Cars Valley: April 2011

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

MCN staff heads to Brno World Superbikes on longterm Kawasaki Z1000

The Kawasaki Z1000 is a four-cylinder motorcycle in the streetfighter or standard style.
* 1 History
* 2 2003–2006 Models
* 3 2007–2008 Models
o 3.1 Specifications (United States 2008 Model
* 4 Reviews
* 5 References

Kawasaki introduced the Z1 motorcycle in 1972. Four years later they introduced the Kz900. The original Kawasaki Z1 was the first series of Japanese motorcycles with the combination of four cylinders, dual overhead cams and 903 cc (55.1 cu in). It was one of the most powerful motorcycles produced up until that time, and set multiple world records.[citation needed] And even though its quarter mile times and top speeds were grossly overestimated,[by whom?]actual numbers were impressive enough to earn the bike the nickname “The King”.[citation needed] In 1977 a z1000 ridden by Reg Pridmore became the first Japanese bike to win an AMA Superbike national when it took the victory at Pocono Raceway. In 2003 Kawasaki introduced a completely revamped 30 year anniversary edition of the Z1000. It used a modified engine from the Kawasaki ZX-9R, and was bored out by 2.2 mm resulting in bigger displacement, more low-RPM torque, and only a slight power loss of 4 bhp from the original ZX9. In 2004, Kawasaki released the Z1000's smaller brother, the Z750. In 2007, Kawasaki released a new Z1000. The Z-series since the 1970s until today are also known as the “Z”, “Zed”, and “Z1k”.

In October 2009, Kawasaki unveiled the 2010 Z1000. It received an all new Aluminum frame, Digital Instrument Panel, Bodywork, and a completely new engine. It sports 77 x 56mm bore and stroke figures, 1mm over the ZX-10R’s 76 x 55mm displacing 1,043cc. That is up from the previous model's 953cc. Compression ratio is 11.8:1, and fuel injection is handled by a bank of 38mm Keihin throttle bodies
[edit] 2003–2006 Models

Stylistically, the 2003 Z1000 was a departure from other naked sportbikes of the time. The Z1000 used the same tail section that was being used on the 2003 ZX6R 636cc sport bike. Kawasaki hired the same industrial designer credited with designing the Mazda Miata to create an aggressive bikini fairing to match the 636s tail section.[citation needed]

The Z1000 uses a backbone frame that supports the engine as a stressed member. Engine mounts can be removed to ease access for maintenance.

Compression damping is done on one fork leg, rebound damping on the other. This technology is from dirt bikes, and is rare on street motorcycles. The Nissin brakes have four piston calipers.
2007 Kawasaki Z1000In 2007 Kawasaki released an updated version of the Z1000. The bike features a detuned version of the ZX-9R engine. This detuning, in addition to the design of the exhaust, provides less top end compared to the super-sport ZX-9R engine, but more low to mid rpm range, giving a stock '07-08 Z1000 a top speed of about 166 mph and 0-60 mph acceleration in about 2.9 seconds, with about 125 bhp at 10,000rpm.[citation needed

Kawasaki-Z1000

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Luxury Cars Of Nissan Qashqai cars previews and specification

The Nissan Qashqai, known as the Nissan Dualis in Japan and Australia, is a compact crossover SUV produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan since 2007. It replaced the body-on-frame Mistral as its small SUV offering and its P32L automobile platform will be also used by other forthcoming Nissan crossover SUVs.
* 1 Production
* 2 Features
* 3 Qashqai+2
* 4 2010 facelift
* 5 Japan
* 6 Middle East
* 7 North America
* 8 New Zealand
* 9 United Kingdom
* 10 Name
* 11 References
* 12 External links

The Qashqai has been built at Nissan's NMUK Sunderland, Tyne and Wear plant since December 2006.

It is the first model to be styled by Nissan Design Europe in London, with engineering development led by Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE) in Cranfield, Bedfordshire. It was globally presented at the 2006 Paris Motor Show.

