Nissan Nismo

Does Nissan want to get back into the hot-hatch playground? The Nismo Pulsar, revealed last month at the Paris show, suggests it is preparing to take a bite from the Golf GTI. Maybe even the Golf R. Or that upcoming 360bhp Audi RS3 (see p48).

Though we’ve seen no shortage of fast Nissans in recent years, from the GT-R and 370Z to the oddball Nismo Juke, Nissan hasn't had a straight-up hot hatch since the not-greatly-memorable Almera GTI, having replaced its C-segment hatch with the Qashqai. But now, in the vanilla shape of the Pulsar, it has a base from which to tackle the hot-hatch elite. And though the cooking versions of Nissan’s strait-laced ve-door are only now hitting the road, already tuning arm Nismo has done its
more-fast-more-power-more-wing thing  to create this design study.

Nismo has dropped the Pulsar within microns of the tarmac, and treated it to a new carbon bodykit and twin-exit central exhaust. Lightweight 19in alloy wheels are slathered in sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tyres, while on the inside there’s a thinner, Alcantara-lined sports wheel and proper Recaro buckets. All good news.

But the big question, of course, is exactly how much power this old-school hot hatch is stufng to its front wheels. And the answer is… well, Nissan hasn’t quite decided yet. This concept employs a 1.6-litre turbo four the engine already found in the Nismo Juke in 197bhp state of tune making something in the 250–275 bhp region, but Nissan admitted it is still figuring out exactly where to pitch a production hot Pulsar.

That could, Pulsar product boss Andrew Limbert tells TG, range anywhere from warm-hatch Kia Pro cee’d GT territory so 200bhp or so through the 250bhp of the Megane RS and Focus ST crowd, and maybe even to the Golf R’s 300 bhp output or beyond. Limbert says feedback from car enthusiasts yep, that’s all of us lot will help to shape the answer. So what do you want from a hot Nissan hatch? Answers on a Japan-stamped postcard, please…