Nissan Qashqai

The Qashqai will be sold in Europe, the Middle East, and?under the name of Dualis?in the Japanese market.

Nissan Gets Official on Upcoming GT-R with Website

TOKYO, Japan, (September 26, 2007) -- Nissan today started the pre-launch activities in support of the all-new GT-R, the high performance sports car to be revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show on October 24th.

Central to the launch of GT-R, which will ultimately go on sale around the world, is a dedicated website that will provide all information on the car, including latest news, specifications and where to buy. The address for the website is www.gtrnissan.com and will be available in six languages: Japanese, English, Spanish, German, French and Italian.

With sales due to start in Japan in December, Nissan is today also confirming the final name of the car. Previous generations of this car were known as the Skyline GT-R; the new name for this car is simply "Nissan GT-R" in all global markets. Supporting substantial early customer interest in the Nissan GT-R, the company is today making available for customers in Japan some initial details including basic specifications, colors and practical information on placing pre-orders. Prices in Japan for the Nissan GT-R will start from around 7.8 million yen.

In support of the sale of the Nissan GT-R, the company also announced today the establishment of 160 Nissan High Performance Centers in Japan. These centers have been established to provide specialist sales and servicing support for customers of the Nissan GT-R.


Press release via Nissan

1000hp Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 Tuned by JUN Tested by Jeremy

HAMANN "Thunder"

The BMW 3-Series coupe comes with a whole array of series-produced engines. The most powerful series-made of these is the M3. When it rolls off the assembly line, it has a 4-litre engine, 420 hp and 400 Nm torque.

Featuring an impressive 574 Nm of torque at 6.100 U/min, it delivers a surge of power through a seven-speed manual SMG transmission resulting that most passengers are shocked groping for something to hang on to during acceleration.

The sprint takes 4,3 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h. Only upon reaching top speed of 335 km/h does this transmission begin to meet its limitation in compulsion to move forwards.

Peugeot's 207 SW

Peugeot has launched a 4x4-style version of its new 207 SW called the Outdoor.

The car has bolder exterior styling, an increased ride height, different alloy wheels and 4x4-style grey wheelarch and sill mouldings.

However, there's no real off-road ability, as the car is front-wheel drive only.

Powering the car is the choice of a 95bhp 1.4-litre or 120bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines, or one of two 1.6-litre diesel engines with either 90bhp or 110bhp.

The 207 SW Outdoor will go on sale in November, but exact specifications and prices are yet to be decided.

Source : autotrader

Nissan to Add Fuel-Efficiency Meters to all Future Models

Nissan Motor Co. announced today that it will phase in fuel-efficiency meters on all new models to promote awareness of more economical driving habits. The move is part of the company's overall efforts to launch a wide range of environmental technologies under its mid-term environmental action plan: Nissan Green Program 2010. This new feature will also be introduced on existing models to coincide with the timing of minor model changes.

Showing instant fuel-efficiency and average efficiency, the meters help make drivers more conscious of fuel-efficiency and the direct consequences that their driving styles have on a vehicles fuel-economy. In Nissan conducted in-house tests, the introduction of these meters lead to a fuel economy improvement of approximately 10%.

Until now, Nissan has offered navigation systems which show both instant and average fuel-efficiency. By placing these meters in the main instrument cluster, the company hopes to improve the effectiveness of these simple devices to raise driver awareness on eco-driving habits.

Under the Nissan Green Program 2010, the company added a new feature to its CARWINGS information service to support greener driving habits in January.

Source: Nissan

Twelve months of Qashqai

In the 12 months that have passed since it was unveiled, Nissan’s QASHQAI has enjoyed great success. Sales of the compact crossover began in March and, by the end of July, the total number of deliveries had reached 66,000 units across Europe, far beyond expectations. Indeed, to meet demand, Nissan has invested an extra 3.5m Euro to increase production of QASHQAI by 20 per cent at its factory in Sunderland, United Kingdom. A total of 850 QASHQAIs are now manufactured every day at the Sunderland plant, and on 4 September, the 100,000th QASHQAI was manufactured there.

Furthermore, to ensure that the Sunderland factory can meet demand for QASHQAI in Europe, it was recently announced that production of QASHQAI will be expanded to the Kyushu plant in Japan to satisfy demand for the model in Japan, where it is known as Dualis. Production will start in Japan early in 2008, with an annual output of 24,000 units per year. In Japan sales of Dualis have reached nearly 10,000 units since its launch in May.

In Europe, Nissan’s early customer research has highlighted some interesting trends. Simply speaking, QASHQAI is bought by younger people than the C-segment average, and by more women:

The typical buyer is 44 years old, three years younger than the C-segment average and six years younger than the Compact SUV average. Seven out of ten buyers are male, four per cent less than the C-segment and six per cent less than the C-SUV average.

