Skip to main content

Nissan used its car seat design experience to create these cool gaming chairs

Drivers and gamers have one thing in common: They spend a lot of time sitting down. Automakers put countless hours into designing comfortable car seats, so Nissan figured it could apply some of that expertise to design chairs for e-sports players. In honor of National Video Games Day, the automaker unveiled three gaming chairs, each inspired by a specific car.

The GT-R Nismo (short for “Nissan Motorsport”) is Nissan’s performance flagship, so the chair inspired by it was made from lightweight carbon fiber and aluminum, with an overall shape based on seats used in race cars. The chair is upholstered in red leather and synthetic suede — materials typically found in performance cars. The GT-R Nismo is propelled by a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 making 600 horsepower, but gamers using this chair will have to settle for foot power.

The Nissan Leaf electric car inspired another design. The light gray leather with electric blue inserts references the interior of the Leaf, while the Gun Metal painted surfaces seem to be a nod to the one-off Leaf Nismo RC racer. The chair also features integrated leg rests and USB ports.

Nissan’s third design was inspired by the Armada SUV. The Armada (which is sold as the Nissan Patrol in other markets) is both Nissan’s most expensive SUV and the one with the most off-road capability. Like the actual seats in the top Platinum Reserve trim level of the Armada, the gaming chair is upholstered in black and brown leather, and both features built-in climate control (including heating and cooling) and lumbar support.

Nissan has no plans to put these gaming chairs into production, but the automaker is still involved in the gaming world. Earlier this year, Nissan announced partnerships with gaming teams Faze Clan and OpTic Gaming. Prior to that, the automaker ran GT Academy, which offered Gran Turismo players the opportunity to become real-world racing drivers (the program is no longer active in the United States). Nissan owes a big debt to video games, as Gran Turismo introduced U.S. fans to the GT-R long before the sports car was sold on this side of the Pacific.

Editors' Recommendations

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
The 2018 Nissan GT-R will use a twin-turbo V6 and electric motor to make over 700 HP
Nissan-Concept-2020-Vision-Gran-Turismo-front angle

The Nissan GT-R once shattered expectations for what advanced driving systems could enable a sports car to do -- especially for about $80,000. Now that “Godzilla” costs over $100,000, while it is still an absurd performance car, fans are looking to the next generation to set new performance benchmarks for a car costing far less than its rivals.

Nissan confirmed the redesigned Nissan GT-R will use a hybrid setup, and now Autobild is reporting a similar system to the GT-R LM NISMO will appear serve up around 700 horsepower in the road-going car.

Read more
Modern cars take touch controls too far. This company found a balance
The infotainment panel of a Lucid Air.

Cars are rapidly evolving, and it seems like just about everything about them is going digital. Of course, for the most part, that's a good thing. It allows for more remote control over your car, a cleaner look to your car's dashboard, and more.

Unfortunately, it also seems like car companies are going a little ... too far. It's one thing for things like audio playback controls, mood lighting controls, and others to be pushed into a screen. But for some reason, it feels like another thing entirely for climate controls, for example, to be controlled exclusively digitally.

Read more
EV vs. PHEV vs. hybrid: What’s the difference?
BMW X5 PHEV charge port

When sizing up options for your next car, you may be figuring out whether to get an electric vehicle, only to discover there are a bunch of variations to consider -- not just hybrids, but plug-in hybrids, extended-range electric vehicles, and fuel cell electric vehicles are just some of the other categories. The depths of EV jargon run so deep that we wrote an entire EV glossary, but for now let's zero in on the difference between electric vehicles, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids. These options blend old tech and new tech in a way that's often practical, cheaper than an EV, and still more efficient than an old-school gasoline car.
What is an electric vehicle?
An electric vehicle skips the internal combustion engine found in most traditional cars in favor of an electric motor. This allows EVs to operate without needing gasoline. Instead, they're powered by an electric battery that will need to be charged regularly, either at your home or at a charging station like a Tesla Supercharger. The Ford Mach-E, Kia EV6, and Rivian R1S are all popular examples of modern EVs.

The electric motor works by way of a rotating magnetic field. Inside the motor, three electromagnets surround a free-floating rotor, which spins based on which magnet is attracting it most. That rotor in turn produces power to the wheels of the car and pushes it forward and backward. Regenerative braking reverses the relationship and turns motion into electricity. While you're slowing to a stop, the force of the turning wheels spins the rotor and generates a charge via the electromagnets in the motor, which in turn goes up into the battery for storage. If you're curious, you can dig into the nuts and bolts of how an electric vehicle works.
What's the difference between a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid?
In short, a hybrid primarily relies on gas with an electric backup, while a plug-in hybrid relies on electric power with a gas backup.

Read more