2014 Nissan Versa Note Sv 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.

2014 Nissan Dayz Roox is the littlest high-roof van you ever did see

Even average production cars from Japan often seem very conceptual to US eyes. Throw in typical, nonsensical-quasi-English-words name like "Dayz Roox" and you'd be forgiven for thinking this Nissan box on wheels was still a designer's dream. But the fact is that the Nissan Dayz is a model currently on sale, and this Roox version is the latest take on the micro-van, which is a popular segment in Japan.
In fact, this generation of Dayz is the first minicar that Nissan has developed completely in-house, and the thing has been selling astoundingly well in its first stint on the market (30k units in month one month, says Nissan). So it's unsurprising that the company is looking to expand the range with a model that is more fully featured.
The Roox (we have no clue as to where that name came from, or what it means) would appear to be a high-roof version of the three-cylinder Dayz minicar - in fact Nissan goes so far as to call it an "Impressive Super Height Wagon." Features like automatic sliding doors, Around View Monitor and UV-insulated glass are all luxuries in kei-class car. The press release also specifies that the Roox is tall enough to swallow a 27-inch bicycle.

Nissan Sentra gets mean with 240-hp Nismo concept

Nissan's Sentra Nismo Concept made its world debut at the LA Auto Show today as part of the Japanese automaker's intitiative to expand its performance line of factory performance models, and it's packing a turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine with 240 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque - that's 110 hp more than the regular Sentra.
Of course, no high-performance version of any car would be complete without the suspension upgrades to handle the power, and Nissan has fitted Nismo-tuned suspension and a limited-slip differential to the little front-wheel-drive sedan. With such an increase in power, Nissan wisely chose to swap out the stock brakes for the Brembo calipers and discs from the 370Z. Larger 225-millimeter-wide tires are wrapped around 19-inch Rays wheels and contained within wider fender flares. The steering and six-speed manual transmission also were tuned by Nismo.
The exterior gets new aerodynamic bits, such as a revised front fascia, a chin spoiler and a new rear spoiler, while the interior gets a nice set of Recaro seats and a leather-and-Alcantara steering wheel. For more information on the Sentra Nismo Concept, check out the press release below, and feel free to head over to the auto show photo gallery to see the car up close.