Pulsar as a name has been around for some time, and some of us might have even spied vehicles donning the “Pulsar” name driving around Irish roads – if you have seen the name in Ireland prior to a few months ago, you were looking at an import. The Pulsar as we see it now is a new car.
Style:
I used to drive an Almera, and I have to say it was probably the most reliable car that I’ve ever had. It was the first car I fully owned (I had co-owned a Nissan Prairie with some friends prior to that – I’m currently writing its biography!). The Almera was a hugely popular car, but sadly it went down the boring route. For Nissan to re-enter this segment with a car that I find to be so similar to the Almera I would have hoped that they’d style it up a bit more and give it more pizazz.
The style of this car is fine but it just doesn’t stand out enough. The grille and bonnet lines come from the Qashqai, as does the rear styling. Maybe they could be a bit more exciting and not use the formula of the Qashqai for everything they create – “too much of a good thing” and that. It lacks a certain amount of excitement.
Inside
What the Pulsar lacks in excitement is made up for with the amount of space that this car offers. The boot offers 385 litres, which is more than the i30 and the c’eed. Legroom and headroom to the rear and the front is pretty much perfect. This is a good family wagon.
The interior is well laid out and the Nissan Connect and the 5” screen are intuitive and easy to use. There is a lot of plastic in here but somehow the Pulsar gets away with not looking overly cheap.
Drive:
Again, the Pulsar doesn’t overly excite in this department either. With that said, it is good at what it does. It’s reliable, it’s not overly bumpy, road noise exists – but it won’t deafen you, and when it comes to cornering it won’t let you down.
The most exciting drive I had with the Pulsar was at its launch in Barcelona back in October 2014. Nissan had chosen a nice route for us and it showed that the Pulsar could steer well and handle what motorway and country roads could throw at it. To the front the Pulsar uses McPherson Strut suspension and the rear has Twist Beam suspension. The comfortable drive is aided by the car’s Active Trace Control.
On-paper
Now it’s time for the on-paper statistics. What I drove was Nissan’s 1.5 dCi engine. The manufacturer tells us that this car burns 94g of CO2 per km and that it can offer a combined fuel consumption of up to 3.6l/100km. Having driven this car I did find that it was very fuel efficient, but I don’t think I’ve ever reached the “on-paper” figures in any car – I do try though! This particular vehicle offers 110bhp and a top speed of 190km/h. The Pulsar will take you from 0-100km/h in 11.5 seconds.
Also available is the 1.2 litre petrol DIG Turbo engine. This is more fun than the diesel model – it’s the main one I had tested in Barcelona – and it’s less expensive too. Depending on your driving needs the petrol model might be better suited to you.
There are three trims of Pulsar available – XE, SV, and SVE. Entry level specifications are attractive enough (5 inch touchscreen, air-conditioning, electric windows, and more) as is the entry level price of €19,995 (for the 1.2 XE model).
Overall
Overall I have to say that this is a very good car. It certainly won’t set the world on fire, but if you like your cars to be spacious, reliable and not too flash, then this may be the car for you. I don’t think it’s going to knock the Golf off its perch in terms of sales – it probably won’t be too much of a fighter with the Ford Focus either, but it will find its place in the market somewhere among the i30 and the Kia c’eed.
