At first glance, Nissan’s new supercharged Micra DIG-S, just launched in England, might be a performance car story - but in fact reduced exhaust emissions and fuel consumption are just as important.
DIG-S stands for ‘Direct Injection Gasoline – Supercharged’ and Nissan says the Micra DIG-S delivers the refinement and performance of a petrol Micra with the fuel consumption of a diesel.
The 1.2-litre, three-cylinder supercharged engine lifts output from 59kW to 72kW while reducing exhaust emissions to as low as 95g/km and fuel consumption to 3.6l/100kms (combined cycle) – the latter around the same as Ford Fiesta Econetic diesel.
Nissan has rung-in substantial engineering to the 1.3-litre supercharged engine, including a switch to Miller Cycle (inlet valve stays open longer and higher compression ratio for a more efficient compression stroke), special pistons and improved gas re-circulation, auto start-stop and an intelligent alternator which recharges the battery under braking.
Nissan Micra DIG-S in only sold in Britain and prices range from $17,762 (Visia model) to $21,745 (Tekna model) – around $1,593 more than the equivalent naturally-aspirated models.
A ‘hot’ Micra that’s kind to the environment? Sounds like our kind of compact hatchback.
