Simona de Silvestro signs with Nissan Motorsport in Australian Supercars

by News Feeder, 06-10-2024, 07:04 PM

MELBOURNE, Australia –Australian Supercars squad Nissan Motorsport has signed Swiss racer Simona de Silvestro on a multi-year agreement commencing at the 2017 Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, the opening round of next year's Virgin Australia Supercars Championship in Australia.de Silvestro brings a wealth of international experience to the team, following her involvement in categories such as Formula 1, IndyCar, and Formula E. Having worked closely with de Silvestro during this year's Harvey Norman Supergirls Bathurst wildcard entry, team co-owner Todd Kelly is looking forward to providing a supportive environment as the 28-year-old Swiss star embarks on the new challenge. "This is a big day for Nissan Motorsport," said Kelly. "Simona's performance at Bathurst this year was outstanding. You could see in the data the amount of potential in Simona. So next year will be very exciting. To have built a race team that can attract a driver of Simona's international experience is a testament to the hard work of everyone here at Nissan Motorsport. I have been racing in Supercars since I was 17, and I've only really worked with cars from this category, so it's great to now have someone who has experienced motorsport from all around the world. It's exciting to be able to compare how we do things here to what Simona has experienced elsewhere." For de Silvestro, this announcement ends months of speculation on where she would be racing in 2017. "Today, I'm announcing I'm going to be driving for Nissan Motorsport in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship," said de Silvestro from her current Zurich-based home. "I'm really excited to be joining the team, and I can't wait for next season. In joining Nissan Motorsport, I think the biggest thing is being a factory driver. It's great to have the trust from Nissan Motorsport to give me the chance to drive for them. I really enjoyed driving for them at Bathurst. I really enjoyed the car, so there were a lot of things I really liked. And the team as well – it's a great team – you see there's a lot of potential. So working with them hopefully will bring a lot of success. My expectations for next year in 2017: I think it's going to be a pretty big challenge for me. Like I've said before, most of my career has been in open wheel. The Nissan Altima was feeling pretty great at Bathurst, so I'm sure at the other tracks I'm going to be able to adapt a lot quicker. Learning the tracks and working with the team will be a big challenge but looking forward to it." Richard Emery, Nissan Australia's managing director and CEO, was delighted to share today's news. "Simona's results and experience are impressive, and she has already shown strong speed in our Nissan Altima at Bathurst," said Emery. "2017 is now shaping to be our best so far, and Simona's arrival will add a new focus and energy. Nissan has a long history in motorsport, one of the few competitive sports where men and women compete head-to-head on equal terms. It's important that Nissan and the wider automotive sector promote our industry and our vehicles as well as motorsport beyond traditional male audiences. We want to encourage more women to choose our industry as a career and sporting pathway. And by having Simona on our team, we hope to achieve greater speed and results on the track." The The 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship begins at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, March 2-5. # # #ContactJane Johnstone Marketing Communications Director Global Motorsport Communications Nissan/NISMO Phone: +44 7979 710646 Email: [email protected] Paul Ryan Marketing and PR Manager Phone: +1 678 644 0404 Email: [email protected]

More...

Toyota to Establish In-house Venture Company for EV Development

by News Feeder, 06-10-2024, 04:49 AM

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has decided to establish an in-house venture company responsible for developing electric vehicles (EVs). The venture company, which will be a virtual organization consisting of four persons—one each from Toyota Industries Corporation, Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd., Denso Corporation and TMC—and which will be independent of other internal structural organizations, is set to launch in December 2016.

More...

Selection of Recipients of the 2016 Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program

by News Feeder, 06-10-2024, 04:49 AM

Toyota Motor Corporation has selected 28 projects to be the grant recipients of the Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program. In the 17 years since its introduction in 2000, a cumulative total of 332 projects in 53 countries and regions have received this grant.

More...

Mazda to Offer Diesel Engine in All-New Mazda CX-5 for North America From Second Half

by News Feeder, 05-10-2024, 09:59 PM

More...

Honda Accord Holds Crown in Car and Driver 10Best Cars Award

by News Feeder, 05-10-2024, 07:23 PM

TORRANCE, Calif. – The Honda Accord has won an unprecedented thirty-first Car and Driver 10Best award. Accord has earned the 10Best recognition more times than any other car over the 35-year history of the award. For the 2016 model year, the Accord received a host of upgrades, including dynamic new styling, retuned suspension, available Honda Sensing™ safety and driver-assistive technologies, and available advanced connectivity with Android Auto™ and Apple CarPlay™. # # ...

More...

