Nissan Pulsar DIG-T 190

SBT trials the sporty, top of the range Pulsar from Nissan

There have been a number of Nissan cars gracing the pages of SBT over the last 12 months or so. It’s been with great interest that we’ve explored the range to find out what has been making the brand consistent winners of numerous specialist awards in recent years.

At first glance, the Pulsar is clearly from the same set of designers that have delivered the Juke and Qashqai to the nation’s forecourts. Perhaps aside from the larger Qashqai, I’m not convinced that they’re a big seller due to their looks, but hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So the Nissan range must have other attributes that are drawing our nation to the dealerships. Price is a likely candidate, along with economy and performance perhaps?

The drive of the Pulsar is convincing enough and with an average mpg of 45+ it’s certainly economical, which should appeal to families and of course business users with a high mileage to consider.

The Pulsar DIG-T 190 offers up a six speed gearbox which, I can only assume is for the purposes of fuel economy, drenching the maximum efficiency from any single gear and giving the sense of higher performance from the gear ratios in the box.

It is my opinion however, that the six speed box in this car only serves to cause wrist-ache from the constant stepping up-and-down through gearing as you attempt to get on your way. And all for an extra few mpg?

Now I understand that modern gearboxes commonly run up to (and around) the 8-gear mark, and that makes a lot of sense with centrifugal gearboxes. We rely on the super-clever computers and gizmos to decide the best gear for us to be in at any given time, to get the best performance, dependent on how heavy our right foot is. When it comes to manual gearboxes though, I can’t shake the feeling that we’re being duped in the name of statistics and the ever-present drive for fuel economy ratings to bolster marketing campaigns and therefore, sales.

This of course, isn’t an issue that’s exclusive to this car, or even this manufacturer. Simply something that has occurred to me during my time with the Pulsar and here seems like as good a place as any to air my grievances!

The engine though, is decent. The 1.6-litre DIG-T engine has been the secret weapon that’s powered the most underrated Nissan Juke, so sticking it into the front of the Pulsar was always going to make for an entertaining hatchback. Perhaps more on the warm side rather than a hot hatch, but still, it more than merits your attention when you push your foot down.

On the plus side, and with the benefit of this decent motor, when the Pulsar hits the open road (and the higher gears), it’s a good place to be. It’s comfortable, quiet, spacious and taking advantage of the time earned by not constantly having to change gear, you are allowed the opportunity to appreciate just how well loaded the car is with tech.

Given the price point of this car, it really has an impressive array of mod cons. Pretty much everything you would expect from a modern motor is here, and a few that are unusually absent from some, (i.e. no DAB radio in the near-30K Infiniti Q30 was a surprise). Electric everything, heated seats, decent stereo system and cameras for every manoeuvre, it’s fully loaded.

If you’re considering the Nissan Pulsar DIG-T 190, you’ll want to allow a budget of approx £19K for this car once you’ve allowed for dealer offers and a few well selected extras, which seems good value given the performance on offer. A quick scoot around the Internet tells us that you’ll not want to veer far over this price.

Both variants of the car include a unique trim finisher that extends to the full width of the dashboard, while alloy sports pedals give it a sportier look. The Acenta model gets equipment such as Forward Emergency Braking, automatic lights and wipers and Nissan’s ingenious i-Key system. At the top of the range, the Tekna gets distinctive white stitching on the three-spoke steering wheel and leather seats.

On top of this, you have Nissan’s ‘Safety Shield Technologies’ package, which includes forward emergency braking, moving object detection, lane departure warning and blind spot warning for a decent level of passenger protection. Both models are well kitted out for more common safety equipment, with six airbags, wheel-mounted audio controls, a tyre pressure monitoring system, anti lock brakes backed up by electronic brake force distribution and a stability control system.

All in all, a decent car from Nissan and a hell of a lot of car for the money.

Price: £23,015

MPG: 47mpg

Insurance Group: 18

EU Emissions Standard: 6

CO2 Emissions: 138 g/km

Fuel Delivery: Turbo Direct Injection

Transmission: Manual

Gearing: 6 Speed