2015 Nissan Pulsar SSS Sedan REVIEW | Good Value, But Not Quite ‘There’ As A Performance Model
FOR HOT-HATCH FANS, THE ‘SSS’ BADGE ON NISSAN’S PULSAR HAS BEEN SYNONYMOUS WITH PERFORMANCE – AND SOME, LIKE THE N14 SSS OF THE EARLY 90S, WERE RIPPERS. The ‘grey import’ Pulsar GTI-R, with manic turbo and ‘street fighter’ looks, has also inflamed passions among the cognoscenti for a sporting Pulsar badge.
Updated mid-2015, the Series II Pulsar line-up adds the SSS badge to the four-door sedan model. It isn’t costly – there is a lot of car here for a $27k turbo manual – and, with 140kW to call on, neither is it lacking in ‘go’.
But it just doesn’t quite nail it as a ‘performance model’.
What is does offer, however, is plenty of value with a long standard equipment list (satellite navigation, leather seats and cruise control are standard) and the usual Pulsar attributes of interior space, comfort and good build-quality.
Vehicle Style: Four-door sedan
Price: $26,990 plus on-roads
Engine/trans: 1.6 litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol; 140kW/240Nm, six-speed manual
Fuel Economy claimed: 7.8 l/100km / (tested) 8.7 l/100km
OVERVIEW
The Pulsar SSS sedan replaces the previous Ti model at the top of the Pulsar range.
It offers the same feature list as the Pulsar Ti, but, thanks to the punchy turbocharged 1.6 litre powerplant, mild bodykit and 17-inch alloy wheels, is a much sportier proposition.
With a price tag of a very reasonable $26,990 (we tested the six-speed manual), the SSS also significantly undercuts the jettisoned $29,990 Ti model.