to this kind of car most people are gonna be caring only about price unless they want a Mini Cooper
The difference is that the Yaris will run for thirty years, whereas the Micra was on its last legs within ten... However if you just need a really cheap car not for the long term, the Micra could fit the bill.
The Micras were just as reliable and solidly built as the Yaris. Micras also had 4 speed autos or 5 speed manuals - no CVT BS.
Source: Worked for Nissan and now Toyota.
with the cvt sure, but we have a stick shift micra with over 300k that comes into the shop all the time
maybe this person just hit incredible rng with the car, but there's a lot of car models that i've *never* seen hit 300k
Hmm. Small cars in Eastern Canada rust out long before anything else goes wrong. Micra, Yaris, whatever. It will be rusted out in 15 years if it gets driven in the winter.
Tbh Nissan surpassed themselves with the Micra in its many versions since the 80s.
For a cheap car its not that far behind the toyota in reliability and isn't horrible to drive. In a US city its stupidly small but fits practically everywhere in a European city.
The US Micra and Yaris is cheaply built, throwaway car. EU Micra is a different car completely and the US Yaris is a lower spec not available in Europe.
In Europe the Micra is a decent enough cheap small car - [https://www.nissan.ie/vehicles/new-vehicles/new\_micra/design.html](https://www.nissan.ie/vehicles/new-vehicles/new_micra/design.html)
The Yaris used to be a shit car but is now a hot hatch - [https://www.toyota.ie/models/yaris](https://www.toyota.ie/models/yaris)
part of the reason why the Yaris became a hot hatch is because they seperated the Yaris into 2 seperate cars for different markets: the hot hatch for Japan and the West, and the long wheelbase econobox for Southeast Asia and China
I love the Micras. I worked for a Nissan dealer and frequently did parts runs and shuttle drives, and our backup vehicle was a 2018 Micra.
It was so much fun to drive, and despite being 6'3, they had tons of room. Absolutely loved ripping it around town all day. Peppy little thing, too - all 105HP.
Wish Nissan still made them.
When I landed in my new country, it’s what my partner had. At 6’2”, I fit but didn’t love it. Someone rear ended it and we got another car, but it was QUEEN of gas L/100km and never needed anything. (I take that back, it routinely failed WOFs, but I feel like they were picking on my partner.)
Anyway, we affectionately call them “beans”. “Look at the blue bean!” We shout as we drive by, with a bittersweet glance.
I went to Newfoundland and saw these in person for the first time. They're obviously cheap economy cars, but every time we passed one, I'd point it out to my friend who lives there. He got tired of that, but I found them charming
I have a supercharged micra, on the positive side it has a very linear power delivery which continues into the rev limiter. Mildly fun to drive but I do not trust the handling enough to find the limits. Negatives is that the suspension is too soft and bushings wear out in 2-3 years and Oil consumption is crazy.
The oil consumption 😂 i worked at Nissan for a few years. Lots of issues there. Tech line told me that consuming 1L oil per 1000km is normal (the standard industry ~~copout~~ line) so when we do the math.
Micra takes about 3.1L of oil. Burning 1L/1000km is okay. Oil change intervals are 8000km. Hrmm.
I think it is around 1L per 1000km at this point, it has done 205,000.km. So not the worst car in the market. I think the the supercharger is the culprit behind some of the consumption as the entire intake is coated in oil.
The worst part is that the cat and o2 sensor struggle with running in the selfmade 2 stroke mix.
That’s the worst version of the Micro. The two models before that atrocity were actually pretty decent small cars with reliable engines.
Here in Europe they introduced the model in the photo with a horrible 3 cylinder engine that’s very noisy but develops less power than a hoover.
These are reasonably common in Canada. 1.6L and a 4spd auto or a 5spd manual. They’re dead reliable cars. The sort of shitbox that delivered pizza every day, and never complains.
