2014 Nissan GT-R, refined, relaxed and re-imagined

• Recalibrated suspension for more sophisticated ride and better road-holding
• Enhanced exterior with LED lamp technology and distinctive front and rear design
• Added premium cabin interior with improved quality and trim options

Evolution never stops for the Nissan GT-R.  Nissan's iconic sports car brings a refreshed vision of "innovation that excites" with the introduction of the 2014 model offering a new level of sophistication, yet with no compromise in performance.

The sales of 2014 Nissan GT-R begin in Japan on December 2, to be followed by sales at Nissan dealerships in other markets worldwide.

The 2014 Nissan GT-R offers smoother ride comfort, more refinement and benchmark fit and finish, in the spirit of a great "GT", while delivering breathtaking performance and road-holding. Its "multi-dimensional performance" means the driver can enjoy the full depth of the GT-R's capabilities, whether navigating corners of a winding mountain road, cruising on the highway or even in an urban environment.

Adding premium appeal to the exterior and interior design, the 2014 Nissan GT-R delivers sophisticated driving pleasure and is the ultimate embodiment of Nissan's brand philosophy: "innovation that excites."

2014 Nissan GT-R Overview

Outstanding performance meets a new level of sophistication

Mechanical Updates

Chassis

With outstanding adhesion from its tyres, the GT-R is capable of stunning confident acceleration and braking performance

• The suspension was fine-tuned to reduced load fluctuation between the four wheels, giving better stability and more consistent grip.
• More constant tyre contact is achieved by optimized electronic control of the shock-absorber valves, as well as modified front stabiliser spring rates and updated bush link. The tuning of these parts, which makes best use of the suspension strokes and enhances road-holding capability, gives a poised, confident ride and outstanding traction on rough roads.
• With minute vibrations and road noise reduced, a relaxing, comfortable ride is assured. An additional benefit is improved straight-line stability, with fewer small steering corrections needed to maintain the correct trajectory during highway driving.
• The upgraded GT-R is now fitted as standard with Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT 600 DSST CTT tyres, for outstanding road-holding and precise response in all conditions thanks to stiffer sidewalls which reduce deformation, improving steering response under hard cornering. At the front, their specification is: 255/40ZRF20(97Y) and at the rear: 285/35ZRF20(100Y)
• The braking calibration has been retuned for a more firm, linear response at everyday speeds, making smooth braking more intuitive, generating greater confidence, particularly in wet conditions.
• The GT-R's steering has been fine-tuned to reduce the effort required for in-town manoeuvers, while maintaining its exceptional feedback during high-speed driving. The combination of retuned suspension and exceptional steering feel give outstanding confidence at high speed.

Exterior design

Dazzling motion when standing still 

• The 2014 Nissan GT-R maintains its position as one of the most striking supercars in the market. Significant updates to the Nissan GT-R's lights both enhance the visual impact of the car. Customers looking for added visual impact now have a wider color palette to choose from.The 2014 Nissan GT-R sports new efficient, high-intensity, multi-LED headlights that create a distinctive "lightning" motif, generating a striking exterior visual signature. With such a unique visual reference, the GT-R's road presence is enhanced, particularly in low-light and at night - while the fitment of the new headlights gives the driver increased visibility.
• The new headlights feature AFS (Adaptive Front lighting System*) that automatically adapts the angle of the light beam according to the speed of the car. At highway speeds, actuators in the headlight unit adjust the angle of the projectors to project the light further. The four LED units are configured with new intensive LED hi-beam and three different LED low-beams including long-distance-illumination and wide-illumination.
• At the rear, the GT-R's distinctive four-ring tail light signature now forms coherent circles of illumination, giving the GT-R an equally distinctive appearance, making it easily recognisable to fellow owners and enthusiasts.
• Upon start up, the full new lighting signature is illuminated, creating a dramatic start-up procedure.
• Visual appeal is reinforced with the addition of a new body colour called Gold Flake Red Pearl. As its name suggests, there are microscopic gold-tinted glass flakes infused into the red paint, creating a spectacular effect in the deep, lustrous paint as the light catches the finish.

