Today I am driving ... a Nissan Micra 2016

[silverhairs]

The problem with todays Nissan Micra's is they don't have the 1.4 engines in them any longer, they either have the 1.5 diesel or the 1.2 petrol, which is tuned for economy. Out of the two engines the diesel is the best bet all round.

[Andy Beats]

The problem with todays Nissan Micra's is they don't have the 1.4 engines in them any longer, they either have the 1.5 diesel or the 1.2 petrol, which is tuned for economy. Out of the two engines the diesel is the best bet all round.

Today's Micras have the following engines

70bhp normally aspirated 1.0 petrol
90bhp turbocharged 0.9 petrol
90bhp turbocharged 1.5 diesel

If money is no object, the diesel is the one to get as it's got bags of torque and fantastic MPG.
If you can't afford the diesel, or don't like diesels, the 0.9 turbo petrol is the one to get.
I expect the NA 70BHP 1.0 will be discontinued soon, I can't see many people go for that.

[silverhairs]

Do people still purchase a 70BHP motor? The 90BHP has a job pulling the skin of rice pudding, (their tuned for economy) as I said the diesel is the best engine to go for.

But I stand corrected, but it's still the 1.2 engine whether it be normally aspirated or with a turbo charger, so in theory there's 2 engines.

[Andy Beats]

But I stand corrected, but it's still the 1.2 engine whether it be normally aspirated or with a turbo charger, so in theory there's 2 engines.

No, there's no 1.2 engine at all.
The non-turbo petrol is a 1000cc
The turbo petrol is a 900cc.
The turbo diesel is a 1500cc
Three very different engines in the range.

[silverhairs]

But I stand corrected, but it's still the 1.2 engine whether it be normally aspirated or with a turbo charger, so in theory there's 2 engines.

No, there's no 1.2 engine at all.
The non-turbo petrol is a 1000cc
The turbo petrol is a 900cc.
The turbo diesel is a 1500cc
Three very different engines in the range.

Oh dear, your right again But do they have cruise control That's another question

[Andy Beats]

Oh dear, your right again But do they have cruise control That's another question

I'd settle for them not having interfering anti-collision crap.

[SRGTD]

Oh dear, your right again But do they have cruise control That's another question

I'd settle for them not having interfering anti-collision crap.

Not surprisingly, it does though (standard on all models in the Micra range) - from the ‘new cars’ section of Nissan’s website for the Micra;

INTELLIGENT EMERGENCY BRAKING
Intelligent Emergency Braking monitors your speed and the distance between you and the car ahead, and lets you know if you need to slow down. It can even apply emergency brake assist and automatically engage the brakes to help avoid a frontal collision. And when it detects a pedestrian in the road, it can stop you in your tracks.

[Andy Beats]

INTELLIGENT EMERGENCY BRAKING
Intelligent Emergency Braking monitors your speed and the distance between you and the car ahead, and lets you know if you need to slow down. It can even apply emergency brake assist and automatically engage the brakes to help avoid a frontal collision. And when it detects a pedestrian in the road, it can stop you in your tracks.

For god's sake....(although it might be less intrusive on the Micra).
I'm away to check if the C3 has this crap too.
EDIT, the C3 has it too, but it only operates between 3mph and 52mph - which is something at least.

[Leif]

90bhp turbocharged 1.5 diesel

If money is no object, the diesel is the one to get as it's got bags of torque and fantastic MPG.

In general you should stay away from diesel unless you do plenty of miles each year otherwise you don't pay off the price premium and if you don't do long journeys you risk the DPF not regenerating correctly which can cause issues. I don't know if the DPF is an issue with the Micra diesel but many people buy a diesel and do short journeys.

[Andy Beats]

In general you should stay away from diesel unless you do plenty of miles each year otherwise you don't pay off the price premium and if you don't do long journeys you risk the DPF not regenerating correctly which can cause issues. I don't know if the DPF is an issue with the Micra diesel but many people buy a diesel and do short journeys.

You don't need long journeys to regenerate a DPF any more, that's back to the days when DPFs were new (around 2005) and the manuals used to tell you to go for a long drive in a low gear!
My 2005 A3 was one of the first DPF equipped cars in the UK as it had the 2.0tdi engine, the previous 1.9tdi was non-DPF.
Modern diesels can regenerate themselves perfectly well, by various methods.
SOme inject more fuel to raise temperatures, some inject chemicals (EOLYS fluid)
And when they do, eventually, get clogged up there are loads of places will clean them out for you.
Honestly, the DPF thing is a non-issue these days.

[monkeyhanger]

Oh dear, your right again But do they have cruise control That's another question

I'd settle for them not having interfering anti-collision crap.

Not surprisingly, it does though (standard on all models in the Micra range) - from the ‘new cars’ section of Nissan’s website for the Micra;

INTELLIGENT EMERGENCY BRAKING
Intelligent Emergency Braking monitors your speed and the distance between you and the car ahead, and lets you know if you need to slow down. It can even apply emergency brake assist and automatically engage the brakes to help avoid a frontal collision. And when it detects a pedestrian in the road, it can stop you in your tracks.

Could've done with pedestrian avoidance today. Coming home from work and a policeman runs across the road with no warning, almost jumping on my bonnet (I was doing about 25mph on a 30mph road), and I jump on the brakes.