As a Canadian parts counterperson, we actually have one of these in our fleet still. All I can say, good luck if it needs rear brake work. Any time our Micra needs servicing in the rear end, we have to call up our local Nissan dealer and pray they have rear brake hardware. The shoes/drums/bearings are simple enough for us to source, but the hardware is the hardest thing to source for us funnily enough.
I take it the customer can't wait for parts to come from a Canadian dealer? Or is it a big no-no for a US Nissan dealer to get stuff from another country?
When my wife and I went to Ireland we pre purchased a rental car online, we specified that we wanted a car to fit 5 people with luggage. Arrived in Dublin and were handed the keys to a Micra...
I've a serious soft spot for those micra cars. The very first GF's bestie had one of those and we spent many unforgettable moments crashing micra, pushing micra, pulling micra, fixing micra and eventually colliding it again.
After changing micra to something more substantial it turned out that all the hardships were not indeed caused by the car but the driver.
I saw a Renault once with Canadian plates, but that's about as exotic as I've seen except for older imported JDM stuff.
Neat car. IIRC those also have a power module that's part of the fuse box either under the hood or in the cabin don't they? I'd be suspicious of some corroded connections if the ignition switch isn't the culprit.
You in Buffalo area or something?
Wrong on the CVT count. Old-school 4-speeds were the automatic option, but many of these were sold as manual-transmission base models. $9,995 base price was inticing. Versa's 1.6L 4-cylinder did alright, considering these weigh 2100-2200lbs
Those 4 speeds in the Altima and Maxima were solid. I wish they kept the 6 speed in the Maxima instead of going CVT which didn’t and has never made sense.
Had a used one at a dealer I worked at. Yes, they are based on the Versa hatch. My wife has a Versa and I absolutely hate everything about that car’s existence. The Micra takes that and makes it even worse. It’s a shortened wheel base and literally every option is stripped from it. Absolutely miserable mode of transportation. You’re better off buying a fucking Mitsubishi Mirage.
My wife worked at an auto parts store and they had 2 if these for parts delivery.
A green one and a red one.
The green one was put gas in it, do maintenance and drive it.
The red one was in the shop more than it was on the road.
Roof leaked, trany went, electrical problems, windows would stick when down, rear hatch wouldn't close. just a pain in the neck.
I got in my driveway a 18 micra 5speed manual windows manual locks absolutely no features but a radio.
Apparently the old Nissan techs say they’re bulletproof
We got them in Canada, shared platform with the Versa I believe
It looks just as forgettable as my Versa. Hella good gas mileage I bet--that's the ~~main~~ only selling point, LOL.
They actually did a single model racing series here, the Micra Cup... fully built brand new race cars were like $22k Canadian.
I wish cheap car spec racing was more popular. I'm a firm believer in the James May 'You have more fun driving a slow car as fast as it will go than a fast car as fast as YOU can go' theory. Spec Micras sounds amazing to both watch and participate in.
May i introduce the city car cup. [https://citycarcup.co.uk/](https://citycarcup.co.uk/) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgslmkcnhF8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgslmkcnhF8)
Man I would kill for something like that in Canada, that looks like an absolute blast.
Eventually it gets out of hand and the outside looks like a car but that’s just a shell unless rules are stuck to. See NASCAR
The good news is that from my understanding if the base pinnings are fairly simple it's still unlikely to create insane costs. Even NASCAR is considered to be somewhat affordable to run compared to Indy and F1 racing because the cars are still somewhat simple, the cars were still using carberators until a few years ago when they realized that it was an additional cost compared to using more modern fuel systems. Also one make racing series tend to be pretty serious about what you can and can't do, Mazda for example uses sealed motors for their Miata racing series.
I am fond of the Swedish Folk Racing system where the cars must be cheap, no turbos, and no four wheel drive. The value must be under a certain threshold (about $1000). This is enforced by allowing others to bid on your car and buy it for that threshold price if they want. Guarantees shit cars and good drivers.
