Those expecting an answer to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N or even the Kia EV6 GT should temper their expectations, because Nissan itself says it doesn’t see the hot Hyundai as a rival. Instead, the Ariya Nismo is pitched at the Volkswagen ID 4 GTX and ID 5 GTX and the dual-motor version of the Kia EV6.
Priced at £56,620 (and there are literally no options), it is indeed in line with those cars, but on paper at least, the Ariya has a list of upgrades to make it at least a little more special.
It uses the same 215bhp front and rear motors as the standard dual-motor e-4orce models, but where they’re held back in the standard Ariya, in the Nismo they’re allowed to deploy their full power for a total of 430bhp.
In Nismo drive mode, it can send up to 60% of the power to the rear wheels. That said, because the motors are the same, that is necessarily done by throttling the front one.
The engineers have tweaked the suspension as well. The rates for the springs, dampers and anti-roll bars are subtly up across the board, but more at the back than at the front, in order to encourage turn-in. Rear rebound damping in particular is up by 67%. Somewhat surprisingly, the dampers are passive.
The Nismo sits on bespoke 20in Enkei wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres.
Naturally, there are plenty of sporty accents, with deeper bumpers and skirts, a ducktail spoiler and lots of red accents.
