The Nissan GT-R is by all means a bona fide super car and , however for anyone who is too old to have used a Playstation has been left in the dark about the cars that made those three letters so significant over the past two decades. That is because the most contact most people in the U.S. had with a Nissan SkylineGT-R was when playing Gran Turismo, or at an auto extravaganza like SEMA, and there were two fine examples on display this year in the Las Vegas Convetion Center. These were ultra exotic all wheel drive sports cars powered by a revolutionary low displacement high revving twin turbocharged straight six that pushed the Japanese Government’s limits with a reasonably priced package that was able to trump quite a few super cars of its day. Adding to the lore of the old Skyline GT-R; the ones that did make it to America with a DOT approval all came from the same import company, and they were found out to be crooked.
In 1989 the Japanese automaker revived the GT-R nameplate from the 1970s with the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R. At the time the GT-R was a two door version of Nissan’s popular Skyline luxury sedan, something we were introduced to in America as the Infiniti G35 some years later. Back in the ’90s Nissan had to advertise their budget super car at 280 PS (275 HP) but Godzilla has been dyno’d to reveal closer to 350 HP coming from the RB26DETT under the hood. What was even better is that these car’s could easily be boosted to produce closer to 500 HP and there are even a few recorded 1000 HP runs by tuners who never had to crack the head gasket. In the U.S. the baddest car you could buy and then modify was a Toyota Supra, there are even models that can race against a Suzuki Hyabusa and win at 150 MPH, in Japan they said that when you got over your Supra you bought a GT-R.
This year’s SEMA Show featured two of the latter examples, one white on gold R33, a model that was made from 1995-1998 and got more curves and a bigger turbo. The other jaw dropping piece of high performance machinery was the highly coveted six speed R34, although Nissan ended production of the car in 2001 they came back with a rare proposition for 2004. Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Nissan Motorsport International, the manufacturer offered to buy back 20 low mileage models which were stripped down and rebuilt to be Z tune GT-Rs. Making 600 PS from a race engine and shod with a set of beautiful black GT500 style Volk racing TE-37s, simply exquisite. Although the late model Rotora car is wearing a different set of wheels, it does have the Z tune style fenders with the vents at the top. It’s tuners cars like these that gave the GT-R its super car credibility; so now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
Ok, for the record, they aren’t officially-sanctioned police cruisers making a routine check at the Nurburgring.
But they sure look believable, don’t they?
A pair of vehicles – a BMW M3 Coupe and an Audi S3, to be exact – was recently spotted at the ‘Ring sporting some pretty intimidating police wraps. From what we’ve heard, these two cars are owned by civilians that are part of a group called the ‘Ring-Police’.
We don’t know a good deal about these guys, but judging from the website stickered on the two cars’ rear bumpers, it looks the Ring-Police is a group of custom tuners that have been getting quite the following in Germany.
Even if the German automaker has just launched the new Mercedes SLS AMG super car, it would be hard to keep the boys at Brabus from getting their hands on one to swap out a few parts and begin to customize the new car from day one. Now this is merely a preview of what the Mercedes Benz tuners will be bringing to the Essen Motor Show next week.
Despite the SLS’s rather stock appearance it will be wearing a rather stylish new set of multi spoke mesh wheels, but the best part of what Brabus has done comes under the car in the form of a free flowing high performance sport tuned exhaust that raises the hand built 6.2 Liter V8’s output from a standard 571 HP all the way up to an even 700 HP. Brabus didn’t want to spoil the surprise for those going to the tuning show in Essen so you will just have to stay tuned, because we will get back to you with more details as soon as we get them!
Much like Subaru, the Korean car maker Hyundai had a plethora of its Genesis Coupes on display at the 2009 SEMA show, however there were also quite a few examples of sport compact in other people’s displays both inside and out of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Now we have already shown you which ones we felt were the finest examples of the new two door rear wheel drive sports car, being the turbocharged Greddy version inside the ropes and the AQ Motorsports version all the way over in the Rotora booth.
Back at the Hyundai display, representing everything from the mundane to the insane Hyundai had a Tskuba White R-Spec version, a model that is easy on the pocketbook and has just the right parts to make it a true driver’s car; items like a turbocharged four cylinder engine, 19 inch wheels and a limited slip differential. Hennessey was in attendance with their Carbon Coupe and while the turbo V6 was impressive it looks like body work classes have been postponed until next semester at the Tuner School. Now Rhys Millen is the veteran in the Hyundai booth after last year’s RMR Genesis Coupe show car, so this year the bar was raised and the engine was moved back a few feet so that all eight cylinders could fit between the fenders. Although the new RMR Genesis Coupe was the most mechanically impressive vehicle of the group, the car’s one off front end was a bit too different, however the side mirrors, scoops and genuine carbon fiber body panels were quite nice.
Check out the gallery below to see all our snapshots from SEMA.
All this talk about new Subaru models is getting us here at Top Speed pretty excited, so much in fact that we just had to show the all wheel drive Japanese automaker’s setup from this year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Being the world’s largest aftermarket car show Subaru pulled out all the stops and brought in everything from an SPT display car showing off all of the automaker’s aftermarket offerings to the ultra ridiculous snowmobile on steroids, Ken Block’s latest creation, the STI TRAX complete with carbon fiber sled in tow.
