Nissan has has taken extreme sports to a new level by putting a Note mini-multi-purpose vehicle into a custom-made Zorb ball – and then pushing it down a hill.

Normally, willing thrill-seekers are strapped – sometimes not – into a huge plastic ball to be rolled down hills for fun, but Nissan has taken the idea and gone large.

The company constructed a special six-metre inflatable 'CarZorb', stuffed a Note inside it and borrowed some military training land to try out its new 'sport'.

The CarZorb took more than two months to build, and weighs more than a tonne on its own.

Nissan's inspiration for the stunt is a joint celebration of the latest Note's first birthday and its Safety Shield technology suite – bringing premium-class safety features down to a supermini-size car.

Bastien Schupp, Nissan's vice president of strategy and marketing, said: 'The Note has been carefully engineered to provide motorists with a whole range of technology that creates a protective bubble around you and your car. Our Safety Shield technology in particular is unrivalled among other small family cars.

'Creating a life-size CarZorb to highlight the technology is an exciting and memorable way of reminding people about the benefits of Nissan's Safety Shield.'

That's PR language for 'we thought it would be a laugh'. No doubt, Nissan's director of excitement, Usain Bolt, would approve.