Autech, a Japanese tuning company that you probably never heard of, is turning 30 years old this month. And what better way to celebrate moving out of your parents' house than to install twin exhaust in the middle of your tiny hatchback. Introducing the March Bolero A30, a car you may know as the Micra.
Underneath the pretty purple paint and the big wheels is our favorite supermini... if you ignore all the other ones that are actually cool and go fast.
The good news is that the little Nissan for females isn't as slow as it used to be. Taking a page out of the "how to make a hot hatch" manual, Autech started with the HR16DE and took it all the way to 150 horsepower. You have to show these people respect for what they've done with a naturally aspirated 1.6-liter.
All the power arrives at 7,000rpm and is accompanied by 160 Nm of torque. The A30 comes as standard with a 5-speed manual that has had its stick shortened. The engine features racing cams, new springs, stronger pistons and a new crank, basically all the things people liked before the age of turbocharging.
The looks are a little familiar. In fact, we showed you this grille, bumper and headlight design back in 2013. However, the fenders are much wider to make room for the 205 87W Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tires and their ZR16 alloy wheels. They probably started with the Nismo version of the car to make everything fit. But our favorite part out of all of them is the custom exhaust system with two pipes coming out the middle, like on a Cooper S.
In the interior department, we see upgraded bucket seats, a racy steering wheel and custom floor mats with the Autech logo. The speedometer has been replaced and now goes all the way up to 220 km/h, which is a tad ambitious.
They are only ever going to make 30 of these and sell them for 3,564,000 yen. Expect the Bolero A30 to be available where you live... never.
The good news is that the little Nissan for females isn't as slow as it used to be. Taking a page out of the "how to make a hot hatch" manual, Autech started with the HR16DE and took it all the way to 150 horsepower. You have to show these people respect for what they've done with a naturally aspirated 1.6-liter.
All the power arrives at 7,000rpm and is accompanied by 160 Nm of torque. The A30 comes as standard with a 5-speed manual that has had its stick shortened. The engine features racing cams, new springs, stronger pistons and a new crank, basically all the things people liked before the age of turbocharging.
The looks are a little familiar. In fact, we showed you this grille, bumper and headlight design back in 2013. However, the fenders are much wider to make room for the 205 87W Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tires and their ZR16 alloy wheels. They probably started with the Nismo version of the car to make everything fit. But our favorite part out of all of them is the custom exhaust system with two pipes coming out the middle, like on a Cooper S.
In the interior department, we see upgraded bucket seats, a racy steering wheel and custom floor mats with the Autech logo. The speedometer has been replaced and now goes all the way up to 220 km/h, which is a tad ambitious.
They are only ever going to make 30 of these and sell them for 3,564,000 yen. Expect the Bolero A30 to be available where you live... never.