Kind of a Nissan GT-R at this Weekend's Pikes Peak Hillclimb...

Body of a Ford Focus (kinda) and the heart and soul of a GT-R.  Well, this Australian effort comes out of Pace Innovations who works in a number of different genres, ranging from Australian V8 Supercars, to Rally-Raid style trucks, to hillclimb cars to side by sides.

This car has over 800HP and weighs just over 2,000 pounds and was originally designed to break hillclimb records in Australia.  Now it has bee brought over here to compete in one of the oldest and most prestigious events we have.  It will be competing against about 11 other competitors in the Unlimited class including another Nissan GT-R.

It doesn't appear that anyone is set up this year to challenge Sebastian Loeb's all time record set in '13 but I wouldn't be surprised to see the Electric Vehicle (modified) record of 9:07 fall to Rhys Millen and the Electric Vehicle (production) record of 12:55 fall to Blake Fuller and his Tesla S P90D.

Oh...and I'm so hoping the Jeff Denmeade's Time Attack 2 class Mitsubishi Evo effort blows up or is totaled in some catastrophic fashion.  Not enough bad things could happen to him in this event for my liking.

Pikes Peak International Hillclimb page...

Cool Nissan NISMO GT-R LeMans Racer Print...

This print is available on Easy (a website for "handmade" items) and is signed by the artist, Roger Warrick.  Warrick seems to be a big time endurance racing fan with most of his art centering around tracks and events like Sebring, Indy, LeMans, etc.

He essentially has two styles of art with one being a "serious" realistic depiction of the racing action and the other being a Dave Deal-esqe "car-icature" of various vehicles and their drivers.  This one is his most recent production and depicts the recently introduced Front Wheel Drive Nissan NISMO GT-R LeMans racer that will be contesting various WEC events (including LeMans) this year.  Some of the nice details seen here including the fire breathing exhaust exits on the hood of the vehicle (where they actually ARE located) and the positioning of Godzilla (the GT-Rs nickname) in the front of the vehicle where the engine is placed, are nice touches.  It will look nice in a frame on my wall.

Roger Warrick Etsy Website...

Massive Nissan GT-R Wreck in Russia...

This was evidently at a big dragrace event in Russia called the Russia Cup. The GT-R won the race, beating out an Audi of some sort but after the finish line the GT-R continued to accelerate and only stopped upon impacting a concrete barrior at the end of the runway. The GT-R reportedly crossed the line at some 200 mph so its impact was likely above that. Perhaps that is the reason the front airbags did not deploy--though that hardly would have saved the driver in this case.

Nissan GT-R Blows Tire at 203 MPH...On the Highway...

And this would be why its a bad idea to race a vehicle on a public highway.  Traffic here is minimal but you can still see him pass other vehicles at speed and while he tries to bring the vehicle to a controlled stop.  203MPH on a public highway...sheesh...Luckily the car remains stable through the failure and no one is hurt.

2014 Pikes Peak--Nissan GT-R Takes a Class Win...

 I'd be remiss if I didn't start mentioning some of the more interesting Nissan and non-Nissan racing results in the past few weeks.  First up is Mike Skeen and his '09 Nissan GT-R at this year's edition of the Pikes Peak International HillClimb.

A regular in the Pirelli World Challenge series with stints in Grand Am, NASCAR's truck series, as well as entries into the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Baja 1000, Skeen is a well rounded driver.  Evidently wanting to add another type of racing to his resume he entered this year's PPIHC with an '09 Nissan GT-R sponsored by Hawk Performance.

Given he had just come away from a pair of wins at Road Atlanta in an Audi R8, this would be a quick change and adaptation for him.  Equal to the task, Skeen finished Pikes with a time of 9:55.471 which was good enough for 6th overall and first in the Open class, beaten out only by PPIHC champions like Nobuhiro Tajima and Greg Tracy and others.  You can see Skeen's blistering run below.  Given the untested platform and lack of experience behind the wheel at a hillclimb, Skeen is one hell of a driver...

Skeen's website: http://www.mikeskeen.com/

2016 Nissan GT-R Rendering Leaked...

Looks like a Japanese magazine has leaked an early rendering of the 2016 Nissan GT-R which is reportedly to be the first major reworking of the supercar since its introduction a few years back.  Receiving a hybrid powerplant though still containing a twin turbo V6 the new GT-R will retain its sub 3 second 0-60 time and its off the line torque should be incredible given the now part time electric powertrain.

That said, if this a true depiction of the next GT-R, it has gotten REALLY ugly in my mind...looking a bit like an elongated Mitsubishi Eclipse, all its little wiggles and bumps are not appealing.  Here's hoping they flatten some of this out...

