Game on for boy racer

While Nissan is not about to make any immediate announcement about the entry-level racer, one executive gave the strongest possible hint during the GT-R launch drive in Japan that such a project is well advanced.

“I don't have any announcement to make here tonight, but that is something that has definitely been talked about and is being regarded quite seriously,” Nissan's corporate vice-president for global communications, Simon Sproule, said.

“You may remember a couple of years ago Nissan showed a concept car called the Urge, a small two-seater sports car.

“The reaction to that car was quite strong and there is certainly room in the model line-up for a small sports car to slip in under the 350Z.”

Sproule said that over the next two to three years there would be a range of new product rolling off Nissan production lines.

“We will be competing in segments we may not be in at the moment,” he said. “With ... those new models you will be able to see more clearly how the entire product line fits together, how each model integrates with the rest.”

A small two-seater sports car, in the style of a Mazda MX-5 or a BMW Z4, would give Nissan an ideal stepping stone into its $60,000 350Z and up to the GT-R, estimated to sell in Australia for about $150,000.

The Urge was first shown at the 2006 North American Motor Show in Detroit and while the gimmick highlight of the concept was the ability to play an Xbox 360 next-generation video game using the car's own steering wheel, gas pedal and brake pedal while viewing the game on a flip-down seven-inch LCD screen (inset), the car's practical hook was its size and cutting-edge styling, which sets it apart from anything else in Nissan's entire current range.

However, Sproule did quash one strong rumour that has been floated on various motoring websites around the world.

“There has been a lot of blogging about the return of a 200SX (Sylvia). I can tell you now that it is not going to happen,” he said. “There are no plans for a return of that car.”