Nissan is recalling their 2005-2009 trucks and SUVs, which many consider to be the best in the business, due to a faulty crash sensor. In states where cold winters and snow occur, salt is used to clear icy roads and has previously only caused some rusty cars. Nissan is saying that the road salt is causing the crash sensor to corrode which in turn is causing the front-impact airbags to fail.

The recall only affects registered 2005-2009 Xterras, Pathfinders and Frontiers in heavy snow regions including Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Nissan won’t leave the rest of its owners out in the cold and will be providing a 10 year warranty for the sensor in other states.

Currently there have been no crashes or injuries linked to the faulty sensor and Nissan will notify owners of the affected models in the next couple of weeks.

Press Release

NISSAN IS RECALLING 242,720 MY 2005-2009 PATHFINDER, FRONTIER AND XTERRA VEHICLES ORIGINALLY SOLD IN OR CURRENTLY REGISTERED IN THE STATES OF CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MISSOURI, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, VERMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN, AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. IN THOSE AREAS OF THE COUNTRY WHICH USE HEAVY CONCENTRATIONS OF ROAD SALT IN THE WINTER, A MIXTURE OF SNOW/WATER AND SALT CAN ENTER INTO THE FRONT CRASH ZONE SENSOR (CZS) HOUSING. IF THIS OCCURS, THE CZS MAY INTERNALLY RUST RESULTING IN A SIGNAL INTERRUPTION. IF THIS HAPPENS, THE RED AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE TO ALERT THE VEHICLE OPERATOR.

Consequence:
THIS ISSUE COULD RESULT IN THE NON-DEPLOYMENT OF THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER FRONT AIR BAGS IN A CRASH, INCREASING THE RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY.

Remedy:
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FRONT CZS WITH A REDESIGNED SENSOR. THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT YET PROVIDED AN OWNER NOTIFICATION SCHEDULE FOR THIS CAMPAIGN. OWNERS IN THE OTHER STATES WILL RECEIVE EXTENDED WARRANTY COVERAGE FOR THE SENSOR TO 10 YEARS. THESE OWNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THE WARRANTY EXTENSION BY MAIL AND WILL RECEIVE A STICKER TO PLACE IN THEIR WARRANTY BOOKLET EXPLAINING THE EXTENDED WARRANTY COVERAGE. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.

Notes:
CUSTOMERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

[via NHTSA]

Kelley says a regular one is worth around $16,000, but Mr. Obama is definitely a non-lightweight famous person; in fact, the Obama's 300C website points out that a waffle half-eaten by Obama sold for $20,000, and the owner of a Barack-played pool table is shooting for a half million dollars. We'd feel a lot better about the price if the seller had some photographs of Obama actually driving it, and an authentic Barack Burnout video would make this a slam-dunk Nice Price. As it stands, though: $100,000 for this?

[eBay Motors], thanks to Bill for the tip.

While I tend to prefer grimy ol' beaters for my personal transportation, there's something about the Audi S5 that makes me- for a moment- reconsider my reluctance to consider buying new. When I drove the R8 at Infineon last year, I also had some time with the S5, and I loved it (in fact, I was much faster around the track in the S5 than I was in the R8. That was partly because I had Jack Baruth as driving instructor, but also because the S5 feels like a vastly-improved interpretation of the kind of machine I grew up hooning: rear-drive 60s Detroit muscle. Just give, say, a '67 Chevelle twice the horsepower, all-wheel-drive grip with rear-wheel power bias, and 15 times the braking and handling ability, then replace the pot-metal-and-naugahyde interior with hyper-styled hipness right out of the Steve Jobs playbook, and you've got the S5. Naturally, when STaSis offered me a chance to drive their super-upgraded Challenge Edition S5 on the same track, I was there!



STaSIS offers the Challenge Edition through Audi dealers for $13,995, and the idea is that you'll get a daily driver that can also serve as a serious track-day car. Upgrades include the monstrously huge Alcon Mono6 370mm brakes that saved me from disaster at Infineon, 20" STaSIS wheels, fatter sway bars, Torsen center differential, and exhaust and ECU upgrades that boost engine power to 364 horses (versus the stock 352). As I learned, it definitely gets the job done on the track; the braking capacity is the most obvious improvement over the factory S5, but it was clear that the suspension voodoo was quite effective as well. With me driving, the car got around the track pretty well, staying flat in the turns and keeping things sane with its unobtrusive stability control; with STaSIS president and chief test driver, Paul Lambert, behind the wheel… well, let's just say I became quite skeptical of the ability of a car this fast to cope with real-world driving situations without driving its occupants absolutely insane. So I took it for a little drive around Sonoma.


