Archive for Nissan

Left: One port of the Dual Injector Right: Conventional system injecting to both ports

Nissan has announced a new Dual Injection System that is expected to be introduced in various Nissan production cars in 2010. At first you may think its something like Toyota’s D4-S twin injection system which uses one direct injector and one port injector.

But it’s not. It’s designed to be somewhere in between conventional port injection and direct injection. As the name suggests, the new system uses one injector for each port (typically 2 intake ports in a 4 valve engine) rather than one per cylinder, making it a total of two injectors per cylinder.  This system, said to be the world’s first, helps speed up fuel vaporization and reduces the amount of unburned fuel and hydrocarbon emissions.

The system has a number of benefits including, reducing the diameter of the fuel droplets by about 60%, resulting in smoother, more stable combustion, reducing system production cost by about 60% compared to direct-injection engines of similar displacement and more. Nissan says direct injection has been hard and expensive to use on small displacement engines because of high pressure pumps that complicate system design, thus making the component layout less cost-efficient.

The system also features a continuous valve timing control on the exhaust side which Nissan says is to help improve heat efficiency, reducing pumping losses and raising fuel efficiency by up to 4%, compared to Nissan’s other gasoline-powered engines in the same class. The new system also uses half the amount of rare metals in the catalyzer while maintaining the efficiency of the catalytic conversion system.

According to UK-based Autocar, Nissan will reveal an electric vehicle prototype on August 2nd this year, the day when the Japanese auto maker opens its new headquarters in Yokohama, Japan.

Not much has been revealed regarding the new prototype, but rumor has it that it would be a mid-sized, five door hatchback. The prototype is expected to offer twice the power offered by a traditional “li-lo” battery, while maintaining power and reliability.

The advanced lithium-ion battery pack will be developed by Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), which is a joint-venture company involving Nissan, NEC Corporation and NEC TOKIN Corporation, a subsidiary of NEC.

Apparently, the production version of the prototype could be produced by winter this year with an output target of 50,000 units. The production version is expected to be officially unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Edaran Tan Chong Motor brings its “tuned by Impul” model offering up to three with the new Nissan Sylphy tuned by Impul, which will be exhibited at the SIC this weekend in conjunction with Round 4 of the Super GT International Series Malaysia.

The most obvious addition is the aerokit, which consists of a front grille, front and rear lips, side skirts and a rear wing spoiler. The kit also includes an Impul sports suspension kit which lowers the Sylphy by 25mm compared to the standard model, and features uprated shocks and springs. At the rear complementing the rear lip is an Impul Black II muffler with a polished finish. The Impul Sylphy rides on 17 inch Impul Aura SX-10 Black & Polish Finish Alloy Wheels, wrapped with Dunlop Formula D-01 205/45R17 Tyres. On the inside, the seats are wrapped in black leather with matching Impul black mats.

Nissan Sylphy tuned by Impul 2.0 Comfort RM123,900
Nissan Sylphy tuned by Impul 2.0 Luxury RM127,900

The prices above are OTR inclusive of insurance, road tax and misc other fees for the Peninsular Malaysia, and come with a 3-year or 100,000km warranty. That’s actually quite a premium over the regular Sylphy which goes for RM112,800 for the Comfort and RM116,800 for the Luxury. That’s a RM11,100 premium but it doesn’t sound too bad considering you get wheels, an exhaust and the suspension as well.

Those who already own a Sylphy but would like to fit the Impul kit can also do so but of course you won’t be able to package it inside your car hire purchase installment loan.

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Japanese-based Nissan has unleased the NISMO-tuned 370Z Coupe. The in-house tuner has performed a number of upgrades on the NISMO 370Z which includes modifications on key areas including the exterior, suspension, and most importantly, under the hood.

On the outside aerodynamic body pieces are evident with an extended front nose design with a canard design at each corner for improved downforce and a fully integrated chin spoiler, special side sills and a unique rear bumper as well as a rear spoiler that helps increase downforce. Available in five body colours including Pearl White, Brilliant Silver, Magnetic Black, Solid Red and Platinum Graphite, the NISMO 370Z looks more aggressive thanks to a lower and wider stance. Just like the standard 370Z, this up-rated version comes with “boomerang” shaped headlights (with High Intensity Discharge (HID) bi-functional xenon design with an auto on/off feature) and tail lights.

