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Virtual Adviser's™ opinion
Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the city car segment and utilize the same 3-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Daihatsu-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 3-cylinder, 12-valves 58hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 68hp engine designed by Nissan.
SafetyThe fact that the Nissan got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the city car segment, which is generally not a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Micra offers a considerable difference of 27% more metal.
ReliabilityI don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Daihatsu does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Daihatsu with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the Nissan badge with 4.3 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Cuore as average reliability-wise, and Micra is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Cuore rank it on average as 4.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.
Performance & Fuel economyDaihatsu is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.9 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 145 kilometers per hour, 9km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Cuore, averaging around 4.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (61 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 26% difference compared to Micra.
Verdict
Nissan appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Micra beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different direction, with Daihatsu being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! At the end, as much as I'd like to give you a winner here, it's simply a pure tie if you ask me. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.