Nissan seems to have a real habit of shooting itself in the foot lately. No hybrids in its entire U.S. lineup, an automatic-only Z Nismo, an oddly expensive new Kicks, and a new Armada that didn’t seem to read the room are just a few examples of not quite keeping up with the Joneses. Sensing that its lower appendages aren’t ventilated enough, here’s the Nissan Ariya Nismo, a performance electric crossover that’s a tough sell on numbers alone.
The regular Ariya has some very likeable things about it. The seats are great, the lantern-like cabin illumination is unique, and the interior materials are downright lovely. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite feel like a finished product. The e-Pedal mode that pulls the brake pedal away from your foot under regenerative braking is downright spooky, the ride quality isn’t great, and the driver’s door armrest isn’t quite where you think it would be. In an earlier road test, I summed it up as a stylish EV that needs a little more time in the oven, and now Nissan’s gone and done just that.
Unfortunately, time in the oven hasn’t granted this Nismo performance model the acceleration chops to keep up with a Ford Mustang Mach-E GT or a Tesla Model Y Performance, let alone a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. Nissan claims a zero-to-62 mph time of five seconds flat, and while that’s still quick, the bar in this segment is so much higher than that.
It’s the same deal with output. In another world, 429 horsepower is plenty, even in a heavy electric crossover. However, when the competition’s cranking out up to 641 horsepower, it’s hard to take the Nissan Ariya Nismo seriously on straight-line performance alone. Hey, at least an 87 kWh battery pack should give it decent range, even if Nissan hasn’t released figures yet.
Alright, so what about cornering performance? Well, it’s hard to assess handling without driving this EV, but a change in the default torque split to send 40 percent of juice to the front axle and 60 percent to the back is an intriguing start. Even more intriguing is the thoroughness with which Nismo’s approached the chassis. We’re talking new anti-roll bars, new spring rates, new dampers, heavier steering, and even a new wheel and tire package. Featuring flow-formed wheels made by Enkei using the brand’s MAT process and Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires, there’s promise here for improving both the ride and the handling of the regular Ariya.
As for appearances, this Ariya grabs cues from the classic Nismo playbook, meaning it gets a chin spoiler, a revised rear spoiler, and all the red accenting a former Hot Import Night parent could possibly want. It’s a similar deal on the inside, with a black-and-red theme and some more aggressive front seats that ought to do a better job holding you in place down on-ramps and off-ramps.
Right now, Nissan hasn’t announced whether or not the Ariya Nismo is coming to America, but don’t count it out. After all, we’ve already seen a Sentra Nismo and a Juke Nismo in years past, so an Ariya Nismo doesn’t seem that crazy. In fact, that might be the big disappointment here — the Ariya Nismo doesn’t seem that crazy. In an age of performance cars where extreme is the norm, this hopped-up EV doesn’t seem mind-boggling. It is what it is, I guess.
(Photo credits: Nissan)
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These horsepower wars have gotta stop. Why does zero to 60 even count anymore given the number of cars capable of under 4 second runs. Watch enough u tube and one starts to think stupidity is part of our hobby. I’m burned out on idiots passing me on the freeway like I’m standing still. Even worse, car handling skills are lost when all you gotta do is push down.
When I started with cars we were running around in 510’s, 2002’s, and old British cars. Horsepower was not important when canyon carving in a car requiring finesse. Now, just stomp on it and hold on. Stupid!!
I don’t know where it’s priced. It looks like these sell for about $55k in top trip now. That’s around Ioniq 5 / EV6 money. The hot versions of those pack 600+ hp, and the non-hot AWD versions are half a second faster 0-60.
The 400+ hp sounds insane to me, though. I remember when getting a fox body into the 12’s was an actual accomplishment. These days, non-performance cars run 13’s from the showroom.
What in the hell even is this article?
I mean, between this pile of garbage, the totally stupid article on a vaporware car from a known grifter, and the incessant autoplay videos, this site is starting to feel more and more like the old one, and not in a good way.
Coming soon to your next highway shoulder during rush hour traffic going 95mph
I haven’t read the rest of the article yet, but I would love to have my regen braking move the pedal. E-pedal mode? yes please. Not fun needing to slow down faster than what the car is already doing by itself and the pedal has a bunch of travel before it engages. Not an issue in an emergency: just slam the brakes. but wanting to slow down a bit faster on a downhill to a stoplight? Get ready for some jolting while I find where the breaks are…
ok now ill read the rest of what assume to be a bad take about a car with more power than can be used.
