Japanese Car Design Corner / ????????: Nissan officially releases 11MY GT-R

Japanese Car Design Corner / ????????: Nissan officially releases 11MY GT-R: " Nissan announced today the launch of the 11MY Nissan GT-R, which goes on sale November 17th at Nissan dealers nationwide in Japan. For 11..."

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Latest scale model arrivals

During the last few weeks, the following models have been arrived from Japan:

• Honda Civic Type R FD2 (2007) in Championship White by Ebbro

• Honda Civic Type R FD2 (2007) in Crystal Black Pearl by Ebbro

• Honda Civic Mugen RR FD2 (2007) in Red by Ebbro

• Honda Civic Type R FN2 JDM in Championship White by Ebbro

• Nissan GT-R R34 V-SPEC II (2000) in White Pearl by Ebbro

• Nissan GT-R R35 V-SPEC (2009) in White Pearl by Ebbro

• Toyota Supra RZ (1996) in Gungray by Ebbro

READ MORE - Latest scale model arrivals

New Nissan Juke and Micra: The duo of disaster

Now, Nissan has definitely got a problem. I love the Skyline and the Cube, both being among my favourite cars. But then you have the Juke (earlier post) and now the new Micra. Just take a close look at the photos of the new Micra! OK, I never liked the current one, but come on, what's this now? It looks like a Chinese clone with some bits from Cube in the interior... Someone has to be fired.

READ MORE - New Nissan Juke and Micra: The duo of disaster

All-new Nissan Patrol: New class-leader as Nissan's 'Hero of All Terrain'

On February 13, the all new Nissan Patrol had its world premiere in Abu Dhabi.

The new Patrol, according to Nissan, incorporates a new platform, a radical new design direction, significantly enhanced interior comfort and luxury, powerful new V8 engines, a 7-speed automatic transmission and a new 4WD system.

Below you can read the most interesting points from the press release. 

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Wanting to build the best possible Patrol, engineers first tuned and tested 200 prototypes for dynamic evaluation at the company's Motegi, Oppama and Tochigi proving grounds before sending them to the Middle East where they were exposed to every imaginable challenge; desert, rocky surfaces, highways and inner-city traffic. "By the time we came around to adding the new body and interior, we had virtually completed our reliability and durability testing and perfected all of the new technologies," says chief vehicle engineer, Takashi Fukui.


After extensive market research, especially in the Middle East, the design team concluded that for the Patrol to beat its main competitors, it needed not only a brand new design direction but class-leading engine performance, greater luxury and comfort and a smart mix of new technologies that enhanced the total driving experience.

Featuring generous amounts of leather, polished aluminium and wood grain paneling, the Patrol's interior too has been significantly upgraded. Given that most customers only go off-road no more than 15% of the time, designers wanted to create a better, higher quality interior for the whole family.

In keeping with the Patrol's mission to deliver more comfort and more room, the new Patrol delivers seat dimensions that outclass all competition. Boasting wider, higher and deeper front seats, the Patrol offers over 100mm more legroom for second row passengers, and a roomier third row of seats as well. Employing double the lateral rigidity over the outgoing model, the new Patrol sits on a revised platform that now offers a more robust construction with a low vibration body.

The new Patrol is now the most powerful vehicle in its class. And the key technology achieving this jump in performance over the predecessor's 4.8 litre power plant is the newly developed 'VK56VD' 5.6-litre V8 engine with VVEL (variable valve event and lift) and DIG (direct injection gasoline) technologies that generate 400hp and 560Nm of torque on the top specification version of this new engine.

Every component has been redesigned for maximum performance and smooth response, while a new 7-speed automatic transmission with a wider range of gear ratios than its predecessor, gives the off-roader the ability to deliver power faster.

In a world-first for Nissan, the new Patrol employs a Hydraulic Body Motion Control System (HBMC), which keeps the car flatter with less body roll during lane-changing and cornering, while delivering a comfortable ride in city driving and superb stability on rugged and sandy tracks. Another crucial part of handling equation comes from the new suspension system, which now employs 4-wheel independent suspension, upgraded from the previous rigid axle setup. Nissan has completely redesigned the vehicle's suspension from the bushes to the links. The combination of HBMC and the new suspension system with its longer suspension stroke delivers significantly improved handling and stability on both on- and off-road terrain.

The Patrol also employs a newly developed ALL MODE 4x4 system incorporating a variable 4x4 mode package. It allows the driver to quickly switch between four drive modes: sand, on-road, snow and rock, with the flick of a switch. In sand mode, owners are able to drive safely, quickly and skillfully in sand and dirt, just like professional rally drivers.

In addition, the Patrol also offers a new Hill Start Assist and Hill Descent Control which can also be selected easily with the touch of a button. With Hill Start Assist, if a driver stops on a slope and steps off the brake pedal, the system keeps the vehicle stationary - with no roll back. Hill Descent Control uses the brakes to maintain a constant downhill speed of 7km/h in 4H mode and 4km/h in 4L mode.

Source: Nissan Global Website

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READ MORE - All-new Nissan Patrol: New class-leader as Nissan's 'Hero of All Terrain'

Take a deep breath. The official photos of the new Nissan Juke have been released

This is the new Nissan Joke... sorry, I mean Juke. Nothing spectucular regarding the mechanical parts, just extreme styling. No further comments, cause I'll become very nasty... ok, I will make just one comment. It's horrible, even the Fiat Multipla looks good compared to this!!!

