Top four seat city car car review
29/01/13
By Peter Hayward
Driving Force
THE little Nissan Pixo is the same as the Suzuki Alto under the skin – and is none the worse for that.
It makes much more sense than a smart because it can seat four in comfort and is just as easy to park and manoeuvre.
The Pixo is a city car with a 1.0-litre three cylinder engine and five-speed gearbox, but light weight means performance is not too bad and it can keep up with the flow of traffic on the motorway.
Obviously, what such a small car is about is economy and low, low running costs.
Well it has those too, with 64mpg economy – more than the petrol smart – low emissions, cheap insurance and very low road tax.
In town, it feels nippy and quick off the mark and the small shape makes it very easy to thread through traffic.
It’s comfortable over all surfaces and I found it great fun through the corners.
Best of all perhaps, low prices mean it is cheap to buy second-hand.
Interior
Inside the Alto and Pixo are the same with a fairly basic cabin and a low level of standard equipment.
But at these prices, who cares? You can always add the things you want – although you have to buy a top model to get aircon.
FAST FACTS
Nissan Pixo
Price: Pay about £4,000 for an ’09 09-reg Acenta, or £5,700 for an ‘11 11-reg N-Tec
Mechanical: 68bhp, 996cc, 3cyl petrol engine driving front wheels via 5-speed manual gearbox
Max speed: 96mph
0-62mph: 13.9 seconds.
Combined mpg: 64
Insurance group: 2
CO2 emissions: 103g/km
Main rival: Renault Twingo
Motors.co.uk value verdict:
