Nissan cars

2013 Nissan GT-R "Year of the Dragon" by Vilner

When Vilner promotes itself as one of the finest interior tuners in the industry, there’s not a shred of exaggeration in their voices.

Their latest program for the Nissan GT-R certainly validates all those claims. See, it’s not enough to dress up Godzilla’s interior but for this particular model, they went the Asian route and upgraded the interior with an homage to the Year of the Dragon.

The first order of business, apart from giving the exterior a matte white body finish, was drawing an actual dragon on the interior, which was then embroidered on both the roof and the trunk of the GT-R. The meticulous detail by which the dragon was embroidered owes itself to the kind of intricate details the Bulgarian is known for. As for the trunk, Vilner also dressed it up in Alcantara. Fanciness all around.

The dragon inside the cabin is pretty much drawn all over the interior. It winds around the seats, passes through the center console, and enhanced by the use of leather, black Alcantara, and black carbon leather.

The black and red combination on the dashboard, door panels, and the black console also adds an emphatic edginess to the overall look of the interior, while the use of carbon on the steering wheel and gear shifter and corresponding red chrome paint completes the rather intricate interior dress up.

2000 - 2006 Nissan Tino Hybrid

Before the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight opened the green road of hybrid cars, another Japanese model, namely the Nissan Tino, was laying the first inches of pavement. But unlike the Prius and Insight that were built from the ground up as hybrids, the Tino was just a normal passenger car fitted with Nissan’s NEO HYBRID system.

The standard Tino was released in 1998, while the Hybrid arrived two years later in 2000. The vehicle was produced in a limited number of 100 units and was available solely on the Japanese market, being considered by many as only a prototype used to test the public’s reaction to this type of technology.

Compared to its gasoline-engine brother, the Tino Hybrid improved fuel economy by more than twofold, while also cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by over 50%.

Hit the jump to read our full review on the Nissan Tino Hybrid.

2012 Nissan GT-R Gold Usain Bolt

Recently, the world’s fastest man - Usain Bolt - stopped at Nissan’s GranDrive testing track and Yokohama headquarters where he tested the GT-R. After his little test drive, he was so impressed with the car that Nissan decided to build him a special GT-R painted in gold. This unique GT-R will be auctioned to raise funds for the kids.

This special GT-R features Bolt’s signature embossed on it and comes with a number of trim pieces finished in real gold. The auction will be held on eBay and full details will be announced at the end of October.

When talking about the experience he had with the GT-R, Bolt said: "it was wonderful. We came in and we had a lead car, and we were trying to push him to go faster in the GT-R, and he kept on pushing and pushing until he decided that he was going to just go past him. So, we had a good time coming in. It was exciting for me. Today at the track, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. I really enjoyed it. I tested two different types of GT-Rs – a sports one and a more luxury one. So, for me, it was really exciting. I can’t explain, it was just joy for me because I like speed and I really enjoy driving fast. So for me to be in the GT-R, as safe as I know it is, and to go as fast as I can go was a wonderful feeling."

Jay Leno Reviews the 240Z and Grills Nissan on a Successor

Whether you love or hate Jay Leno as a “pop culture” late night show host, you still can’t help but love him in his position on Jay Leno’s Garage. In the latest episode, Jay makes it all the way around the world to Japan and test drives a Fairlady 240Z. Not only is the 240Z just one of those timeless and iconic sports cars, but it is revolutionary for the Japanese sports car world.

Jay then takes some time out to talk with his friend that heads up Nissan’s design team and he has a nice surprise for his friend, as he jokingly grills him on the rumored 240Z remake. We actually get a good glimpse at the preliminary design silhouette of what we can only assume would be a revived 240Z and a look at some of the concept drawings made of it and the current 370Z.

What’s cool though is that his friend does not play the denial act that most design heads would do. He all but confirms the fact that Nissan is planning something big for its 8th anniversary which comes about in 2013, and makes it clear that the 240Z revival may be said big thing.

Just seeing the Nissan design room was cool enough, but getting semi-confirmation of the 240Z – even if it was more of a non-denial than a confirmation – was pretty cool. Enjoy!

2013 Nissan X-Trail n-tec+

The Nissan X-Trail has been a part of the Japanese automaker’s lineup for many years and has always provided that perfect balance between a compact and full-size SUV. In the UK, there are only three trim levels available, the Acenta (base), Limited Edition Platinum and Tekna. Or at least that was true until now…

Nissan has just announced that it is adding a third trim level to the X-Trail lineup that will sit between the Acenta and Tekna, giving the X-Trail the ability to better compete in the SUV realm. The oddly name n-tec+ trim level gives X-Trail buyers a happy medium between the two models, by offering up some additional high-end features not found on the base model.

So what does this trim level bring to the table that you already cannot get in the existing lineup?

Click past the jump to read our full review on the 2013 Nissa X-Trail n-tec+ to find out.

Rumormill: Caterham, Not Lotus, Will Join Alpine Project

Okay, so as we all know, the automotive rumormill has a habit of bouncing back and forth before finally resting on the truth. Back in August, we heard a rumor that the Alpine would be built in a joint venture between Renault-Nissan and Caterham. Then just days later, we started exploring the possibility of the Alpine and Infiniti Emerg-E being a Renault-Nissan and Lotus project, given the Emerg-E was already built on the Lotus Evora platform and it would be simpler to build both the Emerg-e and Alpine on the same platform.

