New Nissan Micra Cup Gets You Racing For Under $20K

Thanks to Nissan, there’ll be a new way for Canadian motorsport enthusiasts to get their first genuine racing experience in 2015. The opportunity comes thanks to the inaugural 2015 Nissan Micra Cup, which will start next May. As you may be able to guess from the circuit’s title, it’ll be a one-make racing series sanctioned by Auto Sport Quebec in which all the drivers pilot tuned up Nissan Micra hatchbacks.

At first glance, this idea may seem a little drab. But think about it… The regular commercial Micra may be an entry-level model, but it’s a sturdy little car and anything can be tuned up for track performance. See for yourself in the video below:

To make a car for the series, Nissan is partnering up with JD Motorsports to augment a batch of Micra 1.6 S hatchbacks (not available in the US) with a variety of performance upgrades. Those upgrades include NISMO’s S-Tune suspension kit, high-performance brake pads, a custom sports exhaust, a built-in safety cage, and custom Fastwheels with Pirelli’s low profile + high performance tires. Under the hood you’ll find the stock engine for the Nissan Micra 1.6 S, which is a 1.6L DOHC four-cylinder with duel fuel injection. The engine will be paired with Nissan’s Twin CVTC system and the Micra’s rugged stock five-speed manual transmission.

Of course, there’ll also be the standard motorsport safety features including a fire extinguisher, driver protection net and a five-point harness, along with front and rear towing hooks.

The best part about this is that Nissan will make all of this available under $20,000. In fact, at just $19,998 for the sport-tuned model, the Nissan Micra Cup is officially the cheapest motorsport entry point in Canada. And it’s fun to drive too! Jean-François Demoulin, a well-known Canadian racer, was invited to head-up the track-tuned Micra’s testing, and he was surprisingly pleased. “I really enjoyed every minute I spent testing the Nissan Micra… For a car which is still almost stock, it’s quite fast and so much fun to drive!”

Nissan tells us that they aim to have more than 25 Micras competing in each race weekend, and each driver will get a solid two hours of on-track racing time. That’ll come from a preliminary 30-minute trial, a 30-minute qualifier, and then two 30-minute races. Sounds like a ton of fun!

We have to say, this is a really smart marketing move on Nissan’s part to introduce the Nissan Micra Cup in Canada the same year that they’re launching the Nissan Micra NISMO. Every motorsport enthusiast should mark their calendar for next May when the series opens. And if you’re one of our Canadian readers with $20,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you can learn more about the Micra Cup at Nissan Canada’s official site.