Before the days of hybrid systems kicking in at low revs, engineers had to think on their feet to minimise the effects of turbo lag. In some instances, trick anti-lag systems that provide a bit more torque (and some angry exhaust crackles) before the turbo kicks in were deployed. More recently, electric turbochargers have helped keep the inner turbine spinning, increasing the power band.
Somewhere in the middle of these two solutions is twin charging. A somewhat inelegant method, twin charging uses a supercharger to provide a boost in low rpm torque, with a chunky turbocharger taking over the legwork higher up the rev range. Famously used on racing machines, such as the Lancia Delta S4, it has not often found favour in road cars owing to its complexity. But there are some obscure examples mere civilians can drive like the Polestar 1, the monstrous Zenvo ST1 and, er, this thing: the Nissan March (or Micra) Super Turbo.
With both turbocharging and supercharging in one very diddy package, the March Super Turbo was the ultimate way to one-up your mates in the late 1980s. Powered by a tiny 930cc four-cylinder engine, the supercharger would provide 10psi until the tacho hit 4,000rpm, with a turbo cranking things up to 14psi of boost all the way up to 6,500rpm. The result? A heady 110hp, all of which is sent to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. Get your shifts right and you’ll hit 62mph from a standstill in 7.7 seconds. Hardly a rocket ship, I know, but as it only weighed 750kg it could easily keep up with a Peugeot 205 GTI and blow a Mk3 Golf GTI out of the water.
A genuinely quick car for the era, then. But the March (Micra for us Brits) is one of the dreariest superminis of all time, particularly the utterly characterless K10, so what possessed Nissan to green-light the Super Turbo? Well, its roots can be traced back to 1987, when Nismo developed a twin-charged version of the K10 for something called, I kid you not, ‘March Little Dynamite Cup Race’. A truly brilliant idea in principle, allowing people to hire a stripped-out, twin charged K10 (with side exhausts) and rag them around a track against competitors. A bit like arrive and drive karting, only in Micras. Nissan thought there was a market out there for its extreme supermini, and so the March Super Turbo was hit showrooms exclusively in Japan in 1989.
Unsurprisingly, we didn’t get the Super Turbo in the UK and, therefore, the Micra has amassed a reputation of being somewhat dull. They rarely grace the PH classifieds because of this, so this one’s worth shouting about. It’s only covered 63,000 miles, is apparently rust-free and, crucially, has the important optional extras of the era: electric windows and air conditioning. The cloth interior looks to be in mint condition, too, though those alloy wheels appear to be aftermarket. Still, £8,995 doesn’t seem all that much for a slice of bonkers JDM hot hatchery.
A little bonus fact: the March Super Turbo is still the fastest production Nissan Micra ever built. That’s not including 2005’s Micra 350SR, built to hype up its retirement home regular and draw in the youthful hot hatch crowd. It didn’t work, obviously, and it remained a one-off. Perhaps another Super Turbo will do the trick.
SPECIFICATION | NISSAN MARCH SUPER TURBO
Engine: 930cc four-cylinder
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 110@6,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 95@4,800rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
Year registered: 1989
Recorded mileage: 63,000
Price new: N/A (Japan)
Yours for: £8,995
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