The hot hatch market is so crowded with models right now that there really is no point in launching something new unless it's amazing. Honda made it clear that it won't put the new Civic Type R on sale until it's the fastest car in its segment and it seems even Nissan wants to do the same with the Pulsar Nismo compact they've just announced.
In an interview with Australian magazine Car Advice, Nissan's corporate vice president of product planning Keno Kato said that the Pulsar Nismo will go after the front-wheel drive Nurburgring lap record when launched.
It's a tall order considering Renault just set a 7 minute 54.36 second time on the track with the radically stripped out Megane RS 275 Trophy-R, which comes really close to being a race car for the road. What's more, all reports hint at Nissan using a slightly smaller and less powerful engine for their Pulsar and Qashqai Nismo models.
A new 1.8-liter turbo is reportedly in development, expected to produce somewhere between 250 and 270 hp, slightly less than almost every 2-liter turbo hot hatch in the segment.
Kato's statement somehow manages to be both shocking and totally expected at the same time.
You see, Nissan's compact cars are among the lest dynamic in their segment. Models like the Micra and Note are not exactly the epitome of performance and their design and packaging is aimed at average buyers. Even the new Pulsar 5-door hatch which Nissan will base its hot model on is said to be comfortable, not sporty. And yet the Nismo division is as crazy as a bucking bronco. Their made the ballistic 600 horsepower GT-R that lapped the Nurburgring in 7 minutes and 8.68 seconds and somehow managed to breathe new life into the aging 370Z sportscar with a major tuneup.
Their new hot hatch somehow also explains why Nissan chose the Pulsar name to begin with. Between 1990 and 1994, they made something a homologation special called Pulsar GTI-R in order to comply with the WRC Group A regulations. It packed a turbocharged 2-liter engine making 230 hp and 280 Nm (210 lb-ft). Because this 3-door was very light, 0 to 100 km/h took only 5 seconds and the official time speed was an impressive 232 km/h (144 mph).
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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