1 February 2013
The once popular Nissan Pulsar makes a comeback
Nissan's Pulsar nameplate left the new car market in 2006, when it was replaced by Tiida, but seven years on Pulsar has been revived as Tiida’s successor.
Visually, Pulsar has a sophisticated new look, with smooth flowing body lines and a large chrome-wrapped grille.
In the driver’s seat the cabin area feels rather spacious, with ample shoulder and leg room, while rear seating provides plenty of room too. The interior has a refined look with soft touch materials giving a quality feel. Both spec levels have switches on the steering wheel for cruise-control, radio and Bluetooth functions. There’s a full-size spare wheel and yet still a decent 510L boot space, although loading larger items will be tricky without the ability to fold the rear seats.
Improvements add up to fuel savings
The new Pulsar sedan is fitted with a 1.8L petrol engine, producing 96kW/174Nm. It uses the same motor that's fitted to Tiida but it has been reworked to give it a longer piston stroke and have less internal friction. The engine is bolted to Nissan’s latest CVT transmission, which has a new sub-planetary gear, to provide it with a taller gear ratio for reduced engine RPM when cruising. These mechanical changes have resulted in improved fuel efficiency, claimed to be 6.7L/100km in a combined cycle.
A manual-gear shifter is available across the ditch, but as Kiwis traditionally prefer two-pedals at their feet, on this side of the Tasman we will only be receiving CVT versions. However, when the hatchback models arrive they will have the option of a stick-shifting ‘box which should be a favourite among buyers of the SSS forced induction model.
Pulsar has a McPherson-strut front suspension setup and a torsion-beam rear suspension that soaks-up undulations in the road with ease and the light steering and soft ride add to the comfortable driving experience. NVH levels are impressive too.
While both the entry level ST and the Ti both come standard on 16-inch alloy wheel rims, the Ti models are distinguished by a boot spoiler, front-fog lights and leather upholstery.
Passive safety features include driver and passenger frontal and side airbags, two curtain airbags as well as front seat-belt pretensioners.
Active safety features include Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA), Traction Control (TC) and Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC).
A tightly fought segment
The new small car segment of the market in 2012 was dominated by cars like Holden's Cruze, the Mazda 3 as well as Toyota's Corolla, and comprised 21% of the total new car sales volume. More than half of the sales in the small car segment were made up of hatchbacks, with sedans taking a small portion. In Australia, Nissan expect a 50:50 split for sales of Pulsar hatchbacks and sedans, while in New Zealand the demand for sedans isn't so high, with an expectation of an 80:20 split.
The Pulsar is competitively priced and starts lower than the $30,195 Pulsar Q sedan retailed for in 2006. Now, seven years on, Nissan has stickered the Pulsar sedan at $29,990 for the base model ST and the higher specification Ti retails for $33,490.
The Pulsar sedan will be on sale from March 2013 and hatchbacks will follow in June.