A Brief History of the Nissan Pulsar GTI-R | Japanese Legends

All-wheel-drive hot hatches have been on the rise lately. And it doesn’t really come as a surprise since there is a massive market for them. For instance, the 2021 Carwow Car of the Year title was awarded to the Toyota GR Yaris, an all-new all-wheel-drive 3-door hatchback based on a rally car. It’s now undeniable that the car community is serious about hot hatches—it’s almost like an obsession at this point.

Nissan Pulsar GTI-R was one of the hottest hatchbacks in the 1990s. With the Nissan Skyline GT-R known as ‘Godzilla,’ the Pulsar GTI-R was considered the ‘Baby Godzilla.’ It was a small turbocharged all-wheel-drive hatchback that was designed for rallying. But how does it cope with its purpose of existence? Here’s the story behind this half-strength Skyline carrying Godzilla’s soul at a more affordable price.

Backstory

The Pulsar started life as a regular family hatchback. It was first introduced in 1978 when the N10 and N11 models were created as a subcompact to complement the Nissan Sunny sedan. Skipping through the second generation (N12) and the third generation (N13) of Pulsar produced in 1982 and 1986, respectively, in 1990, the fourth generation of Pulsar was born with the model code N14. In Japan, the N14 was made with an extended range of selections, including six different engines, three body shapes, and two drivetrains, for a total of eighteen available variants.

In the same year as the N14 launched, Nissan wanted to enter the WRC as a manufacturer and needed to fulfill FIA Group A regulations requiring it to produce 5000 units of the road-going versions in order to be homologated. Hence, one of the variants found in the N14 was the GTI-R, made precisely for that reason. The car was about to go against the most challenging Group A opponents, such as the Ford Escort RS Cosworth, Lancia Delta Integrale, Toyota Celica GT-Four, Subaru Impreza WRX, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Therefore, Nissan had to put a serious effort into making the Pulsar GTI-R a worthy opponent.

Nissan Pulsar GTI-R

The N14 Nissan Pulsar GTI-R is a 3-door hatchback that was the product of Nissan’s homologation effort to enter the WRC under Group A rules. Produced from 1990 to 1994, the car was sold in Japan as the Nissan Pulsar GTI-R with the chassis code E-RNN14 and in Europe as the Nissan Sunny GTI-R with the chassis code EGNN14.

The GTI-R is powered by a 2.0 liter SR20DET four-cylinder turbocharged engine producing 227 hp (230 PS) at 6400 rpm and 210 lb-ft (280 Nm) of torque at 4800 rpm. Mated to this engine is a five-speed manual transmission, channeling power to all four wheels through Nissan’s iconic ATTESA all-wheel-drive system (the same AWD system found in the Skyline GT-R).

Combining the engine, the AWD system, and a curb weight of just 2690 lbs, the GTI-R accelerates from 0-60 mph in only 5.4 seconds, covers a quarter-mile in 13.5 seconds, and can reach a top speed of 144 mph. 

Nissan sold the Pulsar GTI-R A-spec version (GTI-RA) and B-spec version (GTI-RB) in Japan. Meanwhile, the European market would get it as a Sunny GTI-R available in both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive.

Nissan Pulsar GTI-RA

With a model number EBYNRVFN14T, the A-spec GTI-R is the lower trim that came standard with power windows and mirrors, air conditioning, and ABS.

Nissan Pulsar GTI-RB

With a model number EBYNRRFN14T, the B-spec car is closer to the rally specced car with the removal of the ABS and the power windows and mirrors. Air conditioning was an optional feature in the B-spec car. The stripped-down version was 66lb lighter (to 2,624 lbs) and also got a close-ratio gearbox option. Nismo would offer the B-spec car with many of the Nismo rally options such as roll cage, footrest, suspension, as well as limited-slip differentials. However, only 21 Nismo variants were produced.

Nissan Sunny GTI-R

The Sunny GTI-R is the European-delivered GTI-R that was produced from 1992 to 1993. It has the same engine and mechanicals as the Pulsar GTI-R. Still, the power output was reduced to 220 PS and 197 lb-ft of torque to compensate for the lower octane fuel available in Europe. It has the base of the A-spec GTI-R, available in both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive configurations.

Group A & Group N Rally

The GTI-R finally made it into WRC after Nissan produced the minimum required 5000 units of the road-going version. Although the engine output of the works machines reached 300 PS for the rally-spec, the car did not perform as well as it thought it would in the Group A WRC. In two years, the car never finished better than third place in any of the events.

After the 1992 season, Nissan abandoned the campaign and stopped the Group A rally car’s development. However, while Group A was being axed, Nissan helped the Nissan Belgium Rally Team to develop a Group N rally car that would later succeed in taking 1st and 2nd places in the Group N Championship (FIA) Cup for Drivers of Production Cars in 1992, proving it could be a real champ in the rally world.

Last Words

The GTI-R never won a WRC Group A rally. However, although it failed to be the car it was first intended to be, the GTI-R was not a complete failure in the market. There were a total of 14,613 GTI-Rs sold worldwide. It was meant to go on a head-to-head battle with the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mark 3 and the Honda Civic Si, which would both eat the GTI-R’s dust.

If there was one thing that Nissan did superbly with the GTI-R, it was the fact that it tried hard and succeeded to make it carry the soul of the Skyline GT-R in such a compact design. It was undoubtedly a contributor to the greatness and innovation of hot hatchbacks that we see today.

Specifications

Download your Nissan Pulsar owners manual here!

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