Archive for Nissan

The Nissan Titan is Nissan’s full-sized pick-up truck offering in the US, and is powered by a 5.6 liter 32 valve V8 engine codenamed VK56DE, making 317 horsepower and 522Nm of torque at 3,600rpm. It uses the same ladderframe platform as many other Nissan trucks, including the Nissan Frontier available here on local shores.

Nissan wants to change this from being a petrol-only offering to one that has a diesel option by 2009, proving that more and more manufacturers are responding to a growing interest in diesel vehicles in petrol-loving America.

The new diesel engine will be built by U.S. truck and engine maker Navistar International Corp. For it to have more torque than the petrol’s 522Nm, it would need to be at least a 3.0 to 3.5 liter I suppose. A modern turbodiesel around that size could make between 600 to 700Nm of torque.

Now this is some really strange stuff. Contrary to what everyone is saying about how 4X4s and SUVs should be banned because of the excess fuel they consume, apparently Jesus wants you to drive a 4X4. A Nissan Navara to be exact.

At least, according to a branch of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) in Soweto, South Africa. “God doesn’t want you to be poor and ashamed – he wants you to drive a new car. A brand new Nissan Navarra people. God wants to show his power in your life too,” said a South African preacher of the church.

Why a Nissan Navara? Apparently a couple gave a testimony about how they gave alot of money to the church, and in return God blessed them with a prospering business – which they used the proceeds to buy a Nissan Navara, among other things.

Talk about product placement to the max. That prospering business might have been a Nissan dealership. Anyway, interesting to note that the Brazil-originated UCKG is considered to be a cult that manipulates it’s followers for financial gain.

Source

Keyless entry systems may not be as cool as you think it is. At least, that’s what it’s turning out to be for some buyers of Nissan’s latest cars in the US that come standard with keyless entry systems. Some customers have found that cell phones kept near their Nissan Altima and Infiniti G35’s I-Keys can reprogram and damage the key, causing it to stop working.

“We discovered that if the I-Key touches a cell phone, outgoing or incoming calls have the potential to alter the electronic code inside the I-Key. The car won’t start and the I-Key cannot be reprogrammed,” warned Nissan spokesman Kyle Bazemore. He assured that owners who encounter this problem can get a new key from dealers, and an updated version of the I-Key which solves this problem will be available in Fall 2007.

Seriously, doesn’t the Nissan I-Key have a manual key integrated into it as well? For example, BMW’s keyless entry device has a little manual key integrated into it which you can pull out and use to unlock the doors and etc. Why the warning that it will “stop working”? It would be better to be teaching the public how to use the manual key to open and start their cars instead of just saying the car will be disabled. Plus this shows that insufficient testing was done before launching the product.

The long awaited new Nissan model that we’ve been expecting after looking at spyshots this year will be available at the end of next month. Nissan’s new Latio comes in two variants, a 5-door hatch called Latio Sport and a 4-door sedan called the Latio.

The Latio sedan will be available in 1.6 liter and 1.8 liter form. The 1.6 liter variant uses a HR16DE engine that makes 110hp at 6,000rpm, and 153Nm at 4,000rpm. Fuel consumption is estimated at 13.9km per liter. The 1.8 liter variant uses the MR18DE engine, which is rated at 127hp at 5,200rpm and 174Nm of torque at 4,800rpm. Fuel consumption is rated at 13km per liter. These two engines are new engine families developed after the Nissan-Renault alliance, and are used in Renault cars as well.

The Latio hatchback only has the 1.6 liter version, which is kind of disappointing as a 1.8 liter “warm” hatch would be fun indeed. All variants are available in auto, except the sedan will have one 1.6 liter manual option. Not sure how many speeds for the manual, likely 5-speeds since it is a 1.6 liter, but in overseas markets manual variants of the MR18DE 1.8 liter is paired with a 6-speed manual gearbox, which would have been fun if available in a Latio Sport hatchback.

