2014 Nissan Juke S on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility Vehicle of the Year finalists revealed

The finalists for the 2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility Vehicle of the Year were announced Tuesday at AutoMobility LA ahead of the 2016 LA Auto Show. Approximately 60 judges, including Autoblog's editor-in-chief Mike Austin, evaluated over 40 vehicles and named three models as the finalists in each category. The award for the Utility Vehicle of the Year is new for 2017 and separates SUVs, crossovers, and minivans from pickup trucks. The finalists are: Car of the Year: Chevrolet Bolt Genesis G90 Volvo S90 Truck of the Year: Ford F-Series Super Duty Honda Ridgeline Nissan Titan Utility Vehicle of the Year Chrysler Pacifica Jaguar F-Pace Mazda CX-9 The winners for the 24th annual NACTOY awards will be named on January 9 at the Detroit Auto Show. Related Video: Chevrolet Chrysler Ford Honda Jaguar Mazda Nissan Truck Crossover Minivan/Van SUV Electric Luxury Sedan north american car of the year NACTOY

Nissan rowed the Note ashore [w/video]

Normally we wouldn't suggest trying to float your car on water, but Nissan has made some modifications to turn its new Versa Note hatchback into a makeshift rowing shell.
Nissan replaced the car's rear seats with a sliding rear rowing seat, modified the doors to open wider at 90 degrees and fitted a pair of oars. Most importantly, they put the whole thing on a floating platform to keep it from sinking into Eton Dorney Lake, the site of the 2012 Olympic rowing competitions in England (where the car is simply known as the Nissan Note).
Then they invited medal-winning competitive rowers Helen Glover, Sophie Hosking and Polly Swann to come along and row the thing, making use of the around-view monitor system to see where they were going. All in all it may not be quite as cool as the boats which Fiat made out of the 500 or Mini made out of its convertible, but it's still enough to float our boat. Check it out in the video clip and press release below and the image gallery above.

2014 Nissan Juke Nismo RS priced from $26,120*

We'll admit, we're quite excited about the Nissan Juke Nismo RS, especially now that its price has been revealed. For $26,120, you can get the sharpest, sportiest Juke outside of the over-caffeinated, 545-horsepower Juke R.
That base price reflects the cost of the Juke Nismo RS you really want - the front-drive model, complete with six-speed manual. Snagging an all-wheel-drive, CVT-equipped version will cost an extra $2,000. Those prices don't include an *$810 destination charge.
The Juke Nismo RS boasts an extra 18 hp and 26 pound-feet of torque over the 197-hp Juke Nismo, thanks to things like a new exhaust. The big, must-have feature, though, are the Recaro thrones fitted in the front of the RS. As we said when the hot Juke debuted in LA last year, the seats alone may be worth upgrading to the RS model.