2014 Nissan Frontier Sv on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Nissan will restore Craigslist Maxima, display at headquarters [w/video]

Nissan showed that it had a great sense of humor when it bought Luke Aker's beat-up 1996 Nissan Maxima GLE for $1,400 back in December based solely on the quality of his tongue-in-cheek sales video.
Aker's Maxima had been thoroughly driven. It needed a strap to keep its hood closed, had front end damage, a missing turn signal and shredded leather seats. Of course, like Aker said in his ad, the car was still "fully loaded with an engine, wheels, tires and an automatic transmission." How could Nissan resist?
After buying the car, Nissan teamed up with MotorAuthority to decide what to do with it. The winning idea was to restore the car to its proper condition and display it at Nissan North America headquarters in Franklin, TN, with Aker's video playing nearby. According to MotorAuthority, the car has finally made it there, and its rebirth will begin soon. Nissan is not sure when the car will go on display.

Recharge Wrap-up: Toyota battery breakthrough, PSA's millionth BlueHDi diesel

Scientists at Toyota have developed battery technology that allows for higher energy density. Using material from hydrogen storage, researchers at the Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA) in beautiful Ann Arbor, Michigan have created an electrolyte that works well with a magnesium metal anode. Besides improving energy density for smaller, more powerful batteries, magnesium is also more stable than lithium, making it a safer alternative. Rather than guarding their secret, Toyota is sharing details of this breakthrough in order to advance the technology in hopes of an earlier mass deployment of magnesium batteries. See the video above, and read more in the press release below. Farmdrop – a sort of online farmer's market in the UK – is looking for help naming its electric delivery "vanimals." The Nissan e-NV200 vans are painted and decorated to look like cows, pigs, and chickens. While three of the vans have already been named, fans can suggest their own clever ideas for the rest of the fleet on social media. Those whose names are selected will win a month's worth of shopping on Farmdrop. Cary McCarface, anyone? Read more at the company's website. PSA has built its millionth Euro 6 BlueHDi diesel engine. The automaker builds two diesel engines – a 1.6-liter and a 2.0-liter – at its plant in Tremery, France at a rate of 7,000 engines a day. BlueHDi technology uses three different emissions control mechanisms to filter pollutants out of diesel exhaust, including an oxygen catalyst, an additive filter to remove particulate matter, and a Selective Catalytic Reduction system to reduce NOx. BlueHDi is used in all new Peugeot, Citroen, and DS Euro 6 diesel vehicles. Read more at Green Car Congress. Charging Ahead Toyota Scientists Make Breakthrough on Safer, Smarter Batteries May 04, 2016 ANN ARBOR, Mich. (May 4, 2016) -- For anyone (i.e. everyone) who's ever panicked when their mobile device chirped, "low battery," the future could be far less stressful, thanks to the advanced battery research of scientists at the Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA). A new breakthrough involving magnesium batteries may soon open the doors for smaller, longer-lasting batteries for everything from cars to cell phones. What's the Big Deal with Magnesium? Magnesium metal has long been theorized as a much safer and more energy-dense alternative to current lithium battery technology.

Nissan Qashai gets the Juke R treatment

It would appear that we're a little behind the times on this one, but a UK-based tuner of the Nissan GT-R is creating its own take on the lustworthy Juke-R starting with the Nissan Qashqai crossover. Severnvalley Motorsport claims to be the leading authority for tuning of the current GT-R in Europe. The outfit is now turning its attention to stuffing the drivetrain of a GT-R under the body of a Qashqai+2 - a seven-passenger compact crossover similar in size to our Nissan Rogue - resulting in the Qashqai-R.
The project started back in March when Severnvalley took delivery of a new Qashqai. After stripping the crossover down to its bare essentials and building a custom jig to support the body shell, it was then transferred onto an awaiting GT-R chassis. The crew aimed to keep Qashqai's appearance as stock as possible, but fender extensions and hood vents were required to accommodate the sports car underpinnings.
The white Qashqai-R seen above will be tuned to produce 900 horsepower, while a black version will get bumped up to 1,000 hp. And, looking at the build photos, we surmise that this project will take nothing less than a herculean feat of supercar determination before it's through.