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
Missed opportuntity here, they should have made it AWD. This is based on the same platform as the Ariya, so it should have been possible
My hot take is that there’s nothing at all wrong with a mechanically pedestrian economy car that looks cooler and handles slightly better than a lesser trim level.
I don’t hate it. But then again, I don’t hate the current Leaf, especially in that Tiffany-box blue it comes in. Didn’t Nissan already suggest this was going to be the final iteration of the Leaf, or am I just imagining that? I wish they had priced the base model in the upper $20Ks like the Bolt though. I’ve yet to see many new Leafs on the road here in SoCal, even though they’ve been selling ’em for a while now. 🙁
In case anyone’s interested, right now the Leaf NISMO is only offered in Japan, where it starts at USD$40,500. and goes up to USD$44,300. with the Recaros.
Honestly, if you like the cosmetic tweaks, paying $40K for one vs. a non-Nismo Leaf isn’t too bad. I love the spoiler out back, but am not too crazy about the ground effects stuff, especially given the bad roads around here and my steep driveway (I keep meaning to measure the angle, but it’s somewhere not far from 30 degrees). A bit boy-racery, but I dig the red bits inside too, and the Recaros. Sure, it’d be nice if they had bumped the power a bit just for bragging rights (about specs).
I’m still waiting for someone to put Ferrari Luce badges on a blue Leaf. 😉
Looks fun, tightened up suspension is all most cars need to be a lot more fun. Idk why ev makers are so resistant to putting in a bigger motor though. On paper seems a lot easier than going from an I-4 to a V-6.
It’s probably not just the motor. They likely sized every part of the electrical system based on the original motor and would have to upgrade a lot of parts to go bigger.
I think it’s exactly what I would do for a ‘hot’ leaf. Most EVs are very punchy already, put the effort into suspension and throttle response.
So, what’s the point?
If not even Nissan cares about nismo there’s no wonder people don’t either. They’re speedrunning their demise ar this point
Your third paragraph, at least as presented to me in my browser, is hilarious. Schwing! Party on, Thomas!
“Nismo Doesn’t Have More Power”
Maybe it should, to halt the constant disappointment and disinterest every time they announce a Nismo version.
I’m still of the opinion the “3rd Gen” Nissan Leaf should have been a 2nd Gen Leaf with a NACS port and some extra cost saving functions. Though it wouldn’t have hurt to give it a fan to cool the battery like with the eNV200.
My 2nd Gen Leaf has a NISMO (by Quaife) 2 Way Helical LSD in it, this Nismo “Leaf” is just sad by comparison
So pointless. Power is basically free in an EV, it’s amazingly lazy to not offer more.
This is an appearance package.
I mean… Springs, dampers anti-roll bars and bushings is basically a performance driving suspension makeover. Throw in real performance tires, and the handling of the vehicle is going to be completely transformed.
I can think of plenty of ‘sport packages’ that provided non of those things, maybe a roll bar or improved all seasons at best.
Don’t forget that most EVs don’t actually allow anything close to the full torque the motor & battery could theoretically output from a stop. Torque is limited dramatically to protect CV axles, limit torque steer, and preserve the hardwearing economy tires fitted to maximize range.
260lbft may not sound like much in modern terms, but drop the clutch in something like a SAAB Viggen and you’ll know that’s plenty to shred tires through more legal street speeds in a compact FWD car. Especially if it’s available instantly.
So, by fitting more capable tires and adjusting the throttle and traction mapping, Nissan can unlock a portion of the existing power band that was previously unusable, resulting in a vehicle that is measurably faster through the lower portion of the power band.
TLDR: These are literally the kind of changes that make an otherwise boring car enjoyable to drive, while remaining attainable to the average person.
We really haven’t seen these kind of factory tuned vehicles at the low end of the EV market. Much like the VW GTI, cars like this could actually go to some lengths to get regular people excited about EV driving.