Serena ProPILOT wins RJC Car of the Year and Technology of the Year 2016-2017 Award

by News Feeder, 05-10-2024, 06:54 AM

YOKOHAMA, Japan – The new Nissan Serena has been named Car of the Year for 2016/2017 by the Automotive Researchers' and Journalists' Conference of Japan (RJC).Additionally, RJC’s Technology of the Year award went to ProPILOT, the all-new autonomous driving technology which debuted in the Serena.Serena/Serena Highway StarProPILOT (image) The final round of voting for the RJC Car of the Year awards took place on November 15.Explaining the decision to give both awards to Nissan, the RJC committee noted: “The Serena comes with a host of new features that significantly improve ease-of-use. It boasts a hands-free door that can be activated simply by sliding your foot under the vehicle, a dual-stage rear door that lets you load and unload bags even in tight spaces, and side-sliding second row seats, which make it a lot easier to get into and out of the third row.”On the ProPILOT system, RJC commented: ”ProPILOT, a single-lane autonomous driving technology that automatically controls the accelerator, brakes and steering wheel, significantly reduces driver workload during traffic jams and long drives on highways. We feel that this system represents a vital technological stepping stone towards achieving full-scale autonomous driving in the future.”Since its launch in August, the fully redesigned Serena has been well-received by customers, with more than 30,000 orders received.Original press release for the new Serena: https://newsroom.nissan-global.com/relea...24-01-e###

More...

Mazda Unveils the All-New CX-5

by News Feeder, 05-10-2024, 03:24 AM

More...

Is200 Kompressor

by DannyStock, 04-10-2024, 07:55 PM

Instead of clogging up other threads I thought I'd open up a fresh one to document a few of my findings.

Yes it's another IS200 supercharger build.

It's a 2001 IS200 sport with a healthy 130k on the clock

I'm 3/4 of the way through the s/c build
So far I have decided to use the A/C drive from the crank pulley as opposed to the waterpump mounted pulley.
Reasoning for this being, availability of the TTE pulleys is next to non-exsistent, and I was not 100% with the mounting on the waterpump. I don't want to add any extra strain to the waterpump itself and having no luck finding a decent machine-shop to drill centred holes on the merc pulley. I could not centre it well enough.

Seeing as i don't use the A/C at all, the use of a longer belt (4pk1123/1130) enables me to use the crank pulley as a drive source.
Working out pulley sizes, using a 138mm pulley on the waterpump gave a s/c pulley speed 8.9K rpm.
Using the crank drive gave, again, 8.9K rpm @ the s/c. So no loss of boost. Also no gain.

Only real downside to this drive setup is only a 4 rib belt will fit.
Only time will tell if belt slip is an issue.



The cap from waterpump has been removed to clear the belt. Also to clear the belt I have used dome-headed socket cap M8 bolts on the waterpump pulley.
Clearence is TIGHT, but no rubbing/scraping seen on test runs.



First issue with this was the belt flying off.
Given the longer path of the belt, any discrepancy in the mounting was exhajurated.
So the cradle came out, and little filing and fettling and it was all much squarer.
To further help this situation I sourced a different tensioner pulley.
Taken from a Mazda 929/Mpv -
Mazda part no. JE 151 2730C
(INA part no. 532 0104 20)


This pulley doesn't have an elongated hole to adjust tension, so I have a cut groove in the cradle tensioner bracket so I can slide the pulley along it to add/remove tension to the belt.

Manifolds are still a work in progress, all materials have been accumulated; Mild steel hemispheres, 9m worth of mild steel pipe and a good friend whose racking up plenty of beer tokens.

So looking ahead, hoping to have this done before/by christmas.
I thought it would be nice to get some real figures on the set up.
Initially I will be running without an intercooler.
Likely adding one at a later date.
It will give me chance to see the real before & afters and gauge how much of a difference all the different mods will make.

So. Near bone stock IS200 - 133K on the clock, no service history and only a K&N panel filter.
Took a trip to the dyno to give a base-line power run.





150BHP @ flywheel

Power when new - 153BHP

Good Result.

Torque works out at 129 lb/ft
Which is a little lower than factory, but can only increase and this is the real reason for supercharging.

I love a revvy/thrashy engine and you do have to work the 1G lump pretty well to get what you want.
This is all fun & games, but on a daily basis. I love a ''grunty'' engine.


So, once the Supercharger is up & running a second power-run will be done for a direct comparison and clear power gain documented.

Cheers.

2017 Honda Civic Named "Overall Best Buy of the Year" by Experts at Kelley Blue Book

by News Feeder, 04-10-2024, 03:19 PM

The 2017 Honda Civic took home the prestigious 2017 Kelley Blue Book Overall Best Buy Award earning top praise from the expert team of editors and evaluators at KBB.com. This is the second consecutive win for the Civic, with the 2017 Accord earning first place in the Mid-Size car category and the 2017 Pilot taking first place for the Mid-Size SUV/Crossover category. The Kelley Blue Book Best Buy of the Year Awards honor the top new model-year vehicle choices available in the U.S. market.

More...

Final Results of the Driving Barista Application Project Aiming to Prevent Smartphone

by News Feeder, 04-10-2024, 03:17 AM

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), Komeda Co., Ltd. (Komeda), and KDDI Corporation (KDDI) have announced the final results of their joint project using a smartphone application called Driving Barista.

More...