The Nissan Micra Cup spec racing series was launched in 2015 as a marketing tool for the launch of the road-going Micra. The race series has proven to be very popular, both with spectators and participants. Nissan Canada originally made a three-year commitment to the series but has been so pleased with the results they have made an additional three-year commitment, meaning that the series will run through the 2020 racing season. The series is made up of twelve races over six race weekends. Each race weekend consists of a thirty-minute practice session, a thirty-minute qualifying session, and two forty-minute races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday of each race weekend.

Participating in the Nissan Micra Cup series is exhilarating, according to 44-year-old driver Peter Dyck who races the No. 73 NRW Rennsport car. “It is really a lot of fun racing in this series. It’s the first time I’ve raced. I’ve always wanted to and this was a great way to do it. This is my third season in Nissan Micra but before that I’ve never raced anything else. I got in to racing because of the Micra Cup.”

Peter is a car enthusiast who participated in track days and then decided to make the jump into racing.

“It is so competitive, you really have to pay attention to every little bit to keep up with the guys. Everybody is really pushing hard. It’s tough.” said Dyck. “I have made improvements every year. I do feel more comfortable and I’ve gotten better overall finishes. I’m constantly improving so I’m happy with that. In 2017 they introduced the Masters Class for drivers 40 and older, so I was able to get a couple of podiums in the Masters Class which was a lot of fun.”

Our road-going Micra SR test car might only have 109 horsepower but with a short 96.5” wheelbase (the Volkswagen Golf by comparison is more than 7 inches longer at 103.8 inches) makes it very maneuverable when negotiating congested city traffic. Its short wheelbase also results in a very tight turning radius of just 15 feet or 4.6 metres. The Micra is also quite light weighing in at just 2,302 pounds when equipped with the 5-speed manual transmission in S trim.

The energetic 1.6-litre DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder engine generates its 109 HP at 6,000 rpm with maximum torque of 107 lb-ft generated at 4,400 rpm. The road going Micra is equipped with vented front disc brakes up front and drum brakes. In the rear. As Nissan was developing the race car they experimented with disc brakes on the rear too but found that the race car handled best when equipped with rear brake drums. The Micra is equipped with 4-wheel Anti-lock Brakes (ABS).

Our Micra SR is the top of the line model and has a base price of $17,388 plus $1,600 which brought our as tested price to $18,988 plus license, fees and taxes. The SR is the only model that is not available with a 5-speed manual transmission, the S and SV models are available with both transmissions.

The SR is fully loaded with features including upgraded 16” alloy wheels up from the S models 15” steel wheels, leather wrapped steering wheel, body colour rear spoiler with LED centre high-mounted brake light, side sill spoilers, rear view camera and cloth sport seats with contrast stitching.