Nissan develops an new seven seater Bobsleigh and tests it out at the Olympic run at Innsbruck, Austria.

• Nissan draws on the design and technology of the Nissan X-Trail (Rogue in the U.S market) to transform the standard bobsleigh into a sleek seven-seater
• Inaugural run of the world's first seven-seater bobsleigh at the historic Olympic track in Innsbruck, Austria

Nissan has challenged convention with the launch of the world's first seven-seater bobsleigh in Innsbruck, Austria.

The X-Trail Bobsleigh was inspired by the design of the Nissan X-Trail and undertook its inaugural run at the historic Olympic track in Igls, piloted by British Olympic medalist Sean Olsson.

Nissan worked with bobsleigh experts to transform a traditional four-man sled into an X-Trail inspired seven-seater capable of reaching 100 km/h and pulling a G-force of 4.5G*.

The bobsleigh mimics the Nissan X-Trail's bold design, with distinctive front aspect, headlamps and seven-seater option. It gives passengers a 360-degree, bird's-eye view to capture all of the action - identical to the Nissan X-Trail's Around View Monitor system.

Like the bobsleigh, the X-Trail's sophisticated ALL MODE 4x4-i system helps the driver keep control even in ice and snow.

Darryl Scriven, Design Manager Nissan Design Europe (NDE), teamed up with expert bobsled manufacturer Diego Menardi and sport expert Ian Richardson to morph car design with Olympic aerodynamics.

Ian Richardson and Diego Menardi have over 50 years of combined experience in the industry, delivering Olympic track experiences and sleighs to winning teams across the globe.

"We wanted to give the opportunity to experience first-hand the adventurous nature of our crossover segment through the thrill and excitement of Olympic bobsleighing," said Scriven.

Nissan Design Europe took inspiration from the shape and character of our X-Trail to create the X-Trail Bobsleigh, which was handcrafted by Diego Menardi at his workshop in Cortina. The outcome mimics the fresh ideas and technologies from the brand's ground-breaking crossover models."

The seven-seater was developed using sketches and computer-aided design (CAD). The detail on the bobsleigh nose was crafted to express the X-Trail's V-motion grille and capture the sculpture of the hood character lines.

This work was complemented by Diego Menardi's structural lengthening of the cabin to accommodate seven passengers.

Vital statistics: how the X-Trail and X-Trail Bobsleigh compare

X-TRAIL Tekna 1.6 dCi 4x4		VS	X-Trail Bobsleigh
Feature	Statistic		Feature	Statistic
Seats	Seven		Seats	Seven
Height	1,710mm		Height	850mm
Length	4,640mm		Length	4,200mm
Gross weight	2,160kg		Gross weight	895kg
Kerb weight	1,580kg		Kerb weight	310kg
Engine size	1.6 dCi		Engine size	N/A
0-100km/h	11 seconds		0-100km/h	30 seconds
Top speed	186km/h		Top speed	105km/h
Power	130PS (HP)		Power	621 HP (463 KW)

X-Trail Bobsleigh Team Biographies

Diego Menardi

Bobsleigh Manufacturer

Director at European bobsleigh factory El fòuro in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy; Diego Menardi built the world's first seven-seater bobsleigh. He started working on bobsleighs back in 1979 and since 1985 he has built competition sledges for national teams, including the likes of Canada, Italy and the Principality of Monaco. Diego is a true veteran in the bobsleigh world.

Diego is also a proud member of a 60 strong orchestra, in his hometown of Cortina. During the tourist season you'll often find Diego performing in Cortina's central square. When Diego is not building bobsleighs or playing the cornet you can find him hiking, skiing or biking with his wife and two daughters. 

Sean Olsson

Bobsleigh Pilot

Olympian Sean Olsson has represented Team GB in three Winter Olympic Games. Sean made his debut in 1992 in Albertville, France. Two years later, Olsson competed in Lillehammer before claiming a momentous bronze at the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. Sean was also the Head Coach to the women's GB Bobsleigh team for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. He has been British Champion a whopping 20 times (in two and four man bob) and was the Army and Interservice champion for 10 years. He is currently the Head Coach for the British Army Bobsleigh team, after serving in the Parachute Regiment for 26 years. Sean was the first man to drive the seven-seater bobsleigh down the track in Igls and serves as our official bobsleigh pilot.

Sean confesses to being a bit of a petrolhead and has an inherent love for all things automotive, on both two and four wheels.

Sean likes to keep fit by running, cycling, weight training and is also a qualified PT Instructor.

Ian Richardson

Bobsleigh Expert

Former Director of Sport for the British Bobsleigh Association, Ian Richardson is a high-profile and well respected figure in the sport. The founder of IceSpeed Ltd., Ian provides bobsleigh related consultancy and events. Ian also sits on the Membership Committee of the newly formed British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association.

Ian was involved in Channel 4's reality TV show 'The Jump', as part of the expert team and has also appeared on ITV's This Morning and Serbian TV.

Ian's interest in bobsleigh began in 1998, whilst serving in the Royal Air Force; during this time he was responsible for the Royal Air Force's sleds and associated equipment. Ian can still be seen hurtling down ice tracks across Europe today.

The history of bobsleighs

19th century beginnings

The sport of bobsleigh didn't begin until the late 19th century when the Swiss attached two skeleton sleds together and added a steering mechanism to make a toboggan. A chassis was added to give protection to wealthy tourists and the world's first bobsleigh club was founded in St Moritz, Switzerland in 1897.

Super heavy

By the 1950s, the critical importance of the start had been recognized and athletes with explosive strength from other sports were drawn to bobsledding. In 1952, a critical rule change limiting the total weight of crew and sled ended the era of the super heavyweight bobsledder and rebalanced the sport as an athletic contest.

Back and forth

In its original form, the first races used skeleton sleds made of wood. However, they were soon replaced by steel sleds that came to be known as bobsleighs because of the way crews bobbed back and forth to increase their speed at the start. Today, the world's top teams train year-round and compete mostly on artificial ice tracks in sleek high-tech sleds made of fiberglass and steel.

Olympic history

In 1924, a four-man race took place at the first ever Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix. A two-man event was added at the 1932 Lake Placid Games in a format that has remained to the present. The first women's bobsleigh event - the two-woman bobsled - was held in 2002.

What is g-force?

*The g-force acting on a stationary object resting on the Earth's surface is 1 g (upwards) and results from the resisting reaction of the Earth's surface bearing upwards equal to an acceleration of 1 g, and is equal and opposite to gravity.