Say Hello To The New Nissan Pulsar

Say the word pulsar to any JDM fan and one car will immediately spring to mind: the Nissan Pulsar GTI-R. With a powerful SR20DET engine under the bonnet, this scorchingly hot hatch became a Japanese performance legend. If you were a fan of that machine, we have good news: the Nissan Pulsar is back. The new car is a C-segment hatchback, which for those not fluent in marketing speak means it’ll rival the likes of the VW Golf and Ford Focus.

It’ll be built on a lengthened version of the Nissan Juke’s platform, and from launch will be available with a 1.2-litre DIG-T petrol with 113bhp, or a 1.5-litre dCi diesel with 108bhp. Certainly nothing to get excited over, but worry not: a hotter version will join the line up next year, with a 1.6-litre turbo petrol unit offering a useful 187bhp, and we’ll no doubt see the Nismo fettled 197bhp unit under the bonnet from the Juke Nismo. That’s probably not quite enough power to consider it a GTI-R successor, but we’ll always welcome a new addition to the hot hatch market.

On the outside, the styling is very much on the ‘safe’ side, with a tall, almost MPV-like look. Hopefully with a few sportier additions, the hotter version will look the part. With styling nods to big-selling Nissan models like the Qashqai, it’s likely to be popular with regular buyers.

It’ll be chock full of useful technology, with some models coming as standard with safety features like lane departure and blind spot warnings. The interior appears to be of Nissan’s usual high quality.

The new Pulsar will go on sale in the UK this Autumn.