2007 Nissan 350z Touring Orange on 2040-cars

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Nissan's Nismo celebrates 30th year with video retrospective

Nismo, the motorsports and high-performance arm of Nissan, has a lot of racing success to celebrate in its history and possibly even bigger accomplishments to look forward to. The company is commemorating its 30th anniversary with a video looking back at its most important milestones from each year of its past.
Nismo's job first and foremost at its genesis was to excel at motorsports. It wasn't too long after the division was founded in 1984 that the company made its first of many attempts to take an overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It never quite succeeded in that goal, but still managed to do well in long-distance competition elsewhere. At the same time, Nismo was racking up wins in touring car races in Japan.
Eventually, the division's engineers started dipping their toes into tuning road cars, in addition to going racing. What began as something sporadic has become a growing part of the Nissan lineup with Nismo-branded models of the 370Z, Juke, Note in Europe and the GT-R.

Nissan Rogue Detour uses Google Maps to go create virtual test drive from your doorstep

The best way to evaluate a new car before you buy it is to test drive it. All of the specs and reviews in the world cannot communicate how a car suits you as well as a few minutes behind the wheel. Interesting, then, that according to Nissan, the average buyer spends twice as much time researching new cars online than they do at dealers. To market its new 2014 Rogue, Nissan has launched an online marketing experience aimed at bridging that gap. Called The Detour, it combines Google Street View and Google Maps to give you a custom-tailored virtual test drive. The neat, uniquely interactive part about Detour is that it allows you to specify a starting and ending location. Thus, you can use the microsite to 'show' the Rogue on your commute, or your favorite stretch of tarmac. To spice things up, Nissan has added some digital effects and set the experience to a song by British rapper M.I.A. Detour seems to work better on shorter journeys, because it snips out some portions of the route in order to keep the experience from running too long. If you're going to try it out, we suggest using a crosstown journey rather than going cross country. Scroll down to get all of the details on the Rogue's latest marketing campaign, or click here to try it out for yourself. Nissan Takes 2014 Rogue Shoppers on Cinematic "Detour" with New Google Maps-Based Virtual Test Drive Feb. 4, 2014 – New Online Campaign Shows How Nissan Rogue Makes Every Drive More Exciting – NASHVILLE – Nissan today launched "The Detour," an exciting virtual driving adventure in support of the ongoing rollout of the all-new 2014 Nissan Rogue compact SUV. Available now at nissanusa.com/the-detour, The Detour utilizes Google® Street View, Google® Maps and Google® Satellite API – along with Hollywood-style digital effects and a soundtrack from recording artist M.I.A. – to create a custom test drive experience starting from anywhere around the world. "Recent studies show that new car buyers today spend nearly twice as much time researching their purchases online than at dealerships – more clicking than kicking the tires, so to speak. So why not bring the two together with an informative and enjoyable test drive in buyers' own neighborhoods?" said Jon Brancheau, vice president, Nissan Marketing Communications & Media, Nissan North America, Inc.

Car technology I'm thankful and unthankful for

The past few years have seen a surge of tech features in new vehicles — everything from cloud-based content to semi-autonomous driving. While some of it makes the driving experience better, not all tech is useful or well thought out. Automakers who are adept at drivetrains, ride quality and in-cabin comforts often fail at infotainment interfaces and connectivity. From testing dozens of vehicles each year and in the spirit of gratitude, here are three car tech features I'm thankful — and a trio I could live without. Thanks Connected search: This seems like a no-brainer since everyone already has it on their smartphones, but not all automakers include it in the dashboard and as part of their nav systems. The best ones, such as Toyota Entune, leverage a driver's connected device to search for a range of services and don't charge a subscription or require a separate data plan for the car. I also like how systems like Chrysler Uconnect use Yelp or other apps to find everything from coffee to gas stations and allow searching via voice recognition. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto: It took two of the largest tech companies to get in-dash infotainment right. While they have their disadvantages (you're forced to use Apple Maps with CarPlay, for example), the two smartphone-integration platforms make it easier and safer to use their respective native apps for phoning, messaging, music and more behind the wheel by transferring a familiar UI to the dashboard — with no subscription required. Heated seats and steering wheels: I really appreciate these simple but pleasant features come wintertime. It's easy to get spoiled by bun-warmers on frosty mornings and using a heated steering wheel to warm the cold hands. I recently tested a 2018 Mercedes-Benz E400 Coupe that also had heated armrest that added to a cozy luxury experience. Bonus points for brands like Buick that allow setting seat heaters to turn on when the engine is remotely started. No thanks Automaker infotainment systems: Automakers have probably poured millions into creating their own infotainment systems, with the result largely being frustration on the part of most car owners. And Apple CarPlay and Android Auto coming along to make them obsolete. While some automaker systems, such as Toyota Entune and FCA's Uconnect, are easy and intuitive to use, it seems that high-end systems (I'm looking at you BMW iDrive and Mercedes-Benz COMAND) are the most difficult.