"carwitter" (carwitter)
09/05/2014 at 15:57 • Filed to: nissan, pulsar, review
7
68|
"carwitter" (carwitter)
09/05/2014 at 15:57 • Filed to: nissan, pulsar, review | 7
| 68 |
Nissan redefined the C segment back in 2007 with the launch of the Qashqai. Moving away from the traditional family hatchback market they have had wild success in pioneering the Crossover segment.
Well now they are returning to the family hatch market and bringing back an old name whilst they are at it.
The all new Nissan Pulsar aims to be ‘spacious, stylish and packed with technology’ we tested the 1.2 petrol DiG Turbo model. In top spec Tekna trim our test model would set you back £20,345. However the basic Visia starts from £15,995.
Nissan have been doing rather well on the design front lately, the Pulsar is no exception.
Its bold, muscular looks are well defined and give it a beefy road presence. Large front headlamps frame the Nissan ‘flying V’ that flows up the bonnet - the now standard range look.
Side on you get large glass windows and some subtle style lines, whilst at the back you find some very Qashqai-esque rear lamps that cut into the quarter panels.
Overall the Pulsar is a smart looker, much better than the new Ford Focus. Not vastly overt it holds its own being fresh and up to date.
We enjoyed the plucky little 1.2 litre DiG-T engine in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the Pulsar is no different.
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The 113 BHP unit provides plenty of low end grunt it is geared to maximise low speed acceleration and around town it is fairly nippy with a quick pick up, it’s rather impressive to say this diminutive engine can provide such low end poke.
At higher motorway speeds this initial fizz dies down, in gear acceleration is a little on the laboured side, you may have to change down a gear or two to quickly pass slower traffic.
Once up to those higher speeds kick it into 6 th gear and you are practically in silence. Revs sit around 2500 RPM but the soundproofing is excellent.
In fact there is rarely any intrusion from engine or road noise, the Pulsar is that quiet you start to notice the smallest amount of wind noise from the door mirrors.
Steering is light to the touch, the center point is a little devoid of input which makes the initial turn in a bit soft, but you gain lock nicely the further you turn the wheel. Around town it’s a joy to use, but also stays put at higher motorway speeds with no correction needed.
Ride is very supple, it takes pot holes with nothing more than a dull thud. This Nissan is very well damped, there is minimal body roll in the corners but you do find a little bit of nose dive under braking.
We also drove the 1.5 diesel with 109 BHP and 260 Nm of torque. Power wise the diesel is nearly indistinguishable from the petrol, the only thing you notice is the increase in torque which helps the pace of things at higher speeds.
The diesel is also well refined with very little noise intrusion into the cabin, even under load.
Inside the Pulsar is very smart. Well laid out infotainment controls are within easy reach of the driver, you also get steering wheel controls as standard across the range.
Plastics are of a good quality up top and easy on the eye, you notice this drops slightly as you get to the door trim, but its no big deal.
Our range topping model benefitted from the full array of Nissan’s ‘Safety Shield’ gadgets. This includes lane departure warning, blind spot detection, moving object detection, forward emergency braking.
Acenta trim is the bare minimum we would recommend, if you want more toys and gadgets then pluck for the n-tec trim level, this gives you a reversing camera, Nissan Connect 2, smartphone integration and Google Send to Car.
Rear seat legroom is superb, knee room is measured at 692 mm, that’s greater than the average D segment car. Headroom is also well matched, a 6 footer shouldn't have any issue due to the Pulsars high rear roofline.
All that passenger legroom doesn't mean the boot suffers though, you get 385 litres with the seats up. This then expands to a whopping 1,395 litres when the rear seats are folded flat.
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Nissan’s new pulsar is priced higher than the class mainstay – the Ford Focus. However the Pulsar is a fresh model to the market, arguably with more desirable looks, better legroom and a higher quality interior.
Its average driving dynamics are little to write home about, if you want something sporty and engaging you are best to look at a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
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However if you dont fancy a crossover but need a well specced spacious family lugger, look no further.
Carwitter Summary:
Nissan Pulsar – Good looker, affordable tech, pricier than competition, spacious interior.
Original Nissan Pulsar review can be found here on carwitter.com
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© – All text & images Copyright of carwitter.com
duurtlang
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:18 |
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I really wonder how well this will do, this many years after Nissan left the conventional compact market. The front of the car does looks good, I'm not a fan of the rear.
mcseanerson
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:21 |
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I had an 80's Pulsar for my first car. Wish they still sold them stateside.
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carwitter
> duurtlang
09/05/2014 at 16:24 |
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They seem to think there is a huge gap in the C segment market for family hatches still!
StevenG
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:35 |
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So what are the odds Nissan will ever consider bringing this to America? Looks a lot better than the Versa and Sentra.
MannyBones
> mcseanerson
09/05/2014 at 16:35 |
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I learned to drive on an '84 that someone had professionally made into a convertible. OK to drive with just 65hp and a 5-speed (5th gear actually lost you momentum), and if you wanted to put the hack job of a top down you basically had to take the afternoon off.
