The Wonderfully Silly Nissan Leaf Nismo Doesn’t Have More Power But You Do Get A Pair Of Recaros

Sometime in the past decade or so, economy cars became a little bit dour. Shaking off bright hues and the occasional unexpected performance package for fifty shades of greige and non-Rubbermaid-grade plastics did make them better commuters, but often at the expense of a little bit of spirit. Well, here’s a potential salve that reminds us not to take life too seriously. It’s the Nissan Leaf Nismo, and it’s a little bit juvenile.

First, some background. The Leaf is Nissan’s newly crossover-ized entry-level electric car in America, and it offers plenty of space for a starting price of $31,535. Add in up to 303 miles of range, a built-in Tesla-style NACS charging port, and Apple CarPlay, and the result is a rather competitive rival to the Chevrolet Bolt. On the other end of the spectrum, Nismo is Nissan’s racing and high-performance division that built its name by winning on the track and tuning up some of Yokohama’s hottest sheetmetal for the street. The Nismo 350Z, for instance, had a painstakingly seam-welded chassis for extra rigidity.

So what happens when the Nismo name’s applied to a mild-mannered electric commuter car? Well, it starts with a whole lot of red. Red stripes on the mirror caps, valences, and door trims add a touch of juvenile contrast that complements the Nismo body modifications. There’s a chunky front air dam, deep side skirts, and a proud rear lip that all visually push this Leaf closer to the ground. Of course, a body kit alone without a rear spoiler would look a little unbalanced, so Nismo’s gone and added a much taller ducktail to the liftgate. Schwing.

The red accents on the outside carry through to the interior, especially if you spec the optional Recaro seats. Yes, Recaro seats in a Nissan Leaf. What a time to be alive. Beyond those red-bolstered thrones, you get red stitching on the console, dashboard, steering wheel, and door cards, a red stripe across the dashboard trim, and even a red noon marker on the steering wheel. Do you really need a noon marker in a car like this? Probably not, but hey, that didn’t stop Nissan.

Does the Leaf Nismo get any extra power? Nope. Models with the 75 kWh battery pack still make the same 214 horsepower as their non-Nismo brethren, but the powertrain calibration is different. Nissan’s rather vague on what this actually means, but don’t be surprised if it partially translates to a punchier “sport” drive mode. That’s a bit underwhelming, but at least Nismo did change some parts underneath the warmed-up Leaf.

For one, the suspension’s been overhauled. Springs, dampers, anti-roll bars, all the sort of stuff you’d want to upgrade if you wanted to make your daily driver more fun. Beyond that, Nismo’s played with bushing compositions to tighten up compliance in places that were a bit jiggly for spirited on-ramp exploits. Of course, more purposeful suspension can only go so far without a good set of tires, so Nismo’s done the proper thing by chucking some Michelin Pilot Sport 5 summers on Enkei wheels. Score.

On paper, the Nissan Leaf Nismo won’t set your trousers alight, but it promises more fun at a time when even slightly spicy variants of affordable cars aren’t exactly abundant. I mean, the Volkswagen Jetta GLI seems to be living on borrowed time, nameplates like the Lancer Ralliart and Cobalt SS have long since disappeared from showrooms, the Hyundai Kona N-Line is pretty much just an appearance package, the list goes on. Better yet, there’s a chance the Leaf Nismo could make it to North America. I mean, we already get the Armada Nismo, so why not?

Top graphic image: Nissan