Shock of the old

There's little new about the new Nissan Micra, says Sam Wollaston. But it's still a great car (for trips to Sainsbury's)

Oh dear. I thought I was going to be trying out the new Nissan Micra. What? This is the new Nissan Micra? But it looks just like old Nissan Micra. Tall and narrow with big windows - quite modern-looking back in 1993 when it first appeared on our streets. But not any more. It's more like a kid's drawing of a car than a real car now.

The new Nissan Micra is, in fact, the old Nissan Micra with a bit of a facelift. There will be a properly new one in 2002. They say they've made some styling alterations to give it a lower, wider look, but you could stare at this car all day and the words low and wide just wouldn't come to mind. This is definitely a tall, narrow car, just as it always has been. Nothing wrong with that, of course. It's just that the fashion seems to be going the other way. The Audi A3, for example, one of the cutest little cars around, is definitely low and wide.

Still, you can't knock the Micra. It's won a ton of awards: European Car of the Year in 1993, What Car's best supermini in 1993 and 1994, the most satisfying car in its class in JD Power's survey in 1998 (who is JD Power?). Last year, the millionth one rolled out of the factory in Sunderland. But there's no denying that it's showing its age. Even with a little cosmetic surgery, this is definitely last decade's model. Mine is parked on my street between a Toyota Yaris and a Fiat Punto and, quite frankly, I'm a bit embarrassed.

Right, in we go... whoa, nasty! What is it with the materials they use inside cars these days? Expensive cars are generally fine. You don't get into a Merc and think you've stepped into an Indian restaurant circa 1975. But cheap little cars haven't quite got hold of that one. In the new Micra there are "two distinctly different interior trims", according to the blurb that came with it. It's hard to know if mine is "traditional" or "contemporary". It's an unpleasant geometrical pattern in two shades of grey, like some kind of ancient writing. Fine on the interior of a pyramid, perhaps, but less successful on the interior of a little car.

Otherwise it all looks fine inside - much like the old Nissan Micra, in fact. Nice clear instruments, lots of vision all over the place, even upwards (a Micra with a sunroof, how about that?). Plus air conditioning and CD player! There's even a "retractable convenience hook" which would obviously be very difficult to live without.

In the back, things go downhill. There's not enough room. I'm 6ft 4in, and that's too tall for this car. There are headrests in the back but I can't get my head anywhere near them, on account of its being on its side, pressed against the ceiling. Odd really, when the Micra looks like such a tall car.

Right, let's go somewhere. I drive to Sainsbury's up the road. Notice that I don't head off into the sunset along an avenue of shimmering poplars. Or along the promenade at St Tropez. No, I go to Sainsbury's up the road. It just seems right. This is a car to go to Sainsbury's up the road. I don't even need to go to Sainsbury's.

And it's a joy. Everything is perfect. It turns right when I want it to, effortlessly and power-assisted. The gears are crisp and easy. There's all that vision I mentioned earlier - absolutely nothing evades my attention. And we nip around Sainsbury's carpark like Pacman round his maze. When I leave the lights on, it beeps at me, and the two small bags of shopping I don't need fit easily into a corner of the boot.

Only one thing is wrong: the stereo. It is, quite simply, far too good for this little car. Wicked even, to use the correct 1993 terminology. Selfishly pumping out Dr Dre in the evening, I watch my fellow shoppers turn round expecting to dive for cover as a Jeep or a big old BMW bears down upon them, then laughing at the little Micra with the big ideas.

Oh, and one other thing: this is a girl's car, obviously. It really is: 67% of Micra buyers are girls. So I had to give out that had-to-borrow-the-missus's-car look the whole time.

As well as the few nips and tucks it's had, the new Micra has been given a new engine. The 1.3 has been increased to 1.4, though really it's only 1.348. (Hang about, doesn't 1.348 round off to 1.3?) Anyway, what that means is a bit more bhp, a bit more torque and a second less to 60 mph. All good news. Oh, and it's a bit more economical: up from 43mpg to 46 mpg.

After the unnecessary Sainsbury's run, I take it on a proper trip out of town: London to Portsmouth, because I really do need to go to Portsmouth. And it's very capable, cruising along happily for a little car on the motorway, without slowing down on the hills. It's a bit noisy perhaps, and feels soft on fast corners. But then this is a girl's car, so that doesn't matter. And there's that wonderful stereo to lose yourself in.

But I won't be getting one. And it's not just the funny material or the funny shape. I want a bit more newness if I'm going to spend £10,000 on a new car. So I'll wait till 2002.

The lowdown

Nissan Micra

Price £10,000

Acceleration: 0-62 in 11.9 seconds

Top speed: 106mph

Consumption: 46 mpg (combined)

Where to go: Sainsbury's

What to put on the stereo: Dr Dre

Who drives it: Girls - 1990s girls