2012 Nissan Titan S on 2040-cars

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Nissan GT Academy: Living the dream

When I first met Nicolas Hammann, he was beaming, as though he still could hardly believe this was his life now. He's a young guy, almost 22 years old. He grew up in Elkhart Lake, WI, doing some karting and road racing when he could. Just last year, he was at UNC Charlotte working toward a degree in mechanical engineering as a way to stay around cars in the future. Then he qualified for GT Academy. Jump ahead to January 2015, and Nic is in his first pro race, the 24 Hours of Dubai, representing Nissan behind the wheel of a GT-R GT3. And now he's here at the 2015 GT Academy Finals in Nashville, TN, acting as a sort of ambassador from the other side of the challenge – an example of what each of these guys hopes to achieve. After this, he's off to race at Lime Rock in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. After that, back to his home turf at Road America. Nicolas Hammann's dream of becoming a pro racer has come true. The GT Academy National Finals are made up of four parts, equally weighted. Within each program, though, there is room for interpretation - a gray area where those in charge can make judgment calls about character and whatnot. On the first day, the competitors take part in a Gran Turismo 6 tournament, as well as a PR test. Day two is made up of a grueling physical challenge and a driving test behind the wheel of an actual car. The virtual racing takes place in a single room with multiple "sleds" — console setups with a built-in screen, Thrustmaster T500 force feedback steering wheel, and a pedal set. It is particularly balmy in Nashville during the first day of Finals, and all of the equipment — including a setup to livestream the competition on Twitch TV — makes the room uncomfortably hot. In this first part of the competition, drivers score points based on their finishing positions over a series of four rounds per group. Scrutineers look on to make sure everyone is playing above board. Between rounds, the individual competitors go before a panel of Nissan reps for the PR test, and they are asked a series of predetermined questions (with room for improvisation, of course). While the answers themselves provide some useful information about the competitor, it's the way they compose themselves that's really under inspection during this segment. After all, whoever goes on to race will be representing Nissan, Sony, and the country on a global stage. The longer a competitor is in the room the better, I'm told by the Nissan folks.

2015 Nissan Murano could have been a lot more boring to look at

When it debuted at the 2014 New York Auto Show, the third-generation Nissan Murano wowed us more than just about any other car on hand (that's sort of why we handed it an Editors' Choice for the NYIAS). It's sharp, aggressive design was a dramatic departure from the smoother styling of the second-gen CUV, although it wasn't too polarizing. Most importantly, though, it was a vehicle with actual design presence - you want to see it from every angle, all of which draw your eye with something new.
Of course, settling on the design for a new vehicle is far from a straightforward process. While a design might take shape on a designer's drafting table, there are a huge number of steps it needs to get through before making it to an auto show stage or to your local dealer. According to Nissan engineer Chris Reed, those steps very nearly curtailed the Murano's design before the first die was even cast.
Reed has a full account of this sharp design's trials and tribulations in a must-read story from Ward's.

Recharge Wrap-up: Nissan "religious" about zero-emissions, Tesla crashes at dealership, Formula E on-board video

Nissan is pretty darn serious about being king of the EV industry. Just see what Chief Planning Officer Andy Palmer has to say at the launch of the e-NV200: "When it comes to zero emissions, we're absolutely religious. We'll be the absolute, No. 1 leader in zero emissions. No doubt. That's our positioning." Bold words, to be sure. Toyota, on the other hand, ended its collaboration with Tesla (whom Nissan mustn't forget about in its quest to reign supreme in the EV world) to build the RAV4 EV, and will focus instead on hybrids and testing the waters with hydrogen cars. Says Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, "I would rather invest my dollars in fuel cell development than in another 2,500 EVs." Read more at Automotive News or Autoweek. To celebrate 25 years of TDI technology, Audi is releasing the A7 Sportback 3.0 TDI Competition special edition in Europe. The Competition uses Audi's biturbocharged, 3.0-liter diesel engine boosted to 326 horsepower, giving the car a 0-62 time of 5.1 seconds. It comes with the S line sport package and is offered in four exterior colors: Daytona Gray, Misano Red, Nardo Gray and Sepang Blue. The interior is black leather, with the option of Misano Red or Agate Gray contrast stitching. The Competition edition will go on sale in August starting at ˆ72,000 (about $97,700). Audi's first Turbocharged Direct Injection engine debuted at the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show in the Audi 100 2.5 TDI. See the press release down below for more details. There was another Tesla Model S crash recently, this one at the Tesla Store. The driver apparently crashed the freshly purchased car into the Tesla sign before even making it off the lot. According to Reddit user s1lentway, who was at the Tesla Store in Fremont, California when it happened, "We believe this is someone who just got their car. They must have been driving it for less than a minute and lost control, crashing right into the sign missing the showroom glass windows only by a few inches." Wrecked Exotics suggests the driver hit the accelerator instead of the brake pedal. Probably the best comment in the Reddit post: "Edison strikes again." See the original post at Reddit for more corny jokes, speculation and similar stories from other users. Take a lap in a Formula E racecar. The video below offers up the sights and sounds of a hot, wet lap in the open-cockpit, all-electric Spark-Renault SRT_01E.