Edit: okay i think my issue is that I felt here is no reason for Nissan to make a sporty crossover. Make a sporty car, and let Porsche make the sporty crossover: it’ll actually be good.
Ugh, I kind of hate this take. How is 429hp not enough for literally any road car? Just because automakers have been pushing for outlandish power figures in just about anything they sell, it doesn’t mean the trend suddenly makes sense – it very objectively doesn’t. What started off as compensating for cars getting bigger and heavier over time has spiraled into a nonsensical dick-measuring contest, and I’m not here for any of that anymore. I’ll take simplicity and added lightness over MOAR POWER any time.
Thomas is clearly looking for the title of master click baiter. He is becoming more and more bad Jalopnik on every article. He is getting worse and worse everyday. I left Jalopnik because of tools like him.
I’m not going for anything personal here. I just really don’t care for this trend.
I disagree with many of his takes, but I also disagree with you. I think every editor and contributor at this point in the site’s life adds to it.
I actually disagree with a lot of takes around here. There’s a lot of optimism that frankly spills over into naïvete; horrible, even dangerous compromises that are listed as “drawbacks.” A motorcycle review that, sending to my bike-curious girlfriend, she actually thought was just an ad. And yes, The Butter Battle Book writ large across the automotive landscape because there’s no pause to question if the objective state of things is enough, only that subjectively/relatively it is not more, more, more. Sometimes there’s iffy coverage of old YouTubes or videos of questionable value to the public good, too.
I don’t think anyone writing for the site is dumb or ill intentioned. Taking a swill from my optimism flask (mmm, breffas scotch), I think everyone here is just so damn excited and into motors they skip over the pause and reflect part of things. Until I see more proof, I refuse to believe it’s in bad faith, and will just keep my wits about me. I occasionally give feedback to the editors not because I think they’re big dumb shills but because there are things to improve, and it will improve the site’s reach, utility, and authenticity organically.
If a certain EV panics and physically breaks (and brakes for that matter) dozens of times in a test drive, don’t sugarcoat it with “but OTA updates!” If a bike has no range, can’t run at highway speeds, and is built like it came from Harbor Freight, tell me. Bring that same critical eye to things like this measly Ariya. If you’re going to try to sell me on it being a fundamental requirement that this thing have more than 429 HP, you need to make a fundamental argument, not just point at the other guys and say “but they’re doing it!” Yeah, and, maybe they’re even more overpowered! If they aren’t overpowered, explain to me why.
I lurked for years at Jalopnik, and I watched that milk curdle, no doubt. I also had the pleasure of watching the cream rise – Torch, DT, Mercedes, Stef Schrader, Matt Hardigree, and whatever that sort of middley, oreo-crumby layer between the two that is Doug DeMuro. I am so happy to see so many names I know from the commentariat, too.
The site isn’t dead or dying, at least in any way that’s been shown to the public, and that includes not turning into latter day Jalopnik just because some younger writers are still developing their eye for useful criticism.
Thanks for taking the time to write this, I agree with almost everything you say. I’m ok with the optimistic/naïve takes because I prefer positivity in general and believe I can spot sugarcoating when it’s blatant. What I worry about is mindless takes that seem designed to protect the interests of automakers rather than the car buyers. I get that a writer gets excited when another silly 700hp+ road-going car is announced. When they question if 400hp+ is enough for a sporty crossover, I get worried.
Yeah this is a pretty dumb take. I thought putting a 406 on my Firebird was an adequate amount of power engine would be around ~500hp or so (not sure exact figures at the wheels haven’t had on a Dyno yet) but yeesh 400+ horse power in a cross over/EV or other daily type cars? My fiances Tourx with a tune is around 300hp/300lbs that is more then enough for a vehicle like that and my FJ has I think something like 260hp/270lbs and I don’t ever feel like I don’t have enough power maybe if I did extreme wheeling in it but for anything I have ever done it has been more then enough. Also some of the most fun I have is in my stock shift first Gen Cummins with a whole 160 horse power and tossing it around roundabouts so bigger power doesn’t mean better.
It’s a dumb take considering common sense.
