Nissan's Golf rival to get Nismo version, GT-R Nismo due next month with Williams F1 aero tech - photos

Nissan’s vice-president of sales and marketing Guillaume Cartier confirmed the upcoming Golf-rivaling hatchback will receive a hot Nismo variant and that the GT-R Nismo will be shown next month at Tokyo Motor Show sporting Williams F1-developed aerodynamics.

Due sometime next year, the C-segment hatchback from Nissan promises to take on the highly popular Volkswagen Golf VII “from BlueMotion to GTI” and it will do that at a competitive price tag.

Nissan’s response to the frugal BlueMotion Golf will be a diesel-powered model which promises to match the rival’s 88.3 mpg UK (73.5 mpg US or 3.2 liters / 100 km) and 85 g/km CO2 emissions. More importantly, at the other end of the spectrum we shall see a Nismo-prepared version of the new Nissan hatchback.

Nissan will show the GT-R Nismo at next month's Tokyo Motor Show and its aerodynamics were co-developed with the Williams F1 team. As a result of the changes, the more powerful and lighter GT-R will be able to lap the Nürburgring (Germany) faster than the current 7 minutes and 26 seconds. The GT-R will be exhibited alongside two concepts, a radical one which won’t spawn a production model and a retro-inspired vehicle that could reach showrooms in the future.

Nissan’s other plans for 2014 include the unveiling of the second-gen Qashqai at the beginning of the year, along with the market launch of the X-Trail which will replace not only the outgoing model but also the Qashqai+2 as the 2014 X-Trail will be available with an optional seven-seat layout.

Source: Al Ain Japan