Looking for a wild, nearly production-ready performance car? You’ll most likely find it at an event like the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon. In this case, it’s the Nissan Aura NISMO RS Concept. This takes the standard Note Aura NISMO and dials things up to 11. Widened fenders, 144 mm to be exact, and a 20 mm lower ride height highlight its sporting intentions. It also comes with 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in 245/45R18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires, further hinting at its capabilities. Like the rest of the Note lineup, this show car has an independent front and torsion beam rear suspension.
Components like a front spoiler with side air splitters, side skirts, rear diffuser, and a roof spoiler all help enhance the Nissan Aura NISMO RS Concept’s aerodynamic performance. Finally, the design changes round out with NISMO’s signature red accents and a Dark Matte Stealth Grey exterior color, the latter of which is a variation of what debuted in the most recent NISMO Z.
Nissan Aura NISMO RS: A Real Hot One
What’s under the hood, you ask? Nissan’s e-Power hybrid system. Unlike Toyota and other Asian competitors, this setup only uses the gas engine as a generator to make electricity. In this case, it’s a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder unit. It then sends the electricity to a small lithium-ion battery, which powers two electric motors, one on each axle. The front motor makes 201 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque, while the rear is good for 134 hp and 143 lb-ft. That’s the same output as in the global market X-Trail e-Power with AWD! Between the two, that’s a whopping 335 hp and 386 lb-ft of torque. However, we only added that up because Nissan doesn’t disclose combined outputs for its e-Power models. Either way, that’s A LOT of oomph for a subcompact hot hatch!
Will this ever make it to production? For Japan, likely. North America? Nope, because this market hates small cars. Instead, we’ll see it in the next-generation Rogue due out this year paired to a newer, more efficient turbo-three generator.
Source: Nissan