By the end of 2007, Nissan had sold approximately 100,000 Nissan Qashqais in Europe, including 17,554 in UK, 15,376 in Russia, and 10,746 in Italy Nissan expects to deliver its 500,000th Qashqai before the end of 2009 of a facelift for the 2010 model year.

The Qashqai is exported to the Middle East and additional overseas markets.

Built on an all-new platform, the Qashqai went on sale in February 2007, and Nissan targeted more than 100,000 sales per year. Nissan said the car, named after the nomadic Turkic Qashqai tribe in Iran, would cater to those buyers who want a more dynamic design, but are not attracted to the large, aggressive nature of a sport utility vehicle. The car slots below the X-Trail in the Nissan range and partially replaces the conventional Primera, even though it took the production place of the smaller Almera. In terms of size, its 4,310 millimetres (169.7 in) length and 1,610 millimetres (63.4 in) height make it fall between compact MPVs, such as the SEAT Altea and Renault Scénic; and compact SUVs like the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and Mitsubishi Outlander.

The top half of Qashqai has a sleek, dynamic form with a distinctive shoulder line which rises at the rear — a design cue similar to that of the Nissan Murano. The lower portion resembles an SUV due to large, pronounced wheel arches and a slightly elevated ground clearance. The Qashqai uses the same platform as the X-Trail (the vehicle upon which the Qashqai is based), but is not as functional or as off-road capable as the latter. Nissan regards the Qashqai as a rival to such cars as the Toyota RAV-4 and the Honda CR-V and in 2007 it received a five star Euro NCAP safety rating — the best ever adult occupant score

Nissan Qashqai

Nissan's New Mobile Office Just Perfect for TreeHuggers

Nissan Motor Company Ltd (Japanese: 日産自動車株式会社, Nissan Jidōsha Kabushiki-gaisha?) (TYO: 7201), usually shortened to Nissan (play /ˈniːsɑːn/ or UK /ˈnɪsæn/; Japanese: [nisːaɴ]), is a multinational automaker headquartered in Japan. It was formerly a core member of the Nissan Group, but has become more independent after its restructuring under Carlos Ghosn (

It formerly marketed vehicles under the "Datsun" brand name and is one of the largest car manufacturers in the world. As of 2011, the company's global headquarters is located in Nishi-ku, Yokohama. In 1999, Nissan entered a two way alliance with Renault S.A. of France, which owns 43.4% of Nissan while Nissan holds 15% of Renault shares, as of 2008. The current market share of Nissan, along with Honda and Toyota, in American auto sales represent the largest of the automotive firms based in Asia that have been increasingly encroaching on the historically dominant US-based "Big Three" consisting of GM, Ford and Chrysler. In its home market, Nissan is the third largest car manufacturer, with Honda being second by a small margin of 2,000 units and Toyota in a very dominant first. Along with its normal range of models, Nissan also produces a range of luxury models branded as Infiniti.

The Nissan VQ engines, of V6 configuration, have been featured among World's 10 Best Engines for 14 straight years.
* 1 History
o 1.1 Beginnings of Datsun name from 1914
o 1.2 Nissan name first used in 1930s
o 1.3 Nissan Motors founded in 1934
o 1.4 Nissan's early American connection
o 1.5 Relationship with Ford Motor Company
o 1.6 Austin Motor Company
o 1.7 Merger with Prince Motor Company
o 1.8 Foreign expansion
o 1.9 Trucks
o 1.10 Alliance with Renault
o 1.11 Expansion of alliance to include both Daimler and Renault
* 2 Nissan Motor Co v. Nissan Computer Corporation
* 3 Recent news
o 3.1 Vehicle recalls
* 4 Environmental record
* 5 Leadership
* 6 Products
o 6.1 Automotive products
+ 6.1.1 Electric vehicles
o 6.2 Non-automotive products
* 7 Global sales figures
* 8 Manufacturing locations
* 9 See also
* 10 Notes and references
* 11 External links
Nissan Model 70 Phaeton, 1938
Nissan headquarters in Nishi-ku, Yokohama

The new car's name was an acronym of the company's partners' family names:
* Kenjiro Den (田健次郎, Den Kenjirō?)
* Rokuro Aoyama (青山禄朗, Aoyama Rokurō?)
* Meitaro Takeuchi (竹内明太郎, Takeuchi Meitarō?).

