Written by: Martin Ward
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 

It has only been about a month since we went to the UK launch of Nissan’s new baby car in Oxford. On that day we drove the car about for about 20 minutes in heavy traffic to Blenheim Palace and 20 minutes back to the centre of Oxford. It wasn’t much in the way of a test and I almost felt that Nissan were deliberately keeping us away from motorways and dual carriageways so we couldn’t test its ‘high speed’ capabilities. I think their intentions were for us to just use the car in urban low traffic where it is designed to be, as a city car.

 

Strangely enough, the same car that we had tested in Oxford was delivered to my home, so let the real testing begin. The first journey was to Milton Keynes; dare I take it on a 320 mile return trip? Would it take all day to get there and back? Would my back still be in one piece when I got home? Decision time, should I or shouldn’t I? I decided to do it and the little thing performed so well on the M1. It easily stayed at 70mph with very little noise intrusion in the cabin. There was no changing down to fourth gear when going up a hill and it maintained motorway speeds with little effort. When I got to Milton Keynes, I got out of the Pixo feeling as fresh as when I had got in, which was very surprising. The next trip was at the weekend and a day out to Blackpool with the family. Again, should I go in the Pixo? Four people in a small car with a small engine. Would it be fun or would it be a disaster? There is plenty of room for four people in the Pixo; it is a bit tight in the back for adults but fine for children. The luggage capacity isn’t great and getting in a push chair or other essentials is not easy.

 

The real test for any small car is on the way back from Lancashire into Yorkshire, as you have to go up ‘Windy Hill’. It is always windy and is a long steep hill where at the peak of it, you drive on the highest motorway in England. In some small cars much like the Pixo, you have to drop down to 50mph because they run out of steam, get stuck behind trucks and feel very vulnerable and unsafe. However, the Pixo sailed up the hill, keeping to 70mph and didn’t even lose power when overtaking which was remarkable.

  

The prices have recently increased so the Pixo doesn’t look to be as good value for money as they did on the launch. The cheapest car, the Visia, has gone from £5,995 to £6,995 and the car we tested, the N-TEC, has gone up by £1,450 from £7,195 to £8,645. This is a rise of 20% according to the 1^st May price list but just yesterday this price was reduced to £8,195 which is now a rise of £1,000; very confusing.

  

I still don’t like the name but I do like this Indian built car and it is good value despite the huge price increase. The interior quality is not up to some German brands but for the money it is acceptable.

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