2006 Nissan URGE Concept
Do you remember when Nissan introduced an interesting little conceptual sports car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last year? The Azeal created a great deal of media buzz, some, like me, even speculating that a sporty subcompact coupe would soon join a new subcompact hatchback based off the next-generation Micra, and that both were headed for North America.
While the hatchback has been confirmed as the Versa, making its North American debut at this years Detroit show, no confirmation has been made regarding a sport model. Could the new URGE, also shown in Detroit, but alongside the Versa only a couple of months ago be it? While nothing concrete has been said, there may be reason for fans of the new concept to get excited.
According to Nissan (and Renault) CEO Carlos Ghosn, the Japanese brand needs an affordable sports car. As reported in Automotive News, Ghosn said, "When you bring a concept to a show like this, its never a coincidence," so, this taken literally, theres hope for last years Azeal too. "Are we interested in a relatively affordable sports car for Nissan?" Ghosn continued. "Yes. Is this the car? I think its too early to tell. We have to wait for reaction."
Ghosn considers the compact sports car segment very "legitimate", and if it wants its sales to continue rising in line with its 180 sales targets, entering new market segments is important.
Currently, Nissan only has one sports car, the 350Z, and its high price puts it out of reach of potential low-end sports car buyers, currently purchase Mazdas MX-5 and Pontiacs Solstice; a segment that will be further boosted by GMs second entry-level roadster, the aptly named Saturn Sky. The latter new Solstices sales have shown that there is indeed room for new low end roadsters, and no doubt Nissan would like to take advantage of such opportunity.
But is the URGE the vehicle to do it? It certainly is exciting to look at, approaching the segment in a much more modern way than the classically proportioned Solstice and MX-5. Rather than swoopy curves and long, lean muscles, Nissans concept features abrupt angles, motorcycle-style fenders and rear turn signals, which protrude outward from the body-sides for optimal visibility, cool vertical headlamp clusters up front, and a unique T-top roll-hoop that acts as a safety cage in case of accident.
One of the URGEs most distinctive design elements is its see-through doors, featuring cutouts in the lower panels with glass inserts, giving the interior an exposed feel and no doubt making its speed seem faster than it would without the tarmac zipping by beneath.
A carbon fiber black hood is cut in half by a glass cover shedding light on the engine compartment, highlighted by a silver trimmed engine vent that aids in aerodynamics. The shiny black them continues rearward, as the trunk lid curves downward near the base of the car, where it meats up with a narrow fascia sporting tiny circular backup lights that mirror similarly sized chrome exhaust tips just underneath.
While lime green spills over from the cabin to accent the cars exterior, the URGEs silver slab-like side panels are also unorthodox, interrupted only by the aforementioned door panel cutouts and sharply protruding fender flares, plus wedge-like sideview mirrors - probably too small to pass regulations.
That interior is truly expressive, and after taking a seat inside during its debut in Detroit, reasonably comfortable considering its sparsely padded, webbed back racing-style buckets; well comfortable other than the glare on the eyes. Some potential buyers will find its electric blue colored F1-style steering wheel, pod-style motorcycle inspired digital instrument cluster, perforated metal mesh-covered silicone foam instrument panel material, visible passenger-side airbag, racing-style durable rubber flooring, and yellowish green, green everywhere exciting, however, and the crowd that soon gathered around after its introduction certainly were smiling.
Over the hill auto journalists arent the demographic Nissan is targeting with the URGE, however, the same types that went gaga for the Solstice when it debuted. No, the Japanese automaker made sure that its objectives were clear when integrating its Xbox 360 gaming system, featuring a fold-down display as part of the rearview mirror, the use of the steering wheel and pedals for game controls, obviously not while driving, and gaming audio through the vehicles speaker system. Project Gotham Racing 3 (the special Nissan edition is included) never got so realistic, and the system could even save lives if its potential owners managed to get their yah-yahs out virtually instead of on the road.
"In keeping with the rapidly changing technology demands of our target buyers, URGE allows the driver to be in charge and to bring to the vehicle a high degree of personalization. The navigation system is located in front of the driver, not the passenger, the drivers cell phone acts as Intelligent Key to start the vehicle. We provide the audio speakers, the owner provides the audio drivers," said Bruce Campbell, vice president, design, Nissan Design America, Inc. (NDA), La Jolla, California, where the concept was conceived.
Youth-oriented drivers should appreciate the quintuplet of customizable info screens set up around the driver, which allow the driver to personalize where the HVAC, navigation and audio functions, among other features, are positioned with respect to priorities, in a similar fashion to how a computers desktop or a website can be optimized for personal preferences. Cool.