Now those two tuner cars were impressive enough on their own, but when you consider that Subaru also had the infamous white and black Gymkhana car from all those internet videos and the golden boy Travis Pastrana’s number 199 rally car, Subaru showed off every conceivable application that there is for the STI. So no matter whether you are a do it yourselfer, if you have a wild imagination and want to make lots of smoke or if you want to use the Subaru Impreza WRX STI for what we all grew up watching it do; it is nice to see the automaker providing us with four extremely different applications of this very versatile high performance vehicle.
Check out the gallery below to see all our snapshots from SEMA.
When the German automaker Porsche came up with the four door luxury sports sedan Panamera they created a new class of automobile that grants well to do high performance enthusiasts the opportunity to scare the pants off of their friends, three at a time. And as good as a 500 HP turbocharged V8 powered GT car might sound, the tuning firm SpeedArt feels that they can do the new Panamera Turbo one better with their PS9 kit. The new tuning package enhances all aspects of the Panamera by upgrading the exterior and interior as well as what’s under the hood.
The aero package consists of a SpeedART design chin spoiler, side skirts, rear diffuser and spoiler to channel air and keep the Panamera’s wide rear end planted when at its newfound speed. Rounding out the exterior are a set of their Black-Matte-Edition type LSC-FORGED wheels measuring 18 inches in diameter. On the inside SpeedArt adds racy touches like a sport steering wheel, aluminum F1 paddle shifters and a carbon fiber trim kit. As good as the PS9 Panamera might look inside and out, SpeedART worked the most magic under the hood.
The engine tuning programs will take the Turbocharged Panamera to various stages of output ranging from a slight 520 HP upgrade to a 550 HP, 600 HP and 650 HP output levels. In order to achieve the higher horsepower numbers SpeedART had to upgrade the Panamera’s turbochargers add a less restrictive exhaust that starts off with a pair of sport catalysts and ends with a pair of sound control twin tailpipes. On the cleaner side of things the Panamera benefits from a free flowing air filter and the all important ECU upgrade. The most powerful version is able to accelerate from 0 to 60 MPH in just 3.5 seconds and reach a very impressive and underwear soiling top speed of 200 MPH.
German tuners are well known for going over the top in terms of both speed and style when it comes to their own brand of custom car tuning and this latest creation from LOMA Performance is overflowing with both. Seeing the beauty of America’s favorite sports car LOMA has chosen a stock base model Chevrolet Corvette as the foundation for the C6.BlackforceOne, a limited edition, wide body, high speed machine that will be unveiled at the Essen Motor Show. Getting the customized Corvette’s stance perfect required about four inches of carbon fiber jutting out horizontally from all four wheel arches, once LOMA had the body sitting just right they went to work on the small block under the hood.
When they were done the BlackforceOne was left with a twin turbocharged V8 that produces an astounding 780 HP, now that is like adding a whole HondaK Series engine to the already impressive Corvette ZR1 halo car. The tuners at LOMA feels that in the world of high performance tuning that speed is the ultimate status symbol, so aside from blistering acceleration they also wanted their modified bow tie to be able to achieve a tremendous top speed. Not only can the C6.BlackForceOne sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in just 3.4 seconds but it won’t stop until it reaches 205 MPH. Production of the LOMA Performance C6.BlackforceOne is limited to only 25 vehicles and will be available in an assortment of flat fighter jet inspired colors like Stealth matte black, Eurofighter matte gray and White Storm matte white priced at almost $285,000 each.
Packing a monstrous 1500 horsepowered-engine, this Lamborghini Gallardo “Race Version” is unlike any Gallardo you’ve ever seen in your lifetime.
Fine-tuned by Underground Racing for one of its clients, the twin-turbo Gallardo – called the TTG – is the personification of a monster on wheels. While 1500 horsepower is staggering enough, if you account for the drivetrain loss, the horsepower should spike up even more to around 1900 hp. Staggering, isn’t it?
After completing the modifications, Underground Racing gave Jonah – the owner of the car – the keys to the wheels – so he could give his new amped up baby a ride. The result? A sub-ten second time through a quarter mile at speeds of well over 160 mph. Unbelievable!
Here’s a video of the TGG being undergoing the modifications. Hear that monster roar!
One of the downsides of owning a high performance vehicle is that as soon as winter approaches and the mercury drops, those sticky summer tires become hard and brittle and don’t work nearly as well as they did just a few months ago. Another issue with wearing your Sunday best while out playing in the snow is that every bit of salt and debris will do a number on your finely finished wheels. However the aftermarket manufacturer Cargraphic has come up with a combination to ensure that not only will your Aston Martin look as good as it can all year round, but owners won’t have to compromise their car’s level of grip either thanks to the combination of winter spec Cargraphic IS-ONE wheels and Dunlop Wintersport rubber for the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and DB9 super sports cars.
Mercedes Benz is still paying off the plastic surgeon for last year’s facelift to the SL-Class grand tourer, so we don’t expect them to do anything drastic anytime in the near future. However that hasn’t stopped the over the top aftermarket specialists at FAB Design from making a few changes of their own, and this time the changes are more than just cosmetic going further than skin deep.
The FAB Design SL has been given a new face with a very aggressive wide mouth front bumper, vented wide body fenders for the front and rear as well as a new diffuser underneath, however our favorite part of the bright white SL’s exterior are the color matched deep dish rims. Meanwhile FAB has raised the 6.0 Liter bi turbo V12’s output up from a mere 517 HP and boosts it well past the carbon fiber clad Black Series’ 650 HP and 738 lb-ft of torque up to a total of 750 HP and an astounding 738 lb-ft of torque. And while the SL’s top speed is electronically limited to a super car like 192 MPH, the sprint from 0 to 60 MPH now takes less than four seconds.
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