Brace Yourselves: Nissan's Heroic Rear-Wheel Drive IDx Is Coming

Ask any petrolhead and they'll tell you that few things are more exciting than a small, affordable, rear-wheel drive sports car. The Toyota GT86 proves that there is a market for such a thing, and now Nissan wants a slice of the action.

Two IDx models are on display at the Detroit motor show - the lifestyle-oriented Freeflow and the rapid Nismo - and Nissan executive vice president Andy Palmer confirmed to Drive that one of the two would "definitely" go into production:

“Don’t say that we won’t do both, but we will definitely do one of them.”

Once it sees the light of day, the IDx Nismo would take the fight directly to the GT86, sharing the same front-engined, rear-wheel drive layout and dinky dimensions. Promisingly, it is expected to have the same 200hp 1.6-litre engine found in the Juke Nismo, so it even lines up on power.

The IDx design draws inspiration from the iconic Datsun 510 coupe, and Palmer promised the production car would look similar to the concept.

The first cars are expected to be produced in 2016.