2011 Infiniti G25 Sedan Sunroof Leather We Finance Clean Carfax Warranty on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year entries announced

Over 40 vehicles will compete for the 2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year awards. If that name looks a little strange, it's because the competition added a third category. In years past, pickup trucks, crossovers, SUVs, commercial vans, and minivans competed for the same award. That's why there were occasionally weird comparisons, like last year's competition between the Volvo XC90 and Nissan Titan XD. The new format separates pickups and commercial vans into the truck contest and CUVs, SUVs, and minivans into the utility competition. A complete list of eligible vehicles is below, but here are a few highlights. For one, the entire list of entries has a luxurious lean. Of the 43 vehicles, nearly half of them are from premium brands. There are two eligible Bentleys – the Bentayga and Mulsanne – the Rolls-Royce Dawn, Jaguar F-Pace, Audi Q7, and the Mercedes-Benz GLS-, E-, and S-Class Maybach. The performance ranks are lofty, too, with the Audi R8, Acura NSX, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Mercedes SL- and SLC-Class, Porsche 718, and F-150 Raptor. The mainstream entries are just as comprehensive. From the Chrysler Pacifica to the Chevrolet Cruze to the Fiat 124 Spider to the Mitsubishi Mirage, NACTOY has covered an enormous price range with this year's contestants. Of course, these are only the eligible vehicles. They'll need to run through three rounds of judging, starting in September at NACTOY's traditional Hell, MI, test drive. The Canadian and American journalists involved in the judging will announce this year's nine finalists – three in each category – on December 6. Cars Acura NSX Alfa Romeo Giulia Audi A4 Audi R8 Bentley Mulsanne Buick Cascada Buick LaCrosse Cadillac CT6 Chevrolet Bolt Chevrolet Cruze Fiat 124 Genesis G90 Hyundai Elantra Infiniti Q60 Jaguar XE Kia Cadenza Lincoln Continental Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan Mercedes-Benz S550 Maybach Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Mercedes-Benz SLC-Class Mini Clubman Mitsubishi Mirage/G4 Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman Rolls-Royce Dawn Toyota Prius Prime Volvo S90 SUVs Audi Q7 Bentley Bentayga Buick Envision Cadillac XT5 Chrysler Pacifica GMC Acadia Infiniti QX30 Kia Sportage Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class Jaguar F-Pace Mazda CX-9 Nissan Armada Trucks Ford F-Series Super Duty pickups Ford F-150 Raptor Honda Ridgeline Nissan Titan half-ton Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley Bentayga View 23 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub.

Infiniti's new VC-T changes the rules of small turbocharged engines

The upcoming Infiniti QX50 crossover does not get our pulse racing, no matter how shapely the QX Sport Inspiration concept that previews it may be. No midsize SUV does, to be fair. But it has something special under the hood – the world's first production variable-compression-ratio engine. That means the QX50's 2.0-liter turbo four, which makes 268 horsepower and 288 pound-feet of torque, will have up to 27 percent better fuel economy. Here's how it works. The trend of moving to smaller, turbocharged engines carries with it one big falsehood. Under low load when the turbo isn't needed, these engines are less efficient than an equivalent engine without a turbo because of the low compression ratio the turbo requires. That is, if you never need the extra power, you're wasting fuel. Turbocharged (and supercharged) engines use a lower compression ratio to prevent detonation. When you force extra air in a cylinder and mix it with fuel, it's more likely to prematurely go boom. Lowering the compression ratio prevents this problem, but it's less efficient. Infiniti's VC-T promises the best of both worlds, with a compression ratio that ranges from 8.0:1 for high-power turbo needs to a 14.0:1 ratio for fuel-sipping efficiency. At its heart the VC-T engine is a simple idea, but it's complicated to explain. Consider yourself warned. The photo below from Infiniti serves as a good visual overview. For the truly nerdy, this patent application covers the mechanical concept. Instead of having the pistons connected to the crankshaft, Infiniti's engine has a pivot arm with a connection on each end. One end connects to the piston, the other connects to a second lower shaft, which is controlled by an actuator arm. At any given time the engine's pistons move up and down according to the lobes on the crankshaft. But the actuator arm can change the angle of the pivot arm up and down. That is, the pistons still move in the same motion with the same stroke, but phase the entire stroke up or down. Move the pivot up and there's less room at the top, which means a higher compression ratio. Move the pivot down and the compression ratio goes down, too. As an added bonus, the lower shaft eliminates the need for counter-rotating balance shafts. Infiniti says this system works constantly and can vary the compression ratio to any number between 8:1 and 14:1. It also uses electronic variable valve timing on the intake valves to switch into Atkinson-cycle combustion for greater efficiency.

Infiniti aims to "de-Americanize" lineup, add flagship

Nissan launched Infiniti back in 1989 as a US brand, but more recently, Nissan's luxury marque has started focusing on more of a global presence. With a new global headquarters set up in Hong Kong and former Audi bigwig Johan de Nysschen at the helm, Wards Auto is reporting that the automaker's next goal is to create a "de-Americanized" lineup of vehicles.
This plan essentially consists of smaller cars and smaller-displacement engines to make Infiniti more attractive for buyers in Europe and Asia - two regions that tend to skew more toward smaller vehicles and smaller powerplants. To this point, Infiniti has been focused on vehicles better-suited to the US market - in fact, its smallest engine is a 3.7-liter V6 with 330 horsepower, and it doesn't offer a single diesel.
The first step in this transformation will be part of the Daimler-Nissan engine deal that will see a four-cylinder diesel eventually used in the 2014 Q50, but the report also reconfirms the importance of the soon-to-arrive Q30 production model (a concept of which was revealed last week in Frankfurt), along with the idea of a QX30 based on the Nissan Qashqai. There's also the latest projection of a full-electric Infiniti model that Wards says will debut sometime around 2015. Of course, Infiniti isn't giving up on large cars entirely - the reports indicates that Infiniti is planning a fullsize flagship model - possibly named Q80 - to compete against German sedans like the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.