Archive for Nissan

The Sylphy has also been facelifted in China and over there it gets more changes compared to the Japanese and Singaporean market.

In China, the Sylphy receives similiar treatments to the exterior and interior but adds a new front bumper and new tail lamps for the rear. These set of photos from China also lets us have a closer view of the new meter panel. I’m not completely sure if the Chinese and Japanese model share the same meter panel even though both have black faces, as the Japanese photos are a little low-res.

Anyway, enjoy looking at more photos after the jump. Which Sylphy do you prefer – the pre-facelift Sylphy currently sold in Malaysia, the new Japanese facelift or the new Chinese facelift?

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Nissan gave the Bluebird Sylphy (called just the Nissan Sylphy here in Malaysia) a minor update in May this year. No changes under the hood, just some aesthetics changes. The front headlamps now feature amber-coloured signal indicators.

The interior now gets a new design digital climate control and the instrument panel meter faces have also been changed from the previous white version to a new black coloured version. Look after the jump for a full gallery of the updated car. No news so far as to when Tan Chong will be facelifting the Sylphy here in Malaysia.

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It’s finally here, the first of the production Nissan electric vehicles that they’ve been shouting about for the longest time now. The new Nissan Leaf is a mid-sized hatchback powered by a lithium-ion battery that can go about 160km on a full charge.

The name Leaf in relation to the car’s zero-emissions nature – according to Nissan: just as leaves purify the air in nature, the Leaf purifies mobility by taking emissions out of the driving experience.

The whole car has loads of blue themed in it. The introductory colour is called Aqua Globe. The interior (which at first sight looks Civic-like thanks to the format of the dual-level dash) features blue backlighting for the various displays. On the outside, the headlamps have a blue internal reflective design and are lit up by LED in order to be more energy efficient.

The Nissan Leaf’s lithium ion pack (installed under the passenger area under the seat and floor) produces 90kW and supplies power to the AC electric motor which produces 80kW (107 horsepower) and 280Nm of torque. It’s definitely not going to be a scorcher – it’s likely that due to gearing limitations, the top speed is limited to just over 140km/h and there is no 0 to 100km/h acceleration time given.

Different sockets for a regular wall plug and a quick charger

The 160km rated range is based on the US LA4 mode driving cycle. Nissan claims that this range satisfies the daily driving requirements of over 70% of the world’s drivers. At the end of the day, the Leaf can be charged overnight from a 200V power outlet in about 8 hours, or via a DC quick charger in under 30 minutes. The charging port is in front where the Nissan logo is.

Pricing for the new Nissan Leaf will only be announced later but according to Nissan, it will be priced about the same as a well-equipped C-segment car. The Leaf itself is well within the size of a typical C-segment hatch, with a wheelbase of 2,700mm. The Leaf is 4,445mm long, 1,770 mm wide and 1,550mm tall.

This means a Leaf could potentially be priced about the same as a Nissan Sylphy in Malaysia, which could put it well in reach for a sizeable amount of Malaysians, if only the government can revamp their various engine displacement based taxation systems.

Once that is settled there shouldn’t be a problem having one in Malaysia as Nissan has a right hand drive version pretty much ready. Look after the jump for a full photo gallery as well as 3 videos of the Nissan Leaf.

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Nissan previewed its electric vehicle powertrain a few days ago and used a Nissan Latio as a demonostrator vehicle. The EV system uses an in-house developed electric motor that can produce 107 horsepower and 280Nm of torque, matched with a 24kWh laminated compact li-ion battery pack.

With the demonstrator, the battery pack is placed under the vehicle floor for better packaging – this reduces intrusions into the cabin or cargo space. It can be quite tricky to mate an electric powertrain to a normal chassis that was designed for an internal combustion engine as the requirements in terms of size, shape and other factors of an electric vehicle system can be quite different from a regular car’s. An additional frame is added to the battery pack to improve the platform’s rigidity.

Thanks to the 24kWh and a regenerative braking system, the electric Latio can go over 160km on a full charge, based on the US LA4 mode driving cycle.

Nissan will also be adding a remote control and monitoring function to its electric cars. All Nissan EVs will communicate with a central IT system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Alerts can be sent to your mobile phone. With the system, users can check the car’s current charging status and current range capacity. A map can show the current available driving radius so its easier to visualize where you will be able to drive.

You can also control the air conditioner to turn on or off at predefined times, and charging can also be set to be done only within certain timeslots even though the car is plugged in so that you can take advantage from cheaper night electricity rates in some countries.

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Nissan has announced a new driving aid system called the Navigation-Cooperative Intelligent Pedal which basically uses data from the car’s satellite navigation system to help smoothen the drive when it comes to a curving road.

How many times have you approached a bend and then suddenly realised you’ve gone in too fast? Can you see ahead past a blind corner in a bend? Some bends can sharpen mid-way… and then you panic and have to deal with understeer or worse! If the system detects that you are about to do this, it sounds an audible warning.

If you persist, the system moves the accelerator pedal upwards to assist the driver to release it. Once the foot is lifted off, the system will smoothly reduce vehicle speed by braking. The system will debut on the new Nissan Fuga when it is unveiled in fall 2009. As it currently is, the Fuga is the Japanese name for the Infiniti M.

A similiar system was introduced earlier this year on the Toyota Crown Majesta, though it doesn’t work exactly the same. The Toyota system uses gear changes and engine braking to help slow the car down in anticipation of a corner (the car is aware of this via the in-car GPS system too) or a toll booth.

In addition to that, the Toyota system will activate a brake-assist function if it thinks the driver is too late in decelerating when approaching a stop sign or a junction.

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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