Autoblog

Do you sense a pattern here? Not only has the Nissan GT-R won just about every comparison test on the planet, but it's also racked up a Popular Science Best of What's New award, Car of the Year honors from Automobile Magazine, and now the GT-R can add Motor Trend's CotY trophy to its mantle, as well. Calling it simply "Ichiban", the MT team praised Nissan's supercar-for-the-people as a standout in a pretty deep pool of contenders. While practically none of its CotY competitors even comes close to matching the GT-R's performance, several that are almost as good in their own right made the finals. Good as they are, the Honda Fit, Hyundai Genesis, BMW 1 series, Jaguar XF, Acura TL and TSX, Audi A4, Mazda6 and Volkswagen Passat CC just couldn't match the dominance of Gozilla. It would have been more difficult for MT to justify picking something other than the GT-R for this honor, and we can't think of any reason to disagree with their choice. Full press release after the jump.


[Source: Motor Trend]

As a rain of ash fell on most of Southern California the crew from Inside Line set out to introduce enthusiasts to Nissan's new sports coupe, the 2009 Nissan 370Z. The gathering took place at the advertising offices of Chiat/Day, which supplied a striking background for the next generation Z model. First impressions of the 370Z in person were no different than those formed after viewing the initial images. The design intentions, to blend between the outgoing 350Z and stylings pulled from the Z cars of yesteryear, was especially apparent. However, it was certainly strengthened when the new model was parked in close proximity to examples of both the Z33 and its forebears vehicles. Getting a real life view of the new Z was nice, but a vehicle is best defined by the ease of human/machine interaction. The 370Z meet and greet offered the first opportunity to poke around in the coupe. Unfortunately, this blogger did not get a chance to peek inside the vehicle before the Inside Line crew put her on the spot for an opinion. The end result of the interrogation can now be seen on Inside Line's preview video.

After breaking away from the Inside Line crew I eventually secured a spot behind the steering wheel of the Z34. I was most curious about the side view offered by the larger rear fender and C-pillar combination, and as I suspected, the view was non-existent. The rear hatch also angled more sharply than the 350Z, which combined with the 370Z's smaller physical dimensions, meant less space for piling up junk in the trunk. The trunk held other surprise: an on-off switch for a rear differential cooler pump was hiding underneath the mat. The cooler addition is a typical Japanese trick for protecting sporty vehicles from abusive drivers, also known as members of the press. A shiny anodized fitting for an oil cooler was also spotted in the Z's front fender well. The extra hardware prompted rumors and questions about NISMO upgrades, but currently there are no answers on that front. One question that did receive attention was aimed at hashing out more details on the downshift rev-match option. According to those on hand, it will be a feature available on sport models and will operate through feedback on clutch engagement, brake pedal position, rpm, throttle position and gear selection.

Check the galleries below for everything we've amassed in the lead-up to the new 2009 Nissan 370Z's introduction, which should tied you over until the official unveiling at next week's LA Auto Show.



[Source: Inside Line]

InsideLine hosted a little soirée for Nissan/Datsun devotees to show off the 2009 Nissan 370Z ahead of its unveiling this Tuesday at the LA Auto Show, and the crew from StreetFire was on hand to provide some pics and a video of the reveal.

Beyond the trio of teasers and "leaked" images that found their way onto the Web this past week, these new shots finally give us a clear view of all the exterior styling details and a few shots of the thoroughly revised interior. The upkick in the door's edge that leads into the side windows is a particularly nice touch, as is the new steering wheel, revised instrument panel with integrated LCD and dual stitching on the leather dash.

More details and pics to come, so be sure to check back tonight for all the techy tidbits. In the meantime, check out the gallery below and the video after the jump.


[Source: StreetFire]

Remember when you were a kid and wanted that shiny new radio-controlled car from Toys 'R Us? The fine print at the bottom of the package almost always read, "Batteries Not Included." If Nissan's current plans go forward, that little saying may come back to haunt you when Nissan's electric vehicle goes on sale sometime after 2010.

Carlos Tavares, Nissan Motor Co.'s executive vice president for product planning and design, believes that in the not-so-distant future, we'll all be driving zero-emissions cars powered by electrons. When you make your way into the dealership to sign the paperwork, you'll be presented with two forms; one to purchase the car and one to lease the battery. Before we all get too upset about paying separately for our power packs, remember that filling up with gasoline will be a thing of the past as well -- in this particular vision for the future, at least -- so Tavares assures us that the overall cost to the consumer will actually be lower than it is today.

Another possibility presented by Tavares is car sharing, which is already taking place around the world on a very small scale. Instead of owning your own vehicle, you'd merely have access to one, time-share style, that would allow you entry into a garage full of vehicles from which to choose for your particular day's needs. To which we say, yeah... we'll see.


[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Nissan is planning not one, but two, separate events to reveal the new Nissan 370Z to a select group of gearheads ahead of its unveiling next week at the LA Auto Show. But Nissan's worst-kept secret keeps leaking out. So in addition to a handful of teasers, a few game-play screen caps and a trio of spy shots, GTRWorld has seven pics of Nissan's newest Z car out in the open.

