Although there are naturally many differences between the real world and a simulation, just how well sim racing prepares you for the real world is the topic of much discussion.
The Toyota Corolla Cross continues to spread across the globe and it's latest destination is Europe.
Lexus has dropped a teaser video glimpsing the brand's first fully electric vehicle to be sold in the U.S. Called the Lexus RZ, it features the angular styling we've come to expect from Toyota's luxury marque, but underneath the sheetmetal we're probably getting a foundation we've seen quite a bit of in recent weeks.
That's because the Lexus RZ is a third version of the battery-electric crossover co-developed by Toyota and Subaru, recently unveiled as the confusingly named Toyota bZ4X (it always requires a double check of the alphanumeric sequence) and the much better named Subaru Solterra.
Say hello to the Nissan lunar rover prototype. Jointly developed with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, this rover is the result of nearly two years of work. It may look like a simple box on a frame with four wheels attached, but this simple box on a frame is designed to function in places like the moon.
Nissan's contribution to the project is its implementation of the company's e-4ORCE all-wheel control technology. We sampled this tech on a Nissan vehicle a couple of years ago, and now those learnings are being applied to make a lunar rover more capable of traversing a planet's surface. The main focus was improving performance in sandy conditions, but Nissan says it's also accounting for the moon's powdery, rocky and undulating terrain. Basically, it's Nissan's job to make sure the rover doesn't get stuck. Additionally, Nissan is helping to ensure the rover's power is doled out as efficiently as possible, because energy sources for operating such a vehicle in space are extremely limited.
Toyota Motor Corp. vowed to be ready to sell only zero-emission cars in Europe by 2035, a surprise pledge that aligns the world's biggest automaker with the world's most ambitious climate plan.
The Japanese manufacturer also set a new intermediate goal for at least half its sales in Western Europe to be zero-emission vehicles by the end of the decade. That's a big step up from the roughly 10% sales mix expected in 2025.
Nissan has big near-term plans recently laid out in the Ambition 2030 initiative that prioritize technology, sustainability, and excitement over global volume. The automaker has its new Ariya EV on the way next year, bearing a new powertrain and a new design language. It's also about to enter its fourth season in the Formula E World Championship racing series, taking over from sister-brand Renault so the latter could focus on Formula 1. Nissan SVP of global design Alfonso Albaisa and his team put all that into a blender, and out sprang the Ariya single-seater concept, which puts the coming crossover's powertrain into a carbon-fiber-heavy racing chassis.
The concept's stark V-Motion grille is the clearest connection to the road-going CUV, but there's resemblance throughout, as if the designers decided to give the Ariya its Boss Fight Final Form. The company talks like there is more here than merely a rendering presented at the Nissan Futures event in Yokohama, Japan. The press release mentioned this digital exercise becoming "a testbed for future technological evolution" that "can help bring excitement from road to track."
The Mitsubishi ASX, also sold as the RVR and the Outlander Sport, could finally be replaced by a new-generation model in 2023.
Just a month after the 2022 Honda Civic Si was unveiled, a number of journalists in the U.S. have had the opportunity to put it through its paces.
Nissan is adding the Murano to its range of blacked-out Midnight Edition cars for the 2022 model year. Also offered on the Altima, among other nameplates, the appearance package bundles a handful of black exterior accents that give the crossover a more sinister look.
Ticking the Midnight Edition box brings a black grille, black exterior trim pieces, black roof rails, and 20-inch wheels finished in — you guessed it! — black. The package also includes illuminated sill plates and a "Midnight Edition" emblem on the hatch. Magnetic Black Pearl paint is available, but buyers can also select Pearl White (which Nissan charges $395 for) and Boulder Gray Pearl (pictured).
Thanks to inflation and supply chain issues, virtually everything is more expensive than it used to be.
In May last year, Nissan unveiled its Nissan Next plan to get its operations in line with sustainable goals. That meant cutting capacity and operations to match what it considered rational, sustainable goals of around 5 million sales per year and 6% global market share. In January of this year, Nissan laid out plans to electrify every all-new model in key markets by the early 2030s, as well as develop more efficient EV manufacturing, powertrains, and technologies. Today the Japanese automaker has expanded on the goals with a product and technology roadmap it calls Ambition 2030.
The headline numbers are a 2 trillion yen ($17.7 billion U.S.) investment over the next five years, part of which will pay for launching 23 new electrified models, 15 of those being pure electric. The others will likely use the company's e-Power system, which adds a gasoline range-extender engine to an EV powertrain. Nissan wants its lineup and the Infiniti range to be 50% electrified globally by 2030, with goals differing for various markets. Europe is targeted for 75% electrified sales in the next five years; the aim for the U.S. and China is 40%.
Nissan deemed the 2021 Versa so well prepared for 2022 that the automaker has only made one change to the subcompact sedan: plumping the price a bit. All Versas here are powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder with 122 horsepower and 114 pound-feet of torque pushing that output to the front wheels. There are three trims, the entry-level S offered with a five-speed manual transmission and Nissan's continuously variable Xtronic transmission, the SV and SR sold with the CVT alone. The S with the five-speed starts at $15,087 plus a $975 destination fee, for $16,062 total. That's $107 more than the 2021 version. Upgrading to the Xtronic, which improves fuel economy from 27 city, 35 highway, 30 combined to 32 city, 40 highway, 35 combined, costs $17,725, a $100 increase over 2021.
The Versa SV starts at $18,865, the Versa SR at $19,465, both of those prices representing a $100 bump over 2021.
The 2022 Nissan Maxima heads into the 2022 model year with scant few changes from the 2021 model year. The Platinum trim gets heated rear seats standard for next year, and Scarlet Timber Tintcoat replaces Carnelian Red Tintcoat on the exterior palette. And that's all she wrote for material alterations. Otherwise, nothing's budged but the price of the flagship sedan, which has gone up a touch. The entry-level 2021 Maxima SV starts at $37,240 which is $150 more than the same trim in 2021. Add the $975 destination, and you're at $38,395.
The Maxima SR starts at $43,375 after destination, also up by $150. The Platinum goes for $43,525, which is $230 more than the 2021 version. Power for all trims still comes from a 3.5-liter V6 putting out 300 horsepower and 261 pound-feet of torque. All of that is sent to the front wheels through an Xtronic continuously variable transmission.
The 2023 Integra has mostly failed to create the stir from long-time enthusiasts that Acura had hoped it would. However, all is not lost; Acura could perhaps regain some street cred if they took the Integra racing, like they did with the Integras of the 80s and 90s. Brand head Jon Ikeda wants to take the 'Teg to the track, but it all depends on whether the leadership at the American Honda mothership permits it.
"We want to race this thing, but maybe the Honda PR and marketing guys might have different ideas," Ikeda told Road & Track. That's because the Integra is largely a 2022 Civic Si with a hatchback form factor and new sheetmetal. Honda already sells a Civic Type R race car in several tunes for various classes in the TC America touring car series. That was based on previous-generation Civic, but in all likelihood will continue the program with the latest gen. A racing Integra, then, would seem redundant.