Is it a bird, is it a plane or is it a Jazz? The new concept car developed by Nissan looks to all intents and purposes the spitting image of a Honda Jazz, as you will see from its picture. The car is called the Invitation Concept. It will debut at the Geneva motor Show and will be available in 2013. The car comes somewhere between the Micra city car and the Juke crossover. It is said to offer agility associated with supermini along with the practicality of a small SUV. We predict that it will do very well indeed especially in Europe.

Nissan has also announced details on the new version of the Nissan 370Z. The front end is new. It is more curved and in a way softer. The car has the same 3.7 litre V6 petrol engine that develops 328 bhp. The sport version has 19 inch alloys. It is a great looking car with a real turn of speed.

Nissan Invitation Concept

London is not alone in this trail; a total of 43 similar vans will be tried out by FedEx in a number of cities all over the world. These include Chicago, Memphis, Paris, Los Angeles and New York.

A similar trial has already been completed by the Japanese Postal Service in Japan with the NV200 EV taking on the roll of routine collections and deliveries.

There is also a parallel trial taking place in new York in which the Yellow Cab taxi service will be trialling a number of NV200 vehicles as cabs and if it is successful then they will be introduces as alternatives to the traditional vehicles in 2017.

Essentially the NV200 is very similar to the Leaf in that it uses an almost identical power train and batteries, though it is unlikely to match the leaf for range between charges. The van also uses regenerative braking so some of the power that would otherwise be dissipated as heat is used to continually top up the batteries. The range is likely to be 60 to 70 miles, though the batteries can be charged up to 80% of their full capacity in just thirty minutes.

The overall philosophy is to create an altogether more exciting and stylish range of cars and it has its parallels with both the M division of BMW and the RS team of Ford. NISMO is the abbreviation of “Nissan Motorsports International Company”, the organisation that builds racing cars. Examples of these are the championship winning Nissan GT-R racing cars.

The first car to get the NISMO treatment is the Juke NISMO Concept which was exhibited at the show, though it is planned to extend it to cars such as the 370Z and the GT-R. The NISMO Juke boasts a different colour scheme and body kit that includes side skirts and spoilers. There will be a powerful 1.6 litre direct injection turbocharged engine with a power output of around 200 bhp.

As part of the restructuring NISMO is being relocated to specially designed headquarters in Yokohama and all of the major NISMO activities will take place there. Nissan has plans to develop this into a “global centre of excellence for race and performance road car development”. The site will even include a racetrack and various facilities for NISMO fans and potential buyers.

According to Nissan the Juke NISMO will be a real performance car. As well as a considerably improved aerodynamics there are wide 19 inch alloy wheels for increased grip and a strengthened chassis. Anticipate seeing them appear in a showroom near you during the first half of 2012.

Nissan Juke Nismo Concept

The Pixo is 100% a town and city car. It is great for negotiating through the small gaps in city traffic and parking in the smallest of gaps, but it is rather challenged by long distance motorway driving. It is a little noisy, not all that comfortable, and there is not very much spare space for the luggage one you have four occupants, but that is not the point; the point is this car is cheap with the base price for a new model of just under £7,000.

So what do you get for your money? The engine is a 1 litre petrol unit with 68 bhp (as in the Alto) and you can get from 0 to 62 mph in just a little less than quarter of a minute but if you are sufficiently patient it won’t be too long before you reach the maximum speed of 96 mph. This is not too bad for an engine with just three cylinders and if you opt for the manual gearbox rather that the automatic, then you can enjoy an average fuel economy of 64 mpg.

The steering is light and ideal for nipping into the traffic and into that tiny car parking space. The shape of the car, which is completely blunt at the back, makes parking it very easy. The car is reasonably comfortable particularly for the driver and front seat passenger, though there is a decided lack of space in the rear.

If you are looking for a cheap town and city car, then this might be your ideal choice. CO2 emissions are 103g/km which means that road tax is only £20 per year. The car insurance for younger drivers on this car is epically cheap.

Nissan Pixo

When the new model was launched in 2010 there was only one engine available.
This is a three cylinder 1.2-litre petrol engine and it develops a fairly modest 79 bhp. There are two gear box choices: a continuously variable transmission automatic gearbox (CVT); and a five speed manual gearbox.

As you might anticipate from the spec, this is no fast flyer. The 0 to 62 mph acceleration time is 13.7 seconds with the manual gearbox and, perhaps a little surprisingly, the CVT gearbox version takes 14.5 seconds. Top speed is around 100 mph if you are brave enough.

A new engine was introduced earlier this year. This is a three cylinder 1.2-litre petrol powered direct injection supercharged petrol unit (DIGS) and it has turned out to be quite spritely. It develops 96 bhp, the acceleration time from 0 to 62 mph is reduced to just over 11 seconds, and the top speed is increased to 112 mph.

The new Micra is great at doing what it was designed to do. It is a great city car, it is nippy, and it is easy to park. It is also very economical. As well as being the fastest engine, the DIGS is also the most economical as the fuel consumption is 68.9 mpg.

