Cars we can have: Nissan Note hatchback

February 20,2013

Nissan Motor Philippines recently boosted its lineup with the Almera B-segment sedan, and we hope it’s a good sign that we will be getting a lot of new Nissans soon. One model that we would love to see rolling into showrooms (and sometime this decade, please): the new Nissan Note hatchback.

Nissan Note will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Right now, the company is highlighting its technological centerpiece called Safety Shield, a combination of its Blind Spot Warning, Lane Departure Warning, and Around View Mirror.

Here’s more from Nissan: The Nissan Safety Shield is made up of three advanced safety systems – Blind Spot Warning, Lane Departure Warning and Moving Object Detection – and, combined with Nissan’s Around View Mirror, provides optimum protection not only for the car’s occupants, but crucially for those outside of the car. With these systems working together, the Nissan Safety Shield can alert drivers to objects moving behind the car (for example, a child walking towards you when reversing); indicate when a vehicle is in the driver’s blind spot so the driver can take avoiding action and can detect when a car is drifting out of its lane.

Since the Safety Shield technologies depend on the rear camera, Nissan’s engineers have developed a similarly ingenious way to keep it clean and functioning at all times. By constantly scanning the camera image for dirt, the system is operated by firing a small jet of water, drying the lens using a small jet of compressed air, meaning the system works at all speeds – a perfect example of the Note’s in-built engineering innovation.

Complementing Safety Shield is Nissan’s advanced Around View Monitor (AVM) – a system that makes reversing and parallel parking virtually stress-free. Using the rear camera and three other cameras positioned on the front grille and wing mirrors, the 5.8-inch dashboard mounted screen displays an image of the Note from above. This helps the driver to visually confirm the car’s position in relation to the surrounding area – making parallel parking not only easier but safer.

Key features of the Nissan Safety Shield are:
−Blind Spot Warning
A feature once reserved for cars in the premium sector, this system uses the rear camera to detect vehicles in the hidden blind spot areas on both sides of the Note. If a vehicle is detected in either blind spot, a discreet warning light comes on in the glass of the Note’s wing mirror. If the driver indicates to change lanes and the system detects a vehicle in the danger area, the light flashes and an audible warning is given.

−Lane Departure Warning
Another premium feature making its debut in the small car segment, the Lane Departure Warning system detects if the car is starting to drift out of lane. Again, the Note relies only on its rear camera and advanced computer programmes detect even faint road markings in all light conditions allowing the car to determine if it is drifting out of position without indicating. If it does, a warning is given to the driver to correct their road position. Cleverly, the system automatically adjusts its sensitivity when on rural roads to allow for the different required driving style.

−Moving Object Detection
Building on the capabilities of the Around View Monitor System, this new function effectively gives the driver a digital co-pilot to help them look at what might be approaching their reversing Note. While conventional parking aids warn the driver of an object in their path, Moving Object Detection gives an audible and visual alert if someone or something is moving behind the car, for example if a child is walking towards your reversing Note. Mounted on the tailgate and having a convex lens, the Safety Shield camera has a sweep of vision in excess of 180 degrees, giving it an unparalleled field of vision at the back of the car.

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