As it turned out, you need to sacrifice a certain amount of comfort if you want to commute in a STaSIS Challenge Edition S5, but the experience should be perfectly acceptable for all but the most coddled luxo-barge drivers. The exhaust system is a on the loud side and drones at certain RPMs (though it's tuned to be fairly quiet at highway speed), and the ride rates about a 6 on the Harsh-O-Meter™( with 1 being "Citroën SM" and 10 being "Honda 600"). The STaSIS suspension dampers do a credible job of smoothing out ordinary pavement nastiness, though anything approaching a real pothole will give you a good jolt.


I must admit I'd take the Cyclone Spoiler above, which was on the track with us, as my choice for a trackday car (and I'd do my best to- somehow- get license plates on it too), but this STaSIS machine is one of the few new cars I might actually consider buying. The pocket-protector-grade tech-geekiness of the STaSIS engineers definitely helps out here, speaking directly to my inner nerd with their shop full of weird tools and supah-high-tech proprietary components. Of course, I'd have to give it a primer paint job and de-Apple-ify some of the fiddly underhood styling details, but that's just me.

Thanks to WhatWouldJesseDo for photography help!

...head or body. The investigation involves 393,313 Sienna minivans from the affected years. To further reinforce NAMBLA NHTSA's investigation, Toyota did issue a technical service bulletin back in March 2004 on the issue saying the liftgate struts were redesigned to prevent seal damage and, as is most important in these type of rear end issues:

"...avoid gas leakage."

Toyota Sienna minivans probed [Freep]

Related:
Toyota Initiates Massive Recall [internal]

Holy Toledo! Look at that grillework! Lincoln's 2007 Navigator SUV, which premiered in Chicago today, having received an infusion of more facial metal than a malocclusional eight-year-old in a night brace (who's chewing on wire hangers). Like its Ford Expedition cousin, the Navigator will also come in an extended version that offers 25 extra cubed feet of space. Surprise of the day: It won't be called the MKN.

Related:
Ford Launches 2007 Expedition at Houston Auto Show [internal]

Our pal Punkey zapped us the results of TopGear's awards for 2005, including runners-up. As most watchers figured, the Bugatti Veyron won for Best Car, beating the Jalopnik pick — the Ferrari F430 — and the BMW M5, which we won't get to drive until January (knock on wood). The Ferrari also lost to the Aston Martin V8 Vantage in the Best Noise category. Man, we really have to get across the pond more often. Click through for more results.

Best Car:
Ferrari F430
BMW M5
Bugatti Veyron (Winner)

Biggest Surprise:
Honda Civic
Nissan Murano
Audi RS4 (Winner)

Ugliest Car:
Ssangyong Kyron
Ssangyong Rodius
Ssangyong Musso
BMW 3-series (Winner)

Best Noise:
Ferrari F430
Mercedes-Benz CLS55 AMG
Aston Martin V8 Vantage (Winner)

Gas Guzzler:
Range Rover Sport
Bugatti Veyron
Hemel Hempstead
Ford GT (Winner)

Coolest Car:
Porsche 911 (Hammond and May's Winner)
Aston Martin V8 Vantage (Clarkson's Winner)

Related:
TopGear Nominates Bugatti Veyron as Car of the Year [internal]

Not nearly as exhausted or long-winded at Sweet Peet D.'s year-end extravaganza, the Chicago Tribune's Jim Mateja nevertheless highlights some of the year's more random stories, including this chestnut:

"The prestigious J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study that measures satisfaction after three years of ownership ranks three GM vehicles tops in their class, the Chevrolet Prizm the top compact car, the Chevy S-10 the top compact truck and the Buick Century the top premium midsize sedan. Power neglected to mention that none of these vehicles is produced anymore."

For more brilliant moments in industry over the past year, check out the article.

Rearview mirror look at a skiddy year [Chicago Tribune]

Related:
Autoextremist's Year End Wrap-up [Internal]

Honda CEO Takeo Fukui gave his State of the Carmaker year-end speech earlier this week, in which he noted a rise in sales over 2004 (1.45 million units, up 4%) and confirmed new product entries in North America in 2006. By mid-year, he said, we'll see the new, entry-level Honda Fit arrive on these shores, which he says will strengthen the company's US line and "environmental performance," while "cultivating new customer segments." We'll also see the rumored Acura RD-X, a new small SUV to rival the BMW X3. No word on the new, V10-powered NSX, other than that the company is tooling up to mass-produce its next-gen powerplants and increase production of hybrid-drive systems. Rats.

