Mario James, Gleaner Writer

The size of the Nissan Micra 160SR belies its Herculean capabilities. The two-door automobile is priced at $1.7 million from Fidelity Motors. - Contributed

Nissan is developing a cult following. Its design shops have a rep for crafting the most quirky autos around. Look at the Cube. The Tiida is a bit off the beaten path as well.

But they back up their eccentricities with good, solid engineering and user-friendliness. Somehow, though, with all their desire to satisfy the market, fun to drive is included in the mix (by design or by chance, we'll never know). How do you engineer a hatch that is full of customer appeal, yet ISN'T boring to drive?

Specifications

Let's get the specs out of the way. The car I drove had the 1.6-litre, 108 hp/108 ft lb HDR16-DE inline four (Fidelity Motors only offers the R14DE 1.4-litre here, which tops out at 98 hp), and a sweet five-speed gearbox, power brakes, windows and steering.

Overall length is 146.4", height 60.6" and width 65.3". It has a wheelbase of 95.6".

What is astounding is Micra's curb weight. The subcompact tops the scales 3,285 lb, which is rather portly for such a small car. Despite all this weight, Nissan claims fuel efficiency figures of 6.6 litres/100km, which is nothing short of astounding (it works out to 42mpg). How they've done this in a near two-tonne subcompact is beyond me.

Driving Micra (known as the March when offered locally) is a hoot, really. So much so that it was the hottest thing among the journalists at the Lisbon Nissan 360 event. Scribes far and wide left the hotter metal, like 350Z and the Sentra SE-R, and swarmed around it. Trying to get to drive it was like waiting on a revolving door. So much so that by the time yours truly got it, it was smelling of done clutch.

Even so, the coupling hadn't gone totally south. A quick jaunt through the streets of Cascais proved just how good the venerable K12 chassis is. First gear at full throttle will paste you back in the seat; second and third have only slightly less urge and fourth was too tall to play with (legally) in the narrow streets of the fishing town.

Micra felt like it would understeer dramatically at the limit, though, but the big 16-inch 195 tyres might rein in that tendency a bit. Clutch take-up was progressive, and the inspirational yowl of the engine tugs at the soul, pleading with the driver to be given its head. Small it may be, but it responds to scruff-of-the-neck treatment.

Tight seating

While it pegs the meter on the fun-to-drive scale as well as economy, the back hatch encloses a less than spacious boot, and while the rear seat can be adjusted fore and aft a smidgen, this is done at the expense of front-passenger legroom, and a front-seating arrangement that is too upright for my taste.

However, like the Cube, it is an eclectic bit of kit. For $1.7 million, being eccentric, I guess, has its price.

But those who need to be on the other side of normal wouldn't have it any other way.

mario.james@gleanerjm.com.