Nissan Micra Nismo is the hot hatch we want

Nissan hear us out: If you build it, he will come.

By: Adrian Padeanu

Dec 6, 2016 at 4:45am ET

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The previous Micra supermini was offered in a spicy Nismo flavor at home in Japan, but it wasn’t a fully-fledged performance version since the upgrades over the regular model like the stiffer suspension, body kit and sportier exhaust note weren’t very significant. It did have an extra 39 horsepower (29 kilowatts) and 38 pound-feet (52 Newton-meters) for a grand total of (114 hp) 85 kW and 115 lb-ft (156 Nm), but that’s not exactly hot hatch material. Hopefully things will change with the Micra’s fifth generation speculatively rendered here in the top-spec Nismo trim.

Nissan’s new Micra looks all grown up in its latest iteration and we believe that makes it a more eligible candidate for a true Nismo edition packing both visual and mechanical upgrades. After all, there’s a Juke RS out there, so why not a Micra Nismo for everyone to enjoy?

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If by any chance there’s a Micra Nismo heading to Europe, it will likely receive the turbocharged 1.6-liter engine from the Renault Clio RS where it pumps out 220 hp (164 kW) and 260 Nm (192 lb-ft) of torque. That should be enough to put a smile on your face while driving the Micra Nismo without breaking the bank. That being said, it would have to face some stiff competition coming not just from its Clio RS cousin, but also from the all-new Fiesta ST due early 2018 and the Polo GTI likely arriving later the same year.

With Nismo announcing back in February last year plans for more Nismo models, it would make sense for the Micra to be on that list. Hopefully, this time around it won’t be a Japan-only model and will be offered with a manual gearbox (unlike the auto-only Clio RS) to please purists. Fingers crossed.

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Meanwhile, the regular Micra will go on sale in Europe from March 2017 once production of the B-segment hatch will kick off at Renault's factory in Flins, France.

Render: Automedia