Nissan Note 1.4 SE review

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Nissan Note 1.4 SE Road Test

Test date 10 May 2006 Price as tested £11,240

For Practicality, generous equipment, ride/handling balance

Against Engine a little noisy when extended, drab cabin

Rarely does a week pass without a car being launched that its maker claims either invents a market segment or drops neatly into a burgeoning one. Sometimes the claims are nonsense; sometimes – as here – they have more foundation.

The Note, Nissan says, is a B+segment car which, in layman’s terms, means it competes with a bunch of inflated superminis at inflated supermini prices. There were just two such cars in 1998, but Nissan reckons there are now 12, including the Honda Jazz, Vauxhall Meriva and Renault Modus, with which the Note shares its architecture.

But although this segment now accounts for 600,000 cars a year across Europe, we wonder if its days are already numbered. The latest generation of popular superminis – the Fiat Punto, Peugeot 207 and, ironically, Nissan partner company Renault’s new Clio – is larger than ever and will eat into B+ sector sales unless the supermini-and-a-halves come back with something special.

The Note doesn’t have much in the locker in terms of overall dimensions. At 4080mm long, it’s barely bigger than the latest superminis. It is only 50mm longer than the Peugeot 207 and Punto, and has about 80mm over the Clio. It’s going to have to try harder than that to justify its price (a smidgen under 10 grand for the 1.4S and up to £13,395 for the 1.6 SVE auto). Especially when you consider that the new Punto range starts at £7600.