Driven was the range-topping Micra Super S, a 3-door hatch which has exactly the same 1.3 litre engine as every other Micra, but gets added goodies like alloy wheels, comprehensive instrumentation, all-disc brakes, colour-coded body mouldings and driving lights.

The Super S also scores a sunroof that relies on a crank handle instead of power - which at least guarantees there can be no drenchings due to a blown fuse.

Early impressions were that the test car felt excessively nervous on any surface, until it was discovered that the tyres were grossly overinflated; reducing their pressures rendered a huge improvement to ride comfort, noise levels and handling.

A bit of relatively minor wind rustle was noted at both A-pillars, mostly around the mirrors, and the sunroof when open contributed a bit more, but its underbody insulation may have been improved along with the facelift because roadnoise seemed if anything lower than before.

Micra has an affinity with city traffic that makes it both reassuring and pleasant to drive as an urban runabout, returning an average fuel consumption on test of 7.2L/100km (39mpg), which improved on the open highway to 6.5L/100 (44mpg).

And for its size the Super S feels almost surprisingly well suited to the open road, zotting along at 110kmh with the rev counter sitting on exactly 3,000rpm, and tucking into bends with eagerness.

Its first birthday facelift gave Micra a new outlook on life, but there was no need to make any changes to its mechanical details; Nissan obviously does not believe in trying to fix that which is not broken.