2012 Nissan Juke Sv on 2040-cars

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Nissan Qashai gets the Juke R treatment

It would appear that we're a little behind the times on this one, but a UK-based tuner of the Nissan GT-R is creating its own take on the lustworthy Juke-R starting with the Nissan Qashqai crossover. Severnvalley Motorsport claims to be the leading authority for tuning of the current GT-R in Europe. The outfit is now turning its attention to stuffing the drivetrain of a GT-R under the body of a Qashqai+2 - a seven-passenger compact crossover similar in size to our Nissan Rogue - resulting in the Qashqai-R.
The project started back in March when Severnvalley took delivery of a new Qashqai. After stripping the crossover down to its bare essentials and building a custom jig to support the body shell, it was then transferred onto an awaiting GT-R chassis. The crew aimed to keep Qashqai's appearance as stock as possible, but fender extensions and hood vents were required to accommodate the sports car underpinnings.
The white Qashqai-R seen above will be tuned to produce 900 horsepower, while a black version will get bumped up to 1,000 hp. And, looking at the build photos, we surmise that this project will take nothing less than a herculean feat of supercar determination before it's through.

Nissan leaning on JATCO to remedy CVT problems

Nissan's decision to fit continuously variable transmissions across even more of its new models may be coming back to bite the Japanese automaker, as it's been hampered by customer satisfaction issues relating to its XTronic CVTs, which are provided by a supplier called JATCO.
From what we're understanding, the issue largely relates to customers' unfamiliarity with the non-traditional shift nature of a CVT. Dealers have reported complaints and service visits from owners over the belt-driven automatics (did these people not test drive the cars before they bought them and notice that they don't shift conventionally?).
The company, which Nissan owns 75 percent of, has come under fire from none other than Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who's spoken about JATCO and its troubles rather openly. "Every time you launch a new CVT you always have some risks," Ghosn said in an interview with Automotive News. "So we now have a process by which, before we launch any new CVT, [JATCO] come before the Nissan executive committee to explain all the measures they have taken to make sure there are no surprises."

2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid priced from $35,110*

Nissan has announced pricing for the 2014 Pathfinder Hybrid, which was revealed earlier this year at the 2013 New York Auto Show. Offering two- or all-wheel drive, the hybridized crossover sports a 3.5-liter V6 and a 15-kilowatt electric motor, for a total of 250 system horsepower and 243 pound-feet of torque. Those numbers match up well with the 260 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque put out by the V6-powered Pathfinder. Naturally, fuel economy sees a hefty boost, to 25 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg on the highway, bumps of five and two mpg, respectively.
The Pathfinder Hybrid is available in three grades. Prices start at $35,100 for an SV and jump to $38,050 for the mid-level SL. A top-flight Platinum, meanwhile, moves the price up to $42,750. Adding all-wheel drive to the package bumps the price up to $1,600 across the range, and keep in mind that these prices don't include Nissan's $860 destination charge. Take a look below for the full press release from Nissan, including detailed pricing charts for both the Hybrid and V6 Pathfinder.