This is my grandmama’s car : D

A Nissan March is basic transportation. Four doors, some seats, an engine, and hatch. So what’s the story this time?

To preface, there isn’t much automotive abuse in this one. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for killing my Grandma’s car in Uruguay. But, I did still have my fun.

The March is a cute little thing. By no means is it an excellent driving experience, but it is a well needed reset from the bloated modern cars you’ll find yourself in, at least coming from the US of A.

It makes no effort to hide what it is. Behind the basic but cute little happy nugget shape, you step into a world of 90’s couch cloth and hard grey plastic. There’s a radio, some air, and two gauges to keep you entertained.

The car is as light as it looks, and driving on Uruguay’s highway network it shows it weight. Driving at speed will involve fighting any crosswind. And brace yourself if a semi truck passes you. Not on not are you eye level with the tires, but the wake off the trailer will toss you around. And although the car is light, it’s also a sloppy mess. It will roll around like it’s having a nightmare. The steering responded like a someone who went two days without sleep being asked to do math. The car didn’t feel unstable (wind aside), but it does feel sloppy.

The concept of performance almost completely alien to this little Micra. And yet, I never came away from it annoyed with the little grey egg. Every moment behind the wheel of the March was an adventure. A little plastic steed to explore my second home in the way a bicycle never could allow (at least not without dehydration). And despite some of the slop, it’s a pretty happy albeit basic car.

So how be fun then?

The buzzy little three cylinder breaks traction in the front as you ask the econocube for all 79 horses. A massive 80 ft-lb of torque briefly spins the fronts as you try to get up to speed on a two lane highway. The 2020 lb (916kg) car will reach 60 somewhere between 9.5-10 seconds later, at which point you NA Miata owners can be smug about your 0-60 time finally. All the while, you’ve got a five speed manual to play with. And it’s… a transmission! Like the Oroch written about earlier, the tall shifter feels like sliding wood around. Though it’s less broken drawer and more misaligned front door. The shifter isn’t vague, just feels cheap. Throws are long, but what did you expect?

The powertrain matches the exterior pretty well honestly. Cheerful and honest, the car doesn’t try and pretend it’s anything but oddly characterful basic transportation, with an engine that is not upset at more aggressive inputs. I won’t sit here and say it’s amazing, but it’s far from the depression session that is a Versa, or almost any basic econobox that exists state side.

Basic economy cars don’t have to both drive like garbage and make the owner regret ever going down the cheap hatchback route. Outside of a a small percentage of still selling examples in the states, this class of basic car is gone. Fiesta, focus, non-GTI golf, Fit… it’s a breed of car the American consumer doesn’t want or like. But the problem isn’t solely in the buyer. I’ve driven a base model and mid-range fiesta and focus. The Micra, despite being a literal plastic nugget made from left over Soviet steel, left me with a better feeling than both of those cars.

The focus especially, was just disappointing. The interior was crammed with crap, it didn’t look particularly nice, it didn’t drive particularly nice, hell an Electra with a stick was more enjoyable. The fiesta was a little better due to its size, but still not immune from Ford’s will to fill the car with silver painted cheap plastic like I’m supposed to believe it’s brushed aluminum. No wonder the Mazda 3 is still kicking around while these two cars died star side.

The March/Micra doesn’t try to hide that’s it’s the choice of that, an i10, or an ATV. It’ll drive around sipping fuel like a butterfly, then show a slightly cheeky and cheerful side to the lightweight fuel conscience equation when you ask it to. Buy one over a similar year i10, and enjoy driving near its most basic level.