The URGE also features MP3 player and cellphone docks, while the OEM cellphone can replace the remote as an Intelligent Key to enter the car and start the engine. Like the Chrysler Pacifica, of all non-related vehicles, the navigation screen sits in front of the driver, not on the narrow floating billet-aluminum center stack cum console, which only features a digital exterior temperature gauge and three pod-like ancillary dials, for checking engine temperature, engine pressure and deciphering telemetries, above the minimalist gearbox controller, which incidentally connects through to a paddle-shift actuated six-speed sequential shifter.
"We want URGE to replicate the raw motorcycle experience as much as possible, with the exposed engine, door panel cutouts and open top. Motorcycles are exhilarating to drive and we want this car to feel the same way," added Campbell. "At the same time, we want parents to think of this car as safe, which, for example, led us to include the integrated cage structure and visible passengers side airbag. URGE, like its target buyers, has a foot in each world, adventure and reality."
And that sequential manual shifter, also motorbike-like, is a "quick, high-revving, small-displacement engine", or so says Nissan. While no additional information was provided it wont take much power to motivate the 2,400 lb URGE, aided in the corners by 19-inch front and 20-inch rear 9-spoke spun aluminum-alloy rims wrapped up inside 195/45 R19 front and 225/35 R20 Michelin performance tires.
Through the spokes powerful 350Z-style Brembo four-wheel disc brakes will without doubt bring forward momentum to an attentive halt.
From a performance perspective, the URGE is a modern-day Lotus 7, the perfect partner for all three of its occupants. Three? Yes, while some might find this number too much of a crowd for their sporting objectives, the option of driving someones best friend home before dropping off a certain significant other may have its real-world benefits. The URGE positions the second passenger in an innovative hidden seat tucked out of sight behind the two front seats.
"One of our other goals in the URGE design was to show off the cool material used in concept form - the aluminum foam in the doors, the perforated metal mesh interior panels, the lightweight exposed seat frames and the "Mirror Crystal" aluminum colored body panels," continued Campbell. "Were also proud of our solution to the limitations of a typical two-seat sports car with the hidden alpha seat."
Nissan didnt just make up the URGEs innovative features out of thin air, but actually went so far to survey 2,000 young car and gaming enthusiasts via the net.
"Not surprisingly, most of the young, primarily male, respondents to our survey said that they want a small, fun-to-drive sports car that can incorporate the technology products that they use on a daily basis, such as cell phones, mp3 players and game consoles," commented Campbell. "We also learned that these young adults are highly social - theyre looking for vehicles with the flexibility to take along a couple of friends. They also dont want a car to dominate their social lives or budgets, so affordability is a definite issue."
Dimensionally, the URGE features a wheelbase thats 16 inches shorter than the 350Zs at 104.3 inches, while its overall length stretches 156.6 inches, its width spans 71.8 inches and height reaches 49.6 inches, and much of that exposed silver is actually its alloy exoskeleton which also reaches beneath the surface to form its center structure - again, just like a Japanese sport bike. Much of its construction is made up of carbon fiber, for the ultimate combination of rigidity and light weight. If rain should come, the T-top and exposed rear window can be quickly covered with a manual operated canvas top. And those doors, they open up scissor-like; similar to the way Lamborghini does it.
"The performance targets for URGE, in keeping with an affordable, $20,000 production price target, dictate a more realistic approach to the parts list than say our 350Z or GT-R Proto," stated Campbell. "URGEs sense of exhilaration comes more from the exposed body and driving environment than costly components. Its a sports car for first-time car buyers. The Zs and GT-Rs will come later in the buyers lives."
Finally, the "will it get built" question needs to be answered. No, not a chance. Why? Despite what Mr. Campbell says, its composite structure would be too expensive to put into production, and for that matter its aluminum backbone and many motorcycle-inspired features couldnt be shared with any other Nissan vehicle, putting it out of contention. This makes something like the Azeal more plausible. This said it is likely that Nissans compact sports car, if it actually builds one, will feature some of the URGEs styling details and innovative features, important for a new generation of car buyers.
"The Echo Boomer generation, born between roughly 1976 and 1996, has grown up on video games. By 2012, nearly all 87 million of them will be of driving age and they will be looking for much more from a car than simple transportation - entertainment, a social space, personalization and flexibility," said Campbell. "The ability to park the car and activate the game system adds another dimension of entertainment beyond the pure driving pleasure of the URGE. Like its drivers, this vehicle is able to switch between the real world and video world whenever the URGE strikes."
As mentioned, the novel sports car was penned at the Japanese brands La Jolla, California studio. It came to life in meticulous detail by Metal Crafters, Inc., from Fountain Valley, California. I dont know about you, but I certainly could get used to playing with something like this on weekends.