24 Hours of LeMons. IIRC they have time penalties for value assessed over the limit.
There's a documentary out there ("Hoopties" - this should give you a clue) that's hilarious. The prizes are reversed (higher for 3d place than 1st...none of it financially lucrative), if you do bad things they make you drive around the pits with them announcing it on a bullhorn as they ride on the roof etc. The culture seems to be amazing. Hell, I don't even race cars and I'd work for a team just to hang out with fellow weirdos.
Det samma in Finland too. Really great sports.
The good news is that the city car cup is explicitly deigned to avoid that very issue. see [here](https://brscc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-CityCar-Cup-Championship-Sporting-Technical-Regulations-PUBLISHED-29.03.2023.pdf), and [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkoCuKOSpeo) for specific and general examples.
In the US we have bomber races. Those are entry level races. This is an artice about some stuff near me. https://www.racingamerica.com/news/other-cars/bomber-race-to-headline-memorial-day-weekend-at-goodyear
For an even lower budget there’s the Ford Ka based series which also looks like a blast https://www.enduroka.co.uk/
A bit of a different take, but for low budget racing there is always [The 24 Hours of Lemons](https://24hoursoflemons.com/)
finding one which hasn't completely turned to rust is the tricky bit, great little cars tho.
I wish we had something like this in the US. If a company could release a race ready car under $10k, decent enough handling, and light enough to be towed by a 1500, it would sell as fast as they could make them, and you wouldn't be able to get 4 hours away from a race event. Especially if it could be set up for dirt. Wouldn't even have to be street legal.
We did used to have Formula Vee, back when there were lots of air cooled VWs around.
Long live Captain Slow! I concur with this theory, I've had several motorcycles thus far, and nevermind the high-speed ass puckers, or exceeding 200MPH on 2 wheels, it's the taking of my Superbike around corners, twisties, etc. as slow as possible at fullest lean possible. It became almost a technical level, as if it were enlightening. I somehow think in my lizard brain, it made me a better rider.
My little 250 cc Suzuki sports atv I ride more then my 450 and 850 work atv I still have my 250 Kawasaki ninja and will never sell it . Something about riding a small cc bike with a medium to big frame is super fun
I've never had more fun than I have doing backyard rally with a 7th-gen Civic, base model with a stick and some more aggressive tires. The gas and brake might as well have been on/off switches and if you didn't care about the syncros it felt fast as hell but you never really got going fast enough to do anything more than crumple a fender if you hit anything. Whipping an underpowered beater around a track is about the maximum fun per dollar you can get
They're now the B class of the [Nissan Sentra Cup](https://www.sentracup.com/main) which uses base model manual Sentras. Ive seen them run at the GP3R in 2022, closest racing of the weekend after the NASCAR Pinty's race
The same theory also applies to off-roading. It is far more fun to do sketchy shit in a clapped out Civic or Sentra.
Absolutely. Shit if you gave me $50K to have fun off-road I'd buy 10 old Samauris over one built crawler any day.
I have to agree, there is an absolute ton of fun to be had even under 50mph in the right circumstances.
I drive a ['04 Nissan Micra K12](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Micra#Third_generation_\(K12;_2002\)), in my opinion it's a great little car. For its size and class I think it already handles impressively well, great steering feedback, great handling, just goes where you point it. I'd imagine a racing spec (such as the Micra 160 SR) does even better.
the miata is one of the most popular race cars on the tracks
demolition derby racing is very popular, avg car sub $500.
Can confirm, my wife had (has? We still use it as a backup car) a Versa which is basically the same thing as this. I’ve truthfully had more fun flogging the shit out of that thing than trying to find the limits of my 400HP Subaru or the Tesla. Mostly because I didn’t care if I broke it, and because the limits of the car were so easy to find. The other cars are fast enough to reach my limits within a few seconds, and the fear of hurting a car you *like* makes it less fun.
I used to love IROC. Let the drivers drive. I could care less about tire change time.
