Nissan Pulsar Nismo Concept revealed | video

Nissan's performance division Nismo is putting effort into rolling out a wave of variants that put some heat under their cooking brand models. And they've injected a 'big, bad shot of adrenaline' into the mild-mannered  Nissan Pulsar (Sentra in the US market) Pulsar, unveiling it at Los Angeles motor show as a hi-po Nismo version.

It's dressed to thrill far better than its Pulsar seed -- even the SSS -- with aggressive race-inspired body kit, track-tuned suspension with custom springs and shock absorbers, muscled-up arches housing 19-inch wheels behind which are the Brembo brake calipers swiped from the 370Z, and some show cues such as smoked headlight glass. Nissan says the  interior gets Recaro sports seats, chunky little steering wheel, Alcantara suede and carbon 'fibber' accents.

But it's not a case of style without substance. Under the bonnet is a turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine developing 179kW of power and 325Nm of torque -- trumping the Pulsar SSS by about 40kW and 85Nm -- delivered to the front wheels via a six-speed manual transmission and limited-slip differential.

Nissan hasn't announced that they'll put the car into production, but have given some strong hints in the statement that they are "revisiting the small car performance genre and teasing the future with ... the Nissan Sentra Nismo Concept".

"Fans have asked that we bring back a high-performance Sentra straight from the factory, just like in generations past," Nissan vice-president of product planning Pierre Loing said in the press statement. "With Nismo, our in-house motorsports arm already producing versions of the 370Z Nismo, Juke Nismo, Juke Nismo RS and upcoming GT-R Nismo, we wanted to demonstrate where we could go in the future."

Watch the desktop version of the Nissan Sentra Nismo unveiling here. 

This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott

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