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Nissan ZEOD RC finds nothing but trouble at 2014 Le Mans

Audi came away a big winner at this year's Le Mans competition, but Nissan has at least one thing to celebrate. The Pyrrhic victory apparently presages Nissan giving up on the gas-electric race car for Le Mans 2015. Before the race this weekend, the prototype ZEOD RC hybrid race car was doing quite well. In fact, given the way things turned out, Nissan's keen to mention that team engineers managed to get the car to complete a lap on electric power and hit a target speed of 300 kilometers per hour (186 miles per hour) on the Mulsanne Straight during testing. ZEOD RC stands for Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car. "The race was obviously very disappointing" – Wolfgang Reip Things didn't go so well once the real race started. The problem for the Deltawing-esque prototype – which is powered by a 1.5-liter gas ending putting out 400 horsepower and a pair of 110-kW electric motors – was that something broke in the transmission after just 23 minutes and five laps. Driver Wolfgang Reip put his best spin on the hybrid's collapse: "The race was obviously very disappointing but having got a taste of Le Mans now, I can't wait to get back." If Reip does return with Nissan, it will likely be in a more traditional Le Mons racer. The ZEOD RC was part of the LM P2 class, but Nissan says that, "For Le Mans 2015, Nissan will return to the LM P1 class." You can watch the full warm-up electric lap in a video below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Nissan ZEOD RC heroic electric lap followed by heartbreak Amazing morning warm-up result after all-nighter by crew "New tech" car halted by "old tech" issue Nissan breaks new ground in electric vehicles LE MANS, France – Nissan's assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours may have ended early, but the revolutionary Nissan ZEOD RC electric prototype still leaves Le Mans having reached its historic goals of hitting 300 km/h on the Mulsanne Straight and recording a complete lap of Le Mans on electric power only. The unique prototype – which features both internal combustion and electric power sources – reached its first target during Thursday night qualifying when Satoshi Motoyama exceeded 300 km/h before the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. Nissan's other key goal was to complete an entire 8.5-mile lap of Le Mans on pure electric power. GT Academy winner Wolfgang Reip was at the wheel when the team achieved this goal during the morning warm-up.

2014 Nissan Versa Note priced from $13,990*

With the 2014 Nissan Versa Note going on sale this month, Nissan has announced the official pricing for its redesigned subcompact hatchback. Commanding a $2,000 premium over the Versa sedan, the new Versa Note will have a starting price of $13,990 (*not including $790 for destination), which is $680 less than the 2012 Versa Hatchback.
The base model is the Versa Note S, but trim levels also include S Plus and SV starting at $15,240 and $15,990, respectively. The S Plus trim will deliver the highest fuel economy - best in class according to Nissan - for the Versa Note thanks to a CVT and active grille shutters, and the SV brings more convenience features like power windows and door locks (that's right, the base models will still get crank windows and manual door locks). Stepping up even further, the SL Package will add push-button starter, backup camera and heated seats for $17,690 while the SL Tech Package tops out at $18,490 with navigation, Nissan's Around View Monitor and Bluetooth. More pricing details for the 2014 Versa Note are posted below in the official press release.

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.