It’s an accurate take considering present market conditions.
You will be able to buy a ~1200 hp used Lucid for the same or less than one of these, and every part of this situation is insane.
There is a point where there is almost no performance gain between 900 and 1000 hp. 400+ HP is perfectly acceptable for a crossover. Heck my families 2.5 ton SUV has 300ish hp and it can HAUL. I don’t think a crossover needs to have 700 hp to be fast.
Agreed. 429hp is about 300 more than ‘enough’.
I have a Dacia Jogger with a 110hp 3 cylinder engine (albeit now with about 135hp) and a 0-60 of just over 10s from memory. It’s not going to win many traffic light GPs but it’s plenty fast enough. Was 6 up with a roof box not that long ago and it didn’t feel any more strained at 75mph than when it’s just me in it.
The stupidity of adding loads weight of weight and shitloads of power has got to stop.
PS – I own 3 Renaults in the UK so always happy to talk about them:-)
My daily driver puts out 34 horses, and I can’t think of more than a couple of situations in which it did feel somewhat underpowered – both of them very extreme. Of course, that 34hp only has to drag along 720kg (actually closer to 820 with me in it), and cars have certainly gotten a lot heavier. But still, I find it hard to justify more than 150hp in smaller cars, and pretty much any sport-y version of any car would do well with around 300hp, I believe.
I’m always curious about other people’s Renaults 🙂 which ones do you have?
Yeah – the Jogger has a bit more weight to lug around and it’s not exactly aerodynamic! I’ve found 200hp is a nice medium for economy and enough grunt to move through a & b-roads without being massively overpowered. My 308 GTi had 270hp and that was plenty rapid.
I have a Renault 21 Turbo Quadra (in restoration), a Renault Wind, and a Laguna Coupe. What do you have?
That’s an awesome mix of classic and modern Renaults. I love the Wind, we didn’t get those here in Portugal so whenever I see one of the few special orders that were sent over, I’m always excited. The Laguna Coupé is my favorite version of the Laguna namplate. But the 21 Turbo Quadra hits very close to home: my first car was a very dilapidated 1989 Espace Quadra. It was a bit of a nightmare in terms of reliability but I have a lot of very fond memories of that car.
Right now my only Renault is a 1991 R4 GTL, but that’s fine, it’s literally my Best Car Ever. I’m trying to convince my wife we should get ourselves an early carburetted Twingo while they’re still cheap around here, as we recently found ourselves depending on the R4 only (first our 98 Polo died, then we bought a 2006 Volvo V50 whose engine died after 150km with my name on the title; we’re currently awaiting resolution for that, sadly it may require arbitration). The engine in early base-model Twingos is based on the one in my R4 so I’d likely be able to do basic maintenance and fix basic stuff myself; seems like such a no-brainer that we should get one…
My love for Renaults comes from growing up with quite a few around me; my dad owned 3 R4s between 1970 and 1998, and we also had a 1977 Renault 12 break for many years. My neighbours bought a brand new 21 in 1987 that I absolutely loved, and there was also a super cool Nevada nearby. Also, my dad dreamed of having an Espace, which made it super special to me that my first car ended up being one 🙂
Thank you. Mine is the very rare red with the optional tan interior so I think it looks very cool.
My parents had multiple R21s over the years which is where my love of the R21 Turbo came from. I’ve owned 2 Quadras (had one as my 2nd ever car) and definitely got the bug!
Hope the issues with the Volvo get sorted out.
I mean, of course you’re right about it being more than enough power on the road. But is it more than enough power to sell? I’m guessing the spec sheet driven grognards who are in the market for these performance crossovers care about the figurative dick-measuring here, and sales follow.
Absolutely, the marketeers are perfectly happy with the escalation of performance figures because they know it sells. But I wish media outlets and automotive journalists at large wouldn’t fall for it. I remember there being something of a pushback a while ago, so I’m never happy to see journalists going along with the narrative.
I remember, not long ago, when sites were bemoaning the horsepower war by stating that 250-300 HP was plenty for most. Who’s feeling old with me?
Count me in. I think the only car I’ve owned that came with 200hp was my FR-S, and I think they lied about that car’s power.
My mother-in-law went in to a Nissan dealer to buy a Juke, because it’s a tallish, smallish, cheapish car. She came out with a Juke Nismo RS, because red trim and evil car dealers.