While the new head- and tail-lamp treatments have garnered the most attention, a few elements haven't been in clear view until now. The slight indentation in the roof matches the revised hood, while the shortened hatch and new bumper eschews the outgoing model's harsh creases for a more bulbous back end. Inside, the rear strut tower brace that seriously compromised the 350Z's trunk space has been moved just aft of the doors and everything in the engine bay looks ready for production. Check the images in the gallery below for more.


[Source: GTR-World]

What are the best innovations that the global automotive industry debuted in 2008? Popular Science has just picked its favorites and revealed the Best of What's New awards for the year that just was; um, is. The grand prize goes to the Nissan GT-R for its technical brilliance, astonishing performance and relatively attractive pricing. No real complaints there, though we'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention that the new Corvette ZR1 in the same breathe, which PopSci fails to do.

Green technology holds down three of the 11 positions, with two coming from Ford for its capless fuel fillers and EcoBoost engine tech, though the latter won't arrive until 2009 and Ford can't be credited with pioneering the combination of turbocharging and direct-injection on small displacement engines. Honda takes up a slot with its largely unobtainable hydrogen fuel cell-powered FCX Clarity. Also winning awards from the techy Mag are BMW's Google Maps-infused MyInfo service and the speed recognition system from the Euro-spec 7 Series, the DARPA-winning Tartan Racing Boss, Audi's Dynamic Steering, the Wide-View cameras from Lexus, Infiniti's self-healing clearcoat and the Speedshift transmission from Merdedes-Benz. Click the source link to read about each honoree, and let us know in the comments if you think PopSci missed an automotive tech marvel from 2008.

[Source: Popular Science]

The Nissan GT-R will benefit from a few engineering and cosmetic tweaks for the 2009 model year in Japan, beginning with a slight bump in performance that brings output up from 480 to 485 PS (just under five hp). Other modifications include a larger fuel tank – expanded from 71 liters to 73.8 liters – a slight increase in fuel economy (about .3 km/l), "Nissan" replacing "Brembo" on the brake calipers, a new mounting location for the front license plate and a new paint code for Storm White (changed fro QX1 to QAB).

Pricing will also increase by another 5% in 2009 and it's expected that most of these changes will be adopted on U.S.-spec vehicles when the "Series II" production run begins next year.


[Source: GTRBlog]

The massive-looking NV2500 concept scheduled to be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show this January signals Nissan's interest in the commercial vehicle market. A quick glance at the trademark website shows that the hulking Nissan won't be alone if it ever hits the market. Mike Levine over at Pickuptrucks.com put his Sherlock Holmes hat on and discovered that Nissan also had the names NV1500 and NV3500 earmarked for potential use. The Japanese automaker has a similar naming convention for pickups, too.

The trademark site shows that Nissan also purchased NP1500 through NP5500. The NP stands for Nissan Pickup, and the trademark site specifically mentions that vehicles with the NP designation are for use with pickup trucks. Could NV and NP be the new naming scheme for Nissan trucks and vans? Does the NP1500 mean that the Titan name is heading out to pasture? We don't know for sure, but since we're quickly approaching auto show season, we could well find out soon enough.

[Source: Pickuptrucks]

Go figure. Nissan's playing the debut of the revised and now U.S.-bound Cube very, very close to the vest. We say this because there are photos of the new 370Z all over the place -- released by Nissan, no less. The Cube? Not so much. We posted leaked imagery, and were subsequently forced to pull them down, so we know they were accurate. (No worries, scraped copies of that post are all over the web. Click away.) Aside from that, the only other views of the redesigned Cube came courtesy of Tomica's new die-cast. So it was with excitement that we opened this new Cube teaser video released by Nissan (view after the jump), only to find that it shows absolutely nothing except the logo. We're waiting like everyone else for the car's debut next week at the LA Auto Show. In the interim, you can pass the time by reading our review of the current JDM model.



[Source: Nissan]

Nissan has hit a major home run with its latest Skyline, known as the GT-R here in the States. In fact, the car was knocked so far out of the park that it seems an obvious choice for anyone's Car of the Year. Nissan's latest supercar boasts enough performance to take on the best from the rest of the world regardless of price, making it an amazing value despite costing upwards of $80,000. As such, the new GT-R has been awarded the Car of the Year trophy from Automobile Mag. Who are we to argue?

Other winners of Automobile's year-end awards include Audi's stunning A5 coupe, which takes the award for Design of the Year, though it seems it feels like the A5's already been around for more than a year. Man of the Year goes to Honda's CEO, Takeo Fuki, who's company is now reaping the rewards for staying true to its initial vision of rational, fuel efficient designs after all these years. It's pretty hard to take exception with these choices, though 2009, which is right around the corner, is shaping up to be the year of fuel efficiency. Follow the jump for Automobile Mag's official press release, which has a few extra award winners we didn't mention.


[Source: Automobile]