Particularly encouraging is the statistic that one third of QASHQAI buyers fall into the 36-45 year bracket, against a 20 per cent average for the C-segment and 27 per cent for the C-SUV. Initial customer feedback shows that buyers like the QASHQAI for bringing something new to the market; for its strong, distinctive design which sits between a traditional hatchback style and a more robust, elevated SUV shape.

Nine out of ten QASHQAI buyers in Spain are first-time Nissan buyers and that trend is nearly repeated in Italy (84%) and UK (83%). QASHQAI buyers have consistently cited the premium quality interior and overall design as key factors in changing brands to Nissan. As anticipated, buyers of QASHQAI typically used to drive a compact hatchback, such as a Mégane or Focus, an entry-level family hatchback, such as a Laguna or Avensis, or an SUV, such as a RAV4 or Freelander.

In terms of the car, half of all QASHQAIs have been specified with the 1.5dCi diesel engine, with the 1.6-litre petrol engine as the next favoured choice with 22 per cent, closely followed by the 2.0-litre diesel at 20 per cent. And the mix of QASHQAIs equipped with the ALL MODE 4x4 system is 25 per cent.

Two-thirds of QASHQAIs ordered are in Acenta grade, the middle specification level, while the most popular option is the panoramic glass roof. Metallic black has proved to be the most popular colour, with 31 per cent of orders, followed by Blade Silver (26%) and Faded Denim (16%).

The QASHQAI was designed and developed in Europe following extensive research of local market buying patterns and a deep consumer analysis of unmet needs among car-buyers. Nissan Europe’s product planners identified an opportunity in the market to design and develop a vehicle which provided more dynamic design, without the perceived aggression of a compact SUV, yet maintained the elevated driving position which is popular, but not at the expense of driving enjoyment. The QASHQAI is that model.

The QASHQAI was designed at Nissan Design Europe, situated in Paddington, London, while technical development was undertaken at its technical centres in Cranfield, England, Barcelona, Spain and near Bonn, Germany.

Source: Nissan

New Porsche Cayenne GTS

Source: Porsche

With the new Cayenne GTS, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany, is reiterating the successful Cayenne series’ prominence in the sporty SUV segment. The model, which celebrates its world debut at the IAA in Frankfurt, features an enhanced 4.8-liter V8, has been lowered by 24 millimeters and has a specially developed chassis: it is the first Cayenne to feature the electronically controlled damping system, Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), with steel springs. This combination was previously reserved exclusively for Porsche sports cars. The 4.8-liter engine with direct gasoline fuel injection (DFI) in the Cayenne GTS yields 405bhp (298 kW) at 6,500 revolutions per minute – 20bhp more than in the Cayenne S. Maximum torque remains unchanged at 500Nm at 3,500 revolutions per minute.
This, the sportiest of Porsche SUVs, comes as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox and a shorter axle drive ratio than the Cayenne S (4.1:1 as opposed to 3.55:1). The Cayenne GTS can thus accelerate from zero to 100km/h in just 6.1 seconds, precisely 0.5 seconds quicker than the Cayenne S.

The Cayenne GTS is fitted with Porsche Traction Management (PTM) permanent all-wheel drive and the adaptive PASM chassis as standard. As well as optional air suspension, the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) active anti-roll system is available to enhance handling and ride comfort. Newly developed 12-way sports seats and a leather-Alcantara mix emphasize the sporty interior.

The new Cayenne GTS is instantly recognizable: the front and rear look the same as the Cayenne Turbo, and the striking 14mm wheel-arch enlargements offer plenty of space for the standard 21-inch alloy rims with 295/35 R21 tires. Two new colors have also been reserved exclusively for the GTS: GTS Red and Nordic Gold Metallic.

The new Cayenne model with Tiptronic S transmission has an average consumption of 13.9 liters/100 km in accordance with EU standards. Global dispatch will start in February 2008. In Germany it will cost 76,725 Euros including 19 percent VAT and country-specific requirements; the base price is 64,300 Euros. The base price for the USA (MSRP USA) is US $69,300.

Top Gear - Oversteer and Understeer (Video)

Shell stations going for new look

Source: theStarOnline

KUALA LUMPUR: Don't be surprised if you see regular Shell stations looking a bit different.

Shell is giving its stations a new look.

The change will be done in stages. All 250 outlets and the newly acquired ProJET retail stations will sport the new look by the end of the year.

Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Mohzani Wahab said the latest design based on the Shell Retail Visual Identity concept “would help to keep our retail brand image modern and up to date.”

“The new design also improves the effectiveness of our communication with customers on the forecourt so that customers get what they need at the right points in their fuelling 'journey'.”

Shell is the world’s largest single brand fuels retail business with 46,000 retail stations in over 90 countries.