After she bought it (why ask a car guy before buying a car? Apparently no reason at all) I googled some reviews and my favourite one concluded that it was a terrible hot hatch, but a great hot Juke.
That’s what this is for. You can’t up-sell if there isn’t an up.
As a former owner of A Juke Nismo RS, I completely agree with what you’re saying. It was overpriced and not very quick off the showroom floor, despite all the Nismo goodies in/on it. However, it handled quite nicely. The problem is after spending $10K on performance upgrades it still couldn’t hang with something like a WRX, despite making similar power while also costing nearly $40K to get there. I would have been better served by any number of other options and have sworn off not only Nissans, but also throwing good money after bad with the amount of time, money, and energy wasted on trying to make it into something it was never going to be. Oddly enough, a tornado thought it would be best to just flatten it with a palm tree, ending my misery. I miss my New Edge Mustang Steeda and my TrailBlazer SS… 2 vehicles that provided more thrills and for less coin. The Nismo division is not what it used to be unless the letters GT-R are attached to it.
My 3 cars combined still make less HP than this. I must be too used to 0-60 in yes 🙂
My daily driver makes 7.9% the power output of the Ariya Nismo.
My truck is also 0-60 of it will get there. If I act like my truck is a race car when shifting gears it makes me feel like I am going quick and hearing the turbo spool up and down makes it feel even quicker.
1/3 of that is enough to go fast and do crazy shit. Signed, every Altima driver 😛
429 HP, in a family crossover, just isn’t spicy enough? Says who?
The speed wars are so close now that I mostly don’t care 4 seconds, 3 seconds, 2.8 seconds… It’s all damn fast. When I was young, a crapbox took 13-20 seconds to reach 60 and a sporty car could do it under 10, a supercar could do it in about 5.
Now, we have family crossovers that can meet/exceed those 80s supercars off the line and it’s not enough? Hard disagree. Anything passenger sized that has 250+ HP is usually some level of fun, in my book.
Just because it doesn’t realign your organs with power does not mean it’s slow.
The new kicks is baffling. It needs to be the cheapest hatchback not named mirage to do well. With the price going up for 2025, the same money gets you into a corolla. AWD is nice sure, but they somehow missed that people want the bargain bin option to be a bargain. Also how is the fuel economy worse on the new model????
“Also how is the fuel economy worse on the new model????”
Larger engine, less aerodynamic, more weight, perhaps?
You’re correct it’s a bigger engine and the new model weighs more. Not sure about aero though. The why did they not do something else to improve fuel economy confuses me, not the how it’s less.
Articles/headlines like this expose the dichotomy in my brain.
As a car guy, of course it’s not enough! It’s never enough!
As a driver and citizen of real world, this is horrible and we need racing-game-style licensing and CDLs for things that crush the scales over 5000 pounds. (Car guy brain says “3500!” but real world isn’t having it.)
I’ve been getting more comfortable with my F900 XR over the last year, and I still don’t think I’ve done a full-beans run up to 60mph. Apparently it’s possible in 3.3 seconds, and includes one upshift. I don’t need or want to be running from shit-tier EVs for my actual life because Johnny Threefiftyfico has a five thousand pound rocketship. Someone almost crashed into me just two days ago because they got into a lane they knew was ending (it was clearly marked and visible besides), paced me every foot to the merge, and decided they’d rather kill me than slow down to wait to merge.
More horsepower just accelerates the arms race, and I don’t give a shit if that means Nissan falling nine tenths of a second behind a Mach-E.
The Ariya strikes me as one of those products that just does its job reasonably well. But it’s not something anyone would be passionate about. So a souped-up boy-racer version seems especially unnecessary.
Who, exactly, was asking for this? They’d have done better to make a Murano Nismo. Sheesh.
A Murano Cross-Cabrio Nismo would be freakin’ awesome.
Armrests are almost always the wrong height and placement, So why aren’t they adjustable. Or maybe they are adjustable just not on cars I experience.
I never used to care until car designers started making the windows only come down a little past your shoulder so that resting your arm there was uncomfortable.
There’s a handful of cars with adjustable centre armrests (offhand, some VW products with a ratcheting console lid and Land Rover has a separate armrest with a dial on the end to set height), but I can’t think of much door-mounted except Rolls-Royce (Silver Shadow?)
