Hot News: Datsun is Back

Although Nissan is reviving its storied Datsun nameplate, don’t hold your breath for a modern-day 240Z sports car. The new Datsun brand is only for use in emerging markets, and won’t be available in the U.S.

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that Datsun vehicles will be sold in India, Indonesia, and Russia from 2014. The new vehicles are designed for “optimistic up-and-coming customers” in those so-called emerging markets. Nissan will invest about $395 million in its factories in Indonesia to improve production capacity to 250,000 vehicles annually by 2014, and also will increase the workforce there to about 3300 people.

Automotive News reports that Ghosn described the new Datsun as, “a green car, affordable car, small displacement, high local content.” It’s unknown whether the new Datsun will be based on an existing vehicle, although it could be a cheaper and de-contented version of a current Nissan small car. By selling extremely cheap and low-content cars as Datsuns, the company could avoid tarnishing the reputation of its more expensive Nissan-branded cars. There is no word if the new Datsuns will compete at all with Renault-Nissan’s other entry-level brand, Dacia.

Nissan is reportedly the third best-selling car company in Indonesia. The most popular Nissan vehicles in Indonesia so far are reportedly the Grand Livina, March, and Juke, which combined account for about 85 percent of the company’s sales there.

The Datsun nameplate has a long history, both in Japan and around the world. Nissan obtained the Datsun name by buying out the automotive division of Japan’s Tobata Casting Co. Ltd. in late 1933. Nissan built its first Datsun-branded vehicle in 1935, but production halted during and following World War II. Datsun passenger car production resumed in 1947, and the first model sold in the U.S. was the 1958 Datsun 1200 sedan. Two years later, Datsun launched the SPL 210 sports roadster.Then in 1968 the Datsun 510 was introduced, the first Nissan/Datsun vehicle designed primarily for the American market.

In 1973, the thrifty Datsun Sunny was so successful in EPA fuel-economy tests, that the car was advertised in the U.S. under the tagline, “Datsun saves.” By 1975, Datsun was the biggest importer of cars to the U.S. market. Among the Datsun brand’s most famous vehicles are the 240Z, 260Z, and 280Z sports cars of the 1970s. The rear-wheel-drive sports coupes, first introduced here in 1970, formed the inspiration for the modern-day Nissan 350Z and 370Z.By 1980, Nissan had established its factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, and started to build vehicles on American soil.The Datsun name remained in many parts of the world until 1983, when all the company’s vehicles were consolidated under the Nissan brand.

Thanks to: Motor Trend

Recall Up Date: 1995 - 2004 Land Rover Vehicles

Owners of 1995-1999 Land Rover Discovery, 1999-2004 Discovery II, and 1995 Range Rover Classic SUVs may want to get their vehicles checked out. The British automaker is recalling certain rear driveshaft couplings manufactured as service parts.

1995-1999 Land Rover Discovery, 1999-2004 Discovery II, and 1995 Range Rover Classic

The Problem: Land Rover is recalling certain rear driveshaft couplings manufactured from April 2011 through November 2011. The rear driveshaft couplings were sold as service parts for certain model year Land Rover Discovery, Discovery II, and Range Rover Classic vehicles. The parts carry Land Rover part number TVF100010.

The NHTSA reports that “some of the rear driveshaft couplings may not have been manufactured to the required engineering design specifications and may exhibit the onset of joint separation, precluded by driveline vibration.” In other words, ignoring the vibration warning sign may lead to “catastrophic failure” of the drive coupling, which may lead to a loss of the driveshaft while moving. The vehicle could lose drive and transmission park settings increasing the risk of a vehicle crash and/or injury.

The Fix: Land Rover will begin notifying owners around April 23, and dealers will replace the rear driveshaft couplers free of charge. Land Rover can be contacted at 1-201-818-8500 regarding campaign number P024.

Number of Vehicles Potentially Affected: As many as 180 1995-1999 Land Rover Discovery, 1999-2004 Discovery II, and 1995 Range Rover Classic vehicles may be affected. Owners who have had their vehicle’s rear driveshaft couplers replaced with Land Rover part number TVF100010 manufactured from April 2011 through November 2011 may be affected. Owners who purchased their Land Rover used may want to contact a dealer to see if their vehicle is affected.

Thanks to: Motor Trend

New Car: 2013 Mercedes SL65 AMG

In an age of engine downsizing and emissions-reduction mandates, one might expect the V-12 engine—volumes of which never were very high in the first place—to hit the endangered-species list. But Mercedes-Benz and AMG are keeping the breed alive at least for the near future, sliding the brands’ mighty twin-turbocharged twelve-pot into the latest SL roadster to create the latest SL65 AMG. With a price tag expected to top $200,000, the new super-roadster will create a veritable glut of six-figure, 500-plus-hp droptops in Benz showrooms, joining the $198,675 SLS AMG Roadster and the cheaper (at an estimated $140,000) 2013 SL63 AMG. The SL65 arrives this November. It will be available in 10 or so standard paint colors, the most important of which is brown.

While the fundamentals of the previous SL65’s SOHC 36-valve, 6.0-liter V-12 remain essentially the same, the 2013 model gets new turbochargers with optimized airflow and an additional 17 hp, for a total of 621. Instead of raising twist in turn, torque remains capped at a rear-tire-melting 738 lb-ft. Mercedes modified the cylinder heads and engine management system to optimize combustion, and those changes, along with a new catalytic converter and an engine stop-start feature, are said to help lower emissions. Also significant is the new model’s switch to an AMG-tuned seven-speed automatic transmission, complete with four operating modes (Controlled Efficiency, Sport, Sport Plus, and Manual), in place of the old five-speed auto. A locking AMG rear differential is standard, and the car adopts electrically boosted steering.

However controversial the sixth-generation SL body may be with its blunt, graceless front nose, its aluminum-intensive construction pays big dividends in terms of stiffness and weight loss. The SL65 AMG is said to shed 254 pounds, which would put the car at 4250 pounds by our estimate. The additional power and reduced mass should help the SL65 AMG hit 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, according to Mercedes-Benz. We clocked the previous SL65 AMG to 60 in 3.8 seconds, though, so we’re expecting the actual time to be in the mid-threes. Top speed is electronically capped at 186 mph, and a “considerable improvement” in fuel economy is promised. (We saw 13 mpg from the last car.)

Thanks to: Car and Driver