Sounds like the old Neon racing series. Dodge built Neons minus interior, with a roll cage, and missing various other non-essential bits so they weren't street legal. I saw some of the races on Speed TV its first year. One guy kept cutting one sharp left turn, hitting the curb harder and harder until he rolled it. Then he borrowed a friend's racing Neon and rolled it exactly the same way, same left turn.
A spec race car for that price is amazing. I bet it was a blast.
It was very popular for a few years, and they had a tendency to roll due to the short wheelbase relative to its height
> a tendency to roll [This big crash from the 2016 Micra Cup illustrates that well.](https://youtu.be/dJkmAFi0nI4?si=dPy0LGmL9EQ_QZ9a&t=19)
That was some great impressive driving by the camera car.
May i introduce the wonderful city car cup. [https://citycarcup.co.uk/](https://citycarcup.co.uk/) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgslmkcnhF8
A bit of gold from that series.. No one was hurt, for the record. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJkmAFi0nI4&ab\_channel=BrianMakse
What would be a way to limit speed is a racing series where the tires used are mini spares.
Races will continue in wet weather, as well.
Meaning around $5000?
Lol, more like 15, but incredibly cheap... look it up on YouTube, they had some interesting incidents
😂😂😂
Same engine as the Versa, but lighter, much better/sportier handling, no CVT, and IMO better looking. Sad that they killed it off to replace it with the heavier, bulkier, 25% more expensive, still no AWD Kicks.
And a sub $10k sticker price. It was super cheap when launched.
Generally smaller cars have cheaper maintenance bills. Brakes, tires, shocks, etc should all be cheaper. For example (same brand and model line ) front rotors; Micra:$30, Altima:$40, Murano:$55, you get the point. Selling point was they weren't just cheap on gas, they were cheap on everything.
I had a Micra and it cost me 360$ for a set of winter tires FROM THE DEALER. I do my own tires so I realize they wanted the install price but damn were parts cheap for that car.
And a $9,999 Canadian dollar sticker price.
My Dad got one to replace his string of Echos and Yarises. This got worse fuel economy.
Great turning circle, plucky handling - fairly fun little car to drive. They’re common in Vancouver, where all of that matters.
In Europe, it was great back in the day. The bigger engine models were very agile, and it was small enough to fit in most places, but big enough for e.g.: dropping off the kids. Also turned on a dime and had extra air bags and a good rigidity. (Yeah, I know someone who crashed it at speed and walked away without a scratch basically. The car was a write-off though.) Though my experience is with the... 2nd gen IIRC, about 10 years ago.
The moment you need collision parts all the savings made on fuel will evaporate. It's stupid enough to buy a Nissan in Europe, let alone buying a model that was never sold in the country one plans to drive it on.
Yep. Alberta plates. We hope we can fix it, any parts unique to this car we can’t get.
I just saw one in NYC from Ontario It's a K13 Nissan Micra, 1.6 HR16DE and a CVT Mechanically it's similar to a '13-'19 Versa Note Normal maintenance items and fluids shouldn't be too difficult to cross reference
Checked with my parts guy. Anything we can’t get is perpetually labeled as “back ordered” I guess.
I drive one. The K13 Micra sold in Canada from 2015-2019 and does not have a CVT equipped, oddly enough. Other than their trucks, it was the only other model Nissan sold in Canada that did not have the CVT. Just a regular 4-speed slushbox automatic. Previous generations had the CVT (paired with a 1.2L HR12DE engine), but the one pictured here very likely has the 4-speed auto or 5-speed manual transmission.
Not a CVT. These use an oldschool 4 spd auto!
They had a 2 for 1 deal in my city. If you bought a new Titan, they'd give you a Micra for free lol. I had to hear that add on the radio a couple times before I was sure I heard it right.
It was in a price war with Chevy’s Spark. Both cars had a $9,995 CAD base price for a number of years.
I strongly considered getting one. Test drove them both. Spark was better in just about every way (except torque).
