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Nissan to bring Friend-Me concept to Shanghai

Nissan's got a big ol' show planned for its immersive space at the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show where visitors will see, touch, hear and smell the Nissan world. Sitting among 20 offerings that include the GT-R, Quest, Murano and Teana will be the Friend-Me concept (click image above to enlarge), the first show car created with "key input" by Chinese designers at Nissan Design China in Beijing. Its USP is "Four seats, one mind connectivity" that promotes information sharing among all the occupants.
The Friend-Me has the "vibrant, young" Chinese demographic in mind, our guess being Nissan thinks there's no reason to stop the digital sharing just because you're sitting in a car. We'll find out on April 20 exactly what's being exchanged in the Friend-Me. Until then, there's a press release below with a little more info.

Ken Block's Gymkhana 8 to feature Dubai Police cars?

Yesterday we showed you the shiny Ford Fiesta that Ken Block will slide, spin, and hoon through the next Gymkhana video. In case the image above isn't clear, that video will drop at midnight EST on February 30th on the Ford Performance YouTube channel. We don't know all the entire premise of the video yet, but this Tweet from the man himself reveals that the video will be set in Dubai. Block is standing on the Fiesta we saw yesterday, and arrayed behind him are a handful of those famous Dubai Police cars you're probably familiar with. The force has a fleet of sportscars and supercars, and the purpose is outreach and goodwill among its citizenry, not necessarily the pursuit of criminals. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. From left to right, we can see a Maserati GranTurismo, Porsche 911, what looks to be a Nissan GT-R obscured by Block's Fiesta, a McLaren (likely a 650S), Ford Mustang, and a Ferrari 599 of some ilk. Will they take part? Maybe Block will try and run from what might be the most horsepower-intensive police fleet in the world. We'll have answers (and a few minutes of pure Block hooniganism) in a few days. Related Video:

Nissan ZEOD RC completes 24 laps at Le Mans

Well, that's a nice start. Nissan says a test version of its ZEOD RC racecar has completed its first 24 laps at Le Mans in France. And, aside from two "small technical issues," things went swimmingly. The ZEOD (which stands for "zero emissions on demand") RC pairs a 1.5-liter, three-cylinder engine with a couple of electric motors and includes regenerative braking. The Japanese automaker first started testing the vehicle last fall. The first ZEOD prototype was unveiled at Le Mans last summer. Driven by Wolfgang Reip and Tommy Erdos, the test-version ZEOD suffered from a broken fuel pump and faulty exhaust, but still completed "large sections" of the circuit on electric power alone, so Nissan is gonna call the test run a success. The goal, of course, is to complete a single, 8.5-mile lap at Le Mans purely on electric power. Nissan will test the real version of the ZEOD this week in the UK. Satoshi Motoyama and Lucas Ordonez will drive with Reip at the actual Le Mans race. Check out Nissan's press release below, and take a look (you can cringe a bit if you want) at a really cool crash-test video of the car from last month here. Nissan ZEOD RC on track at Le Mans for the first time SILVERSTONE, UK & LE MANS, FRANCE – The Nissan ZEOD RC completed its first 24 laps of Circuit de la Sarthe with GT Academy winner Wolfgang Reip and two-time Le Mans P2 winner Tommy Erdos at the wheel. While the car was delayed with two small technical issues – a broken fuel pump issue and a broken exhaust – today's test was an important step in the development of the car that aims to complete an entire lap of Le Mans on pure electric power. "Today has been a very important step in the development of the car and what we have achieved is actually quite remarkable," said NISMO's Global Head of Brand, Marketing & Sales, Darren Cox. "We knew we were tackling a huge challenge with the goal of building a car that could complete an entire 8.5 mile lap of Le Mans on nothing but electric power. We have certainly discovered why nobody has tackled it previously. "We completed large sections of the circuit today on EV power and learned a great deal," Cox continued. "Today was about testing the systems and ensuring the transition from electric to internal combustion power was seamless. Testing at other venues is extremely valuable but there is no substitute to running here at Le Mans.