The Nissan Qashqai, or Rogue in the USA, has been a runaway sales success that helped spawn a suite of compact SUVs.
If you’re a family, gone are the days of the boxy minivan as you can drive a crossover that was both practical and more stylish than the automotive equivalent of a refrigerator. If you drive a hatchback or saloon, with the Qashqai you can get the high driving position of a 4×4 but without the agricultural driving experience. And, if you simply want to have more road presence, you can buy one with 20-inch wheels and a large touchscreen with 360-degree cameras to show your mates.
Back in the day though, pre-compact-SUV, that last customer used to care about sporty looks, rear-wheel-drive handling finesse and a fizzy engine. It was all about looking fast and compromising space for pace.
Halycon days, where Nissan made not one, but an entire range of sports cars. In one of this week’s GT Sport ranked online Daily Races, you get to drive two of the 1990s legends.
Race A sees two Nissan sports cars do battle around the Dragon Trail – Gardens circuit. Starting with the Nissan Silvia S13 from 1990, you can also race in the 180SX from 1996 that arrived later but was based upon the S13’s chassis.
This means two-doors, sub 1300kgs, rear-wheel drive and on the 180SX at least, pop up headlights. I’d take one of these over a Qashqai any day…
You can continue my arbitrary Nissan obsession by plumping for the GT-R GT3 for Race B, too. You could also choose any Gr.3 car from your garage, but where’s the fun in that?
Three laps around the lesser-spotted Circuit de Sainte-Croix B but no consumption means a high-speed blast – that is, if you can remember which corner comes next…
Rounding out the three races on the roster this week is Race C, the event that historically delivers tyre wear, fuel usage and a mandatory pitstop. This week is no different, with nine laps around Suzuka in any Gr.4 car of your taking. We’re a long way down the Nissan path now, so we’re driving the GT-R here too.
Full details of each race are below, and the playlist will next reset on Monday 9th August 2021. Keep your eyes peeled for a GT Sport game update on 3rd August. Don’t forget to watch our 10 best tracks in GT Sport video, embedded below.
Race A
Car: N200 – Nissan 180SX Type X ’96 or Nissan Silvia K’s Dia Selection (S13) ’90
Track: Dragon Trail – Gardens
Laps: Four
No. Of Cars: 12
Duration: 15 Minutes
Tyres: Sports Medium
Fuel Consumption: None
Tyre Wear: None
Start Type: Grid Start
Race B
Car: Gr.3, any
Track: Circuit de Sainte-Croix – B
Laps: Three
No. Of Cars: 16
Duration: 15 Minutes
Tyres: Racing Medium
Fuel Consumption: None
Tyre Wear: None
Start Type: Rolling Start
Race C
Car: Gr.4, any
Track: Suzuka Circuit
Laps: Nine
No. Of Cars: 20
Duration: 25 Minutes
Tyres: Racing Medium
Fuel Consumption: 2x
Tyre Wear: 8x
Start Type: Rolling Start