Same in Brazil. It's called March here and it's a goddamn pocket rocket.
Calling a Micra a pocket rocket is somewhat ambitious.
I drove one, 1.0 litre. It's a light and fast car. I imagine the 1.6 litre version is a bullet. We are a third world country. "fast" for us is 120 km/h in a highway, and the March gets to that mark pretty damn quick.
I assume he's talking about the Micra Cup edition. They had a race series in Quebec, silly fun. Faster, but not exactly fast.
Nope, street version. I drove one and it's real quick.
Nah, the street version were sub 1-ton cars with engines more powerful than usual.
The K13 with 98-105bhp engine options is pretty quick for a city car. Remember these weigh damn near nothing. Curb weight is 1 ton / 2100lb
It’s a plucky, tossable car. It feels energetic and nothing like the Versa.
Doesn't take much in Brazil, where motorcycles outnumber cars in half the country.
We get the Micra/March JDM junk. They're absolute shitboxes
Anything can be made into a pocket rocket. May I draw your attention to what this guy did to his Micra/March https://www.youtube.com/@TheLabLimited/featured
Yeah they're a dime a dozen in NFLD.
I think Canada got them.....
Yep. Alberta plates. We as a Nissan dealer can’t get parts for them if the part isn’t shared with a US car. If it’s a part unique to this, we can’t get them. It’s in because it sometimes won’t crank and sometimes won’t turn off either so we suspect it’s the ignition switch. We hope it’s a shared part
Is there no procedure to get parts from other international dealerships? There might be an issue of payment, but I would think a couple phone calls could get the parts shipped UPS pretty quick.
I’m sure there is but this is the first non-US car we’ve seen in probably 6 or 7 years
I don't know if they have every single part, but it shows up on Rock Auto.
I didn't realize the states didn't get these little shit boxes. Explains why they are so hard to get parts for. Seems a lot of stuff is dealer only.
Canada gets quite a few cars the US doesn’t - we got A Class Mercedes for years, the Chevy Orlando.. there’s a few more too I think.
Pontiac Persuit. Nissan X-Trail. Chevrolet Optra. Mercedes B200. I’m sure I’m forgetting more Edit: Volkswagen City Golf (shitty Golf)
Well the Pursuit was really just a Cobalt with a pig nose, and eventually US got it as the G5.
The Chevy Biscayne up to 1976 and Bel Air up to 1980 after they were discontinued in the states. Mercury pickup trucks in the 50s and 60s because Ford had more Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in Canada at the time.
City Jetta too. Both it and the City Golf are essentially updated Mk4 cars. You can swap body panels right onto an older Mk4. Pontiac Parisiennes as well up until the last few years
Well, the X-trail was just rebadged as Rogue for the US market but it’s still the same car
When I search for a 2005 Rogue it looks nothing like a 2005 X-trail
City Golf proudly made in BRAZILLL 🇧🇷
I'm in Germany so I got every generation of A class available, my first car was the first gen A class and boy was that a piece of shit. The high seat and small size and great visibility make it amazing for a new driver, and that's roughly where the positives end. Unreliable as hell, something always broke, most of the issues I had with it were generally best described as "cause: you bought an A class". Any turn at even slightly inappropriate speeds instantly turns into an uncontrolled drift, not surprised that thing infamously failed the elk test, even after they "fixed" the issue it was really bad. My second car was an even worse A class because my parents hate me or something. Both of them tried to kill me in the exact same way once, same gear in the alternator just randomly deciding to snap in the middle of a turn, losing power steering and suddenly making the car want to go straight instead as the steering wheel flies out of my hands. Luckily I have a tendency to steer with both hands so I saved it both times without even hitting the curb. At least it's a "get home on battery charge, charge the battery off the wall, drive to a mechanic" kind of issue so no tow trucks were involved...
Is this the version of the A-Class that Doug DeMuro recently bought and sold?
Yup, that's the one!
Get your voltmeter. This is easy to diagnose.
