Nissan NOTE Visia+ Special Edition : HITTING THE RIGHT NOTE?

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Nissans Note is a versatile spin on the markets demand for ever more versatile MPV-style superminis. Jonathan Crouch checks out the value-added Visia+ version

You have a right to expect a lot from a family runabout costing you over £10,500. Yet you might be surprised to find just how little such a budget will actually get you. That being the case, it might be worth including this car on your shopping list, Nissans Note Visia+ special edition.

Before we get to the Visia+ bit, it might be worth profiling the Note model itself for you since theres just a chance that it could have slipped under your radar. Its worth profiling too at least if you believe Which? magazine who recently noted that a well equipped Nissan Note is all the car youll ever need. If youre looking for a compact family car, thats as good a recommendation to start with as any. The Note is one of those supermini-MPVs, a breed of small hatches with slightly larger dimensions and a series of MPV-style touches.

Cars like Renaults Modus, Fords Fusion, Vauxhalls Meriva and this Nissan all campaign in this sector and more are coming. To keep their offering fresh, Nissan introduced a series of improvements. The latest model year cars come with fully body coloured bumpers, Bluetooth phone operation with steering wheel activated controls, an MP3 auxiliary jack socket, front seat storage nets and foldaway tables, plus front electric windows. Thats in addition to side airbags, a CD player, remote central locking and immobiliser, ISOFIX childseat mounting points and a flat reclining front passenger seat thats useful should you need to transport long items like bicycles or surfboards.

To this tally, the Visia+ special edition model were looking at here adds manual air conditioning with a pollen filter that can also be channelled into the 9.0-litre glovebox a storage area thats big enough to swallow 12 cans of drink. Nissans novel Flexi-Board system is also included, a system that adds to Notes already versatile load area. Here, twin steel-framed boards cover an additional stowage space beneath the floor which is ideal for stowing valuables.

With the rear seats in place, theres 280 litres of luggage space. Slide the rear seat forward (it has a 160mm adjustment) and lower the luggage boards into the well, and you get an extra 100 litres, giving a total load space of 437 litres.

"This Visia+ model represents probably the best value route into striking the right Note"

In Visia+ guise, this Note model carries a reasonable £500 premium over standard Visia variants, with prices starting from £10,595 for the 88PS 1.4-litre manual version. Alternatively, customers can opt for a 110PS 1.6-litre petrol engine (with a manual or automatic gearbox) or the 86PS 1.

5-litre turbo diesel. Designers of supermini-MPVs can make them bigger, smarter or both. The Notes stylists opted for the latter option. This car was designed by Toyota Taiji Toyota that is one of Nissans most talented stylists.

Toyota points out that the car is "tall, but not too tall. We wanted a roomy interior and the benefits of a high driving position but we did not want to make the car look top heavy. With the long wheelbase and body, we feel we have achieved a shape that will appeal on both a practical and emotional level." It would be natural if potential buyers were comparing this car to its French cousin, Renaults Modus, a car which shares all three of the Nissans engines. However, at 3.99m long, the Note is significantly longer (by 20cm) over its Gallic stablemate. At first glance, the Modus looks cheaper but only because it comes with the option of a 1.

2-litre engine the Nissan doesnt bother with. Compare like-engine derivatives alongside each other and the Note is a few hundred pounds cheaper car for car. The Nissans interior certainly feels very spacious and thats in no small part down to the fact that the wheelbase of 2.60m is longer than that of cars like the MK5 Volkswagen Golf.

This available space can be optimised between luggage and rear passengers with the aid of a sliding rear bench seat as well as the usual folding rear arrangement. The Notes most interesting feature, however, is that Flexi-Board split level luggage bay. Cup holders, bag holding hooks and umbrella stowing points also hint at the Notes attention to detail. Although the exterior design isnt going to set pulses racing, the Note has an athletic, wheel at each corner stance that gives it a rather more masculine look than the rather mimsy supermini-MPVs that have become the norm.

The dashboard isnt going to have designers in black turtle necks swooning but its a tidy piece of work with even entry level models like this one offering a level of fit and finish thats rare in this sector. Colour and material choices are far from conventional and the cluster of instruments around the centre console is rapidly becoming a Nissan trademark. The underpinnings of the car are nothing too novel with MacPherson strut suspension up front and a torsion bar at the back. A sporting RX version is on sale in Japan although its doubtful that enthusiast drivers here will queue up for such a Note, especially when Vauxhall seem to have that sector of the market squared away with their 180bhp Meriva VXR.

For the majority of supermini-MPV drivers, however, the Note is a model theyd be ill advised to overlook. Perhaps Nissan are rather belatedly realising that this car has been rather overlooked by buyers up to this point. Unfairly so in fact for its an excellent product if youre looking for affordable, no-nonsense family travel in a compact package. Should that be the case, then this Visia+ model represents probably the best value route into striking the right Note.

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Facts At A Glance
CAR: Nissan Note Visia+ range
PRICES: £10,595-£11,695 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 4
CO2 EMISSIONS: 136-156g/km
PERFORMANCE: [1.6] 0-60mph 10.7s / Max Speed 114mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.5 dCi 86] (urban) 49.6mpg / (extra urban) 62.8mpg / (combined) 57.6mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin airbags, ABS with EBD
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height, 3990/1530/1690mm