Nissan re-enters mid-range market with new Pulsar

Nissan’s new Pulsar

This week, Nissan announced that it will re-enter the mid-range market with a new Pulsar model that is a replacement for the popular Almera.

The Pulsar will be available later this year with petrol and diesel engine options.

It will be available with a choice of turbo-charged petrol or diesel power. The entry model will be the 1.2-litre petrol version, offering 115bhp and low 95g/km CO2 emissions.

There will be a 1.5-litre diesel engine option, similar to the engine fitted to the Juke, Qashqai and the new X-Trail launched this week.

The company claims that the hatchback Pulsar is more spacious than the competition in the form of the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus or Toyota Auris.

It is also claiming that the car has the longest wheelbase in this sector of the market and offers the greatest level of rear legroom. Despite this, the over-all length of the car is still modest at 4.385m.

The Pulsar will be available with a range of impressive safety options.

These include the Nissan Safe Shield system, which includes forward emergency braking, moving object detection, lane departure warning and blind spot warning, all of which are currently offered as options on the new Nissan Qashqai.

Prices for the Pulsar will be announced closer to the time of its arrival on the Irish market, later this year.

Volvo offers Drive-E on V40

From this month, all new Volvo models will have the option to be built with engines from the new Drive-E powertrain family. This system gives low CO2 emissions.

The CO2 emissions of the 190hp Volvo V40 D4 with manual gearbox are down to 99g/km (74.3 mpg) with claims of no compromise on power and efficiency. The figures for the V40 Cross Country are just 104g/km (70.6 mpg).

The new V40 D4 will also be available to order with Volvo’s new eight-speed Geartronic automatic gearbox, with just a marginal drop in fuel economy compared with the manual gearbox models.

All new Volvo models can now be equipped with the updated on-board infotainment and navigation experience Sensus Connect. This was first seen in the S60, V60 and XC60 and it uses cloud-based services to allow the driver to find and pay for parking, discover new restaurants at the destination, stream favourite music seamlessly and much more.

Peugeot extends 308 offer to sportswagon

Peugeot has restyled the 308 Sportswagon (SW) into a more modern and refined estate car.

The wheelbase of the SW is 11cm longer than the hatchback and the rear overhang is 22cm longer to give more rear passenger room and a bigger boot.

The company claims that the boot size, at 1.06m, is the best in the segment, giving 660 litres in total capacity.

The car has wider rear doors for better access than in the past and the rear seats are 29mm further back, compared with the hatchback version.

The car’s height is lower and it is lighter, while the aerodynamic rating is improved to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emission levels.

The Peugeot 308 SW benefits from a range of new Euro 6 petrol and diesel engines. For petrol, power outputs are between 110bhp and 155bhp, with CO2 emissions range from 109g/km.

The e-THP 1.2-litre 130bhp turbocharged version with a six-speed manual gearbox sees the introduction of Peugeot’s PureTech three-cylinder petrol engine technology to the range.

CO2 emissions have been reduced by 21%.

This engine has already achieved a new fuel economy record, fitted to the new 308 hatchback. From July 2014, the petrol range will be rounded off with a 1.2 PureTech three-cylinder 110bhp turbo-petrol version, as well as a new six-speed automatic gearbox on the 130bhp petrol version.

Prices for the Peugeot 308 SW will be announced closer to its arrival in Ireland during July of this year.

The Peugeot 308, on which the 308 SW is based, is European Car of the Year 2014, after winning more votes than six other vehicles, including electric cars from BMW and Tesla Motors.

The 308 received 307 points from the jury of European journalists.

The BMW i3 came second with 223 points and Tesla’s S model was third with 216 points.

The Citroen C4 Picasso took fourth place with 182 points followed by the Mazda3 with 180 points.

Skoda’s Octavia took sixth place with 172 points and seventh position went to the Mercedes S class.