Saar: It will go on sale in its home country on July 31, 2018.
Wait, what?! A Nismo derived Nissan Leaf? Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of travelling economically? For the uninitiated, Nismo is Nissan’s in-house tuning division. To put things in perspective, it is the same as AMG is to Mercedes-Benz, SVO is to Jaguar Land Rover and the ‘M’ division is to BMW. In essence, Nismo works to accentuate the sporty character of a car by giving an aggressive makeover, especially on the power front.
So, what has Nismo done to create its own, bespoke version of the Leaf? Actually, quite a lot! The boffins have managed to give the Leaf a sporty makeover, visually, which increases the downforce without hampering the drag coefficient. On the outside, the Nissan Leaf Nismo gets customer 18-inch aluminium wheels that help reduce air resistance. The grille, front and rear bumpers and side sill protectors have been restyled to bring in some Nismo design magic. The Nissan Leaf Nismo can be had in nine exterior colours, including two, dual-tone Nismo series’ custom Brilliant Silver with Super Black roof and Dark Metal Grey with Super Black roof.
To make the Nissan Leaf feel like a product that has been finished by Nismo, the interior includes a steering wheel that’s cover in Alcantara and leather with red stitching and gunmetal chrome trim. The instrument cluster has also been customised to feature a Nismo logo and gunmetal chrome finish. Some red accents have also been inserted around the AC vents and the start/stop ignition switch. Even the customised seats have red and grey stitching.
What else? Oh yes, the driving dynamics. That’s where Nismo products normally deliver their key-note speeches. Wrapped around the 18-inch aluminium wheels are Continental ContiSportContact 5 tyres which offer more grip. Nismo has also worked on customising the speed-sensing power steering, suspension, ABS, traction control system, vehicle dynamics control and the tuning computer to complete the sporty makeover.
The Nissan Leaf Nismo will first go on sale in its home country – Japan – on July 31, 2018. It will surely give those, who are always on the lookout for an engaging driving experience, something to think about.
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