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Nissan plots Pulsar SSS hot hatch rival for Golf GTI

The new-generation Pulsar hatch on which the SSS would be based was revealed at the Shanghai motor show in 2011.

Nissan Australia sees the car as also facing off against the Ford Focus ST, Renault Megane RS and Mazda3 MPS in the sub-$40k performance market. 

The new-generation Pulsar hatch on which the SSS would be based was revealed at the Shanghai motor show in 2011, and is expected in Australia in January 2013. The sedan variant is set to bow in Beijing later this month and would hit Aussie showrooms mid-2013. 

A reborn SSS variant could follow as soon as six months later. It is likely to be based on the hatchback if history is any guide; Nissan sold a Pulsar SSS hatch in Australia from 1991 to 2001 with sports suspension and bodykit, and a 2.0-litre non-turbocharged engine good for 110kW of power.  

Nissan sales chief Ian Moreillon says the Pulsar SSS is on Nissan Australia’s wishlist, but stopped short of labelling its return a done deal. “There’s a lot of heritage for the [Pulsar] SSS in Australia.

If we can find a way to do that, we will. We recognise that the appeal of the Pulsar is not just as a base model. If we can do something [special] with it, that would be good.

Certainly, if we can attract the SSS buyers of the N15 and N16 days (the 1990s) back into our brand then that would be good. “Whether or not we do that; wait and see.” 

To have the street cred crucial for a performance hot hatch to rival the VW Golf GTI, Renault Megane RS, Mazda3 MPS and Ford Focus XR5, a reborn Pulsar SSS would need a turbocharged engine producing somewhere between 160kW and 190kW of power. 

It would also need sports tuned suspension and a bodykit to match its abilities. Moreillon agrees. “All of those ways of making a car perform are good. There’s capacity, there’s turbocharging, supercharging… all those things could give a car the presence in the market to replace what the SSS 2.0-litre represented at the time.

Nissan Australia is not just planning a hot Pulsar. A 200kW V6 is also in the works for Nissan’s Altima medium sedan rival to the Toyota Camry and Mazda6 revealed at the New York auto show this week. “Look, we mentioned that we’d like to have a sporting edge to our brand going forward that matches what we are doing with V8 Supercars.

We’re comnsidering that for all appropriate Nissan models, and if Pulsar can leverage off that, fantastic. Moreillon drew the line at tipping an all-wheel drive system which would put the new-generation SSS head-to-head with the Subaru Impreza WRX. “No, I can’t see that. I think that opportunity is too distant.”