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European jury picks finalists for 2015 Car of the Year

There are countless Car of the Year awards handed out each year, and naturally, Europe has its own way of doing things. Every year, a panel of jurists representing seven publications in seven different languages and seven different countries get together to name their joint Car of the Year. The panel released a list of 32 candidates back in July, and it has now whittled that list down to seven nominees. The list consists of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Citroen C4 Cactus (shown), the Ford Mondeo, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Nissan Qashqai, the Renault Twingo and the Volkswagen Passat. Of those seven, only two are available in the US – those being the Mondeo (sold Stateside as the Fusion) and the C-Class. The Passat is an entirely different model in North America, the Qashqai isn't offered here, Citroen and Renault don't even participate in our market and the BMW 2 Series is represented here only by the completely different coupe and convertible. Expect the one and only recipient of the 2015 Car of the Year award to be announced at the Geneva Motor Show this coming March, and while you're waiting, you can place your guesses for the eventual winner in Comments. Featured Gallery 2015 European Car of the Year: Nominees News Source: CaroftheYear.org BMW Ford Mercedes-Benz Nissan Volkswagen Citroen Renault car of the year nissan qashqai citroen c4 cactus bmw 2 series active tourer

Nissan Altima and Sentra to get Murano-inspired design redo

The Nissan Altima and Sentra sedans are both very competent, economical, comfortable and well-equipped ways of getting from A to B. They're also both decidedly boring to look at, which is not a good trait in their increasingly style-driven segments.
To rectify this, Nissan is planning design overhauls for its mainstream, with the Sentra adopting the sportier, Euro-style looks of the Pulsar, according to The Car Connection. While that (sadly) won't mean the five-door Pulsar will come to the US market, fitting the European stylings to the Sentra should go a long way towards broadening the car's appeal.
That parcel of information comes from Nissan design boss Shiro Nakamura, who spoke to The Car Connection at last week's Paris Motor Show.

Nissan releases GT-R Nismo N-Attack Package workout video at Fuji

Nissan grabbed headlines last year when it debuted the GT-R Nismo and did a blistering 7:08.679 lap around the Nürburgring's Nordschleife. As it turns out, the GT-R that did that round made use of parts that lowered its weight and improved handling. Nissan calls the extras the N-Attack Package, which stands for Nürburgring Attack, and here is a video showing what its upcoming model can do.
The pack makes a variety of changes to make the Nismo GT-R a better handling car. The suspension and brakes are overhauled with Öhlins adjustable dampers, new stabilizer bar and new front brake pads. As you can see the outside is quite different with carbon fiber components replacing the front fenders and hood gurney, plus an adjustable carbon fiber rear wing with angle adjustments and two height settings. The interior gets a carbon fiber rear bulkhead to cut weight as well.
The release date or price for the N-Attack pack hasn't been revealed, but chief vehicle engineer Noboru Kaneko says that the test in the video at Fuji Speedway was to complete "final checks." So the package might not lag too far behind the standard GT-R Nismo. Scroll down to see the Nissan's pinnacle performance car testing on a cloudy day in Japan and read a brief press release about it.