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mcseanerson
> MannyBones
09/05/2014 at 16:39 |
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Mine was a '87 IIRC. T-Tops and removable rear hatch. 1.6 with a 3 speed auto. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 hp and 2200 lbs. It's probably shaped my car tastes more than anything.
CitronC
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:39 |
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Way better than the half-baked sedan only Sentra we get.
Burnnerrrzzzz
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:42 |
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OMG this car is the...... most... ....errr... meh thing I've read about? Its nice looking, but so is the CR-Z and at least the CR-Z unique in its own mechanical write. The Pulsar is just ... a car. I guess their is a market out there for it, but it just seems to scream that it doesn't know what it wants to be. Now if they do what Mazda did and have the whatever model to sell to the masses, but create a Mazdaspeed version to inspire people to the brand, then we might have something special with the Pulsar....
Now I wonder what they could possibly do to the Pulsar to make it a special lineup?
Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa
> duurtlang
09/05/2014 at 16:43 |
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I feel absolutely the same about the looks. The front is very nice, the sides kind of and then we go to the rear which is overstyled, but not in a good way.
I would be test driving a Pulsar soon, as I am looking for a cheap/frugal car to replace my CLK as a DD, but if it doesn't interest me enough, I will go for a Punto or something from Citroen.
x2p428
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:47 |
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It's coming to North America too!
Octavian
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:47 |
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This is the successor to the Versa/Tiida hatchback, right?
bbutle01
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:49 |
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I came here for this.... Where is it?
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MannyBones
> mcseanerson
09/05/2014 at 16:52 |
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Mine (my parents', actually, since I was learning) was the older one that would have had the fixed roof had it not been chopped off. But, it felt sporty (it would be years before I had a Miata in the family), and it did give me a love for pop-up headlights!
Actually, my pop-up headlight fondness came from going to a sports car dealer in the mid 80's and seeing someone turn on the headlights of a Porsche 928 (also which I would someday own).
fintail
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:56 |
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Needs a "Sportbak" model with interchangeable pieces
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Doctor-G-and-the-wagen
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:57 |
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I wish the sentra looked this good, instead of the blobby, anonymously styled mess we have now. It's like they were trying to out-bland the Corolla and Cruze.
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Doctor-G-and-the-wagen
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 16:58 |
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Happy stick man! \o/
Jerk Dently
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 17:01 |
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I wish the upper portion of the back wasn't shortened on like this. It feels like it's embarrassed to be a wagon.
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mcseanerson
> MannyBones
09/05/2014 at 17:05 |
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I actually hated popups at the time I bought mine but I was shocked at how easy they were to work on considering all the bitching I always had heard about them.
Keith Moon
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 17:05 |
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Mmmmm, manual hatch. Do they offer other engine options with more power?
MzRtS12
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 17:21 |
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maxburto
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 17:27 |
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For a moment I was sure that this was a Nissan rebrand of the last-generation Mazda3.
It would not have been the first Mazda Nissan partnership.
The Mazda5 rebadged in Japan as the vary Japanese Nissan Lafesta Highway Star.
Nibbles
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 17:34 |
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Nissan needs to:
A: Bring this stateside
B: Not choke it with their abysmal CVT
evilfacelessturtle (Hooning a Ford is Domestic Abuse)
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 17:36 |
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Nissan have been doing rather well on the design front lately
Really? Because the last decent looking Nissan I've seen was in 2002.
gm0n3y
> Burnnerrrzzzz
09/05/2014 at 17:43 |
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The CR-Z is quite a bit more expensive and gets worse gas mileage.
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MannyBones
> mcseanerson
09/05/2014 at 17:48 |
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Yeah, those kinda sucked mechanically because two separate motors. The 928 has just one that drives both lights on a shaft. NA Miatas appeared to have motors just like the Pulsar though.
Pitchblende
> Keith Moon
09/05/2014 at 17:49 |
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Possibly not, their line-up in the UK is rather bi-polar at the moment, they have small cars, a cross-over, a truck, some vans, all of which are not at all sporty and then they have the 370Z and the GTR.
My Kids Have Four...Wheels (And Paws)
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 17:54 |
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It's a Leaf. Slightly massaged, but a Leaf just the same. That's not a bad thing, necessarily - it's just not terribly novel.
BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 17:55 |
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Couldn't read your article. I fell asleep while looking at the photos.
RoyRo8ma7a
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 18:16 |
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SoichiroFerdinandandEnzo
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 18:30 |
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Usually I see the, need this in America, argument and I understand, but don't fully feel as invested. This car however, I'd love to have it as a roustabout.
nmalinoski
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 18:36 |
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So where's the 2-door GTi-R model? Oh, there it is—back in the early 90s. :(
burpbeepburp
> mcseanerson
09/05/2014 at 19:05 |
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The Pop-ups on our '85 would regularly fail, they ate headlights about every 3 months. And the vent from the battery finally ate the L/S headlight wiring loom. Being partially owned by a French company cannot have helped Nissans basic engineering philosophy "Ship it the way it is, we'll fix it the 3rd time around and make them pay for the fix!"
Scrape
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 19:05 |
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Why does this look like it has been in an accident already?
