What the car is and where it came from
The GTI-R is a three-door hatchback in Nissan’s N14 series, sold in Japan as a Pulsar and in Europe as a Sunny. It was a homologation variant, produced from 1990 to 1994 so that Nissan could enter the World Rally Championship under Group A rules. Those rules called for 5,000 cars in total, 500 of them homologation models, which is why the first year of production, 1990 to 1991, was the largest.
How it works, in terms someone would actually use
Under the bonnet is a turbocharged 2.0-litre SR20DET, a unique variant coded 54C, rated at 169 kW (230 PS) and 280 N·m. It drives all four wheels through the ATTESA all-wheel-drive system. The body is largely the standard N14 three-door, set apart by a large rear wing and a bonnet scoop. The standard car weighs 1,220 kg and is quoted at 0 to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds, the standing quarter-mile in 13.5 seconds and a manufacturer-claimed top speed of 232 km/h. The European Sunny version is rated at 220 PS and 267 N·m because its engine management is mapped for the lower-octane fuel sold there.
What it gets right
In production-class rallying it delivered. In 1992 the GTI-R took first and second in the FIA Group N cup for drivers of production cars, with the Nissan Belgium Rally Team and the Japanese privateer Nishiyama Racing. The stripped-down GTI-RB, a base for motorsport, dropped air conditioning, power windows and ABS to reach 1,190 kg, and many Nismo parts could be ordered with it. The road-going GTI-RA kept that equipment as standard.
What it does not
It never won a WRC Group A rally. Nissan Motorsport Europe, based in Milton Keynes, entered the car in 1991 and 1992 at selected events and abandoned the campaign in 1992 after only nine rallies. The failure is generally put down to uncompetitive Dunlop tyres, a top-mounted intercooler that struggled once power was raised to Group A levels, especially in hot weather, and political and cultural issues between Nissan Japan and the newly created team.
What it changed
In the championship, little. Factory development stopped and Nissan redirected funding to Le Mans and the R390, while the team turned to the front-wheel-drive Sunny GTI in the WRC F2 category, where Alister McRae won the 1995 BRC. The cars themselves lived on. After the programme closed, the works cars went to private buyers, some reaching rallycross, and Tony Bardy competed in UK rallies in one until 2015. Nissan keeps its 1991 Acropolis and 1992 RAC entries at the Nissan Heritage Collection in Japan.
Who it is for, and who it is not
Buyers had a choice. The GTI-RA was the road car, priced at ¥2,270,000. The RB was the rally base, and Nismo built 21 “Complete Car” versions on it, priced at ¥3,140,000. The Sunny GTI-R came in left- and right-hand drive and had no RB. In all, 13,842 Pulsars and 771 Sunnys were built, 14,613 cars. It is not for anyone wanting a works rally car, since the Group A cars were not available to the general public while the works team ran them.
Is it worth your time
Yes, if you want to understand a homologation special: a hatchback with a turbocharger, all-wheel drive and a wing, built to satisfy a rulebook. It is also a clear case of a rally programme that stopped after nine rallies, while the road car and its production-class results carried on.
