AMAZING as it may sound there is a high proportion of new drivers out there who have never experienced driving a petrol car.

The rise of the diesel some years ago shunted this once almost universal power option into the sidings but things began to change with a whole new generation of petrol engines, often turbocharged and intercooled that have laid to rest many of the old disadvantages associated with these engines.

The fact that the 1,197cc petrol powered Nissan Pulsar I drove recently has a combined fuel economy figure of 56.5mpg underlines just what the modern petrol engine can do.

And when you look at its performance with a maximum speed of 118mph and a 0-62mph sprint of 10.7 seconds the renaissance of the petrol engine begins to make a lot of sense.

The Pulsar is a compact hatchback which operates in that sector of the market dominated by cars like the VW Golf and Vauxhall Astra.

It is without doubt one of the best kept secrets of the market segment because Nissan has been much better known for the success of cars like the Qashqai crossover and trendy Juke hatchback.

The N-Tec DiG-T 115 version I drove will set you back £19,295 on the road and offers a lot for the money.

For a start, its build quality is excellent, with quality materials used all round and it is a very comfortable car with a ride quality equalling, if not exceeding cars costing more money.

There is also a long list of features that come as standard. These include forward emergency braking ABS, EBD, ESP and Brake Assist and Active Trace Control.

Interestingly the list also includes a tyre-pressure monitoring system, something that was once unheard of on cars of this size.

There is also the new NissanConnect touch screen navigation and entertainment system, the son of the old Nissan Birdview system which made such a quantum leap in its field some years ago.

This Pulsar also features a DAB radio, reversing camera and bang up to date USB and iPod connectivity.

It has the longest wheelbase in its class and rear passenger legroom is nearly 700mm greater than your average family car, offering generous space in the boot.

There are some clever ideas inside such as sculpting out the door trims to create the wide armrests. With a frontal look mirroring in some ways the Qashqai, the whole styling is neat, functional as lacks any sort of cheap gimmickry.