Well, it looks as if the Lotus and Nissan talk is done with, as Caterham appears to have swooped in and all but completed a deal with Renault Nissan. Sky News is reporting that Caterham boss, Tony Fernandes, is just about to put ink to paper on a $400 million production deal that will join Caterham and Renault-Nissan at the hip on the Alpine project. The deal would involve a 50-50 split in cost and profits between Renault-Nissan and Caterham.

There is no mention as to whether this will also affect the Emerg-E’s production plans, but chances are that the Emerg-E will remain a Lotus and Renault-Nissan project, since both companies are already so deeply entrenched in the deal.

This also effectively eliminates the chances that the Emerg-E and Renault Alpine will share any significant DNA. It is very doubtful if Lotus would be willing to lend its platform to Caterham for a project that it back-doored from the already struggling sports car builder.

We’ll keep a close eye on this situation because it could boil over into something a little more, as the two rivals compete to snag up a little extra business. The deal is expected to be reviewed on Monday and approved in just a few weeks.

Video: Godzilla Clips an Eagle at 140 mph on the `Ring

The Nürburgring, we’re sure, has seen plenty of animal casualties throughout its life span. Many of deer, squirrels, rabbits, and other fauna have likely tried their luck crossing it, only to be met by the front splitter of many supercars.

This time around we get to see a little bit different of an animal meet a high-speed vehicle, as an eagle of some sort – hopefully not bald – decided to soar into the flight pattern of a Nissan GT-R as it circled the `Ring. The predatory bird smacked the top passenger side of the windshield while the GT-R was going roughly 140 mph and flew right over the top of the car.

The thud alone is telling of exactly how hard the bird hit and the damage to the glass in the pictures shows you that the bird was likely not in great shape after this battle with Godzilla. “Ouch” is an understatement for this one.

2013 Nissan Juke-R by Shpilli Villi Engineering

So what’s a car buff to do when Nissan completely crushes your dreams of ever owning a Nissan Juke-R by building only a handful of them and charging €500,000 ($649,550 at the current exchange rate) for it? Build your own, silly. Then build more, market it, and hope to God that Nissan doesn’t sue you into bankruptcy.

Well, this is exactly what Russian Company, Shpilli Villi Engineering, has done – well, almost. So far Shpilli Villi has only built a one-of model and it’s downright ignorant. This custom-built Juke-R features the GT-R’s 3.8-liter V-6 engine, but Shpilli Villi fitted it with a pair of HKS turbochargers and what sounds to us like the GT-R’s transmission and driveline too. This is good for a whopping 700-plus horsepower on regular pump gas or over 800 ponies when you manage to get a little 109-octane petrol in it.

This one-off Godzilla-meets-Juke features a coat of white paint – unlike the official Juke-R – a set of monstrously wide rims, wheel flares and a center-dump exhaust that produces all sorts of awesome tones. Though the images are a little scarce and the videos don’t show much of it, you can make out that this Juke-R does boast at least the instrument panel from the GT-R, but reports indicate that it has the entire GT-R interior.

What’s best is that the creator of this monster took it to the Nürburgring and let it loose, all while taking plenty of videos for us to see. We’re still trying to dig up more information on the vehicle, but at this point there isn’t much available on it. The only other bit of information we have is that Shpilli Villi will be building and selling these Juke-Rs to customers.

Hit the jump to see the video!

2013 Nissan GT-R laps Nurburgring in 7:16

It looks like the Nissan-Porsche war is far from being over. Just yesterday, Porsche announced that their upcoming 918 Spyder supercar had lapped the Nurburgring in an amazing 7:14, and today, Nissan is coming out with their own lap time. The fastest, official Nurburgring lap time of the current Nissan GT-R was 7:24, but it looks like the 2013 GT-R is working with something even better, scoring a Nurburgring lap time of 7:16!

No official details on the time have been released just yet, but according to Bridge to Gantry, a 2013 GT-R with Nismo lightweight wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes (yes, like those seen on the Track Pack) was testing at the Green Hell. The best part is that Toshio Suzuki, the record-breaking test driver of Nissan, was behind the wheel.

We expect to see an official confirmation of these results soon, as sell as a video of the event. Stay tuned!

2010 - 2011 Nissan GT-R by Romeo Ferraris

Romeo Ferraris is the kind of aftermarket tuner that you really don’t want to mess with. Instead of spending their hours giving their programs styling makeovers, the Italian tuner prefers to spend their time building performance upgrades. No flash here, fellas; just straight up, hardcore aftermarket performance improvements. Their latest program is for a car that really needs no introduction. Heck, it even has arguably the coolest nickname in the entire industry - "Godzilla," aka the Nissan GT-R.

Based on the 2010 and 2011 models of the Japanese super car, Romeo Ferraris prepared a two-stage performance kit for the almighty GT-R. The first stage of this impressive performance upgrade involves the removal of the car’s standard air filter and replacing with a new programmable module with three pre-set power settings - Normal, Sport and Race - that owners can set from their car’s steering wheel. What this does is improve the GT-R’s performance numbers from its 3.8-liter V6 engine from 485 horsepower to 525 horsepower for the 2010 model and from 530 horsepower to 576 horsepower for the 2011 model.

From there, Romeo Ferraris also came up with a Step 2 program, which now involves a new high-performance exhaust, a remapped ECU unit, and the aforementioned new air filter, rounding out an output that’s further increased to 570 horsepower for the 2010 model and 622 horsepower for the 2011 model.

Careful not to leave out any aero enhancements on the Japanese super car, the Italian tuner also provides aesthetic and aerodynamic upgrades, including carbon fiber aero components, a new set of alloy wheels, and a custom bespoke interior.