The forthcoming series of Nissan Micras, named Pixo and based on the Suzuki A-Star, will be built exclusively in Chennai, South India from 2010 onwards and will be shipped to other countries across the globe. Auto Blog green reports that the Pixo might have a 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.
The inclusion of a turbocharger in a petrol engine will without doubt effect in more power, and 140 hp is forecasted to gallop out of the Pixo's crankshaft when it's spinning at 6000 rpm. 140!??
140 hp in a car that sizes to a Chevrolet Spark will be frightfully exciting. Autocar India magazine this month informed that Tata Motors is working on a hot hatch variant of the newly launched Vista, and perhaps Renault Nissan is attempting to follow a similar path. So after all, manufacturers do see a market for hot hatches in India. On the other hand, maybe it might be introduced only in Eurpoean markets just like how Hyundai plonks a slightly more powerful Kappa engine on the export i10s. We have to wait and see what happens.
Source- AutoBlog Green