Nissan Europe is introducing a new Pure Drive version of the top selling Qashqai equipped with a new 1.6-litre dCi diesel engine.
This new engine replaces the previous 2.0 dCi with a more efficient engine that delivers lower emissions and considerably improved fuel economy yet offers the same level of performance as the bigger engine.
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At the same time, new options become available on the Qashqai range, including a new CVT gearbox and, for the first time on a C-segment car, around view monitor.
AVM uses a series of small cameras located on the exterior of the vehicle to make parking and manoeuvering as safe as possible by giving the driver a real-time helicopter view of the environment around the car.
The new engine and stop/start system was a joint development between Europe and Japan with alliance partner Renault concentrating on the engine and Nissan perfecting the automatic cut off system. It had been originally hoped to introduce the two elements at the same time.
Unfortunately the Japanese earthquake last March led to a delay in the manufacture of the stop/start system’s electronic components.
Qashqai models built between now and December and powered by the new engine will not have stop/start. But even without the system, CO2 emissions are a still impressive 129g/km.
From January production, stop/start will be standard.
“The new Alliance 1.6 dCi engine is such a significant development that we decided not to wait for the stop/start system before launching the car,” said Pierre Loing, product planning chief at Nissan Europe.
Stop/start is combined with alternator regeneration, using deceleration energy to charge the battery.
The regenerative braking system alone is responsible for a 3% reduction in CO2.
This dCi engine is the first to have been developed in Europe using cold-loop, low-pressure exhaust gas recirculation.
By recycling the exhaust gas at a lower temperature, emissions of nitrogen oxides and CO2 are reduced.
Unlike a conventional oil pump which has a fixed capacity, the variable flow pump delivers only the right amount of oil to avoid unnecessary energy loss.
The power needed to drive the oil pump is minimised and varies with engine speed.
The latest generation of Nissan developed continuously variable transmission will be introduced on 117PS 1.6-litre petrol-powered Qashqai models early next year.
The CVT version will increase Qashqai’s market coverage.
