Men Free Blog

When Nissan launched the 350Z in ‘02, it was working hard to reinvent itself and the new Z was clearly its halo car in the U.S. market. Now that that the revival has come and gone, expect the new 370Z to take on a new tack as a harder edged vehicle. In fact, Nissan plans to take on Porsche, the most classic of all sportscar manufacturers, with its newest coupe. Equipped with a larger 335-hp 3.7-liter V6 engine and having gone on a serious diet, possibly shedding as much as 200 lbs, the new Z will definitely have the cojones to keep up with its foes, including the Cayman, and its shorter wheelbase and wider track should conspire to make it quite the handler as well. We’ll get our first official look at the new son-of-Godzilla at the LA Auto Show, shorty after which the Nissan 370Z should show up in Japanese dealerships with U.S. delivery at a later date. Hopefully, not too much later.

Sour grapes or legitimate complaint? That’s the question we’re left pondering after reading that Porsche believes Nissan must have cheated to record its 7:29:03 lap time of the famed Nürburgring race circuit. Porsche claims that it had been suspicious of the Nissan’s lap times, so it acquired a U.S.-spec GT-R for testing back-to-back with its own 911 Turbo and GT2. The result? The mighty Godzilla was toppled by the Teutonic German duo, with the GT-R posting times a good 25-seconds slower than Nissan’s claim.

How can Porsche explain the discrepancy? “This wonder car with 7:29 could not have been a regular series production car. For us, it’s not clear how this time is possible. What we can imagine with this Nissan is they used other tires,” says August Achleitner, the man in charge of the 911 program. There is footage of the GT-R lapping the ‘Ring at high speed, but it’s taken from inside the car where the tires cannot be seen.

Considering the fact that Nissan saw fit to issue a press release commemorating the car’s fast-lap, we doubt this is something that will be taken lightly. There’s a big can ‘o worms here, and Porsche’s in the corner holding the opener.

These are the first official photos of the revised Nissan Note that will make its global premiere at next month’s Paris Auto Show. The most obvious changes on Nissan’s Honda Jazz / Fit adversary can be found to the exterior design, where the front end benefits from a completely new design of grille, bumper and headlight while at the rear, the mini MPV’s signature ‘boomerang’ lights are now darker. A new pale green exterior colour along with two new designs of alloy wheels compete the exterior changes. Moving on to the Note’s interior, the 2009 model features a new combi-meter that promises to offer improved legibility and clarity while there is also a new central instrument panel.

Along with the revised 2009 Note mini MPV –see photos and details here- Nissan will also stage the global debut of its all-new mini car, the Pixo at this year’s Paris Motor Show. Built in collaboration with Suzuki Motor Corporation in Delhi, India, the Pixo is essentially a rebadged and restyled version of the new Suzuki Alto. Although hasn’t released pricing yet, the Japanese carmaker supports that when the Pixo goes on sale in Europe in spring 2009, it will be offered at ‘an extremely accessible price’.

Blaming higher costs for raw materials, Nissan USA has announced a hefty price increase for the 2009 GT-R sportscar. In particular, the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP) for the base GT-R has been raised by $6,990, from $69,850 to $76,840. For the GT-R Premium model the MSRP has been increased by $7,190, from $71,900 to $79,090. Nissan said that the adjusted prices do not apply to customer orders already in dealer hands prior to September 5.

Apart from the revised 2009 Note and the all-new, Suzuki Alto based Pixo, Nissan will also bring a new concept car to the 2008 Paris Motor Show, the all-electric Nuvu. Even though the Japanese firm has yet to release any images of the Nuvu, Nissan said that its newest concept car features 2+1 seating car and is built on a unique platform. Powered by an all-electric drivetrain, the Nuvu measures 3 meters in length with a wheelbase of 1980 mm. Notable features include the dozen or so small solar panels on the roof that are shaped like leaves and the organic and recycled materials that are used in the cabin.

First art imitates life and now video games do the same, with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan having joined forces to create the GT Academy. Over the course of eight months, the academy culled a group of wannabe racers from a field of entrants who posted the best lap times in GT5 Prologue. Then, for five days at Silverstone, the finalists competed in the game and on the actual track, watched by ex-F1 racer Johnny Herbert and a panel of five judges.

The two winners were just announced, and Top Gun status went to Lars Schlomer and Luis Ordonez. Schlomer is a taxi driver in Bonn, Germany; Ordonez is an MBA student from Spain. Now that they’ve won, they’ll be thrown into boot camp for four months to learn to how to race for real silver: in four months, they’ll have to earn their racing licenses and get ready to drive a factory-backed Nissan 350Z in the 24 Hours of Dubai this coming January.The rest of us will have to be content with GT5 Prologue for now…

Nissan is bringing a trio of vehicles to the city of lights for the 2009 Paris Motor Show: a new concept called the Nuvu, an all-new production car car called the Pixo and a revised Note. We don’t have an image of the Nuvu yet, but Nissan says it’s a compact all-electric city car with 2+1 seating. It takes its green theme seriously with solar panels shaped like tree leaves on the roof that channel the sun’s power through a “tree trunk” conduit in the center of the vehicle.

Next up is the Pixo, a new production car for the city with four-doors and a rear hatch that’s powered by an eency-weency 1.0L three-cylinder engine. Built in collaboration with Suzuki, the new A-class car will obviously be geared towards fuel economy and low emissions when it goes on sale in Europe in the spring of 2009.
Finally, Nissan will have a revised version of its Note compact car that features a new, sleeker front end. New wheels, colors, a revised suspension and an available 1.5L dCi engine round out the changes. The Note also gets Nissan’s new in-car nav/infotainment system called Nissan Connect. It comes with everything the market demands including a touch-screen navigation system, connectivity for digital audio players and Bluetooth connectivity.

Nissan announced today a price increase for the 2009 GT-R, raising the MSRP nearly $7,000 from $69,850 to $76,840. The price for the Premium model has been increased even more, going from $71,900 to $79,090 in one fell swoop. Fortunately, the adjusted prices do not affect customers who placed their orders with dealers before September 5. Nissan cited increased material costs as the reason for the adjustment.

Since the GT-R is already one of the best performance bargains on the market today and customers are paying a premium to own one, we doubt that the price increase will have any effect on sales. Still, $7,000 is a serious chunk of change that could go towards aftermarket toys from Cobb Tuning or HKS.

Wald International has never been one to offer subtle styling. Whether it’s the Lexus IS-F or the Mercedes-Benz CL, the Japanese tuner loves to create a bold look with vents, wings and wheels. The tuner recently turned its attention to the Nissan GT-R, and while we don’t have official information on the car, the photos offer a good look at what the package will include. A vented front fascia and splitter, side skirts, rear fender flares, a rear diffuser, carbon fiber rear spoiler and 22-inch wheels all lend to the more aggressive look. We actually like the majority of the body kit, although we’d prefer the rear fender flares to be the same color as the body, and the larger wheels probably don’t do much for the performance of the car. In the end, though, we’d probably spend our hard earned money on some of the Club Sport components from NISMO. Thanks for the tip, James!