About a year ago, Nissan announced Nismo was becoming a sort of in-hose tuning division, churning out body kits for every semi-cool car they make. They started out with concepts which have now reached production readyness, as the Juke Nismo is already on Europe's roads.
We understand where the Nismo version of the 370Z is coming from, as that car has a more impressive 350 horsepower. But the 'hot' Micra didn't appear to be all that hot.
Unveiled at a special event in Japan, the supermini to be known in Japan as the "Nissan March Nismo S" is actually quite cool. We found a walkaround video with the car which shows cool paint, wheels and bodywork.
The new bumpers are noticeably more aggressive and come with racing-style blades accented in red.
The car also has upgraded interior, brakes and suspension, but stops way shot of being an actual hot hatch. It's not even a warm hatch, since the engine is a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated unit with 116 PS and 156 Nm (115 lb-ft) of torque. However, we might be a little too quick to judge, since similar body kits are offered for rivals like the VW Polo (R line) and Skoda Fabia (Monte Carlo) in combination with underpowered engines.
For now, the Micra Nismo is only available in Japan, although that will probably change starting this September's Frankfurt show. The JDM price of JPY1,770,300 (EUR13,850) for the 1.5-liter model seems quite reasonable in our opinion, considering all the kit you're getting.
Unveiled at a special event in Japan, the supermini to be known in Japan as the "Nissan March Nismo S" is actually quite cool. We found a walkaround video with the car which shows cool paint, wheels and bodywork.
The new bumpers are noticeably more aggressive and come with racing-style blades accented in red.
The car also has upgraded interior, brakes and suspension, but stops way shot of being an actual hot hatch. It's not even a warm hatch, since the engine is a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated unit with 116 PS and 156 Nm (115 lb-ft) of torque. However, we might be a little too quick to judge, since similar body kits are offered for rivals like the VW Polo (R line) and Skoda Fabia (Monte Carlo) in combination with underpowered engines.
For now, the Micra Nismo is only available in Japan, although that will probably change starting this September's Frankfurt show. The JDM price of JPY1,770,300 (EUR13,850) for the 1.5-liter model seems quite reasonable in our opinion, considering all the kit you're getting.