With the Urge, the team who created it started out by tapping into the wants and needs of America's so-called Echo Boomer generation (born roughly 1976-1996). Through an online survey, Nissan found out that many of these "gamers" wanted a car compatible with the cellphones, mp3 players and videogames they use in everyday life. They also wanted a cool-looking car that's quick, affordable, exciting and flexible enough to take along a couple of friends.
So the Urge has been designed to hit all those markers. Small, it certainly, is at just 3.98m in length and 1.82m wide. Putting that into perspective, it's nearly a foot and half shorter than a 350Z and while there's virtually no difference in width, the Urge, at just 50 ins tall, sits 2 ins lower. Of course, it also
looks way smaller.
Nissan is also talking about a target weight of 1,089 kgs. In round figures, that's new MX-5 territory and a good 500 kgs lighter than the Z car.
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| Rear-wheel-drive for maximum fun - just like the 350Z |
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The Urge is front-engine, rear-drive, with the longways-mounted engine sexily visible under a slim Perspex canopy. Exactly what that engine is, Nissan currently won't say (because this is purely a "show concept"). What we are told is that it's a quick, high-revving, small displacement engine. Whispers from inside Nissan say it's a four-cylinder unit, somewhere between 1.8 and 2-litre, but that and other specs could and may yet change.
Like the MX-5, the Urge's performance is being expressed more in terms of quickness, agility and grin factor as opposed to 0-60 mph times, top speed and raw power. It runs with a six-speed, motorcycle-type transmission and boasts serious 350Z-style Brembo discs.
The Urge rolls on lightweight nine-spoke alloys: 19-inch at the front, 20-inch at the rear. Michelin-supplied tyres are 195/45 R19s and 225/35 R20s, pointing to plenty of grip and road-holding.