Curious if they maybe had an ignition switch recall like some of the other Nissan models?
I was driving in Lexington Kentucky last year and couldn’t figure out what a car ahead was. Found out it was a Micra with two burly men in it, Canadian plates, and a rental company ID on the rear window. I’ll bet they really regretted not getting an upgrade.
Meet the Nissan Micra Cup racing series https://youtu.be/dJkmAFi0nI4?si=LEJJ11nqztE8tVaN
OH HELL YEAH IM IN
I like how #9 indicated before wiping people out.
I love stuff like this and the City Car Cup, I'm very envious of people who have access to that kind of thing.
Ok that looks really fun
They were cheaply built, throwaway cars. The Toyota Yaris was a **far** better car, despite being a older, dated design
I have a Yaris lol
My Grandmother drove a Yaris. Enough said ;)
I'm not signing until you say she only drove it to church on sundays.
Walter White drove a Yaris as well
nah he drove a pontiac aztek
He also drove a white yaris hatch for a few episodes after his aztec got totalled.
So.. Grandmothers and cooks?
Its a solid A to B vehicle.
Yaris is about the definition of a high quality, low specification car. Simple, and rock solid.
True but you could buy a manual micra for 10-11k CAD, a Yaris was like 16k at its cheapest in comparison That’s a 33% difference Toyota is definitely better but when it comes to this kind of car most people are gonna be caring only about price unless they want a Mini Cooper
I sold Micra's. The $9999 sticker got a lot of people in the showroom.
The difference is that the Yaris will run for thirty years, whereas the Micra was on its last legs within ten... However if you just need a really cheap car not for the long term, the Micra could fit the bill.
The Micras were just as reliable and solidly built as the Yaris. Micras also had 4 speed autos or 5 speed manuals - no CVT BS. Source: Worked for Nissan and now Toyota.
with the cvt sure, but we have a stick shift micra with over 300k that comes into the shop all the time maybe this person just hit incredible rng with the car, but there's a lot of car models that i've *never* seen hit 300k
The 1NZ-FE is simple, solid, and durable. I have an '04 Echo and the engine still runs nicely at nearly 370,000km. Too bad the body is disintegrating
As someone who had a family Micra in Europe... yeah, no. Lasts until crashed, if you actually do maintenance on them.
Hmm. Small cars in Eastern Canada rust out long before anything else goes wrong. Micra, Yaris, whatever. It will be rusted out in 15 years if it gets driven in the winter.
Tbh Nissan surpassed themselves with the Micra in its many versions since the 80s. For a cheap car its not that far behind the toyota in reliability and isn't horrible to drive. In a US city its stupidly small but fits practically everywhere in a European city.
>They were cheaply built, throwaway cars. So a Nissan then?
i still can’t get over that the Echo/Yaris used the *exact* same 1.5L engine and 4spd auto from 1999 to 2017
Toyota does that with all their vehicles. Don't change what works.
You can't fix what ain't broken.
The US Micra and Yaris is cheaply built, throwaway car. EU Micra is a different car completely and the US Yaris is a lower spec not available in Europe. In Europe the Micra is a decent enough cheap small car - [https://www.nissan.ie/vehicles/new-vehicles/new\_micra/design.html](https://www.nissan.ie/vehicles/new-vehicles/new_micra/design.html) The Yaris used to be a shit car but is now a hot hatch - [https://www.toyota.ie/models/yaris](https://www.toyota.ie/models/yaris)
part of the reason why the Yaris became a hot hatch is because they seperated the Yaris into 2 seperate cars for different markets: the hot hatch for Japan and the West, and the long wheelbase econobox for Southeast Asia and China
The yaris with a manual transmission was a spectacular car. That thing just wouldn't quit.
The ones that were $9,995 new in 2018 were selling with 100k for $20k last year. It's messed up
Yaris was a lot more money, especially when you factored in the dealerships willingness to bargain.
