Nissan Pulsar Nismo concept debuts in Paris

Nissan has yet to comment on which motor lurks underneath the Pulsar Nismo's bonnet. We do know, though, that the show car features a six-speed manual transmission and has a redline that's been set just shy of 6500rpm, although there's no boost or temperature gauge either in the instrument cluster or atop the dash.

It's possible that the Pulsar Nismo could feature the same 179kW/325Nm 1.8-litre turbocharged direct injection motor used in last year's Sentra Nismo concept. Confusingly, the American Sentra shares a lot more in common with our Pulsar than the Euro-market version seen here.

Housed underneath its wheel arch flares are 19-inch alloy wheels clad in Michelin 235/35 rubber. The wheel and tyre package has been twinned with a revised suspension layout that not only sits lower to ground, but also features reworked spring and damper rates that Nissan claims delivers the "kind of agile and sporty responses that are synonymous with Nismo models".

The company has also tweaked the Pulsar's steering to deliver a more direct response.

Two large centrally mounted exhaust tips hint at large power reserves, while parts of the front splitter and air intakes, as well as the rear wing, diffuser and rear bumper assembly are fashioned from carbon fibre.

Using the red equals sports theory, the Pulsar Nismo concept features red trim throughout the cabin, as well as on the front spoiler, wing mirrors, side skirts and rear diffuser.

On the inside, the car features drilled alloy pedals, and copious quantities of Alcantara and leather to cover the deep bucket seats and steering wheel.