Review: Nissan Note N-tec

In a vehicle of this type, those passengers would more likely than not be children, and so groups of youngsters were invited to tell the company just what they thought.

It sounded like a recipe for anarchy. Look inside a teenager’s bedroom and you will get an idea of what they think is a perfectly acceptable living area.

So what do you think they asked for? Some ghastly interior from your worst nightmare? Not a bit of it.

The most significant demand was for space – comments in line with Nissan’s own theories of what owners and their passengers would require.

Nissan ignored some, shall we say, unusual or impractical suggestions, but the end result was that the Note came with more interior space than some luxury saloons, and enough rear legroom to embarrass an executive car.

The trick for Nissan was to create this interior space without ending up with something bloated, the size of a large people carrier. And they achieved it.

Incredibly, the designers achieved an overall length of only 4,083mm. That’s shorter than a VW Golf.

It uses the platform employed in the company’s Micra and by Alliance partner Renault in the Modus and Clio. You will notice elements from other Nissan models, but the key exterior features are the sloping front and angular rear, the bubble headlights with “nipple” markers on top to act as guiders, boomerang tail-lights and roof line, which rises gently from the top of the windscreen, then falls way and unusually rises again at the rear.

The first indication of its immense practicality is when you open the doors. Those doors are large enough to ensure that getting in and out is easy, very much like Honda’s Jazz.

Inside, you will find lots of practical stuff to ensure that the family with two or three children will travel in comfort, with lots of places to put belongings.

Key features are the sliding rear seats, which can be moved by up to 160mm to increase leg room or load space, the false floor to the load area, the nine-litre glovebox, secret compartment under the passenger seat, rear power sockets and various other holders and storage areas.

There are three engine options: 1.4 and 1.6-litre petrol and a 1.5litre common rail diesel. I tested the smaller petrol engine, which is a fine companion in urban environs but struggles a little when taken up hills and along twisty roads in the countryside.

You might well prefer the more plucky 1.6-litre unit, which comes within a whisker of the 1.4 model’s average fuel economy figure of 47.9mpg.

The diesel, developed with Renault, naturally clocks up the best mpg figure, but again the acceleration time is a disappointing 13 seconds.

The four trim levels – Visia, Acenta, n-tec and Tekna - and three engine types should provide something to suit all customers.

While four adults can be seated in comfort, five becomes a bit of a squeeze. But the Note is not really intended to carry grown-ups in the back. The rear seats were designed with younger passengers in mind – hence such features as seat-back tray tables and a central armrest for demarcation of the boundaries between warring siblings.

The bootspace contains a couple of interesting features. Two removable panels form a raised floor, dividing the boot horizontally so that items can be hidden beneath them if necessary. They are also reversible with carpet in one side and plastic on the other, so when transporting loads likely to cause scratches or soiling, there’s no need to ruin the boot.

The target buyers for the Note are young families on a budget. A certain number of buyers might opt instead for a nearly-new full-size people carrier, but there should be plenty of people who would prefer the reassurance of a new car with low running costs and Nissan reliability.

Nissan Note fact file

Price: £13,400 (range from £11,200 to £15,900).

Engine: 1.4-litre petrol, generating 88ps.

Transmission: Five-speed manual.

Performance: 0 to 62mph in 13.4 seconds; top speed 101mph.

Economy: 47.9mpg combined.

CO2 emissions: 139g/km.