He gestures at me to wind the passenger window down, which I do. He sticks his head in and accuses me of not paying attention. I say that he ran across the road literally 5 yards ahead of my car.

He accuses me of speeding. I ask him if he wants to take this further. He tells me he's feeling generous today, and I tell him I have a dashcam, and point to it. He looks highly embarrassed and tells me to go on my way. Going to take the SD card out today and make a copy before the card is cycled.

[Leif]

In general you should stay away from diesel unless you do plenty of miles each year otherwise you don't pay off the price premium and if you don't do long journeys you risk the DPF not regenerating correctly which can cause issues. I don't know if the DPF is an issue with the Micra diesel but many people buy a diesel and do short journeys.

You don't need long journeys to regenerate a DPF any more, that's back to the days when DPFs were new (around 2005) and the manuals used to tell you to go for a long drive in a low gear!
My 2005 A3 was one of the first DPF equipped cars in the UK as it had the 2.0tdi engine, the previous 1.9tdi was non-DPF.
Modern diesels can regenerate themselves perfectly well, by various methods.
SOme inject more fuel to raise temperatures, some inject chemicals (EOLYS fluid)
And when they do, eventually, get clogged up there are loads of places will clean them out for you.
Honestly, the DPF thing is a non-issue these days.

The AA don’t agree with you:

https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/fuel-types

But what do they know.

The RAC agree with the AA:

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emis ... e-filters/

But what do they know!

These people say the same things and say failure could be expensive:

https://www.holtsauto.com/redex/news/di ... d-to-know/

You can also see discussions on the Honest John forum and others.

[monkeyhanger]

^ Some of those views from the AA and RAC related to the links are very general and truer of the older DPF units. Newer DPF cars (around 2013 and onwards for VAG cars) have their DPFs much closer to the exhaust manifold, so they warm up quicker to passive regeneration suitable temperatures. My wife's old 2015 1.6TDI Audi A1 used to run a little choked up on her 8 mile each way commute, averaging 42mpg. When I started taking it on my 20 mile each way commute, it was a different car - I could drive it hard to work and still get 65mpg in the Summer - it never had an active regen once I was using it. 8 miles a day is enough to keep the DPF clean on the newest ones, with a fair bit of active regen that will hammer your mpg.

The DPFs were initially thought to be goosed at about 140k miles, with hideously expensive replacement the only option - specialists are able to clean them out now.

The problem is that there are trace amounts of incombustible material in your diesel that burn to ash. The first DPFs had about 70g capacity, and when it got to about 40g full it would try and empty through active regeneration to burn the soot if passive regen (achieved doing longer journeys that got the DPF plenty hot enough to combust the soot without further assistance). If it got to 60g full because active regen wasn't enough, it would go into.limp mode and need the garage to force a regen - you only got one of those free, with the advice of driving on the motorway in 3dd or 4th for 20 mins. When the ash level got to 50g, even with passive regen friendly mileage, the DPF would be goosed. Now the DPF can be emptied of ash.

I'm pretty sure Andy's 2005 Audi will not have had a DPF. In 2005, the newly introduced 140ps 2.0TDI PD was the most powerful 2.0TDI available, having just replaced the 130ps (and rare 150ps variant) 1.9TDI PD. I bought a 2005 MK5 Golf GT new, with this engine. It did not have a DPF. You can tell Non-DPF VAGs from 2005 to 2010 a mile off because their tailpipes point to the ground behind the bumper, so you don't notice all the black soot pouring out.

The first VAG 2.0TDI Unit with a DPF was the 170ps PD unit that came out very late in 2006, and I got one in my 07 reg 170TDI PD Golf GT Sport MK5. There were a few initial hiccups with regeneration that a software update sorted out (Not before they replaced the cylinder head, after finding a tiny burr in it, which did nothing). Due to the DPF, VAG didn't have to hide the exhaust smoke, so it came with straight twin pipes. The car was clattered by a bus and was never right after shoddy repairs, so I jumped at the chance to get the Scirocco in 2009 where it debuted the first 2.0TDI to ditch PD for common rail. That engine was the first 140ps variant of the 2.0TDI to get a DPF, and also got straight pipes. All of the CR diesel engines got a DPF, as of 2009.

[Leif]

Just a comment on one point, not all recent cars have the DPF closer to the exhaust manifold, some (all ?) recent Land/Range Rovers are notorious for the large separation, basically bad design. But that’s JLR for you.

[Andy Beats]

The AA don’t agree with you:

https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/fuel-types

But what do they know.

The RAC agree with the AA:

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emis ... e-filters/

But what do they know!

These people say the same things and say failure could be expensive:

https://www.holtsauto.com/redex/news/di ... d-to-know/

You can also see discussions on the Honest John forum and others.

What actual experience of running cars with DPFs do you have?
I've run many cars with DPF, Mini/Ford/Mazda/Hyundai/Kia/Renault/BMW/Audi/Vauxhall/Alfa Romeo.
Not one has had any DPF issues, even on my short commute.
This is replicated by friends as well.
They all regenerate away, you barely notice (maybe a bit of a smell and some rough idling) and you wouldn't know.
My Mini EOLYS bag was close to needing replaced and the DPF was showing quite full at 80000 miles, but you can get them cleaned out no problem at all,.
Some places will do a DPF clean in-situ, some will give you a clean DPF in exchange for your old one.
So you can stop with the "what do the AA know"
I'm asking what you know.