2000 Nissan Maxima Ppg Pace Car - Stillen Supercharged - 300hp - Collector's Ed on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Nissan raises base GT-R price to $101,770 for 2014

Nissan has announced a few pricing tweaks for the 2015 GT-R, one of which pushes the most basic variant past $100,000 for the first time. The 2014 cost of entry was $99,590, while the 2015 GT-R starts at $101,770.
The GT-R Black Edition, meanwhile, will demand $111,510, up from 2014's $109,300. The GT-R Track Edition retains the $115,710 asking price of the 2014 car. The price increases on the base and Black Edition come with some additional goodies that should soften the blow to pocketbooks, including a retuned suspension that promises a "more sophisticated ride," while LED headlights come standard. Bose Active Noise Cancellation has also been added to the 2015 GT-R, as has a new interior color option on the base model. For a full rundown of new goodies on the GT-R, check out our original post on the 2015 vintage.
Interestingly, the destination charge for the 2015 GT-R has climbed dramatically, from 2014's $1,000 to $1,595 for the latest car. We've reached out to Nissan to see why there was such a big increase, and will update as soon as we have an update.

A look inside Infiniti's variable-compression engine

We're sympathetic to anyone who had trouble understanding what's going on with Infiniti's new variable-compression engine. While we got a full tech briefing on the novel VC-Turbo back in August, the visual aids were lacking. The cutaway engine Infiniti brought to the Paris show fixes all of that. You can thank the little green and pink lines on the cutaway for making the whole idea a little more clear. Click through the gallery to see two lines – one green and one pink – that represent the different strokes allowing for different compression ratios. Remember, the compression ratio is the amount of volume in the cylinder on intake compared to the amount at the end of the compression stroke. Leave more room at the end and you lower that ratio. The length of the stroke doesn't change with this system, but where it sits along the cylinder does. Hence those two lines. The variable compression ratio allows this new turbocharged engine to maximize fuel economy when the turbo isn't needed by raising the compression ratio. It will see its first use in the next Infiniti QX50 crossover, previewed by the QX Sport Inspiration concept that's also on display in Paris, and has performance targets of 268 horsepower and 288 pound-feet of torque. After, it will migrate to other Infiniti and Nissan vehicles, with transverse front-drive-based applications first in line. Eventually, it's likely to completely replace Nissan's corporate 3.5-liter V6. We'll be poking around the engine a little more in Paris today to try and get some more info. For now, enjoy those cutaway images and those friendly little lines. Featured Gallery Infiniti VC-Turbo engine cutaway View 14 Photos Paris Motor Show Infiniti Nissan Technology Emerging Technologies engine 2016 paris motor show

Nissan will restore Craigslist Maxima, display at headquarters [w/video]

Nissan showed that it had a great sense of humor when it bought Luke Aker's beat-up 1996 Nissan Maxima GLE for $1,400 back in December based solely on the quality of his tongue-in-cheek sales video.
Aker's Maxima had been thoroughly driven. It needed a strap to keep its hood closed, had front end damage, a missing turn signal and shredded leather seats. Of course, like Aker said in his ad, the car was still "fully loaded with an engine, wheels, tires and an automatic transmission." How could Nissan resist?
After buying the car, Nissan teamed up with MotorAuthority to decide what to do with it. The winning idea was to restore the car to its proper condition and display it at Nissan North America headquarters in Franklin, TN, with Aker's video playing nearby. According to MotorAuthority, the car has finally made it there, and its rebirth will begin soon. Nissan is not sure when the car will go on display.