Nissan GT-R and Audi R8 Hillclimb Crash

This video is from Knysna Hill Climb in South Africa.  You can see what I assume to be the couple cars ahead of the silver GT-R are also GT-Rs so they have what appears to be a great field of streetcars for this hillclimb.  Reports show that they get about 9000 spectators for the event and are looking at about 10-12K spectators in 2014.  The event is surrounded by classic car shows and other events supported by the town and local community.

It was sponsored by Renault from '09 to '12 and when Renault pulled its sponsorship in '13 the event was cancelled.  With the addition of Jaguar as a title sponsor for '14 the event will return this May.  I'm assuming this video is from the '11 edition of the race since '13 was cancelled and '14 hasn't happened yet and with the second video ascribed to 2011 showing a wrecked silver GT-R in addition to the crash of an Audi R8.  It does appear to be a very short hill climb however given that the winning times in '12 (top seven spots all held by GT-Rs) were in the 40+ second range.  You can see a couple photos of the course at below.

You can see more info on the event here: http://www.speedfestival.co.za/

2014 Nissan GT-R GT3

Competing and winning in the FIA's World Endurance Championship in '13 was the JRM GT-R.  Maintaining its winning edge requires constant updates and thus we have the unveiling of the '14 edition of the GT-R GT3 racecar.  Exhibiting additional aero tweaks and new wheels amongst other changes it looks ready to defend its championship.  Oh, and one can be yours for only some $486,000!!

2014 GT-R GT3 Racecar revealed....

Foreign Cars Now Available For Import...

Now that they have turned 25 years old (well, in a matter of 48 hours or so), these car models from 1989 can now be brought stateside--legally!

My favorite is of course the Nissan Skyline but also of note is that we now gain another year of Land Rover Defenders available for import!  Still want one in canary yellow as my dream offroader to tool around town in....

The others on this list do not exactly fill me with desire, though maybe they do for you.  If so, get out your shekels and off to your local government entity or licensed importer to bring them your way...

Cars Now Legal For Import!

2014 Tokyo Auto Salon--Nissan Models

 The Tokyo Auto Salon takes place the weekend of 1/10/14 and is Japan's answer to SEMA, showcasing not only concept and tricked out versions of vehicles from the major manufacturers but those from aftermarket companies as well.

Nissan is a regular attendee and '14 will be no exception.  As is typical the models being presented range from the hardcore race ready to the merely whimsical.  Japan has a love for what we probably would deem to be "silly" vehicles (Hello Kitty adorned kei cars for instance) but...it sure keeps things interesting.

Two GT-R models will be present including the GT-R Nismo GT500 racer that competes in Japan's Super GT Series and a GT-R Nismo with a special option package tuned for the Nurburgring.

The Deltawing derived ZEOD RC that is due to enter LeMans will be present as will the X-trail X-tremer concept (the future Xterra here in the States??  Perhaps).

Less hardcore are the Aero Style Leaf, Nissan March NISMO S and a gold and pink accented Dayz Roox Highway Star (a Mitsubishi co-produced product) amongst others.  So, if this isn't anything revolutionary at least it gives us something to look at direct from Nissan.  Hopefully there will be some other non-factory related showings as well.

NISMO Festival 2013

This is an annual festival that Nissan Motorsports puts on in Japan.  It went away in 2012 during the move of NISMO to its new headquarters but now its back.

As is typical Nissan brought out tons of vintage machinery and drivers for both display and use.  Included in these (and of most interest to me) is one of the old African Safari Rally 240Zs.

  A drifting event and an exhibition race featuring identically prepped GT-Rs was just some of the action.  Some 32,000+ enthusiasts turned out for the event.  I do need to ask...is there a more beautiful background for a race track than what is present for the Fuji Speedway??  If there is, I'd like to see it...

Final Group of Nissans at SEMA 2013

Well, this is it...

A fairly weak showing for Nissans and Datsuns at SEMA 2013.  While Nissan has introduced a number of new models in the last 24 months none of them have really captured the interest of the aftermarket.  The Altima, Sentra, Rogue, Versa, etc. aren't exactly high on the enthusiasts wish lists.

Hopefully that will change in the next 12 months or so with a new Titan, a next generation 200SX model, a hybrid GT-R, a new Z and others.  Though I am surprised there weren't some modified Nissan Juke's there as its small displacement turbo and radical styling seem targeted at the culture SEMA represents.  At least there was one Titan and a short course Nissan present.  We'll take what we can get.

Now THIS is More Like It...

Just a clean, quality example of a classic Japanese sportscar.

This is a 1974 Nissan Skyline GTX 2000.  It is the spiritual ancestor of the modern GT-R.  The white paint and black accents are classy, leaveing you to view the bodylines without being distracted by any gaudiness.  This SEMA vehicle can be seen at the Toyo display.



1974 Skyline GTX at SEMA

SEMA Horror Show...

This is the Nissan GT-R Radzilla...Why is it Rad you ask?  Cause it has tons of LEDs bro!!