I’d expect RR to send a man to measure my elbow. What are we savages?
My father who was profoundly pragmatic got so annoyed with the pot metal inside door handle and crummy plastic door card and armrest in his F100 that he welded a new steel handle and made a plywood card with a 4×4 redwood armrest just so. That of course, was for the drivers door. The passenger door got backed into by a tractor and wouldn’t even open.
Amazing, absolutely amazing.
Nothing explicitly designed to ferry around kids should ever have over 205 hp.
Well 40 foot school buses have maybe 260 hp, but yeah.
I agree with the sentiment here. It’s plenty of power and I think public roads are going to be in trouble once some of these absurd performance EVs depreciate to half their MSRP…aka in like 3-4 weeks. 99% of people don’t need more than 250ish horsepower.
If this costs as much as an Ioniq 5 N or Macan EV (both are mid to high 60s) then it’s DOA like the Nismo Z. If they manage to undercut those then it may be mildly intriguing, especially if all the chassis changes make a difference. This will also probably have more range than the Ioniq 5N, which comes in at 221 miles…aka probably 150-200ish in real conditions.
That’s bad and unusable for a lot of people. I obviously think it’s a very cool car and will probably get around to driving one sooner rather than later, but I probably wouldn’t own one because it doesn’t even have enough range for the standard road trip from DC to Raleigh that we do 2-4 times a year.
Anyway I’m off track. I’ll wait til we get some more numbers and an MSRP before I poo poo this.
“ I think public roads are going to be in trouble once some of these absurd performance EVs depreciate to half their MSRP.”
Big Ariya Energy
They need a new slogan. “Nissan. Prepare to be whelmed.”
I like the one my friend suggested: “Nissan. Embrace the Mediocrity.”
I am gruntled by this.
The HP only matters if it’s priced similar to competitors. If it’s 10-15k cheaper? Now we’re talking sales.
There are two versions of “enough”.
Is it enough to be competitive? No.
Is it enough for a mildly spicy version of a family crossover? It’s plenty.
How is it two tenths slower to 60 than my Model Y LR AWD?!? How? And that’s with sticky gumballs, not all seasons like my Tesla. I hope it handles better. Otherwise it’s another indication of just how far ahead Tesla was back in 2020.
Or how far behind Nissan is. After being early to the EV market with a sensibly priced EV, the company has both managed to piss off buyers with how flawed that EV was *and* cede ground to competitors in terms of advancement.
I don’t see why anyone should buy a Nissan EV unless it’s a very good lease deal. An Ariya at $349 with $0 due at signing and 15,000 miles per year? Sign me up. An Ariya Nismo? For that, I’d pay $349.01.
I’d actually go tree-fiddy, if that goddamn Loch Ness monster was a Nissan dealer.
Are you trying to kill Jason? I swear I hear his blood boiling from here.
The hp wars have gotten crazy. This is plenty of power. Have you seen the way people drive. It’s Mr Bean out there, not Louis Hamilton. This is more than enough power for the general public. Not every EV needs more power than a Ferrari.
At least they don’t do that well with hp/kg department.
But like Lewis Hamilton, I think tire choices should make a bigger difference for EV.
Didn’t that bean guy wreck his McLaren F1 twice?
I saw an interview of Lewis where he said that he didn’t like driving on public roads because of the dangerous number of idiots.
If this isn’t proof that Nissan has no clue what to do with their lineup, and even less of a clue on what to do with Nismo, I don’t know what is. 429 Horsepower is a lot in a sports car weighing under 3,000 pounds, this will likely be about the same 5,000 as other dual motor Ariyas. 429hp for the highest performance trim is pitiful in the age of cheap EV power. A Model 3 Performance has ~510hp, and weighs a flat 1,000 pounds less. Good job Nissan, continuing to make cars that can only be sold on lease specials and double digit percentages off MSRP.
You should be comparing to something like the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT which is 480 HP and approximately 4596.64 lb.
I don’t think I realized the Mach E GT was that light. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still portly. But by performance EV standards it’s downright svelte.
I am seeing some other sources put it close to 5000.
You know what’s ironic? Nissan used to make their own batteries via their company called AESC at the time of the Leaf, it was 2nd largest in the world. Now they have to source them from CATL.