Interior

Upscale cabin appointments

• Choice of three interior colour schemes includes a new pale ivory trim option.
• The steering wheel is trimmed in leather, for premium tactility, while the part-aniline leather seats are further embellished with stitched accents, giving the ambience of a genuine GT designed for cross-continental, first-class travel.
• Body construction

Advanced body construction

• To achieve the project's ambitious targets for high-speed handling and ride comfort, Nissan enhanced the level of precision-constructed body elements and advanced assembly methods to create the 2014 Nissan GT-R.
• Each part is made of materials selected for optimum performance: Precision-constructed, multi-material hybrid body combines steel, carbon fibre and die-cast aluminum to achieve high stiffness and light weight.
• Thanks to the rigidity of the GT-R's body construction, suspension precision is guaranteed while refinement is enhanced, resulting in exceptional cabin refinement even at high speeds and under hard cornering.
• Thanks to optimised insulation and acoustic tuning, even at high speeds, the occupants are able to enjoy the sporty engine sound.
• An optional carbon rear wing is offered, which is attached to a carbon boot lid, giving a weight saving of half compared with the standard boot lid.

*Adapative Front lighting System is unavailable in some regions.

Volvo develops better battery packs to power new generation of cars.

Volvo Car Group has developed a revolutionary concept for lightweight structural energy storage components that could improve the energy usage of future electrified vehicles. The material, consisting of carbon fibres, nano structured batteries and super capacitors, offers lighter energy storage that requires less space in the car, cost effective structure options and is eco-friendly.

As part of an EU-funded research project, including nine other major participants, Volvo Car Group was the only car manufacturer in the project. The project identified a feasible solution to the heavy weight, large size and high costs associated with the batteries seen in hybrids and electric cars today, whilst maintaining the efficient capacity of power and performance. The research project took place over 3.5 years and is now realised in the form of car panels within a Volvo S80 experimental car.

The breakthrough

The answer was found in the combination of carbon fibres and a polymer resin, creating a very advanced nanomaterial, and structural super capacitors. The reinforced carbon fibres sandwich the new battery and are moulded and formed to fit around the car’s frame, such as the door panels, the boot lid and wheel bowl, substantially saving on space. The carbon fibre laminate is first layered, shaped and then cured in an oven to set and harden. The super capacitors are integrated within the component skin. This material can then be used around the vehicle, replacing existing components, to store and charge energy.

The material is recharged and energised by the use of brake energy regeneration in the car or by plugging into a mains electrical grid. It then transfers the energy to the electric motor which is discharged as it is used around the car.

The breakthrough showed that this material not only charges and stores faster than conventional batteries can, but that it is also strong and pliant.

The results so far

Today, Volvo Car Group has evaluated the technology by creating two components for testing and development. These are a boot lid and a plenum cover, tested within the Volvo S80.

The boot lid is a functioning electrically powered storage component and has the potential to replace the standard batteries seen in today’s cars. It is lighter than a standard boot lid, saving on both volume and weight.

The new plenum demonstrates that it can also replace both the rally bar, a strong structural piece that stabilises the car in the front, and the start-stop battery. This saves more than 50% in weight and is powerful enough to supply energy to the car’s 12 Volt system

It is believed that the complete substitution of an electric car’s existing components with the new material could cut the overall weight by more than 15%. This is not only cost effective but would also have improvements to the impact on the environment.

Volvo Car Group lead the way

Electrified cars play an important role in Volvo Car Group’s future product portfolio and the company will continue to find and develop innovative and advanced technical solutions for the cars of tomorrow.

Alfa Romeo 4C marks a return to lightweight sports coupés for the brand

• Alfa Romeo 4C marks a return to lightweight sports coupés for the brand
• Advanced materials and construction ensure lightness and rigidity
• Compact, agile and engineered for pure driving satisfaction
• Supercar performance with impressive economy and emissions
• On sale in October priced from £45,000 OTR

Designed, engineered and built as a pure driving machine, the all-new Alfa Romeo 4C is an uncompromised thoroughbred that marks the return to the world of lightweight sports coupés for the Alfa Romeo brand.  Its "natural beauty" is defined by function; the need to wrap the engine and chassis in a compact, aerodynamically-efficient shape, making it a worthy descendent of one of the most beautiful coupés of all time: the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.