Looking like a mashup of a GT-R and a Hyundai Veloster front end mixed with a Cree LED factory, this is an example of some of the worst that the tuner culture can create...Holy crap...But if you wnt to see it...head out this week to SEMA in Vegas...just bring your barf bag with you...

SEMA GT-R Radzilla...

More SEMA Nissans...

A matte blue 370Z with wide body cladding for aftermarket cooling company CSF.  The color is the result of a wrap and looks REALLY well done...wraps like this are the reason paint may go the way of the dodo...

A really horrid looking 350Z courtesy of Mishimoto...

Nissan GT-R at SEMA 2013

And another!  This LB Performance/EGarage GT-R is coming to SEMA along with a sister Ferrari.  Now none of these SEMA Nissans really interest me all that much...I've seen a gazillion GT-Rs and silly wheels on a Quest or sidesteps on a Pathfinder just don't get me excited.

This GT-R does look pretty cool though with racing slicks, wide fenders and a lowered stance.  I also like the grey paint choice.  It looks like a purpose driven race vehicle and not something done just for show.

LB Performance GT-R...

3D Vinyl Wraps...

Well, that took longer that I would have expected...

Taking vinyl wraps to the next level, 3D versions are now available.  OK, so it doesn't look like the various aspects of the wrap are flying at you or anything but it is a way to give depth of field to the look.

With vinyl wraps getting better, cheaper and quicker all the time, how long before auto companies merely produce cars with a "plain" coating that is super rust resistant and then offer you one of thousands of custom wraps from the factory?  Then the dealerships could make money off these customers every few years when they want to refresh their wrap or change its look.  Would be a boon for used car dealers as well as they could "rewrap" a car to give it a fresh look for sale to a new owner rather than spend hundreds if not thousands on "reconditioning" trade ins.  Hmmm....

3D Wraps Now A Thing...

Nissan Patrol-R?

Well, you have the GT-R and the Juke-R....so why not take the biggest, heaviest Nissan and dump a high revving turbo engine in IT?  Well, cause it would end up like the Nissan Patrol in this video.  I think my ears are still bleeding from the sound of the engine at full song and I can't imagine that the poor mill is going to be long for this world given the length of time it sounds like its being held at the rev limiter.

The vehicle in question is a 90's Nissan Patrol, not sold in the US.  The engine is a swap from a mid-90's GT-R (skyline), a RB25DET (yup, 6 cylinder, 2.5L, twin turbo pushing well over 4000 pounds of straight axle SUV) making some 280 hp and it looks like little torque.  As silly as the vehicle sounds I sure do wish I had this power in my rally truck!

Nissan Juke Nismo RS to Debut at LA Auto Show

Coming in late November through early December is the 2013 LA Auto Show where Nissan will debut at least two new NISMO vehicles.

The only one confirmed at this time is the Juke NISMO RS.  This now makes four distinct models of the Juke that are available.  You have your regular Juke (in all its associated trim levels), the Juke NISMO, the Juke-R and now the Juke NISMO RS.

The standard Juke, Juke NISMO and Juke NISMO RS are those that are or will be found at your local dealership while the Juke-R is the highly limited production, half a million dollar Frankenstein project that sees the transplant of a GT-R driveline into the standard chassis.  The normal Juke comes with 188hp while the NISMO version saw a bump to 197hp along with a host of suspension and body tweaks to make it stand out.

The NISMO RS to be introduced in LA will take its performance to another level beyond that of the "plain"  NISMO but not anywhere near that of the Juke-R.  Though details are scant, an increase in power to significantly beyond 200hp (in theory to match that of the Mazdaspeed 3 which puts out some 263hp) along with an upgraded cooling system, suspension and aero designs are all likely.  In my dreams they would kit it out like a true stage rally car but I'm betting they still focus on the street handling nature of the platform.  At the very least they hopefully offer a manual transmission to be paired with the AWD version as in the NISMO (non-RS) model the manual transmission is only available with the FWD model leaving anyone wanting AWD relegated to letting a computer row the gates.

Unconfirmed by Nissan is what the second NISMO model will be at the LA Auto Show.  Some say a NISMO GT-R...I say it is a Nissan Versa hatchback with the NISMO label since they already offer a Nissan Pulsar (Versa here in the States) SSS elsewhere in the world and doing some minor tweaks to that version would easily give NISMO another model to its "performance" lineup.  This version would contain the same 1.6L turbo engine seen in the Juke, leading to all sorts of high hp possibilities for the small hatchback.

Juke-R Crash on Video...

Well, this sure sucks...though more for whoever is going to be taking a hit to their pocketbook to repair this vehicle.  With a Juke body laid over a GT-R driveline this vehicle is in excess of $500,000, exceedingly rare and it appears to have been quickly driven by its customer directly into a cement wall.  Reportedly the driver walked away but the passenger is in the hospital and the car (which is almost entirely custom from top to bottom) is a disaster...