Edaran Tan Chong Motor has taken a different approach to B-segment offerings here in Malaysia, with competitors choosing to offer 1.5 and perhaps soon 1.3 liter versions of their B-segment offerings, ETCM has decided to offer 1.6 and 1.8 liter variants, making them somewhat like Sentra replacements, though the Sentra is actually from a larger C-segment category.

Some other known specs: it is CKD, McPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear, as well as a keyless entry system which Nissan seems to be pushing all around the world, with the new Maxima in the US having a big marketing campaign for it. The key for the Latio is simply a transponder you carry with you – starting the car is the matter of twisting a little tab at the steering column where you would typically insert your key. A push button start would be much cooler though.

Full specs of the Latio and Latio hatch will be available once it is launched and available for sale towards the end of next month. Nissan has started a teaser site for the Nissan Latio at www.latio.com.my so go check it out.

Also, check out the related post links below for some spyshots, as well as some previous posts with details of the Latio sold in our neighbouring country Singapore. You will be able to find alot more photos of the exterior and interior there.

Related Posts:
Nissan Latio sedan and the Nissan Latio Sport hatchback spotted in Genting
Nissan Latio Sedan spotted on Jalan Kepong

Nissan is in the red for the first time in 7 years, taking a 54% plunge in group net profit for the 2006 financial year ending March 31 2007, and a net income drop of 11%. Global yearly vehicles sales for the year dropped 2.4% to 3.5 million cars, and US yearly sales dropped 4% to 1 million cars.

Nissan says the drop from 152.4 billion yen to 70.6 billion yen was due to job-reduction costs and higher taxes despite improved quarterly vehicle sales of USD$23.6 billion. Nissan recently cut 1,500 jobs in Japan, roughly 4.5% of it’s workforce – it’s first staff reduction in Japan in eight years as it aims to match lower production in a shrinking Japanese domestic market. It also trimmed it’s US workforce in 2 factories by 775 workers.

Ghosn says this is not something to be alarmed about. “It’s not a near-death experience like 1999. We haven’t gone in the ditch. But we’ve had an early wake-up call. And it is not our nature to hit the snooze button on the alarm and go back to sleep. So we respond with all the lucidity, the vigilance and the sense of urgency that drove our revival.”

This is the best spy video of Nissan’s upcoming spiritual successor to the Skyline GT-R yet. The Nissan GT-R in this video was captured doing some really intensive high speed laps at the Nurburgring track, and is seen tailed by a Porsche 911, which means Nissan’s power and handling performance targets should be similiar to the 911 as a competitor. Check out the video after the jump.

Related Posts:
Nissan GT-R Proto Art
2008/2009 Infiniti GT-R
Nissan GT-R Announced
Nissan Skyline GT-R Proto

Click here to read the rest of Nissan GT-R Spy Video

The above photo is quite a clear photo showing the rear three quarter profile of the new Nissan Latio Sedan to be introduced in the Malaysian market soon by Edaran Tan Chong Motor. This photo was snapped in Genting Highlands once again by reader Din. The Nissan Latio Sedan inherits the typical strange side profile that comes with every sedan that is based on a car originally designed as a hatchback, and check out that Bangle-style bootlid!

Related Posts:
Nissan Latio Sedan spotted on Jalan Kepong
Nissan Latio sedan and the Nissan Latio Sport hatchback spotted in Genting

LATEST UPDATE: Nissan Grand Livina 1.6 and 1.8 launched in Malaysia

Large families that can’t afford the likes of the Wish or Estima. There are so many of them in Malaysia, yet it’s baffling how a certain national car manufacturer has not addressed this need. For awhile, the only way Malaysians could get a cheap people movers was the Naza Ria, but while it was big and spacious people couldn’t really take the fuel consumption of the 2.5 liter V6 quad cam unit under the hood.

Then along came the Toyota Avanza and the Toyota Innova, but these were body-on-frame rear wheel drive designs, which were easy to design and provided good economies of scale because of platform sharing (Toyota IMV: Innova, Hilux, Hiace, Fortuner), however because it is essentially a truck-based design, comfort levels are not as high as they should be.