• Based on the Renault Nissan Alliance B platform

• Inside, the centre console design is inspired by a motorcycle fuel tank... I don't want to know what was the inspiration for the exterior

• ALL-MODE 4x4-i is a new development of Nissan�s electronic all-wheel drive system and now features torque vectoring technology to enhance agility and reduce understeer when cornering

• In Europe, three different engines will be available: 
• One diesel, 1.5-litre dCi, producing 110 hp and 240 Nm of torque
• Two 1.6-litre petrol units. The first one develops 117 hp, while at the top of the range is a new turbo-charged petrol engine (MR16DDT) with direct injection. The engine is one of the most powerful in its class, developing 140kW (190PS) and 240 Nm

• In terms of transmissions, the two-wheel drive turbo-charged 1.6-litre petrol engine is available with a six speed manual, while a CVT transmission with a six-speed manual mode will be available on the range-topping all-wheel drive version of the turbo-charged petrol engine. The naturally aspirated 1.6-litre petrol is available either with a 5-speed manual or the updated XTRONIC CVT and the 1.5-litre diesel engine is available with a 6-speed manual

• UK sales begin in October

Source: Nissan UK Media Site

READ MORE - Take a deep breath. The official photos of the new Nissan Juke have been released

In the race to bring Leaf to the market, Nissan engineers cut corners?!

 

Autopia published a very interesting article about Nissan EV, the Leaf.

Nissan's CEO, Carlos Ghosen, is very eager to win the EV race by bringing first to the market the first mass-produced EV. But, the are sacrifices to be made in order to achieve this, as the article explains.

Let's face it, the biggest competitor is GM's Volt, which will be launched about the same time. Carlos Ghosen recently told Bloomberg, �The engineers will always tell you, �Wait a little more,� and if you keep playing this game, you never launch any product.�

Since cars are complicated pieces of engineering, it's easy to understand that EVs present numerous fresh challenges  to the engineers. So, what are the shortcuts? I have summarized them below in order to be easier to identify.

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• The key engineering trade-off Nissan has made is opting not to include active thermal management. Instead, Nissan has opted to use only an internal fan that circulates the air within the sealed pack to evenly distribute the heat, which escapes by passive radiation through the pack�s external case.

• Thermal management in lithium-ion battery packs is critical to the long-term performance and quality of the battery. The manganese oxide pack is sensitive to high temperature and the primary consequence is that the pack will degrade more rapidly than one with active thermal management. This problem will be worse in hotter climates such as Phoenix, which Nissan has selected as one of its launch cities.

• Mark Perry, Nissan�s director of product planning for the United States, dismissed the importance of active thermal management. �We don�t need thermal management for the U.S., but we are looking at the technology for Dubai and other locations like that�. We�ve gone on the record saying that the pack has a 70 to 80 percent capacity after 10 years,� he told Wired.com.

• But Paul Hawson said a different story, a Nissan product planner who worked on the Leaf, when the automaker brought the Leaf to the Wired offices in November. Asked why Nissan chose not to use active thermal management, Hawson explained the engineers experimented with it but found it required a central tunnel on top of the pack. That would intrude on cabin space, splitting the rear bench into two seats with a hump in the middle. Nissan, he said, decided to use only passive cooling to preserve passenger space.

• General Motors has taken a different approach with the battery in the Chevrolet Volt. GM opted to use an active liquid cooling system. Doing so ensures optimal power and lifespan, said Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for the Volt.

• The Volt actively manages both low-temperature and high-temperature conditions. �Additionally, we cycle the battery in a much friendlier way than our BEV competitors which need an 85 percent state-of-charge window to get their miles and this EV range begins degrading after day one of usage,� Posawatz added, referring to the fact that the Volt only cycles through 8 kilowatt-hours of the pack�s 16-kilowatt-hour capacity, which also contributes to longer life. Even with these conservative engineering approaches, Posawatz said, �our 10-year target still yields a battery with 70 to 75 percent of the capacity at the end of life.�

Verdict
Nissan�s confidence on this matter aside, early purchasers of the Leaf should consider taking the company up on its offer to lease the battery, which would leave any financial risk of early battery degradation where it belongs � with Nissan.

Source: Autopia (Wired)

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READ MORE - In the race to bring Leaf to the market, Nissan engineers cut corners?!

Nissan's latest Joke... eeer, I mean Juke

Yesterday, Nissan revealed a teaser image (manufacturers seem to like this kind of game, a darkened silhouette here, a restricted view there...) of its latest small crossover. To be honest with you, at the beginning I thought that it doesn't worth writing about it, but then again, it maybe worths mentioning it...

Nissan unveiled Qazana concept at Geneva motor show back in 2009 and now, again in Geneva, the production version will make its premiere. Back then, Nissan Design Europe�s vice president Alfonso Albaisa had told CAR that the production version would keep many of the show car's cues when it goes into production.

Well, it seems to be true and I don't know about you, but to my eyes it looks horrible. But then again, I don't like the Qashqai either (ok, after the recent facelift it looks a bit better...)! Modern car design seems to be entering into a new era, as it is the key factor in order to attract buyers. How do you draw people's attention though? Either by designing an ugly car or a very elegant one, and this is an example of the first approach.

I really don't get it how it's possible Nissan to produce cars like Micra, Tiida, Qashqai and Juke, while on the other hand is producing Skyline GT-R and some very nice Infinitis... In general, Japanese manufacturers have some trouble when it comes designing a car (e.g. Subaru and Mitsubishi), but in Nissan's case, I can't quite get my head around...

READ MORE - Nissan's latest Joke... eeer, I mean Juke