Nissan prides itself on its all-terrain capabilities, specifically with the Rogue crossover. The small SUV is known as the X-Trail overseas, and the brand recently used the nameplate on a different type of vehicle altogether.
Nissan, we have a bobsled team.
The X-Trail Bobsleigh is the world’s first seven-seat bobsled, and it takes inspiration from the aforementioned crossover, which also seats seven. The gravity-powered people-carrier recently made its inaugural run at the Olympic Sliding Center in Innsbruck, Austria.
“We wanted to give the opportunity to experience first-hand the adventurous nature of our crossover segment through the thrill and excitement of Olympic bobsleighing,” said Darryl Scriven, Design Manager at Nissan Europe.
The bobsled-SUV connection doesn’t stop at passenger capacity though, because the X-Trail features a faux V-Motion grille as well as Nissan’s signature boomerang-shaped headlights. Born from a collaboration between Nissan, bobsled manufacturer Diego Menardi, and bobsledding expert Ian Richardson, the vehicle is capable of reaching speeds of 62 mph and can pull up to 4.5G in the corners.
Nissan’s romance with winter sports is proving to be fruitful one, as at the 2016 Montreal International Auto Show in Quebec, the brand debuted the incredible Rogue Warrior concept. Instead of standard wheels, the one-off vehicle equips a massive snow track system called the Dominator, which allows the crossover to drive up to 62 mph in snow. The Rogue Warrior also features 23 inches of ground clearance and can scale a 45-degree incline with ease, making it the perfect choice if you need to reach the summit in record time.
Despite its intimidating look, however, the Rogue Warrior is actually fairly close to stock. The vehicle’s tracks, suspension, and wheel wells have all been swapped out, but the engine, all-wheel drive system, and even the X-tronic transmission are all unchanged from the factory. Check out the concept in action here.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.