DUALIS is the name of one of the smallest compact SUVs you can buy. It’s also probably the tallest and most SUV-like of all small-cars available. Either way you look at it, the Nissan is an interesting alterative in the $30,000 segment, straddling these categories plus a smattering of medium and larger sized family cars. And with such stiff competition, the true replacement for the lamented Pulsar has a good deal to recommend it. Our only real issue with it is whether the deal is good enough for what Nissan is charging.

Nissan Pulsar hatch
Released: June 2001
Ended: January 2006
Family Tree: DualisNo, not the homely N16 sedan that became the doyen of district nurses throughout the nation, but the smarter and funkier five-door hatch that goes by the name of Almera in its European homeland. When new, the N16 hatch was always knobbled by unfavourable exchange rates, but the price premium over the Pulsar sedan was well worth it when you sampled the hatch’s delightful handling, good ride, lovelier interior and better overall packaging. And despite a rather disappointingly harsh 92kW/161Nm 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine in four-speed automatic or five-speed manual guises, the overall effect always felt more Euro-chic than Nissan-cheap.
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