2014 Nissan 370z Touring on 2040-cars

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Nissan IDx Nismo and IDx Freeflow concepts are a bridge to the Datsun 510

We're not sure if someone from The Adjustment Bureau stopped by Nissan's PR department to explain the IDx Nismo and IDx Freeflow concepts, but the company's odd press release can't diminish our love for these two show favorites. We had been told to look out for an unnamed Datsun 510 BRE homage, and once we saw the brothers IDx, we knew we'd found them. But the press release doesn't mention anything about the Datsun 510 Brock Racing Enterprises, nor does it mention one Mr. Peter Brock, the man who won two Trans-Am championships in the Seventies for the nascent Japanese budget brand.
Instead, it declares that the cars were the result of a co-creation product development process with "digital natives," said natives being the whippersnappers born after 1990. Nissan says it worked with the young'uns to create two different expressions of "their desire for a basic, authentic configuration for a car." If that's true, it appears that what the kiddies really want are... two different homages to the Datsun 510 BRE that Peter Brock used to win two championships in the seventies for the nascent Japanese brand.
The IDx Freeflow - the "ID" is for "identification," the "x" is "the variable representing the new values and dreams born through communication" - takes the casual approach, with a light khaki exterior hue, a minimalist interior decked out in denim and a console shifter that works a continuously variable transmission. The IDx Nismo is out for blood, from its crimson interior to its five-point harness to its bolt-on flares and sidepipes. We aren't told what the digital natives requested for powerplants, but that's alright; if this is what "co-creation" looks like, we're not entirely against it except where that "CVT" is involved.

2014 Nissan Frontier Diesel Mule [w/poll]

Last August, Nissan shook the truck world when it officially announced plans to source a diesel option from Cummins for its long-overdue Titan replacement, its full-size pickup that's slated to drop this January at the Detroit Auto Show. The 5.0-liter V8 turbodiesel is expected to make somewhere around 300 horsepower and north of 500 pound-feet of torque. This combination of an all-new truck with this new powerplant promises to dramatically change the competitive landscape, splitting the difference between the heavy-duty goliaths from the Detroit Three and the Ram 1500 Ecodiesel. And the intrigue moved a step further when the Frontier Diesel Runner Concept showed up at February's Chicago Auto Show, as it displayed a growing relationship between Nissan and Cummins in a very interesting potential future product.
That concept would melt its clear acrylic hood if the engine ran too long, but this month, we got a chance to test drive a production mule, an otherwise normal Frontier with a Cummins 2.8-liter diesel four-pot under the hood and a ZF eight-speed automatic changing gears. The powertrain figures to be a direct competitor to the 2.8-liter Duramax promised for General Motors' Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon twins, but will Nissan build it? All signs point to probably. Officially, Nissan is taking no position on the future of this program, but a concept followed by putting journalists into a test mule suggests the company is considering the option very seriously. Here's what we gleaned from a brief drive around the posh suburbs of Nashville:
Before we get too deep into this Quick Spin, realize this Frontier is absolutely a mule, not a prototype. More or less cobbled together with duct tape and baling wire, it's not meant to be representative of a finished product, or even a started product. The transmission and shifter is straight out of a Chrysler 300 and the shifter surround is cut out of a panel of plastic. The "Low Sulfur Diesel Only" sticker is, well, just stuck on. We're looking at a "What if?" mockup.

Interest in an Infiniti EV is muted, to say the least

More than a quarter-million people have bought an electric vehicle from the Renault-Nissan Alliance. When it comes to Nissan's Infiniti luxury nameplate, though, there's not a lot of confidence. The Alliance doesn't have much hope that the badge will add to that total anytime soon. So says Emirates 24/7 in its report that Infiniti is planning on opening two showrooms in Abu Dhabi. Models such as the QX80 SUV, the Q70 sedan, and the Q50 will be shown off to those looking to live the high life, Infiniti style. But company executives told the publication that no battery-electric Infiniti models would be in the works until at least the end of the decade? The reason? Lack of demand. It's a far cry from three years ago, when a concept version of the Infiniti LE electric vehicle was shown off at the New York Auto Show. The model boasted 134 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque as well as wireless-charging capabilities. It was about the size of the Infiniti G sedan. At the time, the automaker's executives were estimating that car would hit the market by 2014. Those plans didn't come to fruition, obviously. As for the Alliance, Renault and Nissan celebrated the sale of their 250,000th electric vehicle this past summer. And while the lion's share of those were in the form of the Nissan Leaf, the 250,000th vehicle was actually a Renault Zoe that was bought by a computer engineer in Bordeaux, France. That's a long way from the UAE, and a long way from an Infiniti EV.