Honda Motors Summary of Year-end 2005 CEO Speech [Investors Business Daily]

Related:
Honda CEO Hints at V10 in NSX Successor [internal]

With the Dodge Charger R/T coming out of the gate strong enough to challenge the Ferrari F430 for Jalopnik's Car of the Year (2005) award, we wanted to extend the voting period another day to see if an upset is brewing, or if it's just a temporary setback for the leading contender.

Choosing Jalopnik's Car of the Year: It's Your Turn [internal]

Here on planet Jalopnik, gravity doesn t suck quite as much as it does elsewhere. When we decided to choose a Car of the Year, we knew our award could never share the pseudo-objective gravitas of our distinguished colleagues attaboys. (Or, as Farago put it, fuck that shit.) So, after a particularly perspicacious puddle of consciousness conference call, we established a format which reflects our unifying passion for all things automotive, while maintaining our complete disdain for journalistic pretension. Here s the deal

Farago, Spinelli and Johnson (A Dickensian law firm if ever there wasn t one) will each profile their favorite car of the [calendar] year. There s only one caveat: each scribe must have actually driven the car in 05. Then, you, our silver-tongued surfers, select your favorite car from our favorite cars in a Jalopnik poll. Obviously, we respectfully request that you refrain from all that clever geekery that allows you to waltz around the One Man, One Vote, One Schnapps at a Time rule like a nitrous-crazed groupie of the great Johann Straus II.

And the nominees are

Porsche Boxster (987)
Despite his increasing inability to secure gainful employment in the mainstream media (nothing to do with his Between the Lines columns we re sure), Farago has had the privilege of sampling many of 05 s greatest adrenal gland squeezers. He chose the new Boxster because they wouldn t give me a Cayman.

Ferrari F430
Spinelli is not your average Ferrari connoisseur. For one thing, the F430 is the only Ferrari he s ever driven. But we re thinking you don t have to bump uglies with Carmen Electra to know if you like doing the horizontal mambo with Jessica Biel. Anyway, Spinelli chose the F430 because what are you, nuts?

Dodge Charger R/T
Davey G. Johnson is an endearingly enigmatic character (i.e. our favorite non-Cadbury flake). We reckon the Dodge Charger R/T is a perfect reflection of Johnson s predilection for expecting the unexpected, then expectorating excellent editorial about the experience (ex. post facto). Yes, well, Johnson chose the Charger because he's got fond memories of "canoodling with foreign and exotic women in pushrod-V8, rear-drive American cars .

And there you have it. Farago s up first. If you have any comments, questions or criticisms about the selection process or the individual cars, please use the comments section at the appropriate time. (Those of you who don t have a golden ticket to our wonky posting system are once again invited to apply.) Meanwhile, thanks for your support in 05. Sure, we could ve done it without you, but what would have been the point of that?

Related:
Honda Civic Nabs 2006 Motor Trend Car of the Year [internal]

Woe to T.S. Eliot for our wrangling of his verse for our own purposes, but for Cadillac, October may be the cruelest month; poor sales mixing memory and desire, stirring. (Yikes. Sorry, T.S. Next time we'll keep our trousers rolled.) Double-digit declines for October are now casting the GM brand's sales gains for 2005 in doubt. Up nearly 8% through September, a 19.1% decline in October smashed its pumpkin. Caddy, the one bright spot in GM's US lineup, could still hit 5% growth for the year, but it relies on solid year-end sales for it to happen.

Cadillac Battles to Keep Gains From Eroding [Ward's Auto]

Related:
GM Reveals 2007 Cadillac Escalade [internal]

The boys at uber mod shop 5Axis have extended their Scion madness by one — creating this xA speedster, the final model in their around-the-horn customization of the company's model line. The see-through xA — which will debut at the SEMA show (starting tomorrow) — also extends the shop's bachelor-pad AV theme by one. Where 5Axis's 2003 SEMA entry, an xB, was a moble DJ booth and its 2004 entry was a widebody tC fitted with a 43" plasma screen and home theater, the speedster doubles as a racing videogame simulator. Somewhere, a living room is weeping.

Scion xA Speedster Part II [Urban Racer]

Related:
Five Axis Scion tC to Be Shown at SEMA; Urban Racer Picks Top-30 SEMA Cars (2004) [internal]

In all the news of crossover SUV concepts coming out of the Tokyo motor show, it appears we neglected Toyota's "Flexible Saloon," the most crossoverest of crossovers. Toyota says the FSC, as it's referred, employs the company's "Vibrant Clarity" design philosophy, indicated by the contrast of soft lines and hard surfaces delineated by clear boundaries. On the inside, ambient lighting and plush appointments emphasize luxury, while a novel system that automatically adjusts the interior layout for shuttling people or carrying cargo highlights its utilitarian split personality. You just know Toyota's plotting an assault on the luxury crossover market in the coming years — consider this a warning, Mercedes R-Class. [More pics after the jump.]

