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Nissan Leaf EVs slip through French village to make a quiet point

Bjork's 1995 freak-out hit It's Oh So Quiet may have reflected the singer's oddball Icelandic sensibilities, but Nissan is making the concept of relative silence a French thing. The Japanese automaker recently promoted its all-electric Leaf by staging a mini-rally through what it called "one of the quietest villages in Europe." And with the exception of a couple damaged trash bins and a destroyed rear-view mirror from an old-school archway, the race kept the drivers wide awake but everyone in the Southern French village in Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur sleeping. Nissan sent four vehicles on a five-kilometer jaunt through the village in the wee morning hours. Screeching tires and a couple booms notwithstanding, the company said everyone in town stayed snoozing. There was a broader purpose to this exercise, of course, which Nissan blatantly admits was a stunt. Nissan was helping celebrate 19th Annual International Noise Awareness Day (INAD), which took place on Wednesday and highlighted the emotional and health issues as well as high blood pressure and insomnia caused by excessive exposure to noise. Check out Nissan's press release below, where you'll also find the video. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. NISSAN LEAF CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL NOISE AWARENESS DAY WITH A NIGHTTIME "SILENT RIDE" ROLLE, Switzerland – To mark the 19th annual International Noise Awareness Day (INAD), Nissan has taken to the streets of one of Europe's quietest villages during the middle of the night with a silent "ride" of its 100 percent electric Nissan LEAF. The activity, complete with a start and finish line in Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur, was designed to demonstrate the noise reduction levels of the Zero Emissions car compared to traditional combustion engines. The World Health Organization (WHO) states at least 13.5 percent of Europeans are exposed to road traffic noise at levels exceeding 55 dB, which is considered detrimental to human health*. The medical effects of noise levels include insomnia (50dB), obesity (50dB), psychic disorders (60dB) and reduction in life expectancy (50dB)*. As a result, Nissan has filmed a 'silent ride' to help support INAD in raising awareness about noise pollution levels across Europe.

Nismo smartwatch concept tracks both car and driver [w/videos]

Whether you agree or not, this writer believes that every supercar needs a wristwatch to go with it. Though the Nissan GT-R has been lacking in this one regard, Nissan is keen to correct that wrong. But while most of these automotive-inspired timepieces are decidedly mechanical, Nissan has gone a suitably different direction in creating its new Nismo watch concept.
The electronic smartwatch connects driver, car, watch and phone in a sleek design. The device allows drivers to monitor such parameters as the car's average speed and fuel consumption, access performance telematics on the track, monitor their own heart rate and interface with their smartphone via Bluetooth and a dedicated app. The watch can even tell the driver when it's time to bring his car in for scheduled maintenance, post lap times and such to popular social media platforms, and of course, you know - literally give you the time of day.
Though still in the concept phase, Nissan seems keen to bring this to market, has even gone so far as to design the packaging - made of tire rubber scraped off the track - and done it up in three colors: red, white or black. In the meantime Nismo will be showcasing the smartwatch concept at the Frankfurt show this week, where we hope to get a glimpse up close, but you can delve into the press release and the pair of videos below.

Automakers' sound systems: Crank it, don't yank it

Years ago, one of the first things most music lovers did after buying a new vehicle was drive to an aftermarket stereo shop to get the crappy stock components swapped for better gear. And you'd typically get not only better sound but also more bang (and boom) for your buck. But in the past decade or so, the overall quality of OEM audio has dramatically increased, while car electronics became more complex, removing the incentive for most new vehicle owners — and all but the most hardcore DIYer — to start from scratch. In 2010, I did a comparison of the average costs for OEM electronics vs. similar offerings from the aftermarket, and back then automakers' stock premium systems were by far the best bargain — and are probably an even better value now. The premium 14-speaker, 1,200-watt JBL system in the all-new 2019 Toyota Avalon is a prime example of this trend. It's standard on the top two Limited and Touring trims and is available as a $680 audio upgrade on the XLE and XSE. I doubt you can even buy 14 speakers and 1,200 watts of amplification from the aftermarket for 700 bucks, much less have it all installed. And because the system is bundled with Toyota's Entune infotainment system, Apple CarPlay and a surround-view camera, removing the head unit means you would likely lose these features. Another advantage of OEMs and their audio partners is they can design the car around the audio system. In the past, automakers would typically place speakers where convenient for packaging, not for optimal sound reproduction, and audio engineers were forced to compromise. But as with the Avalon's premium JBL audio system, this is starting to change. At a recent behind-the-scenes peek for media into the process of developing the system, Toyota and Harman engineers delved into the minutia of sealing the inner panel of the front doors to create an enclosure for 6x8-inch woofers, making space in the pillars for JBL horn tweeters and extensively measuring the acoustic properties of the interior to tune the sound to the space. I'm met some creative and skilled car stereo installers, but none with a degree in psychoacoustics. The system is also the first to feature Quantum Logic Surround that creates a multi-channel listening experience from two-channel sources. And it includes Harman's Clari-Fi processing that "rebuilds key details lost" in compressed audio formats used by streaming music services and MP3s.