2011 Nissan Se-r on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Panoz mulls suing Nissan for ZEOD RC's Deltawing likeness

Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but in racing, where something as simple as a car's shape can lead to a competitive advantage, imitation can be a big no-no. That reality is being played out right now, with the DeltaWing prototype and the Nissan ZEOD RC. The two cars, as you can see from the images above, bear a striking resemblance to each other. They're so similar, in fact, that Dr. Don Panoz, one of the big names behind the DeltaWing program, is assigning some legal eagles to investigate any patent infringement.
The similarity shouldn't be a shock, though. Both cars are penned by Ben Bowlby, and the DeltaWing - which will be arriving as a coupe in the very near future - had Nissan branding and power for a not-insignificant amount of time. But for Panoz, the ZEOD RC's resemblance is just a bit too much, as he told Autoweek, "It's been interesting to watch people from Nissan trying to dodge the question, but the fact is that in their own press release they admit that the configuration of the ZEOD is the same as the DeltaWing. And we do have patents, in fact another one was just issued last week. We are in discussions with our legal advisors and we'll see what happens."
Frankly, it's not difficult to see what Panoz means. The general shape of the ZEOD RC, with its wide rear track and narrow front track arrangement - not to mention the headlights mounted over the rear wheel arches and any arrangements not visible under the body - are so reminiscent of the DeltaWing that differences like the shape of its closed cockpit and more upright front end might not prove different enough to avert Panoz's legal action. We'll stay with this one and let you know as more becomes available.

Race Recap: 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans defines 'endurance'

Commenting on the rush of events that rocked beginning and end of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Paul Truswell of Radio Le Mans said "the race is about the ability to endure, not just the ability of drivers to do what they do for a long time." The entire race machine, all the way down to the pit boards and radios, has to survive the stress and abuse of the entire day. This was the race to prove those words.
There were two Toyotas, two Porsches and three Audis, five of the seven led the race at some point, six of the seven ran in the top three. Toyota will be hugely disappointed that it didn't win when its car and drivers were so, so strong, but they gave Audi the kind of scare we haven't seen since the best of Peugeot's days, and Toyota did a better job of it even in the loss. Porsche blew away everyone's expectations, falling 3.5 hours short of a fairy tale ending that would have made Disney cry.
But Le Mans doesn't really do fairy tales. Well, not that fairy tale. Audi's Twitter handle during the event was #welcomechallenges. As usual, Le Mans answered for the entire field.

Nissan recalls 640k crossovers for wiring issue, hood release

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced two separate recalls affecting hundreds of thousands of Nissan crossovers. The larger of the two involves the electrical system in 2008-2013 model year Rogue CUVs. In affected vehicles, a mixture of moisture and salt seeping in through the carpet on the driver's side could cause the harness connector to short, potentially causing a fire. The issue involves Nissan Rogues manufactured between March 7, 2007, and November 26, 2013, as well as examples of the 2014 Rogue Select manufactured between September 23, 2013, and July 2, 2014. All told, that comes to an estimated 468,815 units in the United States alone. The second recall affects the relatively smaller quantity of 170,665 vehicles, made up of 2013-14 Nissan Pathfinder, 2014 Pathfinder Hybrid, 2013 Infiniti JX35, 2014 QX60 and 2014 QX60 Hybrid models. (The JX35 was recently relabeled as the QX60 under Infiniti's new nomenclature.) The issue affecting some of those vehicles revolves around a hood release cable that may not properly latch. Nissan is notifying owners of the affected units to bring their vehicles in to have the wiring checked and to replace the harness connector and seal in the former case, and to have the hood release mechanism modified in the latter. All told, an estimated 639,480 vehicles are being recalled as part of the two campaigns. RECALL Subject : Electrical Short Due to Water Seepage Report Receipt Date: JAN 26, 2015 NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V032000 Component(s): ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc. SUMMARY: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2008-2013 Nissan Rogue vehicles manufactured March 7, 2007, to November 26, 2013, and 2014 Nissan Rogue Select vehicles manufactured September 23, 2013, to July 2, 2014. The affected vehicles may experience an electrical short in the harness connector due to a mixture of snow/water and salt seeping through the carpet on the driver side floor near the harness connector. CONSEQUENCE: An electrical short can cause a vehicle fire. REMEDY: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the kick panel wiring harness connector and will if necessary install a new harness connector and waterproof seal, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.