Nissan

Pixo

This is a fantastic city car with the ability to dash around town with ease. Packed with features, the Pixo is great for parking and is deceptively spacious inside. Excellent economy figures are another bonus.

The good

Excellent value and low running costs

The bad

Feels a little unprotected on open road

Tech Specs

Price from

£6,995

Combined Fuel up to

64.2mpg

0-62 from

17.0 seconds

max speed up to

93mph

co2 from

122g/km

Test Drive

Nissan Pixo 1.0 Tekna

Okay it’s a fact, the Nissan Pixo is never going to turn that many heads in a beauty contest and when it comes to blistering pace, the vehicle may be left at the starting gate, but there is a place in our marketplace for this sort of vehicle and the demand is growing constantly.

You see, many motorists these days are willing to forego the drop-dead-gorgeous streamlined looks of a car along with the 0-62mph-in-a-nanosecond stats in place of a cheap to buy, economical to run, practical vehicle that is friendly to the environment and the pocket.

So, enter the Pixo, Nissan’s Indian-made Suzuki Alto clone which, as one of the cheapest cars around, is proving a very viable threat to the likes of the Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo to name just a couple.

The model supplied for my test drive – the 1.0-litre top-of-the-range Tekna – had room for four adults and to be fair the legroom in the back was not that bad, although the tiny boot really does prove this is a buzz-about-town and do the weekly shop sort of a car.

The Pixo boasts a range of creature comforts and safety features.

For example, for less than £10k you are treated to air con with pollen filter, front power windows, a CD player with MP3 compatibility, electronic stability programme, numerous airbags, remote keyless entry, central locking and an immobiliser to keep any uninvited attention at bay.

The test model also boasted a few additional extras such as wind deflectors and alloy wheels.

The drive itself was most encouraging. Although, I initially thought the Pixo would be better confined to city centre driving, it actually held its own quite convincingly on the motorway too.

Acceleration through the five-speed manual transmission was efficient and responsive and, although a little noisy at higher speeds, it was still a pleasant drive. After all, what is that CD player for!

All in all, I found the Pixo really grew on me as the week went on and it’s certainly a vehicle that has a place in today’s ever-growing marketplace.