To make its Power Trio more influential, Nissan Motors entertained significant upgrades and enhancements for it. The Power Trio – composed of the Titan, Pathfinder and the Armada – is delivered by the automaker not only to attract enthusiasts but to make these aficionados succumb to its excellence.
Upgrades and enhancements include the addition of the new Titan Long Wheelbase King Cab and Crew Cab models, a new 5.6-liter V8 engine for the Pathfinder, and new exterior and interior designs for the Armada. The three new 2008 Nissan vehicles are scheduled to be available at Nissan dealers nationwide beginning in spring this year.
“The addition of the Titan Long Wheelbase models and the first-ever V8 engine ever offered in the 22-year history of Pathfinder expand the available choices for buyers of these two popular vehicles,” said Larry Dominique, the vice president of Product Planning for Nissan North America, Inc.
Dominique added, “The extensive makeover of Armada, which has topped J.D. Power and Associates’ APEAL study for the Large SUV class in 2005 and 2006, adds up to an even more attractive, more premium and more complete Armada package for 2008 – one that we think will continue to make Armada stand out in the full-size SUV class.”
Modifications were not only limited to improving Nissan antenna masts and other parts accessories. The fact that the auto industry is plagued with so many rivals and burdened by notable fluctuations, Nissan intends to improve its lineup to get a rewarding share of the market.
The 2008 Nissan Titan is offered in four models – XE, SE, PRO-4X and LE; in 4×2 and 4×4 drive configurations; in two body styles – King Cab and Crew Cab; four bed sizes – 5’5”, 6’5”, 7’ and 8’; and with the Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) capability. It also features freshened styling, a powerful 5.6-liter DOHC Endurance V8 engine which is rated at 317 horsepower and 385 lb-ft torque, 5-speed automatic transmission and utmost towing capacity.
The well-liked Nissan Pathfinder expands its lineup to cover a new 300-plus horsepower 5.6-liter V8, the first V8 offered in its 22-year history in the United States market. This more powerful option offers a significant increase in torque, rated at 300-plus lb-ft, to achieve 7,000 lbs of maximum towing capacity. Other alterations include exterior styling and refined interior. The Revised Nissan Navigation System with 9.3-gigabyte Music Box hard drive (available on LE only) is now integrated to the vehicle.
The 2008 Nissan Armada also comes with new colors and styling, more luxurious amenities and enhanced car technology. The vehicle also features new option packages. Notable auto technology advancements include the Intelligent Key with twist start, Bluetooth® hands-free phone system, Bose® sound system with 9.3-gigabyte Music Box hard drive and 3rd row speakers and amplifier, Nissan Navigation system with an XM NavTraffic™ system with real-time traffic information, and an 8.0-inch screen for the optional DVD Entertainment Package.
“The 2008 model year is already shaping up to be a tremendous year for Nissan with the previously announced Altima Coupe and all-new Rogue crossover SUV – and now new Titan, Pathfinder and Armada,” said Dominique. “Attendees at the Chicago Auto Show will have five great new reasons to visit the Nissan display.”
Repossessed Used Cars for Sale:
Buying a brand new car from the show room is good but while considering depreciation rate this simply means that about thirty to fifty percent of the cars value is gone and this explains why you would want to buy a used or repossessed car. Not only used car dealers can offer discounted prices from the original values of used cars, today repossessed car auctions are offering even better deals considering the fact that repossessed cars are sold not necessarily to make profits but to cover the losses undergone by banks for example from people who are unable to pay their bank loans.
Before visiting a car auction organized by banks or government it’s important to be aware of the latest retail prices of the cars you want to buy so that you can be sure not to miss out on any good deals available since you will find a huge selection of luxury cars some in near new conditions and in all models. These vehicles are considered liabilities and therefore the longer the banks or government authorities hold these vehicles in their possession the more money they loose in terms of car value and maintenance cost which explain the reason why there is serious need to dispose off this cars quickly and this is where the good deals come into place for the buyers.
It is quite easy to find seized cars at these repossessed car auctions going at unbelievable low prices, some going for twenty to fifty percent off the original car value. This is therefore a market which is worth exploiting where the buyer gets more value that what they pay for baring in mind that most of this cars are sold with their warranty still on. Click here to join.
Aluminium die casting
Aluminium is the choice metal for making light weight parts of vehicles, aerospace and transport industries. Casting of liquid aluminium alloys into metal moulds utilizing systems like gravity, low pressure and high pressure die casting is an economical way of making difficult shapes which need minimum machining. Australia’s auto industry supports a large local die casting business, manufacturing parts that include cylinders, pistons and engine sumps etc.
Rising demand in world auto market for aluminium die cast parts is producing great opportunity and challenge for Australian business which wants to emerge as a global player. By setting partnerships between Nissan and Ford, CAST has developed and produced new and latest technology that has been benefiting our partner’s products. In turn these skills have created IP that is poised on the verge of commercialization.
To increase production of high pressure die casting by lessening its time cycle by 30%. The cycle time has been reduced by more than 20% on certain parts at two industry partner plants. The project involves identifying places where cycle time may be reduced, and doing it practically to prove the findings of research. This made it essential to involve shop floor staff to implement the changes needed in systems. These trails are generally in variation with day to day production and due to true co-operation of shop floor staff it become possible to achieve targets.
The third year of project has seen the true spirit of co-operation between researches and industrial partners in which latest research results got through simulated trails have been done practically on shop floor with help and support of Ford and Nissan staff. The changes once tested during trials have been incorporated in production systems giving benefits of reduced costs by reducing time of each part manufactured. An example of reduced time achieved is at Nissan on a gearbox side cover made in twin cavity die has given successful results after many months; from an initial cycle time of 75 seconds down to 60 seconds. While research at Ford on a changer housing casting, has been successfully implemented by lessening cycle time from 90 seconds to 74 seconds.
In future the reduction of time cycle will be tried for other parts as well.
Automatic fault detection in aluminium die casting:
This involves developing a system to detect surface and sub surface defects.
A fully automatic fault detecting machine named CAST vision has been produced and a prototype process is in place for extended in-plant on-line trials. This is the third year of this project and it is giving good results. The result of algorithm which was designed and developed in 2nd year has been put to test now. By prototyping the CAST team had designed and developed a working system CAST vision. This can discriminate between good and defective parts.
The prototype system has capacity to detect blocked holes on any of holes on this complex casting. Offline processes have also been readied which will detect hot tears and cold shuts on Ford’s structural sump casting.
Work at Nissan on their pump cover casting has led to a CAST vision type process for in-line fault detection. The process can take images and find certain types of defects on the surface part. This project has shown that advances in mechanical vision applied for finding faults of aluminium castings can be converted from project stage to a working prototype successfully. The next stage is take concepts from single stage to multistage processes capable to handle more complex shapes and surfaces. This result will become a strong contender for future commercialization.
Nissan February 18th 2010
