Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £10,295 to £14,195
Loads of rear legroom and luggage space, affordable and unpretentious.
Small range to choose from, engines can be noisy.
Like the Renault Modus, only roomier - a very useful family car.
Full marks to Nissan for achieving so much rear legroom - there's space for three adults in the back, with their legs stretched out - without losing too much bootspace.
If more load-room is needed, and not so much legroom, the rear seat slides forwards on its base; the rear seats fold flat and the front passenger seat can also fold forwards to accommodate long loads. The boot can be divided up with a load board to create separate compartments and its boards are reversible with a wipe-clean surface on one side.
Minimum load space, with the rear seats pushed all the way back, is 280 litres; sliding the seats forwards gives up to 437 litres and folding the rear seats frees up 1332 litres. With the square load-bay and high ceiling, it's almost van-like in there.
The Note gives a generally quiet ride, unless you're really pushing the engines hard and despite having a high roof, body roll is well-contained. It's stiffly sprung, but not at the expense of the ability to soak up bumps in the road. The seats are also well shaped and supportive - the rear bench has an unusually deep seat, so adults won't feel perched on the edge. The dark grey cabin is conservatively designed, with a choice of a sportier, lighter finish in the SVE, but is easy on the eye and restful.
Specification levels for the UK are S, SE and SVE. S models have front electric windows, remote central locking and a CD player; SE models, £1,000 more, add air conditioning, the luggage boards, 15" alloy wheels, electric/heated door mirrors, rear electric windows, rear cabin lights, a driver's centre armrest, pockets on the front seat-backs and fold-away tray tables, a six-speaker stereo and extra exterior colour-coding. SVE versions are a further £1,000, with electric-folding mirrors, 16" alloys, climate control, part-leather upholstery, automatic headlights and wipers, a six-CD autochanger and tinted glass at the rear. Options include the Intelligent Key system, which automatically locks and unlocks doors and has a turn-button starter.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Nissan NOTE
wrote on 13 09 2008
wrote on 10 10 2007