chicagotribune.com's view

Nissan really doesn`t offer you much of a choice. You can opt for a 70-horsepower, 1.6-liter, 4-cylinder engine in the Pulsar XE or a 125 h.p.,1.8-liter, 16-valve, 4-cylinder in the Pulsar SE.

In other words, the choice is to walk or fly.

Nissan upgraded the 1.6-liter, 16-valve, 4-cylinder engine from 1987 into the 1.8-liter, fuel-injected four for 1988 in the SE.

Don`t thumb your nose at an `88 Pulsar idling next to you at the lightunless you`re prepared to have the Pulsar`s driver wave back at you from hisor her rear view mirror. The 1.8 makes a major difference in the lightweight, 2,300-pound Pulsar.

The 1.8 is teamed with a very smooth five-speed manual transmission.

The road holding ability was very good for such a small car. The tireshugged the pavement in tight corners with minimum body sway.

Pulsar is built on a 95.7-inch wheelbase and is 66 inches wide, 51 inches tall, and only 166.5 inches long. That`s small. The passenger can reach overthe roof and shake hands with the driver before entering, which can sometimes be tricky, because you sit mighty close to ground level.

Pulsar a year ago offered regular hatchback and optional Sportback rooftreatments in limited markets such as Chicago. For 1988, the Sportback versionis offered as a separate model nationwide.

With the Sportback roof the hatchback is converted into a mini-stationwagon with rectangular glass portholes along the sides in back.

The Sportback concept is good, converting one vehicle into two with thesimple addition of a new roof. Some will say it`s also a cute vehicle, though you`ll quickly find the wagon appearance brings out one of those love-haterelationships among viewers. And the hate side is very strong.

The Sportback allows added cargo-carrying capacity over the normalhatchback lid. And the rear seat folds down to add to capacity. Actually, the seat is best employed folded flat because only children with thin thighs oradults that are fighting for them to be, will fit in back.

Though cute, Sportback support pillars and window configuration createblind spots on lane changes and getting into or out of parking places. Blindspots are more burdensome in a small car. The margin for error is far lesswith 2,300 pounds wrapped around you than with 4,000 pounds.

Base price of the SE with five-speed is $12,999, with automatic $13,714.The Sportback starts at $13,549 with manual, $14,264 with automatic.

You can purchase the regular hatchback and get an optional Sportback roof for $925, but you can`t buy the Sportback and then add a hatchback roof.