It’s World EV Day today - don’t pretend like you didn’t know already. To mark the occasion, Nissan has confirmed a few additional specs of its Ariya NISMO, the car that will mark the return of the storied nameplate to Europe. With the Z remaining frustratingly out of reach, so it rests on the EV SUV to pick up where the GT-R left off. Yikes.
The 435hp we knew about, with a pair of electric motors and 87kWh battery. Now Nissan has announced that the Ariya NISMO will also boast 442lb ft, and the ability to hit 62mph in five seconds. All par for the course, really, as far as electric 4x4s are concerned; where the Nissan should get a little more interesting is in the ‘motorsport-inspired upgrades’ for an ‘even more exhilarating driving experience’.
So there are 20-inch Enkei wheels that are cast aluminium but promise comparable strength to weight as a forged rim, Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres and retuned steering for increased feel. Additionally, the suspension is completely overhauled from a regular Ariya, with a complete rethink of springs, dampers and anti-roll bars for ‘enhanced balance and body control’.
The revised e-4ORCE four-wheel drive could be where the magic really lies, however - Nissan has some history with fancy four-wheel drive, after all. Nominally its power split is 60:40 in favour of the rear, but the power sent to each wheel can be adjusted 10,000 times a second. Nissan says the NISMO improves on the standard Ariya’s ‘line-racing performance’ by 12 per cent; more excitingly, it says that the new version of the e-4ORCE takes knowledge from the GT-R’s old ATTESA system to achieve ‘greater turning and lateral forces’ than the old NISMO. Which would be some feat given how the old R35 cornered and gripped.
Extra updates from standard include a NISMO drive mode and an ‘i-Booster’, which increases braking performance with regen changes. Presumably it’s a more aggressive setting for one pedal driving, if perhaps not as extreme as the Ioniq 5 N’s N Pedal. But let’s see - nobody quite knows what to expect at the moment when it.
At launch, the Ariya NISMO will only be available in the Stealth Grey paint seen here with red accents. Sales are set to begin in January, though really keen customers will be able to get priority access later in the month. At which point we should know prices; given the most expensive Ariya is currently the £59,025 Evolve, something priced against the £65k Hyundai would seem about right.
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