More at Japanese Car Fans

Related:
Toyota's Fine-X Concept for Tokyo [internal]

A baby Viper from GM? Next week's Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas will host a number of GM's small cars, tricked out to within an inch of their lives. Along with the HHRs, Cobalts and G6s, the one we're most looking forward to is this Solstice coupe concept, which augurs a model we can expect to see on dealers' lots in a year or so, according to Bob Lutz. GM had showed off a car labeled the "2007 Solstice GT" during a panel discussion at the SAE World Congress earlier this year, though its fate has been closely guarded.

Related:
Kappa, Kappa Hey!: Solstice Coupe Will Be Built [internal]

At the 2001 Tokyo motor show, the weird geniuses at Japan's Mitsuoka Motors showed off the radical Orochi concept, based on the Acura (Honda) NSX, appearing to be the result of a botched George Barris experiment involving a late-model Mercedes-Benz SL, a Lamborghini Murci lago and five or more hits of brown acid. This year, the company unveiled a spider version of the Orochi, literally "nude top," in Tokyo this week. We're not sure if it still rides on the underpinnings of the discontinued NSX, but it sure is, er, something.

Related:
More Tokyo auto show vehicles [internal]

Lexus took the wraps off the concept sedan that likely introduces the design direction of its next-generation flagship LS. His sleekness uses V8 power augmented by a gas-electric hybrid-drive system and AWD. Word is, this arrangement will be become the new LS standard. No word on whether BMW will sue for infringement of its 7-Series trademark rear-end.

Live pics of the new Lexus LF-Sh, 1, 2 [AutoSpies]

Related:
Lexus to Introduce Flagship Sedan Concept in Tokyo [internal]

Mercedes launched its F 600 Hygenius concept in Tokyo yesterday, uglying up the landscape just a smidge, but showing off how far it has come in fuel-cell car design. According to the company, including DCX boss Dieter Zetsche and his young ward Berndt (pictured), it's the first research vehicle for which the bodywork and design concept was built around the fuel cell, not the other way round. Drivetrain technology, high-voltage battery and bomb hydrogen tank are all housed under the passenger cell (natch), while the newly developed high-torque electric motor is integrated into the rear-axle housing. Genius? No, HYge... (sorry).

More photos at German Car Fans.

Related:
Mercedes-Benz F-Class Concept for Tokyo

Why you should buy this car: You're a multiple-personality type seeking a luxury fix, but would rather not have to pop a dramamine every time you buckle up. Or you'd rather be in a sports car, but have kids (or more than one friend) or suffer from that fear of being flattened by a wayward SUV. If you're a retiree who wouldn't be caught dead in an "old guy's car" you probably won't do much better for the money. Of course, you could just head for Barrett-Jackson and pick up a '69 Firebird.

Why you shouldn t buy this car: If you're looking for a cushy, comforting, wrap-yourself-in-a-down-comforter of a luxury car, walk away now. Nothing to see here. Those who prefer true-blue, sports sedans in the Audi/BMW vein, would be better off test driving the SE model. Of course, for them, front-drive is likely a dealbreaker anyway.

Suitability Parameters:
· Speed Merchants: Yes
· Fashion Victims: Yes
· Treehuggers: No
· Mack Daddies: Yes
· Tuner Crowd: Yes
· Hairdressers: Yes
· Penny Pinchers: No
· Euro Snobs: No
· Working Stiffs: No
· Technogeeks: No
· Poseurs: No
· Soccer Moms: No
· Nascar Dads: No
· Golfing Grandparents: Yes

Vitals
· Manufacturer: Nissan
· Model tested: Maxima 3.5 SL
· Model year: 2005
· Price as Tested: $33,160
· Engine type: 3.5-liter DOHC 24-Valve V6
· Horsepower: 265 hp SAE @ 5,800 rpm
· Torque: 255 ft lb @ 4,400 rpm
· Redline: 6600 rpm
· Wheels and Tires: Continental, 225/55R-17
· Drive type: Front wheel drive
· 0 - 60: 6.4 secs.
· 1/4 mile: 14.9 sec @ 95.8 mph
· Top speed: 140 mph (electronically limited)
· Fuel economy city/highway: 20/28
· NHTSA crash test rating front/side/rollover: 5 driver; 4 passenger / front seat 4; rear seat 4 / 4

[by Mike Spinelli]

Related:
Jalopnik Reviews: 2005 Nissan Maxima SL, Part 1, Part 2 [internal]