2011 Nissan Altima 2.5 on 2040-cars

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Watch this 800-hp Nissan Juke-R savage the 'Ring

The concept of the 545-horsepower Nissan Juke-R that stuffs the drivetrain of a GT-R into a subcompact crossover is already insane, but Russian company Shpilli Villi Engineering has taken things even further with their own crazy riff on the idea. Its version tunes the engine up to a claimed 800 horsepower, plus a shot of nitrous for an extra 200 hp to put it (way) over the top. Naturally, a number of other upgrades have been exacted in an effort to try and keep the custom Juke's shiny side up and the driveline internals from spontaneously rearranging themselves. Those changes include a beefed-up switchable all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive layout and revised suspension.
Last year, you may recall that we saw an earlier version of Shpilli Villi Engineering's insanity testing with a mere 700 hp in a one-mile, standing drag race against a Bugatti Veyron. In that state of tune, the Juke-R lost, but by less than a hundredth of a second. Now, owner and racer Vladimir Ulanov has brought his madness to the Nürburgring Nordschleife to see how it does around a damp lap of the famous track.
It looks like 800 hp and a moist track might be almost too much for this Juke to handle, because Ulanov gets very loose at several points during the lap. Understandably, his passenger seems suitably impressed and possibly a little freaked out at the end. See what you think of this craziness by watching the video.

2014 Nissan Rogue

When I first started in this whole automotive journalism biz, I held a sort of hodgepodge receptionist/gopher/production assistant role, and each morning as the staff filed in, I'd ask them how they liked whatever car they were assigned to drive the previous night. Most of my colleagues would regale me with anecdotes about how good or bad a vehicle was, but one co-worker, every single morning, would answer my query with the exact same phrase: "It was fine."
I always assumed this was just a brush-off, an "ask me again after I've had a cup of coffee" sort of response. But then I found myself in a similar moment of brevity following the launch of the 2014 Nissan Rogue earlier this week. After returning home, a friend asked me what I thought of the new Rogue, and I replied, word for word, "It was fine."
And, well, it was. Nothing worth wasting exclamation points over, good or bad. Aside from something like the interesting-to-drive Mazda CX-5 or funky-looking Jeep Cherokee, nothing in this class really tries to set the world on fire. And that, right there, is fine. Nissan doesn't need to do anything crazy with its second-generation Rogue. It just needs to offer a well-equipped crossover that's handsome, functional, efficient and priced right - sticking to the same formula that made the first-generation model so successful while offering the latest crop of creature comforts in a more modern package.

2015 Nissan Murano to hit the stage in NY

When the Nissan Murano launched in the early-2000s it was one of the first crossovers to eschew truck-like looks in favor of more sporty styling. For the third generation, Nissan is rumored to be taking the CUV's design even farther with inspiration from the wild Resonance concept that debuted at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. According to Edmunds, Nissan will unveil the next-generation, 2015 Murano and an unnamed concept at the New York Auto Show in April.
The new Murano will go on sale this fall on the same front-wheel drive platform as the Altima, Pathfinder and next-gen Maxima. Its size will be roughly unchanged compared to the current model, and there won't be a seven-seater option. Nissan spokesman Dan Bedore told Edmunds that it already offers "three rows in the Rogue as an option and three rows in the Pathfinder for everything. We don't need another three-row crossover." There will also be a rumored hybrid version using the Pathfinder's supercharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, a 22-horsepower electric motor and lithium-ion battery. To disappoint the dozen people who will miss it, the much-maligned Murano CrossCabriolet will not make it to the third generation. Let's all shed a tear.