Nissan Builds a Bigger Bobsleigh
In the Winter Olympics, the bobsleigh event always manages to catch the world’s attention. It’s not totally surprising, considering that the millennial generation grew up with Cool Runnings, the story of the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team, playing on repeat almost every week on the Disney Channel. In a new publicity stunt, Nissan has decided to take the traditional four-man bobsleigh and transform it into a ride that can seat seven athletes.
You might be wondering why the magic number for this new bobsleigh team is seven. Well, it just so happens that the Nissan X-Trail (also known as the Rogue in North America) seats seven passengers. According to the automaker, the bobsleigh, named the X-Trail Bobsleigh, has many other traits that mimic its SUV inspiration, such as its L-shaped headlamps and front style.
This bobsleigh is more than just a theoretical design as well. The Nissan team took the X-Trail Bobsleigh to the famous Olympic track in Innsbruck, Austria. While the X-Trail SUV can go from 0-100 km/h in 11 seconds, it takes 30 seconds for the bobsleigh to reach the same speed.
There’s no word from the International Olympic Committee if we can expect to see a seven-person bobsled in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. We’re not quite sure if an expanded team could “feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme” quite like the more traditional four-man bobsleigh.
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