Showing posts with label nissan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nissan. Show all posts
Sunday, June 9, 2013
New Car Review Nissan Leaf
Nissan Leaf. No gas, and as the decals on the sides say (yep, our tester had them), "Zero Emission".
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| The 2011 Nissan Leaf. Park one next to a Juke and contemplate automotive styling. |
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| The interior of the 2011 Nissan Leaf: Futuristic, but functional. |
Its a very nice, modern car. Not terribly gimmicky, yet with enough dashes of obvious tech here and there to remind you of your cutting-edge status. It drives well, is surprisingly quick, very quiet (no gasoline motor noise, for one), and is roomier inside than the outside suggests (the Nissan Tardis?)
$33,720 puts one in your driveway (our tester, with optional splash guards, ECO Design Package..thats the decals on the doors, Hologram 3D door entry plates and center console applique...Protection Package, floor mats and cargo area mat, cargo net and safety kit, came to $35,430 with destination charges...but subtract the $7,500 tax credit and youre at $27,930).
Better yet, let that money put it in your garage, where hopefully youll have the optional ($2,200) 240 volt charging station installed. The advantage...the ability to fully recharge a very-nearly-drained Leaf in just 7 hours. Use the charger that stashes in the trunk and hooks up to your household 120V current and itll take 14.
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| Like optimism? Youll love the 2011 Nissan Leafs range meter. |
Nissans early PR for the Leaf suggested a 100 mile range was attainable. The EPA, however, doesnt agree, and has issued a 73 mile estimated range on a full charge. Even that, though, can be optimistic. How youre driving, whether youre using the air conditioning, and things beyond your control such as traffic patterns, can all affect your range.
When the Leaf was dropped off for our test, it showed what the picture shows above...83 miles. But a 15-mile roundtrip from my office to run an errand brought that down to 57. No problem. Id made arrangements with the building supervisor for a parking space next to a 120V outlet in the company garage. Id get six hours worth of charge (not quite enough to get it to full, but giving me a comfortable cushion for the 25 mile drive home that evening).
Except.
The Leaf kept tripping the circuit breaker. Turned out to be the outlets fault, not the car, but it meant no charge, and a drive home in rush hour with no more juice than was in the car.
57 minus 25 is 32. But the Leaf showed only a 19 mile range by the time I pulled into my driveway that evening....and it was estimating a 14-hour full recharge on household current. More trouble. Id just finished a double shift. It was 7PM. I needed to leave for work at 4AM. Thats only 9 hours of charging time. I left the next morning showing 55 miles on the range meter, with a 25 mile drive (same as last night, just the other direction). Good news...it wasnt rush hour. Bad news...it wasnt rush hour. What that means is that while there wasnt much unpredictable about 4AM traffic, it also meant running 65 miles per hour on the freeway, which eats the charge quicker than say, 40 or 45.
The range meter showed 22 when I got to work. Thankfully, the building supervisor had sent an email. A good outlet had been located and blocked off for the Leaf. The bad news? The Leaf again needed 14 hours on 120V household current, and I was only going to be at work for 8.
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| The panel around the Nissan logo on the 2011 Leaf? Thats the flap that opens for the charger. |
This could have gone on forever, but Nissan scheduled a short loan. They dropped it with me at noon on Thursday, and picked it up the following Monday morning. So I finally got a full charge between 1PM and 3AM Friday afternoon/Saturday morning, but I wasnt commuting on Saturday and Sunday. I drove it for errands through the weekend on that one charge. And after giving it a full charge Sunday afternoon until 4AM Monday, I drove it to work and Nissan came and picked it up.
So what did we learn? A few things:
1. The Leaf is a much better electric car than the General Motors EV-1 of the 1990s, a car whose range meter could go from 80 miles to 45 in just three miles. It is far more comfortable, carries more people and their possessions and is simply more practical.
2. If you drive more than 10 miles one way to work in a day, spend the $2200 for the 240V charger for your house. Youll have a full charge when you leave each morning and reserve power for lunch runs and unforseen emergencies.
3. If you drive more than 25 miles one way to work in a day, seriously consider doing whatever it takes to get a second 240V charger installed where you work. Again, a full charge in the morning, a full charge to get home on and reserve power for the stuff that comes up. If you cant make a 240V work charger happen, think twice about the Leaf.
4. If you ever have days where you drive more than 75 or 80 miles, or if your life or job are simply unpredictable in terms of how much and where you might have to drive at any given time, theres probably a better option for you.
Still, purely electric vehicles have a place in the future of the automobile, and theres no doubt Nissan will improve and refine the Leaf as battery technology improves. Its a good car, a commendable effort, and for some drivers, a solid choice.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Luxury Elegant Nissan XTrail GT QR25DE 4 Cylinder Engine
Luxury Elegant Nissan XTrail GT QR25DE 4-Cylinder Engine
The Nissan X-Trail is a bunched SUV awash in Japan, Europe, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore,South Africa, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia by Nissan. The aggregation currently offers a hydrogen ammunition corpuscle archetypal on charter to businesses, the X-Trail FCV. In North America, it is positioned beneath the barter based Xterra. Introduced in 2001 to attempt with bunched SUVs such as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, it did not access in the Canadian bazaar until 2004. It will be awash in the United States in 2008 back the X-Trail is redesigned.
The Australian archetypal is powered by the QR25DE 4-Cylinder engine. 2.5L in size, it produces 132 kW (177 hp), authoritative it one of the best able 4-cylinder engines in the bunched SUV segment. Also accessible is the QR20DE 4-Cylinder engine, bearing 103 kW (140 hp), 110 kW (150 hp) with an automatic-transmission. Accessible alone in the Japanese bazaar is the SR20VET that produces 206 kW (280 hp). The Australian X-Trail has had two archetypal revisions, the Alternation 1 and Alternation 2. There were several corrective and engineering changes fabricated amid the two series.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
2013 Nissan JUKE most innovative versatile and fun
In the 2013 model year includes improvements like aerodynamics package specially developed for JUKE, which gives you an even more efficient and dynamic design with a more aggressive look. The kit consists of front and rear bumpers with a low profile, side sills wider transom, grill with a sportier design and modified rear spoiler that offers better control of airflow.
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| Iinterior |
The interior was improved with the redesign of their seats, steering wheel, pedals, gauges, shifter and door panels. Additionally, versions incorporates high leather seats, or suede sport seats with red stitching, giving it an even more sporty.
It includes this year a new color, Graphite Blue, adding to the supply of six colors available (Red Evil, Electric Blue, Black Night, Rock Metallic, Silver Surf and White Collar).
Customers will continue appreciating turbocharged DIG-T (Direct Injection Gasoline Turbo) of 1.6ly 18hp, which provides more power with a low displacement engine.
Complemented with automatic closing doors with speed sensor in all versions, the steering wheel controls, cruise, trip computer, Bluetooth audio system with 6 speakers, iPod and auxiliary input Ready, among others.
Whats more, Juke received the Top Safety Pick award from the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) to achieve the highest degree of protection against frontal impacts, rear and side, as well as roof strength.
There is the option to select a wide variety of customization options Nissan JUKE. Items that can be selected are: sportier tires, covered mirrors, moldings fog lights, spoiler, trunk and side skirts. These elements are combined in three packages: Style, Premium and Exclusive. They can be painted in six different colors (black, white, red, gray, silver, dark gray and orange).
All this shows the versatility of the Nissan JUKE, the most innovative and fun vehicle that breaks paradigms, and offers unparalleled driving experience.
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