It was renamed to Kwaishinsha Motorcar Co. in 1918, and again to DAT Motorcar Co. in 1925. DAT Motors built trucks in addition to the DAT and Datsun passenger cars. The vast majority of its output were trucks, due to an almost non-existent consumer market for passenger cars at the time. Beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were produced for the military market. It was the low demand of the military market in the 1920s that forced DAT to merge in 1926 with Japan's 2nd most successful truck maker, Jitsuyo Motors.

Nissan

Friday, April 8, 2011

Volkswagen Phaeton Volkswagen transparent factory in Dresden symbolizes quality

The Volkswagen Phaeton (pronounced /ˈfeɪtən/ FAY-tən) is a full-size luxury sedan/saloon manufactured by German automaker Volkswagen, and is described by Volkswagen as their "premium class" vehicle. It was introduced at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show, and marketed worldwide.

The name Phaeton derives from Phaëton, the son of Phoebus (or Helios) in Greek mythology, by way of the phaeton auto body style and the type of horse-drawn carriage that preceded it.
* 1 Overview
* 2 Features
* 3 Sales
* 4 Powertrain
* 5 2009 and 2011 Phaeton Facelifts
o 5.1 New technologies
* 6 References
* 7 External links

The Phaeton was conceived by Ferdinand Piëch, the then chairman of Volkswagen Group. Piëch wanted Volkswagen engineers to create a car that would overwhelmingly surpass the German prestige market leaders, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The decision to release the Phaeton was, in part, a response to Mercedes's decision to compete directly with Volkswagen in the European marketplace with the low-cost A-Class. It was also intended to support the Volkswagen brand image, since the most expensive versions of lesser models, such as the Golf GTI, were starting to cost almost as much as equivalently-sized prestige brands. Although the Volkswagen group already has a direct competitor in the full-sized luxury segment, the Audi A8, the Phaeton is intended to be more of a limousine like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, while the A8 and BMW 7 Series are more sport-oriented

Initial development of the Phaeton, given the internal project code VW611, began with Piëch giving his engineers a list of ten parameters the car needed to fulfill. Most of these specifications were not made known to the public, but a number of them were told to automotive reporters. One of them was that the Phaeton should be capable of being driven all day at 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) with an exterior temperature of 50 °C (122 °F) whilst maintaining the interior temperature at 22 °C (72 °F).[4] Piëch requested this even though the Phaeton's top speed was electronically limited to 250 kilometres per hour (155.3 mph) Another requirement was that the car should possess torsional rigidity of 37,000 N·m/degree.

The Phaeton's platform, the Volkswagen Group D1 platform, is shared with the Bentley Continental GT and Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Certain systems, such as the automatic transmission and some engines, are also shared with the Audi A8. The D1 is a stand-alone steel platform, and was specifically developed for the Phaeton and Bentley Continental. It is commonly confused with Audi's D3 platform, which is an all-aluminium-based, instead of the D1's steel platform.

As of 2010[update], the Phaeton has the longest wheelbase in the Volkswagen Passenger Car line.

The Phaeton is hand-assembled in an eco-friendly factory with a glass exterior, the Transparent Factory (German: Gläserne Manufaktur) in Dresden, Germany. This factory also assembled Bentley Continental Flying Spur vehicles destined for the European market until October 2006, when all assembly of the Bentley products was transferred to Crewe, England.

The Phaeton body is fabricated and painted at the large Volkswagen works at Zwickau, Germany, and the completed bodies are then transported about 100 km by special road transport vehicles to the Transparent Factory. Most Phaeton engines, the W12 being the notable exception, are built at the VW/Porsche/Audi engine plant in Győr, Hungary.

Volkswagen Phaeton