K11 - class leading?

i would be suprised if this has not been discussed before,
i couldnt find anything via searching.

so, what other cars WERE in its class? civic? excel? swift? barina?

now the class leading part, im guessing it wasnt leading the way in terms of crash testing... lol

so maybe in the good departments. power to weight? handling?
potential for basic power mods? etc

anyone have old magazine articles with comparisons?

discuss?

Swift maybe, it was a pretty basic car when it came out. Hyundais were better for features vrs cash.

Sure it has prob the best acceleration in its hatch yr/class off the line but its no race car...

I remember reading somewhere that when the k11 was released in Australia, the basic LX was priced around the $15,000 mark. A fully optioned Super S was around $23,000.

You could get a brand new Ford Fiesta for around $9000.

Definately class leading for price lol.

I love the micra though, I would think it is class leading for it's age in terms of build quality, and also fuel economy.

At 13 years old, my plastics and other interior aren't cracked warped or faded. I had no rattles or squeeks until I installed my kmac 50mm lowering springs.

I still frequently get 6lt/100km in the city and suburbs, and it doesn't get much higher than 7lt/100km with a real heavy foot and the aircon on.

http://web.archive.org/web/19970706224544/http://www.nissan.com.au/micra00.htm

cant help but wonder what if the australian model had been imported from japan, cheaper?, more highly optioned?, r/h blinker?, SSS version?, Nismo model sitting in the corner of each showroom, might of been a different future for the micra

From my own experience i used to have 1998 toyota starlet wth pacemaker extractors, cai, adj fuel reg, cant beat a stock k11

Cars in it's class would be Mazda 121 bubble, Excel, Swift/Barina, Starlet, Festiva, Mirage.
Suzuki Swift GTI would have been the performance leader in this class in it's day.

Swift GTI of the time was quick. The budget Barina killed the Micra on purchase price. Starlet seemed very light and basic. Festive (depending on model) probably better optioned built, same for Mirage which had a bit more room inside. Mazda nice to drive but bland.

I still see more K11 Micras on the road then the Mazda 121 bubble.
A friend has a Barina of about same age but less k's then my Micra and the Barina has not aged as well in trim or paint.

K11's were expensive for a small car when they came out and it worked against them.