Ernie Manansala is no stranger to building cars. Most well known for his NOS Lexus SC300, it looks like Manansala has moved on to bigger and better things, teaming up with Wraptivo to build one menacingly good looking Nissan GT-R for SEMA. On the outside, it looks like the GT-R has received a full flat...
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The reality of a fully streetable 8-second Nissan GT-R just got a whole lot closer. AMS took their Alpha 10 GT-R demo car back to the quarter mile after their 9.33 pass to lay down an amazing 9.192 @ 163.12 mph track time. Now obviously going from 9.33 to 9.192 is easier than going from...
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The Chevrolet Volt missed out on SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle) status by a minute margin, emitting 1.3 grams of CO2 per mile. The cutoff is 1 gram of CO2 per mile to qualify for the status. By these standards, the Volt emits more CO2 than a VW Golf TDI, Honda Accord 4-Cylinder sedan...
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Honda has made some improvements to the stop-start system on their Insight hybrid car, allowing drivers to keep the engine off for up to 3 times as long as previous years. Insights before 2011 could keep the engine stopped for up to 30 seconds, but new improvements for this coming model year allow for the...
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Despite pioneering the technology behind hydrogen fuel cells, Honda is lagging far behind arch-rival Toyota in the hybrid and electric vehicle segment. With the Toyota commanding over 70% of hybrid market share, and Honda’s Civic, Accord and Insight hybrid models all falling flat, the big H must do something quickly to avoid losing the segment...
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First there were rumors that Honda would axe the Acura RL, and then came the official word that it wouldn’t, but here is the first sign that the RL continues to carry on – even if the car has become irrelevant. While it’s not official for North America, Honda in Japan has announced that the...
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While there’s a long list of small upgrades to the 2011 Subaru Forester, no change is as important as what’s under the hood. For the first time in decades the Japanese automaker has introduced an all new version of its boxer 4-cylinder engine that will soon make its way into the rest of the Suby...
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Mazda‘s CEO is hoping to double American sales to 400,000 units within the next 5 years, thanks to new fuel-saving technology known as SkyActiv, as well as a push upmarket. The new SkyActiv gasoline and diesel engines, as well as weight saving technology, will help Mazda position their cars at a more premium price point....
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While a car’s 0-60 time is far from a perfect metric for evaluating performance, it does act as a heuristic, giving us a quick and easy method to judge how a car does in a straight line. Electric cars, by this same logic, are often thought of as slow cars for timid drivers more concerned...
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Toyota has just announced its list of eight show cars for the annual SEMA Expo, including everything from a custom Prius, to a NASCAR edition Camry, to several modified trucks and even a Sienna Swagger Wagon. Along with the vehicles, Toyota will have on hand NASCAR driver David Reutimann, NHRA Top Fuel driver Antron Brown,...
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After the recently unveiling of the Forester XT-S concept for Australia, Subaru has just announced a sporty new Forester model for Japan. Called the Forester tS, it’s inspired by the STI and follows after the Legacy tS model with plenty of upgrades to provide a more dynamic driving experience. Included are STI shocks and springs,...
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Mazda execs are forecasting a bright future for the brand that will see sales volumes double by 2015. The plan to achieve this goal is multifaceted and includes much more than impressive new designs – as previewed in the Shinari concept (above). Mazda will also look to take the brand up-market with higher-grade materials and...
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With SEMA just a week away, cars are being teased and sneak previewed left and right. Back in August, we got sight of the Fortune Motorsports / Tjin Edition Tour Honda CR-Z under wraps, literally. Now the cover’s been blown off the rendering and put on the finished product. The full rendering reveals what the...
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Nissan‘s Oppama plant, located south of Tokyo, began producing the Leaf electric vehicle, with exports commencing in November. Nissan is also building plants in the United States and Europe to help with production, but initial vehicles will be built in Japan. Nissan’s Smyrna, Tenn. plant will have the capacity for 150,000 units, while the Sunderland, England...
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Green Car Journal has announced its candidates for its Green Car Of The Year award, with the five car field being composed of some pretty serious competition, Naturally, the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf are the leading contenders, with the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid rounding out the field, and the Ford Fiesta being...
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Honda is preparing to recall an unspecified number of vehicles due to a brake-related issue similar to that announced yesterday in a Toyota recall of 1.5 million vehicles. The automaker is currently in the process of notifying NHTSA about the recall and will release info on exactly how many vehicles are included soon. The recall...
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Fox Marketing has built some impressive Lexus projects in the past for SEMA, including their IS350C from last year’s show, and they teased us with their luxury sedan LS600hL project earlier this year. Now we’ve got some sexy snaps of the car ahead of its SEMA reveal. On the exterior, the luxury Japanese sedan sports...
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Nissan has released information about a new plug-in sedan set to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, a vehicle known as the Ellure. No details or photos have been released, but a nice bit of marketing fluff states that “Nissan’s dramatic new-value sedan exploration, the Nissan Ellure, is designed to bring a higher level...
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Mazda is still developing their next-generation rotary engine, dubbed the 16X, but development has been slowed by a number of issues, among them the engine’s failure to meet emissions targets. Even though the 16X is expected to bring a 30 percent increase in fuel economy compared to the current 1.3L rotary engine, the 16X is...
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Mazda proudly announced that their upcoming Japanese market Mazda2, set to bow in the second half of 2011, will get an astonishing 70 mpg without any hybrid technology, making it the most fuel efficient gasoline car on the road. Using an all new family of chassis, engines and gearboxes, Mazda’s SKYACTIV system is designed to...
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Toyota has announced yet another massive recall, again for brake-related issues, but this time its different. The recall is not related to the now-supposed unintended acceleration issue, but to a faulty seal on the brake master cylinder. According to a Toyota press release the a small amount of brake fluid could leak out around the...
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Mazda‘s upcoming SkyActiv-G engines will get a 14:1 compression ratio, the highest in the world for a gasoline engine, according to a report in Autoweek. Most cars run compression ratios of 8.5:1, with high performance engines using ratios closer to 11:1. The SkyActiv-G motor takes that figure to a new level, and we’d really like...
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For 2011 Infiniti has released a round of updates to its entry-level EX35 crossover, with one of the biggest changes being the addition of a 7-speed automatic transmission. The 7-speed box is used across the rest of Infiniti’s lineup and while we’re surprised the EX hasn’t been upgraded to the 3.7-liter V6 (from the current...
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Toyota is recalling 10,750 Corolla and Matrix models due to fault accessory belts, which drive the air conditioner, alternator and water pump. The defect is only present in models with the 1.8L four-cylinder which were assembled in North America between February and March of 2010. The belt is at risk of deteriorating, which could lead...
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