[car fanatics]

Nissan
Photo credit: Nissan
July 2, 2012
By: CF staff

The multiple award-winning Nissan LEAF rewrote the record books this weekend as the fastest car over a measured mile (1.6km) in reverse.

Driven by professional stunt driver Terry Grant, the Nissan LEAF raced backwards up the famous Goodwood hillclimb course at the weekend's Festival of Speed, covering the distance in 1m 37.02s at an average speed of 88.5km/h (55 mph).

Having set the record on Friday, the opening day of the Festival, Terry went on to smash his time on Saturday and Sunday, shaving an amazing 26 seconds off Friday's time

Terry, who set a world record at last year's festival by driving a Nissan Juke up the hill on two wheels, says: "I had a great car at my disposal - with direct drive from the electric motor to its wheels, the Nissan LEAF can, in theory, go as fast backwards as it can forwards. There were times I wasn't sure I was coming or going. However, thanks to the LEAF's low center of gravity - the batteries are an integral part of the car's floor - the car is extremely stable, no matter which direction it's traveling. The only complaint I have is slight neck ache from constantly looking over my shoulder!"

The LEAF Reverse Record is part of Nissan's ambitious social media-driven campaign, "The Big Turn On," which is spreading the EV message across Europe using social media channels and aimed to get one million consumers switched onto electric driving in just 100 days. The one million "turn ons" target was achieved on the June 21, 15 days ahead of the original target.

The Nissan LEAF Reverse Record was just one of a number of Nissan highlights at the Festival. The dramatic race-prepared Nissan LEAF NISMO RC raced against the clock (and in the correct direction) to set a hill record for electric vehicles. It was driven by current FIA GT1 world champion Michael Krumm, who also drove his 540-hp GT-R GT1 racer up the hill. The newest production GT-R Track Pack took part in the Supercar Run, while the stunning Juke-R - a GT-R in Juke's clothes - also wowed the crowds.

And sticking with the Juke theme, Festival go-ers were treated to a sneak preview of the Juke Nismo -- a hot crossover created by Nissan's performance arm -- which reaches the showrooms in early 2013.

For more information, visit http://www.The-Big-Turn-On.com

[AF]

umm cool

[bojangles beast]

Mater called he wants his gimmick back. Also nobody cares Nissan.

[Gixser995]

Those pics for some reason crack me up.

[G8mike]

Uh, well, uh, yeah. Reaching deep for records on this one I see.

Setting out for our photo shoot with the Prius tonight, I ended up behind our friendly neighbourhood Leaf. It's the only one I've seen so far.

I've seen more Teslas than Leaves (?) so far....

[Gixser995]

I've even seen way more Volts than Leaves. I've only seen one black Leaf, but have seen 4 different Volts.