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2015 Nissan Juke

I didn't always like the Nissan Juke. When it launched in 2010, I just couldn't get over the way it looked – it came across as super weird, and kind of hideous at first blush. But I slowly warmed up to the funky little crossover/hatchback/thing, and after spending some time behind the wheel, I really learned to love Nissan's small wonder. It's a genuine hoot to drive, offering hot hatch-like thrills in a package that doesn't look like anything else on the road. The Nismo and RS models that followed only increased my ardor for the turbocharged Juke, and now, I find myself smiling whenever I see one of these little guys bombing down the road. Going into 2015, Nissan hasn't really made major changes, but there are a host of smaller improvements on hand to make it a more well-rounded vehicle than ever before. And to up the funk factor for the new year, there are a slew of customization options now available to customers through the Juke Color Studio – for better or worse. Following my first drive of the third-generation Nissan Murano in Napa Valley, I took the refreshed Juke for a spin to see if the 2015 model year improvements still make for a car that's good to drive and easy to use, while bursting with the same personality that slowly won me over in the first place. Drive Notes Powering the Juke is the same turbocharged, 1.6-liter inline-four as last year, with 188 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque on tap. I've always liked this engine – it's punchy and feels good when being worked via the 2014 model's six-speed manual transmission. There's lots of power down low, with a nice bit of boost mid-range through each gear. Altering the drive modes between Normal and Sport heighten this, and honestly, the turbo/manual setup in this front-wheel-drive Juke was kind of hilarious – a real treat. Sadly, Nissan will no longer offer the manual transmission on non-Nismo Juke models for 2015, so you're stuck with the continuously variable transmission. Bummer. In sport mode, the usually good Xtronic CVT tends to rev high and hold itself there – a tendency of older such transmissions that's seriously off-putting, especially for enthusiasts. Still, the Juke is available with a choice of either front- or all-wheel drive. The FWD Juke is fun, offering decent amounts of grip with a hint of predictable understeer. But I've always liked the four-season factor of the AWD Juke.

Renault's ambitious EV strategy relies on historic nameplates

PARIS — Renault unveiled a more ambitious strategy for electric vehicles (EVs) on Wednesday, betting on new, affordable versions of its iconic small cars of the past to catch up with Volkswagen in the fast-growing sector. The French carmaker's Chief Executive Luca de Meo said it would launch 10 new EVs by 2025 and that all-electric vehicles would account for up to 90% of its models by 2030, dropping its reliance on hybrids to hit the target under a previous plan. Renault is betting that an electric version of its classic Renault 5 compact car, which was discontinued in the 1990s, will capture the imagination of today's drivers when it goes on sale in the first half of 2024. At a live-streamed presentation on Wednesday, the company also offered a fleeting glimpse of its new electric "4ever." model. Two sources close to the company said it was a revival of the Renault 4 hatchback which went out of production last century. "Today is an historic acceleration of Renault Group's EV strategy," de Meo said in a statement. De Meo said that new, purpose-built electric car platforms and a cluster of production sites in northern France would allow Renault to deliver EVs at a lower cost. The first of its new EVs will be the MeganE hatchback which is due to go on sale in the first half of 2022. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. By 2030, Renault and its alliance partners, Nissan and Mitsubishi, will be producing 1 million EVs globally a year, up from the 200,000 they made in 2020, the French carmaker said. Tesla, the world's most valuable carmaker, is already close to hitting that target, with sales of between 840,000 and 1 million EVs projected for this year. Shrinking share Renault's Zoe model, the biggest-selling battery electric car in its segment in Europe for years, is losing ground to models such as Volkswagen's ID.3 compact electric car. Figures from database EV-Volumes.com showed Volkswagen's share of the EV market in Europe soared to 25% last year from 14% in 2019, overtaking the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, whose share shrank to 19% from 23% in 2019. In the first quarter of 2021, Renault's share fell further to 15%, tying with Tesla for third place behind Volkswagen on 21% and Stellantis on 17%, EV-Volumes.com data showed.

Meet the Nissan GT-R test driver responsible for 'Ring tuning

Ever wonder what it's like to be a manufacturer's development driver at the Nürburgring? We imagine it's pretty cool. After all, you get to spend your days zooming about the greatest racetrack on the planet in a vehicle that is usually months or more away from consumers. For Hiroyoshi Kato, whose actual title is Technical Meister, life is even better than your typical development driver, because he spends his days wringing out the Nissan GT-R Nismo around the Green Hell.
Kato-san has a long history with both Nissan and the Ring. He had a major hand in the development of the R32, R33 and R34 Skyline GT-Rs, having first come to the Ring nearly three decades ago.
His experience with the Nismo, though, is different than the other vehicles he's contributed to. As he explains it, there are real racers on hand to test the car on the track, like Formula One reserve driver Sébastien Buemi. Instead, Kato focuses on the track-to-road balance. Still, he has some truly interesting insights on the car and the track, including his surprise at turning a sub-eight-minute lap in his first outing. That, along with a few other things (one of which is an R34 being hustled about), make this a must-watch video from Nissan.