Revitalizing the sedan isn’t anything new to Nissan — just three years ago it introduced the current seventh-generation Maxima as the new age affordable “four-door sports car” (or 4DSC) fit for mall sprees and canyon runs. Even still, Nissan’s design leaders say, the well-aged segment remains bland.
“She’s between 30 and 40 years old,” the designer revealed. “She’s always respected the sedan, but she might be one that has a crossover or something else. The sedan has a value, but she thinks the sedan has become boring.”
Although completely fresh, its modern physique remains distinctly Nissan with broad elements, strong shoulders, and well-hidden traits derived from Japanese culture. The tension, release, and interception of dynamic shapes plays a key role in the styling philosophy, too.
Crystalline LED lights are one trait designers employed to express a new emotion. Kinked, boomerang-shaped headlights look futuristic in a Tron sort of way and are matched with equally chiseled and drastically kinked LED taillights.
While techies and sci-fi fans (yours truly included) may pine away for flying cars and the like, we’re not a major car-shopping demographic. As the recent firestorm surrounding the Chevrolet Volt demonstrated, your average consumers are interested in how comparable electric vehicles are to the gasoline-powered cars they already own. Because let’s be honest, buying an electric car requires a lifestyle change, with things like recharging, range, and maintenance. After 100-plus years of automobiles, we’re all very comfortable with the gasoline routine, and EVs represent a major departure from the familiar.
But they don’t have to, and that is the single most remarkable thing about the 2011 Nissan Leaf: It’s mostly unremarkable as a “Car of the Future.” And while that may seem like damning it with faint praise, it’s really the highest praise this car can be given. Nissan could’ve built a car that looked like it belonged in Star Wars, and four people would’ve bought it. Instead, it’s built a car that’s just different enough to stand out, but not enough to alienate potential buyers. As unfamiliar as the concept of a non-gasoline car may be to Joe Customer, the car itself is surprisingly familiar.
To make the point, Nissan invited us to drive the car in the towns and farms surrounding its Franklin, Tennessee, headquarters, and this time it would be a real drive. No more “take it around the block” quick tests. I strapped into a production-spec Leaf with a full battery and a guidebook that, after two driving loops, would take us on a 50-mile tour of central Tennessee. Time to find out what the Leaf is like in the real world…
At the risk of repeating myself, the Leaf proved to be quite ordinary. After 10 minutes of driving, the car felt completely normal, not unlike any other four-cylinder hatchback on the road. As amazing as that is, the lack of a learning curve was just as impressive. Sure, the touchiness of the regenerative brakes takes a bit of right-foot recalibration, and the silky smooth acceleration is something you won’t find in any gasoline-powered car short of a Rolls-Royce. But these differences fade quickly as you settle in. No special procedures or driving techniques are necessary; just drive it like you would any other car.
It’s not often that we welcome a long-term tester so popular with staffers that it never remains parked overnight at our office. It’s even more rare for said tester to be a bona fide supercar, tried and proven as a legitimate Ferrari-Porsche-Lamborghini annihilator. Such was the case with our Super Silver Nissan GT-R Premium, which we enjoyed, flaunted, and admired every day of its yearlong test.
The GT-R’s popularity is understandable. Its storied lineage dates back more than four decades and includes all-wheel-drive monsters that ate up the competition — hence, the Godzilla nickname. Further, our long-termer’s combination of futuristic, controversial sheetmetal and spellbinding, Nurburgring-bred performance for well under $100,000 is indeed exceptional. The GT-R’s body drips with Japanese functionality, while paying homage to the natural world and famous ancestors. Most staffers considered themselves fans of the standout shape, which attracted innumerable stares, upturned thumbs, and shouts from balconies (really, that happened). A few, though, thought it too chunky for a sports car of such magnificent stature. Regardless of opinion, wherever it rolled, it made a bold statement.
We also never grew tired of its uncanny personality. As docile as a Sentra when trotting through town, the GT-R proved tame and collected when commanded, with none of the expected supercar demerits in terms of livability and usefulness. Click off a double-downshift with the slim magnesium left paddle, throw the GT-R into a corner, and its pent-up ferocity immediately transfers to its four huge Bridgestones. No other sports car at the GT-R’s price can match its utility and performance credentials.
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| Nissan Leaf Aero Style Concept |
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| Winter version of the Nissan GT-R |
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| Winter version of the Nissan GT-R |
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| Winter version of the Nissan GT-R |
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| Winter version of the Nissan GT-R |
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| Winter version of the Nissan GT-R |
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| Winter version of the Nissan GT-R |
