2006 Nissan Quest Special Edition on 2040-cars

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Nissan GT-R goes 183 mph on ice in Russia

When a pair of Russian pilots wanted to set a local ice-speed record, they chose a stock Nissan GT-R for the task. Roman Rusinov, a Russian race car driver, and Andrey Leontjev, a Russian auto journalist, took Godzilla to Lake Baikal and ran it up to 294.8 kilometers per hour (182.8 miles per hour) across frozen stuff estimated to be 1.4 meters thick.
While the worldwide record of 205.48 mph was set by Juha Kankkunen in a Bentley Supersports Convertible, the mark achieved by Rusinov and Leontjev establishes a new Russian record. Well done, boys. You can watch it all go down in the video below.

Nissan Qashqai getting Juke-R treatment

As long as there are sacred cows, there will be heretics sharpening their knives in anticipation of the butchering. When Nissan first carved into the mighty GT-R to create the Juke-R, onlookers quickly fell into two camps: those who thought the plan was sheer genius and those who believed cannibalizing a GT-R to feed a Juke was a new brand of obscenity. We fell firmly in the former camp. Now Severn Valley Motorsport is looking to take that theme one step further by shoving the go-faster bits from a GT-R into a Nissan Qashqai. That noise you hear? It's us cackling like mad men.
While we can't say for certain, we're guessing the project should yield the world's fastest Qashqai thanks in no small part to the twin-turbocharged VR38DETT V6 engine from the GT-R. Throw in the all-wheel-drive system and the little CUV should change demeanor dramatically. We can't wait to see this thing in action.

Infiniti installs Taisuke Nakamura as new design chief

The cubicles and corner offices at Infiniti HQ in Japan continue to change hands. Infiniti Global Design Chief Karim Habib, only in that position for about two years since leaving BMW in 2017, has left the Japanese luxury brand "to pursue other opportunities." In his place, Nissan has elevated Taisuke Nakamura, a 26-year company veteran who is currently Nissan's program design director responsible for global design strategy, and concept car and production vehicle design. Nakamura has a stout design resume in service to both Nissan and Infiniti, having worked on the Qs Inspiration sedan concept (above) shown at the Shanghai Motor Show in April, the QX Inspiration crossover concept shown at the Detroit Auto Show this year (below), and the Prototype 10 speedster concept revealed at Pebble Beach last year (bottom). All of those were electric concepts, making Nakamura the point man for Infiniti's push into electric vehicles and hybrids, and the carmaker's introduction of a new design language. Last year, Infiniti said it would have a new EV on the market in 2021, as well as "e-Power" series hybrids with small battery packs charged by gas-powered generators.   Those EVs should fully embody the brand's new design DNA, seen initially in the recent concepts. The automaker said around the Qs reveal that the new "aesthetics are underpinned by Infiniti's desire to challenge convention and design cars which are engaging, enriching, enabling and enchanting – what the company calls its ‘4ENÂ’ approach to design." At the QX reveal in January, Habib said that as engineers made a "shift towards smarter, more compact and less intrusive powertrains, we were able to create an alternative form with flowing gestures, more engaging in character and more enriching in experience. With its long cabin, balanced proportions and muscular stance, the concept heralds in a new era for Infiniti models.” Infiniti said Nakamura takes up his post next week, Sept. 1, and will report to the same boss he has now, Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan's global design head. Aside from Habib, other top non-Japanese Nissan executives such as Daniele Schillaci, Jose Munoz and Trevor Mann have left the Japanese automaker in the recent past, since the arrest of Carlos Ghosn. The former chairman, who faces charges of fraud and misconduct, is awaiting trial in Japan over charges including enriching himself at a cost of $5 million to Nissan, Japan's No. 2 automaker.