NORRA Mexican 1000--Part 1

 Boy oh boy...as you might have noticed I didn't post much while I was away for this event and even once back it has taken me 4 or 5 days to catch up on everything at home to feel like I could dedicate any time to writing about it.  I'll divide the tale up into three parts.  Getting to the race, the race itself and getting home.

In truth each part was more challenging than I ever anticipated.  The whole adventure taught me more than I thought I could learn and humbled me like few things ever have.

Part One:  We (in this case myself, Tim Meunier and Matthew Stryker) left my home in Windham, NH on a late Monday afternoon.  Towing the Nissan Frontier behind a 270,000 mile, 1999 Ford E350 van was perhaps one of my first errors in judgement.  While I had provided brand new tires all around for the van and two new tires for the two axle trailer, I neglected to consider the fact that the van or trailer itself might not be in the best of operating conditions having assumed that as they were used to transport a separate team's racing efforts they would be fully examined and prepared.

Early miles fly by and we are determined to make great headway and arrive in San Diego early.  Unfortunately early in the afternoon on Tuesday the van develops an awful popping noise from the engine.  Pulling over we discover that the 10th cylinder of the engine has a chronically dislodged spark plug that due to its aluminum heads and 4 threads worth of seating grip is impossible to install without a complete job on the heads and/or helicoil work.  So we stuff the 10th plug in the best we can, eliminate the noise resign ourselves to operating on only nine cylinders and carry on, inhaling the gaseous fumes that go unburned and continue to pass by the 10th cylinder every time one would step on the gas. 

Having driven straight through the first night and on into Tuesday afternoon we reached St. Louis in the early evening.  I make a wrong turn in directing the van and exit the highway almost right at the St. Louis baseball stadium.  No big deal we think as we can just turn around and be back on our way again--except when I attempt to slow the van at the first light we encounter my foot goes straight to the floor.  No brakes.  We pull into a McDonald's parking lot and discover that the rear brake lines are shot...rusted through and spilling their guts on the ground.  No stopgap repair would suffice with so much mileage to go so we bed down in St. Louis for the night hoping for a swift brakeline replacement in the AM.

Come morning at a St. Louis auto repair facility (we turned down the offer of our hotel desk clerk to have her brother in law come over and fix the brake line in the hotel parking lot!) we are told that the entire brake line system lines from front to rear had to be replaced as it was rusted through in a number of spots with smaller, piecemeal repairs not feasible.  So off we wander around downtown St. Louis, a quiet and attractive downtown area, taking a tour of the famous Gateway Arch.  Upon return to the garage we are told that yes, the brake lines are replaced but in doing so they have discovered that the brake master cylinder and its seals are completely shot as well and needs to be replaced.  No having or not having confidence in your brakes is simply not an option for a trip of this magnitude and so we have that replaced as well.

By 5 PM we are finally on our way again and proceed to rip off another 24+ hour driving shift.  This time we reach Yuma, Arizona (now Thursday) and bed down on the border knowing that we only have a few hours left the next day to reach San Diego where we plan to pick up our other two drivers.

We drive on to Lemon Grove, CA in the morning where we pick up at the local post office a new alternator and our IRC satellite tracking unit, both of which had been sent General Delivery to this location.  We also stopped by Offroad Warehouse which was practically next door in order to grab some more suitable gas cans.  While we pick these quick fill jugs we meet Jeremy Johnson of Weldtec Designs who has some welcome but critical words for our effort.  A former Class 1 pilot and top notch fabricator Jeremy sees our unsupported suspension crossmembers and lack of front limit straps as being particularly concerning for as long and as rough a race we are about to endure.  Quickly I decide that I need to do everything I can to stay in the race as long as we can and enlist Jeremy and his shop to install some limit straps for the front and create some additional bracing.  His quick work is excellent in form and function and we are out the door in time to grab Paul Hartl from the San Diego airport.  Our fourth driver will not show up until after midnight (this is now Friday afternoon) as he missed his initial flight from Chicago due to multiple flats on his way to the airport.

We install the new alternator in the race truck (original alternator was diagnosed as going bad the day we loaded the truck on the trailer to leave) in the parking lot of our hotel, grab some food, hit up Home Depot and Wal Mart for some last minute supplies (water, air mattress, loctite, etc.), send Matt to pick up Elliott Sherwood while we slept and prepared for our entry into Mexico the next day.