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Scrape
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 19:09 |
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Of course, we won't get this in the US because it actually looks decent. However, they completely ripped off the Hyundai Elantra GT (i30) with this one.
Druid0
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 19:43 |
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Damn, that is beautiful.
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Druid0
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 19:46 |
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PLEASE BRING THIS TO AMERICA NISSAN!
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RoyRo8ma7a
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 20:50 |
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TheMightyTexMex
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 20:53 |
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This is what the Versa Note should have been. It looks like an updated last-gen Versa (Which, in my possibly biased opinion, is much better than the Note).
hessen
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 21:46 |
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I want the GTiR version stat!!
boneheadotto
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 22:07 |
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See if you just made the LEAF look like this then way more of us would drive electric cars. Im hopeful the 2nd gen Leaf looks less embarrassing cause i would really like one.
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boneheadotto
> Scrape
09/05/2014 at 22:09 |
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yeah it totally does.
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mcseanerson
> burpbeepburp
09/05/2014 at 22:13 |
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Wow, I only had to fix mine once and it was shortly after I bought it.
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thebullfrog
> Doctor-G-and-the-wagen
09/05/2014 at 22:24 |
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Will never unsee
lumberpile
> carwitter
09/05/2014 at 22:46 |
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All I can say thank goodness nissan's styling has moved into something more pleasant. The pre-facelift pulsar, sentra, altima and the old versa and a couple other cars were absolutely hideous
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duurtlang
> Octavian
09/06/2014 at 00:39 |
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Yes to the Tiida, no to the Versa. I'm writing this from a European perspective when I say this is what were're getting in stead of the Sentra the Americans are getting. It competes with the Ford Focus, not the Fiesta.
ratonbox
> Octavian
09/06/2014 at 05:02 |
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Oh god, that Tiida was as awkward looking as those two "i" in it's name.
Admiral Picard
> carwitter
09/06/2014 at 08:03 |
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There is so much ugly and awkward here.
wbizarre - OEM fetishist
> hessen
09/06/2014 at 09:59 |
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Just go to your local Autozone!
Kiltedpadre
> Scrape
09/06/2014 at 10:12 |
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I was starting to wonder if I was the only one that noticed that.
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Bobby J. Ocasio
> carwitter
09/06/2014 at 10:54 |
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Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go to tech tab for work detail
Frosted
> carwitter
09/06/2014 at 11:27 |
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I like this a lot. Any chance it'll hit the states?
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carwitter
> Scrape
09/06/2014 at 12:59 |
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Its just a reflection :)
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carwitter
> Keith Moon
09/06/2014 at 12:59 |
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A 190 HP engine is coming toward the end of the year.
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Keith Moon
> carwitter
09/06/2014 at 14:16 |
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That's good news :)
Spasoje
> carwitter
09/07/2014 at 04:42 |
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Does the Pulsar maybe share a platform with the Leaf? Looking at its silhouette and certain main character lines, I can't help but think it's the same basic car underneath... (not that there's anything wrong with that, of course; I'm just curious)
vc-10
> Spasoje
09/07/2014 at 11:24 |
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I think it rides on the same Renault/Nissan platform as the Note and new Clio, but expanded. I'd guess it'll be under the next Megane, too.
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carwitter
> vc-10
09/07/2014 at 17:41 |
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I believe it sits on the same architecture as the Qashqai which is the same as the new Note if i remember correctly.
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farrance
> carwitter
09/08/2014 at 09:04 |
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I vote for a new top 10 list.
Top Ten Cars that need to be plastered in Rally Livery; #3 2014 Nissan Pulsar.
Also, where is the GTi-R version?
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Octavian
> duurtlang
09/08/2014 at 09:28 |
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The Tiida is the same car as the last gen Versa. It competed against the Focus, kind of. The new North American Versa is smaller for some reason. The Sentra would be nice in hatchback with a 2L turbo.
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Octavian
> ratonbox
09/08/2014 at 09:30 |
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Hey, watch it, I have a Versa (same car) lol
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ratonbox
> Octavian
09/08/2014 at 09:43 |
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Like this one?
I will pray for you. :))
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Octavian
> ratonbox
09/08/2014 at 10:33 |
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I have a hatchback. It's slightly better looking.
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ratonbox
> Octavian
09/08/2014 at 16:03 |
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I'll give you that. It's decent enough. But I'd say you should consider the Pulsar. It looks awesome. ( hell, even I'd consider it, and I have a smiley car that I love- Peugeot)
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Octavian
> ratonbox
09/09/2014 at 14:12 |
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I would consider it, but I live in Canada :)
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ratonbox
> Octavian
09/09/2014 at 15:04 |
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Damn it, now I really envy you. I'd move there in a heartbeat.
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carwitter
> farrance
09/10/2014 at 13:08 |
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A Nismo version will be coming in a year or two :)
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Octavian
> ratonbox
09/10/2014 at 14:41 |
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It's not that hard to get a resident visa.
RamiHu
> Keith Moon
10/02/2014 at 14:03 |
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Maybe
http://jalopnik.com/nissan-pulsar-…