I'm all for fun products with manual transmissions but this is more Civic EX-T than it is FoST, GTI or even an Si. It should be obvious that even Nissan acknowledges this given how they opted to badge the car "SR Turbo" as opposed to "NISMO".
The problem with this car IMO is that while it will be priced like a Civic EX-T... (and not like a FoST or GTI) most buyers who want a practical car with some oomph will opt to go with a Civic over this thing, especially given that the Honda was just redesigned whereas the B17 is about to enter it's 5th model year. The only thing the SR Turbo has over the Civic is the option of a 6MT and let's face it, those of us who want to row our own are a dying breed making the option a niche one at best, especially when you consider that someone who wants to shift will almost certainly opt for a more powerful or more fun alternative.
Nissan's problem is that they couldn't figure out if they wanted to undercut the least expensive offering in the segment in the Civic EX-T (they didn't, pricing will be similar) or overpower the competition from Ford and VW. Without brand recognition (sorry but the B15 and B16 SE-Rs were always a step behind the competition, and no one outside of a very select few remembers the B13) those are the two moves you when you enter a performance-based segment like this one. Instead Nissan chose some sort of awkward middle ground and they managed to build a better Civic Si...which is about to be replaced in a year by a new, more powerful model. Truth is the 1.6L MR turbo and 6MT should have been the drivetrain powering the SR three years ago. Too little too late IMO.
Now had they gone and put this engine into a Note...well...that may have caught my attention. Until then, I'm happy as f*** with my FiST. Now there's a proper hoonicorn.
