It will fit the six-foot basketball player and his... Benjamin cheerleader!
With the realisation that Europeans are getting taller and taller, Nissan faced a big challenge when creating the new MICRA. For example, the Dutch and Scandinavians are officially among the world's tallest people. It is telling that the average Dutchman today is about 1.82 metres tall.
The differentiation in the height of people was the trigger for an exciting challenge that Nissan engineers had to face in the development phase of the new MICRA. In fact, they had to create an interior space in the new model that would not only provide exceptional comfort for the driver and passengers regardless of height, but to make this a reality in a supermini with an exterior length of just 3,999 mm.
The team at Nissan's European Technical Centre (NTCE) in Cranfield, UK, was ready to take on this challenge. As a result, the new MICRA has top-notch interior space for front passengers, due in part to an innovative approach.
Lee Griggs, Senior Engineer at NTCE, explained how this was made possible: "It's a very simple idea. We select NTCE colleagues of different sizes and take 40 different measurements from each of them, recording everything from their height and eye position when they are sitting down, to the extent of their arms and legs."
Furthermore, Lee added: "This means that we should always have at least 200 people that we can call on at short notice to validate with their measurements any ideas or changes we have. Of course, we have internal standards for doing our work, but in the real world, feedback from the people involved in testing is just as vital."
With the tallest worker in the NTCE standing at 6 feet and the shortest at 5 feet, a wide range of information is achieved that proved useful in creating the spacious interior of the new MICRA.
Lee went on to say: "The MICRA has best-in-class seat adjustment (front/rear travel) and a standard height and depth adjustable steering wheel, so everyone can sit comfortably."
From the very beginning of the new model's development process, class-leading comfort and adaptability for both tall and short drivers has been recognised by Nissan as one of the key factors in attracting customers to larger models.
Based on the above criterion, prospective buyers are also looking for an exceptional design that focuses on the use of quality materials in the cabin. So, while Lee's team worked carefully considering the different body types, Nissan's designers worked to create a truly enthusiastic interior.
The result of this work is an impressive dashboard shape, with an exciting touchscreen infotainment system (except for the base version). The two-tone materials on the dashboard, combined with the soft-touch materials that are standard on all versions, offer impressive personalisation possibilities and an exciting result.
Importantly, the MICRA's ergonomic interior has also strengthened its safety credentials. For example, using state-of-the-art high-definition cameras, as well as eye-tracking technology during the development phase, NTCE engineers were able to understand exactly which areas of the dashboard and instrumentation drivers were looking at, as well as for how long.
The above data contributed to the comprehensive internal design of the new MICRA during the development of the model. At the same time, benchmarking against competing models means that Nissan has the lowest driver distraction index in the B-Class.
Combined with advanced safety technologies, the new MICRA is one of the safest small cars on the road. Its systems include Intelligent Lane Intervention, which discreetly guides the car back to the centre of the lane, and Intelligent Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection.
The new Nissan MICRA is manufactured in France and sales will start in Greece next spring.