Designed and engineered by Alfa Romeo and built at the Maserati plant in Modena, the mid-engined Alfa Romeo 4C employs the latest technologies of Alfa Romeo's newest models: The new, all-aluminium 1750 Turbo Petrol engine; the latest-generation "Alfa TCT" dry twin clutch transmission and theAlfa DNA drivingmode selector - now with a new “Race” mode.

Carbon-fibre was chosen for the one-piece monocoque due its high levels of structural rigidity and exceptionally low weight –just 65kg – and is built using sophisticated Formula 1-derived technologies, evolved especially for Alfa Romeo for series production of up to 1,000 units per year. SMC (Sheet Moulding Compound), which is lighter than both steel and aluminium, is used for the bodywork while even the thickness of the glass has been slimmed down by 15% to help reduce the Alfa Romeo 4C’s overall weight.

Less than 4m in length and with a wheelbase of 2.38m, the Alfa Romeo 4C’s compact shape accentuates its remarkable agility: With a dry weight of 895kg and a 40:60 front-to-rear weight distribution, the 4C is capable of generating 1.1g of lateral acceleration and in excess of 1.2g of deceleration force.

To optimise handling, its double-wishbone front suspension is secured directly to the monocoque while the rear uses a performance-tuned McPherson arrangement. The brakes, engineered with track use in mind, employ a patented aluminium/cast iron hybrid construction complete with ventilated, cross-drilled 305mm/292mm discs (F/R) clamped by Brembo callipers. 17-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels are standard, while 18/19-inch wheels with Alfa Romeo’s signature, five-hole “telephone dial” design are optional.

Power comes courtesy of a new four-cylinder turbo engine which, thanks to its aluminium block, is 22kg lighter than the engine that powers the Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV. Turbo-charged and with direct injection, this new1750 Turbo Petrol unit sets new torque and specific power records for this size of engine, at over 200Nm- and 137hp-per-litre respectively. Its maximum power output is 240hp at 6,000 rpm while its maximum torque output is 350Nm (258 lb ft), available between 2,100 and 4,000 rpm. To underline the flexible nature of this new engine, just 80% of its torque is available from just 1800 rpm.

Accelerating from 0 to 62mph takes just 4.5 seconds in the new Alfa Romeo 4C and top speed is 160mph, but this supercar performance isn’t at the expense of the environment. Due to its light weight and advanced engine and transmission technologies, the emissions of the Alfa Romeo 4C fall well within the strict limits of Euro 6. Its official combined-cycle fuel economy figure is 41.5MPG and its CO2 emissions are just 157g/km.

Being an Alfa Romeo, the driving experience is more than just raw statistics. The exhaust has been tuned to emit a full, rich sound and particular attention paid to the seat design so the movement and reactions of the car can be 'felt' properly. The steering, unassisted, is progressive, direct and engineered to convey as much feedback and feel as possible. The steering ratio (16.2) is such as to allow 90% of bends to be taken without having to take your hands off the steering wheel. Both brake and throttle responsiveness have also been tuned to match with the dynamic nature of the Alfa Romeo 4C.

Inside the Alfa Romeo 4C, the exposed carbon-fibre chassis and driver-oriented controls leave you in no doubt as to the purposeful nature of the car. In place of traditional dials, a multi-function, digital display occupies the instrument binnacle and the steering wheel is a bespoke, flat-bottomed, two-spoke item with integrated paddle gear-shifters. The remaining controls are grouped together on the tunnel console, including the button-operated TCT transmission selector and the DNA system selector, which alters the operational parameters of the engine, transmission, ESC and electronic Q2 differential depending on the driver’s requirements. Composite bucket seats and aluminium pedals complete the minimalistic, drive-focussed cabin.

The all-new Alfa Romeo Romeo 4C goes on sale in the UK in October priced from £45,000 on the road, with first deliveries expected early in 2014. In total, global production for the Alfa Romeo 4C is limited to just 3,500 units.

Whilst the all new Alfa Romeo 4C officially goes on sale in the UK in October, due to an exceptionally high demand and limited product availability, prospective buyers are invited to register their interest now for deliveries in late 2014. In total, worldwide production for the Alfa Romeo 4C is limited to just 3,500 units per year.