A couple of Japanse snowboarders hitched the ride of their lives on the back of a Nissan X-Trail SUV that had been equipped with tracks instead of wheels. Why? To deliver pizza to customers on ski slopes.
Anybody who's into winter sports will tell you that the Japanese have always been huge players, especially in the FIS ski jumping series and the X-games. But this video is like taking those skills and adding Ken Block into the mix, as an extra-thick layer of wasabi.
Yeah, we kind of made a predictable, stereotypical joke there. So let's jump in with the meat of this story. The X-Trail is the same car sold in America as the Nissan Rogue, but it does come with smaller turbocharged engines in Japan. It's the second model they've fitted with an aftermarket track set, after that Juke Nismo RS built in Sweden.
In order to deliver the pizza while hot to any location, Nissan collaborated with Pizza-La, the biggest pizza delivery franchise in Japan. Video shooting took place on private land and public roads where cars aren't normally allowed, so special permits had to be obtained. As you can see, even though it probably has 10 times more traction than a conventional SUV, the tracked X-Trail still managed to get itself stuck in the deep snow.
Of course, the idea of the video is not original, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to watch. It reminds us of the Top Gear race between Richard Hammond in an Audi RS6 and a couple of skiers in the French Alps, shot a good 6 or 7 years ago. As for the track, we've already seen those on Ken Blocks's old Subaru WRX STI and Ford SVT Raptor.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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