Wife had a Micra for a while. I hated it.
Don't get me wrong, mechanically it was bullet proof and it was dead cheap, but it wasn't a happy car and it handled like a shopping trolley and any emergency breaking was always done while snaking dangerously and shouting "Fuuuuuuuucckk". I'd always feel miserable when driving it. Small Japanese cars just don't seem to have any fun about them.
I don't mind small French cars. In fact I like them because I always feel happy driving them. They handle really well until that once a month thing where they decide you might like to go backwards for a bit.
Best small car I ever had was a Punto. And by best I mean probably worst as it kept breaking down spectacularly, and often pieces of it would just fall off for no reason, like door handles, clutch slave cylinders, you know... little stuff like that. BUT, I always arrived where I was going happier than when I got in the car - which was driven to the limits of tyre adhesion at all times.
