2014 Nissan Versa Note 3k No Reserve Salvage Damaged Rebuildable Repairable on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2021 Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 Road Test | Z engine preview

There isn’t much reason to take another look at the 2021 Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 on the surface. ItÂ’s largely the same sedan as it was when we drove it in 2016: powerful and stylish, but lacking in tech and polish. However, whatÂ’s under the hood is of far more interest to us today than it was just a year ago. ThatÂ’s because the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 powering this Infiniti is migrating over to the next Nissan Z car. Nissan announced that the production Z would get a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 not long after it revealed the Z Proto. There are no other twin-turbo V6s in NissanÂ’s arsenal but this one, meaning that the VR30DDTT engine in this Infiniti is destined for the Z — plus, there's photo confirmation. The big question remaining is: How new or different will it be? Its most potent state of tune is rated at 400 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. ThatÂ’s a high number versus most other boosted six-cylinders, and perhaps most importantly, itÂ’s more potent than the 382-horsepower 2021 Toyota GR Supra 3.0. As weÂ’ll soon explain, though, numbers only tell part of the story. Transplanting the InfinitiÂ’s V6 into the next Z surely wonÂ’t be without challenges, either. Nissan is promising a six-speed manual in the Z. Meanwhile, this engine is exclusively paired with a traditional seven-speed automatic transmission in the Q50 and Q60. Nissan hitched this engine up with a manual in a 370Z SEMA show car years ago, but now it must devise a production car solution. ThereÂ’s also the question of whether Nissan will use the same seven-speed as the automatic option in the Z, or come up with something a bit more aggressive. The cost-efficient (and likely) solution would be reusing the seven-speed, not unlike the Supra's eight-speed traditional automatic.  Having all of this in mind, we set out to see how this engine sits today as a preview to the Z.  Going from the big, naturally aspirated VQ series V6 to a smaller twin-turbo V6 will bring about the obvious changes. The rabid and uncouth personality of the outgoing VQ is nowhere to be found in the sweet and smooth new engine. ItÂ’s not quite the silky, effortless BMW inline-six found in the Supra, but it brings an air of refinement and maturity that's simply not there in the current Z. And then thereÂ’s the torque. All 350 pounds of twist are available at 1,600 rpm in the Q50 Red Sport 400, which means the shove in the back would theoretically start just off idle.

Chevy Volt outsells Nissan Leaf for first time since October 2013

It's been a rough summer so far for both the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf, the first two plug-in vehicles from major automakers that ushered in the modern plug-in era. In June 2015, sales were down from their 2014 levels. The Leaf was down 11.6 percent and the Volt was down 31.1 percent. For July 2015, things didn't get much better. July 2015's Volt sales of 1,313 were down 35 percent from July 2014 and are down 34.8 percent for the year-to-date. Nissan, on the other hand moved only 1,174 Leafs last month, down 61.1 percent. So far this year, Leaf sales are down 30.2 percent. What's interesting with this steep decline in Leaf sales is that allowed the Volt to outsell the Leaf for the first time since October 2013. Back then, the Volt sold 2,022 compared to the Leaf's 2,002 units. So far, Nissan has sold 83,312 Leafs in the US since the EV went on sale in late 2010. Chevy has sold 80,292 Volts. Even though Tesla doesn't release monthly sales figures, there's a good chance that the pricey Model S was once again the best-selling EV in the US in July, as it was in the first three months of 2015. At that time, Tesla delivered an average of just under 2,000 Model S EVs a month. We might get some insight into more recent numbers during the quarterly investor call on Wednesday. As we've said before, the low sales for the aging plug-ins can be explained by the fact that both the Leaf and the Volt are due for upgrades. The second-gen Volt is coming in a few months. Nissan is being cagey about when the updated Leaf will arrive, but given these latest sales figures, we wouldn't be surprised if the undisclosed timetable gets move up somehow. Related Video: The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Nissan reportedly rejecting Renault proposal for closer ties

TOKYO — Nissan Motor Co Ltd will reject a management integration proposal from French partner Renault SA and will call for an equal capital relationship, the Nikkei newspaper said on Monday, citing sources. Nissan's management feels the Japanese company has not been treated as an equal of Renault under existing capital ties, and a merger would make this inequality permanent, the Nikkei reported. The outlook for the alliance — one of the world's top automaking partnerships — has been in focus since the arrest in November of its main architect, Carlos Ghosn, on charges of financial misconduct. The former Nissan and Renault chairman has denied the charges against him and has said he was the victim of a boardroom coup by Nissan executives opposed to closer ties. To which, Bloomberg reported that it has seen emails in which Nissan executives were working with Japanese government officials to defend the company's independence, as Ghosn was pushing for a full merger. The emails indicate growing concern at high levels of the Japanese government, in the months before Ghosn's arrest, that his merger efforts would boost Renault and its largest shareholder, the French government, and harm Nissan, in a relationship the Japanese already saw as lopsided. The emails indicated a desire to keep the existing structure of the alliance with a "re-balancing of the shareholding" to reduce Renault's 43 percent stake in Nissan, and stated that Nissan's independence "should be respected." Nissan declined to comment directly on the emails, while reiterating that misconduct by Ghosn and his former aide, Greg Kelly, is "the sole cause of the chain of events." Renault saved Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy two decades ago and under their current capital alliance, the French company holds greater control over its much larger partner. Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa declined to say whether the company had received a merger proposal from Renault. "Now is not the time to think of such things," he told a group of reporters outside of his house in Tokyo. "At the moment we are focused on improving Nissan's earnings performance. Please give us time to do that." Renault declined to comment on the report. Renault has argued in its proposal that an integration would maximize synergies within the French-Japanese alliance, according to the Nikkei. The Financial Times reported last month of Renault's intention to restart merger talks with Nissan within 12 months.