Get one
I'd still have mine if it wasn't for the fact my house had to come first
Basically shockingly fast in a straight line, far more savage than the Impreza's and Evo's I've been in since. This is a combination of lightweight (1150-1190kg), 50/50 AWD and lots of poke.
Standard power of 220bhp is shocking, it simply alerts you to the potential without realising it at all. The first job is decat and proper Apexi air filter which on its own will release the engine to breathe properly and transform how it responds. That will get you to 240bhp. Next step up the boost, 1 bar is most popular and sticking with the top mount intercooler it will get you 280bhp.
Now after this you have some basic choices. Heres what I did beyond this point and relates to the posts above.
1) FIT BETTER BRAKES. I cannot stress this enough and as DreXel and other knowledage people who have spent time on the track will tell you, this WILL make you faster round the track. I ditched the standard brakes on mine after fitting 16" Oz Superleggera wheels. The wheel size let me fit 4 pot 300mm front brakes and the difference is night and day. With these I could make the car nose dive into the ground.
2) Get rid of the understeer! This can simply be achieved in two ways.
a) Most critical, fit a front strut brace. The difference is very noticeable, rear brace for extra points.
b) Fit proper rose jointed track rod ends. The standard rubber ones are complete rubbish and are a major cause of that understeer. With the brace and the rose jointed metal track rod ends you will get as much grip as your tyres can provide
3) Fit a front mount intercooler. I got a kit off a lad on the GTIROC and it did such a good job. They are bit of a pain to fit and make sure you get proper hose clips to hold the pipes together otherwise the next time you blast down the sliproad you'll find you go from 315bhp to 20 when a pipe comes off.
4) Get the car remapped. This is very important. The stock map on Pulsar's is good but as is the case on most Jap cars very wasteful on fuel. I got a custom map chip applied to mine and it saved 1/4 a tank of fuel from every full tank over the standard map AND it gave me more torque. Final result after the remap and FMIC @ 1.1bar was 315bhp/308lbs torque and a much smoother power band. You will need to fit a uprated Walbro fuel pump to reach this stage.
5) Get an uprated clutch fitted. I had one fitted with a lightweight flywheel. It can handle the power much better. The stock one will get shredded very quickly once you up the power.
I miss mine greatly. If I had the money I would buy it back in an instant as it was so much fun and once it was at 315bhp not much was faster in a straight line. My housemate has a Skyline tuned to 380bhp and I'm certain the Pulsar would beat it to 100mph, they really are quite savage below 100mph. After that the aerodynamics catch up with them.
Mine still leads the OCUK G-Meter leaderboard. I suspect it will be there for quite some time!
The key with these cars it to sort out their basic design limitations - brakes, understeer, power, gearbox (good luck with the latter!). I once drove it round silverstone at Trax with brand new Evo's and according to the lads on the wall I was only 2-3 seconds a lap slower than the latest Evo's round the track which I was very happy with for my debut session. The brakes make the biggest difference.
Get one mate
