The little Nissan scores highly on practicality, too, with a 280-litre, flat-floored boot. The floor is false, and there are two easily reversible, removable sections, with carpet topside and wipe-clean plastic on the underside. They’re good quality, and you wouldn’t hesitate in landing a heavy load on them. There’s more storage space underneath, and the rear seatback splits 60/40 and folds at the nudge of a lever. That leaves a quite high, flat floor because the seat base doesn’t fold, but it does slide back and forth and, in its rearmost position, gives bags of rear legroom; thank a sizable 2600mm wheelbase for that one. The front passenger seat also folds to allow loads of up to 2.4m long to be threaded through.
There are plenty of useful cubbies, too. The door pockets are relatively small, but there’s a glovebox and large map pocket in the dash, as well as a couple of front cupholders, supplemented by trays and seat pockets for rear passengers. Nissan expects the majority of Notes to be owned by one-car families, and it shows in the versatility of the interior. No conventional supermini, even the exceptionally spacious new Punto, can match this level of spaciousness and practicality.
Safety and convenience equipment is also generous. On this £10,990 SE model you get six airbags, a CD player and air conditioning. Climate control, a CD changer and auto headlights and wipers are available as a Comfort pack costing £500. That makes it a match for its B+ rivals and most superminis, although it fails to get near the exceptional value of the latest Punto.