Minor modifications were performed on the interior, with the NISMO logo visible on the seats which were finished with black/red fabric and red stitching, a NISMO tachometer, steering wheel with red stitching, leather-wrapped shift knob and aluminum trimmed pedals. As standard the NISMO 370Z comes with front seats with 8-way driver’s/4-way passenger manual adjustments and adjustable front seat Active Head Restraints, Nissan’s Intelligent Key with Push Button Start, power windows with one-touch auto up/down feature, power door locks with auto-lock feature, a center console box with a new non-intrusive cover design, automatic climate control, rear window defroster with timer, two 12-volt power outlets, four cupholders, dual overhead map lights and a AM/FM/CD/AUX 4-speaker audio system with illuminated steering wheel-mounted controls.

Safety and security fitments are made up by Nissan’s Advanced Air Bag System (AABS) with dual-stage supplemental front air bags with seat belt and occupant classification sensors, front seat-mounted side impact supplemental air bags, roof-mounted side-impact air bags, seat belts with pre-tensioners and load limiters, Active Head Restraints, Nissan’s Vehicle Immobilizer System, Vehicle Security System and a Tire Pressure Monitoring System.

Now onto what is under the hood. Well, first of all, the NISMO 370Z uses the same 3.7 liter V6 powerplant found in the standard 370Z, but with upgrades to help offer a higher output figure. These upgrades include a H-configured exhaust system design and muffler tuning, along with optimized ECM (Engine Computer Module) control. This means, power is up to 350HP (at 7,400 revs) from 332HP and torque is now rated at 374Nm (at 5,200 revs) instead of 366Nm.

Continue reading for the rest of the report and to view an image gallery.

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Nissan has officially revealed the drop-top version of its Nissan 370Z sports car, and this new roadster is offered in two forms: the standard Roadster and the Touring Roadster. The top-less 370Z which is shorter in terms of its wheelbase length by 101.6 mm over the model it replaces features a fold-able soft top that takes 20 seconds to open or close. Sharing most of its other features and design elements with the 370Z Coupe, the roadster also comes with an aluminium hood, door panels and trunk to help reduce weight. At the same time, the body structure has been extensively revised, improving rigidity and stability. The 370Z Roadster includes additional structural reinforcement over the 370Z Coupe, in both the A-pillars and side sills.

Other features include long nose/short cockpit proportions, vertical door handles and distinctive headlight/taillight treatment, which features a fierce “boomerang” shape. There are also High Intensity Discharge (HID) bi-functional Xenon headlights with auto on/off feature, and the option of choosing between seven body colours including Solid Red, Magnetic Black, Brilliant Silver, Platinum Graphite, Pearl White, Monterey Blue and Black Cherry.

Over on the inside, the 370Z Roadster features black woven “Carbon” cloth seats with 8-way manual driver’s/4-way manual passenger’s seat adjustments. With the Touring Roadster, buyers would get unique leather-appointed “net” seats with 4-way power/4-way manual operation on the driver’s seat with 4-way power on the passenger’s seat plus heating and cooling.

Other standard interior fitments include Nissan’s Intelligent Key with Push Button Ignition, power windows with one-touch auto up/down feature, power door locks with auto-lock feature, automatic climate control, two 12-volt power outlets, three cupholders and an AM/FM/CD/AUX 4-speaker audio system with illuminated steering wheel-mounted controls. With the Touring Roadster, you also get a 6-CD Bose audio system with eight speakers and MP3/WMA playback, XM Satellite Radio, Bluetooth connectivity, HomeLink Universal Transceiver and aluminium-trimmed pedals.

Just like the 370Z Coupe, both models of the roadster are powered by the 3.7 liter DOHC V6 with Variable Valve Event and Lift Control (VVEL) that is able to output 332HP at 7,000 revs and 366Nm of torque at 5,200 revs. The powerplant can be coupled with either a 6 speed close-ratio manual transmission or a 7 speed automatic that comes with Downshift Rev Matching (DRM) and Adaptive Shift Control (ASC) that are designed to offer quicker shifting when operated in manual mode. Buyers can also optionally add the SynchroRev Match function for the manual with the Sport Package. This basically does the rev-matching for the driver during up-shifts and down-shifts.

