First Drive – Nissan Note

Posted By Geraldine Herbert |

We travelled to Bratislava to drive the new Nissan Note ahead of its October launch

What is it? The new Note is no longer a mini MPV. Armed with better looks, more space and equipment it is now has its sights firmly set on  the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Auris and the Volkswagen Polo.

First impressions of the new Nissan Note?  Not quirky like the Juke nor curvy like the Micra; the Note is now more aggressively styled than the old one but it is still very much a case of practicality over style with the exterior design. This is a car intent on wooing customers with functionality and equipment.

What about the interior? Practicality is what the Note is all about. The high-set driving position is both comfortable and great for visibility.   Inside it is sensible and stylishly laid out. Space is excellent throughout in the front and particularly generous in the back. Boot space is a decent 295 litres and extends to an enormous 2,012 litres when all the seats are folded.

And on the road? At the launch we drove both the diesel (1.5) and the petrol (1.2 DIG-S (direct injection gasoline – supercharged). Both feature a five speed manual gearbox.
Nissan Note and the city:  Around town the light steering and excellent visibility makes it simple to drive and park. The diesel has good punchy power but tends to be little noisy at low speeds.
Nissan Note and the open road: The petrol is lively around town but runs out of steam quickly on the open road, the diesel is the better option of the two here but it is unlikely to a big seller and  at £2,000 more than the petrol unless you do a lot of driving it would be hard to justify.

How Much? Prices for new Note start from £11,900 and are detailed in the table below.

How Safe?  The Note is crammed with hi tech equipment  that is designed to make the car both easier to driver and safer to be in. The  Technology Pack  includes the 360-degree camera system known as Around View Monitor, Nissan Connect 2 and a Safety Shield system that incorporates lane departure warning, blind spot assistance and moving object detection.

 What about my options? Three engines are available from launch: a 1.2-litre three-cylinder unit that generates 80PS, a 98PS 1.2-litre supercharged DIG-S and a 1.5-litre dCi diesel that produces 90PS. A CVT transmission is available on the 1.2-litre DIG-S engine.

3 words to describe the Nissan Note: Economical; Practical; Reliable

For more information check out Nissan.co.uk or the Nissan UK Facebook page.

Geraldine Herbert

30th July, 2013