THE Nissan Micra - a driving school, local authority and Motability favourite since it was voted European Car of the Year shortly after its launch in 1993 - has filled out.

Redesigned front and rear bumpers with dark grey lower sections make it look broader and much closer to the ground than its predecessor. It isn't, but Nissan's stylists have succeeded in revamping the Micra without spoiling the sensible car status that brought in more than 330,000 UK registrations.

Now, a Micra chooser is either Contemporary (bold colours, strong interior contrasts and flashes of silver) or Traditional (subdued pastels and greys). And the youth/maturity division is further emphasised with the grades: Sport and Sport + are Contemporary and S, SE and SE+ are Traditional.

Three-door and five-door variants are offered and as before, two petrol engines are available - 1.0-litre and 1.4-litre, the latter replacing the 1.3 and bringing significant extra power and torque. Automatic continuously variable transmission (NCVT) can be specified on all the Traditionals for ú950 extra and on-the-road prices are from ú7,700 for the S 1.0i 16v three-door to ú11,950 for the 1.4i 16v SE+ five-door with NCVT. The 1.4 SE+ five-door featured is listed at ú11,000 on-the-road.

Along with the exterior and interior restyling work, Micra has uprated ABS with brake assist and electronic brake force distribution. Other new features include an additional ISOFIX child seat fixing point, a repositioned high-mounted brake light and engine immobiliser.