Wed 10 Dec 2003
To many it doesn’t seem an appropriate concept that the Japanese would build a mongrel.
After all the conception is that they are striving for perfection and Lutfwaffe-like quality control.
Sure they may not start with a clean slate at the best of times and take the what Germany or the US had started and finish it the Tokyo way, but not many people look at a Japanese car and think of a bitzer.
Well I was lucky enough to own the 1994 Japanese-spec Pulsar N14 SSS. A true gem of a car albeit second hand. This 5 door hatchback, according to the receipt in the glove box was nearly $34,000 brand new. Yes you’re right, you could have had a much, much bigger car than that for the money at the time.
34 large?! How could such a hatch land in Australia for that much moula? Well, if not for the closure of the Nissan factory in Dandenong, which can’t have been a bad thing in hindsight considering the watered down crap they were putting out, it may have never landed on our shores. They simply had nothing else to replace the Dandy spec Pulsar with but what the Japanese were driving - and god Nissan them for it.
In fact it should be noted that the Dandy-Spec Pulsar SSS is a lot shabbier than the Jap Spec. So don’t confuse the two unless you think milk crates constitute furniture.
The Jap spec SSS had side skirts, leather gear stick and wheel, higher trim spec a much better build quality and interior and a general feeling of a well put together piece of kit. I haven’t seen anything come this nice out of Dandenong that wasn’t hot.
Gleaming in black and silver, there was no doubt it was the hot hatch of the time. And to this day still looks a damn site better than the model that superseded it, the N15. Seems people don’t like being called bubble boy, let alone driving a car that will have them condemned as bubble boy forever. And this puppy only came with a five speed manual. No auto slushbox!
With tinted windows, black and silver cloth trim, spots of leather here and there it was tremendously stylish considering how kitsch most car interiors look these days under 40 grand. No day-glow pukey carpet patterns on the seats that look like they were ripped out of an old Greyhound bus or Ansett plane like most cars of the late nineties.
The bit that was the real clencher for me, was new or second hand, it’s hard to find a four cylinder car without a kitschy, slaggy cheap interior. And for the life of me I can’t work out why.
So extending on the bitser thing, yes she was a true mongrel. A true gem of a Nissan engine, the 2 litre SR20DE engine made entirely by Nissan and believe me is bullet proof (the cluth and gearbox, a little more mortal). A body made by Subaru (somehow, don’t know the details but it was) based on a design heavily inspired by the Saab 9000 series. Starting to sound like a bitser, I think so.
Grunt wise, the SR20 donk never disappointed. 104 kilowatts in standard kit (more power on tap with a better air cleaner and cat back exhaust), with only a manual transmission constantly disses Commodore V6 drivers by keeping up with them every inch. V8’s, forget about. But for P-plater thrills, unless your dad is an Indonesian Guerrilla General, this is probably about as good as it gets for most of us. And that’s the second reason why I owned one for so long.
It cost me about 14 large, and I still can’t think of a better car for the money that anyone under 50 can get insurance on (or am I just confessing to a bad record here. . .).
Technocrats might be a bit disappointed. Power windows, central locking extra adjustments on the driver’s seat are about all you get. No variable valve timing, keyless entry (did that exist in ’93?), cruise or climate control. But in fairness this car never felt lacking on features.
On a high note, in city traffic, there is none better than the Pulsar SSS. Comfortable for daily driving, plenty of grunt and just the right size to weave in between gaps in traffic. No turbo lag, just straight out off-the-mark power.
The driving position is sports car low and generally pretty comfortable. Not like the later Mazda 323s where you feel like you’re sitting on a soap box high up there. It gets a bit uncomfortable on long drives, but then again, my names not Sven and I couldn’t work out the Swedish masseur seat thingies on the drivers seat!
It also seats four comfortably without loosing too much higher end grunt and has a deep-as boot that makes you think twice about the merits of beefy Aussie family sedans. Fair enough for 14 large, you could get an Aussie 6 cylinder like a VR commodore or EL Falcon. They are nowhere near as much fun as a car this size. And if you don’t believe me, ask the VX commodore driver that bought it off me.
So what’s negative to say about the mongrel? Well the SR20 engine gets a bit thirsty after 100,000kms. And she likes the premium juice being an import.
Mine had about 120,000kms and would struggle to get 350km per tank on premium unleaded when you were having fun with it. New they got between 400-500km per tank according to people I’d talked to. So they definitely don’t loose the grunt but get expensive as they get older.
But for a mongrel, the SSS does have pedigree. Her big brother, the GTiR is remarkably similar to the Jap-Spec SSS. Except for the bonnet and the extra two doors, when they are parked next to each other, it’s hard to tell the difference. And to any import fan, that is kudos.
Now let’s not forget one important thing about the SSS. It’s front wheel drive, and depending on your perspective, torque steer is either great fun or the great party gatecrasher.
While you get used to it, you certainly don’t get any confidence pushing a SSS hard through twisty up-and-down Esplanade roads. In fact, against an MR2 it pretty much scared me. So you really can’t push her beyond her limits too much, or you will be crudely reminded that while the car is tits, it’s no 200sx. But it’s a lot easier to live with.