Enter Nissan’s Livina Geniss project. The Nissan Livina Geniss project spawned two MPVs – the 5-seater Livina and the 7-seater Grand Livina, and the latter will reach our shores sometime in the second half of 2007. It is an economical 7-seater MPV, much like the Toyota Avanza, however it has one key advantage over it. The Nissan Grand Livina is built upon a monocoque car chassis rather than adapted from a truck chassis. This means it is alot more comfortable.

Front wheel drive driving dynamics also mean it is relatively somewhat safer as most people are used to how a car handles when it is front wheel drive rather than rear wheel drive. A car-based chassis also means a lower center of gravity compared to it’s competitors. If you want to see what I mean, just compare the Toyota Innova to the Toyota Wish. Both are 7-seaters of similiar size, yet one is so tall, as if the Innova body was built on top of a generic frame, while the Wish is close to the ground, and looks like the whole body has been designed together with the chassis. The Grand Livina’s chassis is shared with other compact Renault-Nissan vehicles such as the Nissan Note, Renault Clio, and Nissan March.

Two engine options are available, the HR15DE (109hp at 6,000rpm, 148Nm at 4,400rpm) and the MR18DE (128hp at 5,500rpm, 174Nm at 4,800rpm), both now with CVTC Variable Valve Timing. The MR18DE comes with with a 6-speed manual or a 4-speed auto, while the HR15DE’s gearbox offering is similiar except the manual only has 5 cogs.

Based on paper specs alone, the Nissan Grand Livina looks like a much better choice than a Toyota Avanza or a Naza Citra, but let’s see how it really performs once it arrives on Malaysian shores with whatever specs Tan Chong decides to fit it with. For those who always desire a little bit more, you’ll be pleased to know that a bolt-on Impul supercharger for the HR15DE is already available, and will boost power up to 144 horsepower.

Click here to read the rest of Nissan Grand Livina to arrive in 2nd half 2007

It appears that the Nissan Teana will not be replacing the aging Nissan Cefiro after all. Edaran Tan Chong Motor is somehow placing the Teana in the top of the line Japanese D-segment CBU segment, occupied currently by the lone Honda Accord 3.0 V6. The Nissan Teana will be fully imported from Thailand and will go for RM230,000 OTR.

RM230,000 will buy you a generally nice looking car, however it seems overpriced for what it is. The Toyota Camry 2.4, also a CBU from Thailand, goes for only RM168,303.00, making it seem like a bargain. It also makes you wonder why the Teana has to be priced the way it is now, when Toyota can get the Camry in for much cheaper.

The Honda Accord 3.0 V6 CBU also comes from Thailand, and goes for RM212,800, even cheaper than the Teana V6 2.3L! It also has bigger and more powerful engine, plus a sunroof, but the Teana has 6 airbags while the Accord 3.0 V6 only has 4. However, the Teana also still uses a 4-speed auto, while rivals have gone 5 speeds.

The Teana could give it’s competitors an edge and end up being somewhat worth it in terms of ride and handling though, but I can’t exactly do a comparison looking at spec sheets so we’ll have to leave it at this for the moment. There must be some reason why the Teana ended up being priced like this, but I don’t know why.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Nissan Teana on sale for RM230,000 OTR!

[UPDATE #2: The Nissan Latio is now available for booking in Edaran Tan Chong Motor showrooms nationwide. Click here for more details like prices, specs, etc.]

Here’s another shot of the Nissan Latio sedan, sent in by reader Zuzrin. The Nissan Latio sedan was spotted going on rounds along Jalan Kepong towards the MRR2. It has all it’s emblems and logos, including wheel caps removed.

So, when are we going to see it in the showrooms?

[UPDATE: The Nissan Latio will be launched in Malaysia sometime at the end of June 2006. Keep your fingers crossed and your money in the bank before parting with your cash on a new car in the RM80k to RM110k range and wait to see if the new Latio is a worthy choice. Click here for more details!]

Related Posts:
Nissan Latio sedan and hatch spotted in Genting
Tan Chong’s plan for Nissan in 2006