With both transmission options, the 370Z Roadster delivers 18 miles to the gallon for city driving and 25 miles to the gallon for highway. With double-wishbone front suspension and a stiffer and lighter 4-link rear suspension, the roadster comes with 18-inch aluminium-alloy wheels wrapped with P225/50R18 front/P245/45R18 rear Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tires. With the Sport Package, potential buyers will get 19-inch RAYS forged lightweight aluminium-alloy wheels with Bridgestone Potenza RE050A P245/40R19 front/P275/35R19 tires.

Continue reading for the rest of the report and to view an image gallery.

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Nissan is bringing forward its electric vehicle debut for the US market by 2 years, which means the first Nissan EVs could hit American streets by 2010. Its original plan was to start utility and commercial sales of EVs in 2010 and begin consumer retail sales in 2012, but according to Nissan director of product planning and strategy Mark Perry, some consumer US markets could be ready for the EVs sooner than 2012. Nissan says as long as the market is ready, they will go in earlier. And by ready, this includes charging infrastructure.

Nissan’s electric vehicles will be powered by NEC lithium ion batteries. It will have a range of about 100 miles or 160km between charges. Nissan and NEC are planning to build an EV battery plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, and have requested to take out a low-interest loan from the feds to do so.

Nissan has revealed the Qazana 5-door crossover concept in Geneva. Said to be inspired by motorbikes and beach buggies, the Qazana concept is expected to showcase the design language of an upcoming small crossover; a baby brother to the Qashqai.

This all wheel drive concept which measures 4060 mm in length, 1570 mm tall, 1780 mm wide with a wheelbase of 2530 mm features rear-hinged rear doors, two lower circular lamps set within the bumper with a pair of daylight running strips mounted high on the wings on either side of the bonnet as well as a full width grille up front. If you think that the front seem “roundish”, the rear end of the Qazana speaks the similar language as well.

Sitting on 20 inch black chrome alloys, the concept is treated to a red/white futuristic interior that is inspired by the fuel tank and seat of a motorbike. It has ‘floating’ seats that are centrally mounted over a one-piece rubberized floor covering as well as a centrally mounted touch screen display which allows the driver to control many features of the car, and which also displays the navigation system.

Nissan also revealed that the all wheel drive system features the next generation fully electronic ALL MODE four-wheel drive with torque vectoring system. Continue reading to view an image gallery.

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For those of you in the land below the winds, in Tawau in particular, Nissan will be conducting a test drive event at the Edaran Tan Chong Motor Tawan Branch at the Ba Zhung Commercial Center on Jalan Tawau Lama. Both CBU and CKD Nissan models are available for test drive. These include the Nissan March, the Nissan Murano, the Nissan Teana, the Nissan Navara, the Nissan X-Trail 2.5, the Nissan Sylphy, the Nissan Latio 1.6, the Nissan Latio Sport 1.6, the Nissan Grand Livina 1.8 and finally possibly the most exciting of all, the open top Nissan 350Z Roadster which is still on sale in Malaysia. Note that the 350Z has been replaced internationally by the 370Z which is more compact but with a larger engine.

Scrapped small car project could have been the Dodge Hornet

Chrysler and Nissan originally planned to expand their current cooperation of marketing the Nissan Versa in South America as the Dodge Trazo with another two cars – another Chrysler-designed Nissan (Japanese)-built small car (dare we say this might be the Dodge Hornet?) and a full-sized Nissan pick-up based on a Chrysler (next gen Nissan Titan). But right now in face of a depressing economy and unfavorable dollar to yen exchange rates, that plan has been put on hold. The Versa project will go on as planned.

Other than the Versa, there are also other third-party sourced small cars sold there, such as the Hyundai Atos and the Hyundai Accent, sold as the Dodge Atos and Dodge Attitude respectively. Word is that the Versa-based Trazo will replace the Attitude as Hyundai has officially entered the Mexican market.

The word is that the cancellation/postponement of the other two vehicle projects have nothing to do with the recent involvement of Fiat in the American company, but it’s just that the projects were a deal done during better times, which unfortunately have ended what feels like a long time ago.

No, the image you see above is not an early sketch of the Kia Soul. It’s actually a teaser image for a new Nissan concept car due for the 79th Geneva International Motor Show called the Nissan Qazana concept. Nissan describes the Qazana as being a small 5-door hatchback crossover vehicle with large wide wheelarches and suicide doors.