The Micra has become known for high standards of safety and reliability, manufacturing quality and user-friendliness. An example of this was the Reliability Supertest undertaken by What Car? Magazine in 2007, in which Nissan came 6th out of the 26 car manufacturers featured, while the Micra K11 edition was ranked Nissan’s most reliable car. These qualities point to a major determining factor in the brand’s long-term popularity – the fact that it became one of the most popular cars among female drivers and has built upon and maintained that profile. This is due to the above-mentioned qualities, as female drivers are more likely to be concerned about practical applications such as a car’s reliability, safety and ease of use, than issues such as high-speed performance, acceleration speeds and size.

The look of the Micra has seen it classed by many as a woman’s car and, in order to try to expand the market for the brand, Nissan recently launched a new model Micra with what was considered a harder, more ‘masculine’ look. This ambition was confirmed by Nissan themselves who stated that the new model of the car was intended to appeal to a wider consumer group.

Within 12 seconds you will be travelling at 62 mph and you can keep on going right up to its top speed of 89 mph. As a town car it is perfect, though of course it is hardly a motorway cruiser.

Handling is surprisingly good, and this is probably due to the car’s very low centre of gravity which is mainly as a result of its heavy battery; again, perfect for zipping around in town. It is quite comfortable even on our potholed city streets and of course it is very, very quiet. There is sufficient room for five occupants too.

Of course there is a big downside. The car’s maximum range is only 100 miles and if you drive too quickly you can reduce that considerably. It takes eight hours to fully charge the car but you can partly charge it in 30 minutes, but what do you do if you run out of juice – just knock on a stranger’s door and ask if they wouldn’t mind if you plugged your car into their electrical socket? The fear of running out of power is known as range anxiety, and it can be painful.

Eventually when the infrastructure is more advanced this problem will be overcome and the 100% electric Nissan Leaf could well be the ideal way of getting around town.

The interior is roomy enough for four passengers to sit comfortably due its generous super-mini/crossover interior. For what is basically a small car it offers a slightly higher capacity than your average super mini. The ride quality over bumpier road surfaces is assured with the large tyres and sturdy frame. Cornering is better than expected with the tall chassis engineered so that it doesn’t lurch too much when turning at speed.

The Nissan Juke is looking to cash in on the success of the Qashqai and re-conquer the smaller car market. Prices start at just under £13,000 which offers comparable value to say a Mini which would be a market rival. To get full value you should look for insurance on the net where companies like Endsleigh can help you get the best deals by searching quotes from the UK’s leading providers.
Nissans success looks to be going from strength to strength with their quirky new SUV styled designs and the Juke looks to be just as popular as the Qashqai.

If you are one of the ones that aren’t quite able to secure such an infamous vehicle then there are a few alternatives you can look into. These include the Infiniti g35, the Mazda rx8, and the Mustang gt, the Audi TT, the BMW Z4, the G35 and the Honda S2000. Of course there are other models available that offer a little bit of what the Nissan Skyline offers; however those listed above are the closest matches.

Once you have picked your favourite, taken it for a few test drives and handed the showroom your credit card you will need to do one other thing before taking it home and leaving the garage and that is to insure the vehicle. In order to ensure such a prize model you will need to look around at various quotes from different car insurance providers if you intend to find the most suitable and most budget rate. You can do this by getting an online car insurance quote, this will save you heaps of time as the website will sift through an assortment of providers in order to match your needs to the most suitable quote available. Without looking online you will have to visit or call up a variety of companies yourself, which can be a tedious, time consuming and frustrating task, especially when you are put on hold several times whilst you wait for them to get back to you with a quote.

Appling for an online car insurance quote is certainly the most contemporary and effective way to find the results you desire!

One of the biggest debates is whether it’s cheaper to insure a new car or to insure a vintage car. Some say that vintage cars are cheaper to insure, because they can be cheap to pick up and being older, they should cost less to insure, right? Well it really does depend on the car, generally vintage cars are sought after, which can make them pricey to buy and you then have to find a specialist insurer to actually insure it for you. Vintage cars can also be expensive to insure because they don’t have many of the mod cons, such as alarms. This can make them less appealing to insurers, and thus put your premium up.

Modern cars on the other hand can be quite expensive to buy, especially if you are buying a new one. But insurance premiums for these cars can be quite low. The reasons for this are quite simple; modern cars have the latest technology, meaning that there is less that is likely to go wrong mechanically. Add to that that most modern cars have alarms, auto locking and immoblizers, making it much harder for them to be stolen.

When it comes to buying a car, there are many things to consider if you are looking for a low insurance premium. The main thing to rememeber is that it really does depend on the car. A high specification, gas guzzling car with a large engine that was built in 2011 may well cost more to insure than a classic VW Beetle for example, but smaller, more modest modern cars are more likely to cost less.

Endsleigh is one insurer that offers competitive rates on insurance for both modern and vintage cars. To find out more about their premiums, click here.