Leaving Matt in California to wander around on his motorcycle while we are away the four of us (myself, Tim Meunier, Paul Hartl and Elliott Sherwood).  Entering Mexico was a breeze.  A quick glance at our passports, a quick look at our registrations for van and trailer and we are in.  Tijuana is a shanty-town and truly worthy of third world status.  Luckily we fly through there in short order and are heading toward Ensenada that Saturday morning.  We arrive at contingency/tech in the late morning and queue up in line while checking into our hotel which was quite nice, as nice as almost any hotel I've stayed at here in the States.  We have lots to do--installing satellite tracker, grabbing cash, fueling vehicles, obtaining GPS files (some of which tasks are easier than others)--which keeps us from attending the opening night party (we already missed the pre-event party at the Horsepower Ranch but not arriving in Mexico until Saturday vs. the Friday arrival we had planned on, due to Elliott's late flight in) and we are working well into the dark to feel ready for the first day of racing.  Our spirits are upbeat however as afterall....we're in Mexico about to begin a 1000 mile race!!

Nissan Frontier Diesel Runner Formally Introduced...

 So this is the reveal at the Chicago Auto Show.  The Nissan Diesel Runner powered by a Cummins diesel.

A 2.8L four cylinder engine that is producing about 200 hp and 350 ft. lb. of torque.  Fuel economy is estimated to be 35% better than the current V6 Frontier putting it at about 30 mpg.  The vehicle this engine has been dropped into is your standard 2014 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner.  This will not be the case in the future.  If the 35% gain in mpg is what they are getting with the current version of the Frontier then I would imagine with lighter weight material and a new design the future Frontier should improve upon this figure.

The next generation Frontier will also need to see improvements in its frame and structure to handle the towing capacity the new engine will allow.  So while this stands as a nice proof of concept and a way to gauge interest in a small(ish) Nissan diesel pickup, it should in no way be thought of as a representation of the next Frontier which is still a ways a way.  The primary goal here I would think would be to continue to associate the Nissan name with Cummins and get the public thinking about Nissan as THE diesel truck company for small and mid/full size light duty trucks.  Oh, and that carbon-fiber hood with the acrylic see-through hood is awesome!

Cummins Confirms Diesel Engine for Nissan Titan

Confirming what has long been suspected/rumored, Cummins is announcing today their agreement to produce diesel engines for the next generation Nissan Titan.  Rumored to be a 4 cyl. turbo diesel we may get more details later today and perhaps they will be producing a large mill as well.  This is big news as Nissan will have beaten Toyota to the punch to being the first foreign manufacturer to embrace the torque, towing and mpg possibilities that oil burners provide.

Given the way public companies work I would envision that this announcement means that the  Nissan bound diesels will be rolling off the assembly line within the next 12 months, indicating that the '15 Titan should be on dealership floors in Q3/Q4 '14.  More details to follow as they become available.

Gimme my Nissan Titan diesel NOW!!

Cummins confirms production of diesel engines for Nissan...

2014 or 2015 Nissan Titan to Go Hybrid?

Nah, I doubt it at this point--at least not in the first versions to be released but there is now speculation out there as to the next generation Titan getting a hybrid powerplant at some point in its lifetime.

To me there are too many drawbacks (high cost, unproven design, market desire, etc., etc.) for Nissan to step into this area with its next Titan.  Given the minuscule portion of the market Nissan currently grabs in the truck market, stepping full into this arena seems a tad risky.  The market hasn't even shown that they want/trust Nissan with their truck buying dollars so why go way off the deep end with a hybrid/electric full size truck.

The article that drives such speculation can be found here: http://www.tflcar.com/2013/05/what-engines-will-power-the-next-2015-nissan-titan/ and comes from the same source as got the original spy shots that have been seen here and elsewhere.  The benefits of having the electric driveline (MPG, instant torque, something new in the market, etc.) are certainly there but I'd prefer an efficient and less expensive diesel option to any hybrid.  Nissan does have a hybrid Pathfinder coming as well as a hybrid M35h but both are "car" based applications and not exactly heavy duty platforms.  As we get ever closer, I am hoping for more and more tidbits to be revealed.  So far, Nissan hasn't tipped their hand.

New NISMO Dual Exit Exhaust for Titan...

Surprised this hasn't come out before now.  Being able to finance it into the cost of the vehicle in its initial purchase is a plus as well.  Well...its a benefit until I find out how much it costs which could be quite inflated.

Still, the exhaust looks really nice and the additional 11 HP and 8 ft. lbs of torque are pretty good for a simple exhaust upgrade.  Its also covered by a 3 year warranty.  If I had a Titan to tow my race truck with, I'd be looking to grab one!

NISMO Titan Dual Exhaust...