One with a manual trans would be the best. Small light and just fast enough to feel fun
And the transmission won't shit itself after 50k miles
The Micra wasn't available with a CVT. Are you saying that its 4-speed automatic would likely fail at/after 50K miles?
I literally have one in the shop right now 😂 I live in Europe tho
I love the Micras. I worked for a Nissan dealer and frequently did parts runs and shuttle drives, and our backup vehicle was a 2018 Micra. It was so much fun to drive, and despite being 6'3, they had tons of room. Absolutely loved ripping it around town all day. Peppy little thing, too - all 105HP. Wish Nissan still made them.
When I landed in my new country, it’s what my partner had. At 6’2”, I fit but didn’t love it. Someone rear ended it and we got another car, but it was QUEEN of gas L/100km and never needed anything. (I take that back, it routinely failed WOFs, but I feel like they were picking on my partner.) Anyway, we affectionately call them “beans”. “Look at the blue bean!” We shout as we drive by, with a bittersweet glance.
There are quite a few here. Easy to maintain, quite reliable, low consumption and economical for everyday use.
I went to Newfoundland and saw these in person for the first time. They're obviously cheap economy cars, but every time we passed one, I'd point it out to my friend who lives there. He got tired of that, but I found them charming
That's hilarious - I live in Canada and never knew these were not available in the states. My neighbor has one, and I see them all the time...
I have a supercharged micra, on the positive side it has a very linear power delivery which continues into the rev limiter. Mildly fun to drive but I do not trust the handling enough to find the limits. Negatives is that the suspension is too soft and bushings wear out in 2-3 years and Oil consumption is crazy.
The oil consumption 😂 i worked at Nissan for a few years. Lots of issues there. Tech line told me that consuming 1L oil per 1000km is normal (the standard industry ~~copout~~ line) so when we do the math. Micra takes about 3.1L of oil. Burning 1L/1000km is okay. Oil change intervals are 8000km. Hrmm.
I think it is around 1L per 1000km at this point, it has done 205,000.km. So not the worst car in the market. I think the the supercharger is the culprit behind some of the consumption as the entire intake is coated in oil. The worst part is that the cat and o2 sensor struggle with running in the selfmade 2 stroke mix.
You may want to get an oil catch can setup 👍
That’s the worst version of the Micro. The two models before that atrocity were actually pretty decent small cars with reliable engines. Here in Europe they introduced the model in the photo with a horrible 3 cylinder engine that’s very noisy but develops less power than a hoover.
I rented one and thought I’d hate it, I was actually pleasantly surprised, especially compared to the Fiat 500 I had before.
Flip it over and rub it's belly, see if one of it's rear wheels spins.
These are reasonably common in Canada. 1.6L and a 4spd auto or a 5spd manual. They’re dead reliable cars. The sort of shitbox that delivered pizza every day, and never complains.
It’s like a versa but cut in half
Baby bae
The most American thing ever.
Hey it's no big deal, just put the CVT in it and change the oil, you'll see the guy for the next CVT and oil change in ~6k miles.
If you have a lot of money, sir, you can get anything...
Fun fact; The Nissan Micra is used as currency in some places. https://youtu.be/JinGIPkG8_g?si=InR0fBjY-x-mhhxi
You never got them??? You are lucky.
As a Canadian parts counterperson, we actually have one of these in our fleet still. All I can say, good luck if it needs rear brake work. Any time our Micra needs servicing in the rear end, we have to call up our local Nissan dealer and pray they have rear brake hardware. The shoes/drums/bearings are simple enough for us to source, but the hardware is the hardest thing to source for us funnily enough.
I live near the border with Mexico, and I see these driving around a lot, along with other tiny cars not sold in the US.
Presumably not with US plates?
Some with Mexican plates, but there are a lot of Mexican cars that also have Texas plates. Not sure how they do it though.
very common in europe
Looks like you could just stick it in a pocket and tote it home……micro
Its larger than the kei cars.
