Nissan Micra DIG-S review
by David Finlay (9 September 2011)
There are several ways of creating high-economy, low-CO2 versions of existing cars. With the Micra, Nissan has employed the rather unorthodox method of supercharging the 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, something which in the old days would have been done for no other reason than to increase power.
That has certainly happened. Forcing air into the engine has lifted the maximum output from 79bhp to 97bhp, and you won't be surprised to learn that the DIG-S Micra is considerably quicker than its unsupercharged equivalent. But this isn't really the point.
The point is that the DIG-S also uses a lot less fuel, and emits a lot less CO2, on the EU test cycle. For reasons of taxation, the CO2 statistics are the most important here. In its most basic form, called Visia, the DIG-S Micra has a rating of 95g/km, and although the better-equipped (and in consequence heavier) Acenta and Tekna lag slightly behind on 99g/km, all three come under the 100g/km threshold which means they're exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty. A further advantage for London-based owners is that they're exempt from the congestion charge too.
It's not only the engine that does this. The DIG-S also comes with start/stop and a few aerodynamics aids, most notably a very visible rear spoiler. Nissan could have gone further than this, but in doing so would have ended up with a more expensive car which, though more economical, would not have had any tax benefits. If the threshold for tax exemption falls below 100g/km, as it probably will in the next few years, you can expect to see extra features being added.
Broadly speaking, there are DIG-S versions of all existing Micras, and for their superior performance, better economy and lower taxability you're asked to pay an extra £1000. There are only two exceptions to this: the DIG-S Visia costs an extra £1500 because it has air-conditioning as standard (which the unsupercharged car doesn't) and it doesn't have the CVT automatic transmission as an option (which the unsupercharged car does). Prices therefore range from £11,150 for the Visia manual to £14,650 for the Tekna with CVT.
CVT blows the DIG-S's main attraction out of the water, though, because although it doesn't affect performance much it sends the CO2 emissions up to 115g/km, so you're back to having to pay VED and the congestion charge as well as shelling out £1000 more than you would for the equivalent manual.
On the other hand, I like the CVT cars better because they have a robust gear selector rather than the flimsy lever of the manual versions, which doesn't feel like it's going to last for very long without snapping. In fact, to repeat a point made in the launch report published in January, the Micra in general feels like a very low-quality car, and not one I'd be happy paying anything like £14,650 for when Ford Fiestas and Volkswagen Polos are available for so much less.
In the particular case of the DIG-S, the engine is also disappointing. You can't argue with the official CO2 figures, but I was hoping for some decent urge at relatively low revs - not necessarily the sort of thing that every turbo diesel on the market provides, but at least something close to it.
Well, there's nothing like that. On hill roads round about Sheffield the DIG-S often ran out of puff even when the engine was revving at over 2000rpm, forcing downchanges and making the journey busier than it might otherwise have been. Those roads, being often bumpy as well as steep, also badly showed up the Micra's suspension set-up, which has not been altered for the DIG-S.
A colleague and I agreed that it wasn't so much that the DIG-S has poor ride quality, it's that it doesn't have any at all. And it was nearly as bad in Sheffield itself. Very few cars have ever made me feel unwell at speeds below 30mph, but the Micra has.
As a technical exercise, the DIG-S is very interesting. As a car, it really isn't up to much. Its main significance may turn out to be simply that it was the first of many Nissans which achieved superior fuel economy and CO2 emissions through supercharging, and not that it had any great merit of its own.
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