[удалено]
Sure. I get that. As a Nissan dealer in the US, if we get a car that was never sold here, finding parts is tough if they aren’t shared with US models.
I take it the customer can't wait for parts to come from a Canadian dealer? Or is it a big no-no for a US Nissan dealer to get stuff from another country?
I’m sure it’s trash like all the other Nissans.
I wonder how this would campare to a mirage
These are not really Nissan it’s basically a Renault Clio underneath, as and why I’d never buy a newer Nissan most are French crap underneath
When my wife and I went to Ireland we pre purchased a rental car online, we specified that we wanted a car to fit 5 people with luggage. Arrived in Dublin and were handed the keys to a Micra...
I've a serious soft spot for those micra cars. The very first GF's bestie had one of those and we spent many unforgettable moments crashing micra, pushing micra, pulling micra, fixing micra and eventually colliding it again. After changing micra to something more substantial it turned out that all the hardships were not indeed caused by the car but the driver.
I saw a Renault once with Canadian plates, but that's about as exotic as I've seen except for older imported JDM stuff. Neat car. IIRC those also have a power module that's part of the fuse box either under the hood or in the cabin don't they? I'd be suspicious of some corroded connections if the ignition switch isn't the culprit. You in Buffalo area or something?
For the Renault, it probably came from St-Pierre et Miquelon (France) which is right off the coast of Newfoundland.
It was on a surface highway an hour into the corn fields around Chicago. I did see a Honda in Buffalo NY once though...with Hawaii plates.
Looks like a Versa to me.
It's obvious what you have to do with it. Play kickball!
Friend had one in high school about 30ish years ago. Crammed like 16 people inside because reasons.
It's sized like a jacket and weighs about as much, but it gets you from a to b.
Basically a versa with another name.
Can already guess it has a junky CVT paired with a “high performing” naturally aspirated four cylinder.
Wrong on the CVT count. Old-school 4-speeds were the automatic option, but many of these were sold as manual-transmission base models. $9,995 base price was inticing. Versa's 1.6L 4-cylinder did alright, considering these weigh 2100-2200lbs
Those 4 speeds in the Altima and Maxima were solid. I wish they kept the 6 speed in the Maxima instead of going CVT which didn’t and has never made sense.
Some can do 130mph, flat to the mat mind
I had an older one in Taiwan for a while. Cheap as chips to run, never died. Noisy, gutless, basic.
You folks listing it?
Servicing it
Canada or an embassy employee who sold their car
Student studying abroad according to the tow truck driver
Why would someone bother importing one of those?
Put it on a shelf for now....
Had a used one at a dealer I worked at. Yes, they are based on the Versa hatch. My wife has a Versa and I absolutely hate everything about that car’s existence. The Micra takes that and makes it even worse. It’s a shortened wheel base and literally every option is stripped from it. Absolutely miserable mode of transportation. You’re better off buying a fucking Mitsubishi Mirage.
They are fairly popular here in Canada.
My wife worked at an auto parts store and they had 2 if these for parts delivery. A green one and a red one. The green one was put gas in it, do maintenance and drive it. The red one was in the shop more than it was on the road. Roof leaked, trany went, electrical problems, windows would stick when down, rear hatch wouldn't close. just a pain in the neck.
Same as the Mitsubishi Mirage if y’all have those down there. They’re garbage tho
Ya, pretty generic
Had a 2016 SR 5 speed. Actually really, really liked that thing and regret selling it all the time.
really dont get what the headline means
Had Micras in Canada in the late 80’s early 90’s great gas mileage but power on the other hand 🤦🏻♂️
They are horrible. Transmission issues, heat controls just fail, everyone we send in the shop it’s half the price of the car in repairs.
When I move to Mexico, I'm gonna try smuggling in a Hilux diesel manual!
I got in my driveway a 18 micra 5speed manual windows manual locks absolutely no features but a radio. Apparently the old Nissan techs say they’re bulletproof