What will those kooky tuners think of next? Tommy Kaira, a leading manufacturer of very fine JDM goodies, has been perfecting its Nissan GT-R LED emblem since their preview at Tokyo Auto Salon 2010. They’ve also took the liberty to announce more LED-equipped goodies from rear side markers, door sills and front winkers. LED is...
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If anyone ever told you video games were a waste of time, show them this article. Robert Waddell from Rock Hill, SC took home a customized 2010 Nissan 370Z, built by Chris Forsberg Racing. Forsberg, of course, is the 2009 Formula Drift Champion, who campaigned a Nissan 350Z, sponsored by NOS energy drink. Waddell won the...
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Godzilla ran roughshod over the competition in Malaysia this past weekend, the Nissan GT-Rs of Calsonic Impul and Motul Autech taking the top two spots on the SuperGT GT500 podium at the 5.5 km Sepang International Circuit. With track temperatures of 110 degrees, the No. 12 Calsonic Impul GT-R of Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli...
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Honda is planning a rival to the Toyota FR-S (formerly FT-86) sports car, combing the concepts of the S2000 and the Beat minicar. According to a report by Motor Trend, the new two-seater roadster would use a modified version of the Fit platform using a a rear-mid engine layout. What isn’t clear is if Honda...
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Toyota appears set to return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) next year after an absence from the sport of over a decade. Last week we reported on Toyota’s fact-finding missions at several WRC races, and now the Japanese automaker has been linked to Prodrive – a motorsports company that helped Subaru rise to fame...
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When Lexus first unveiled its LFA supercar, the V10-powered exotic was painted a pristine white – a popular choice for modern high-performance vehicles from the BMW M3 to Porsche GT3. The next time the LFA made an appearance, it was at the SEMA Show. Assuming just one vehicle was in production, we expected to see...
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After spotting the Nissan Skyline R34 with an R35 GT-R front end conversion, we scoured the Internet for other vehicles that may have received the R35 front end treatment. This wagon is a bit of an oldie, but it didn’t strike us the first time around since the Stagea isn’t quite the statement car the...
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The Canadian province of Ontario announced that the Nissan Leaf will qualify for the full $8500 rebate on electric vehicles sold in Ontario. The provincial government offers incentives of $5,000 to $8,500 Canadian dollars will apply to electric vehicles sold in the province. The incentives vary based on the size of a cars battery, but...
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An 18-wheel Semi-truck, carrying a fuel trailer, and a 1995 Honda Accord were stopped by Slidel, LA police for drag racing on rural backroads. The drivers, Craig Smith (semi) and Brandon Tanks (Honda), were cited for the rural drag race, which, according to police, exceeded 80 mph. Smith said the two had discussed how fast...
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Nissan‘s oddball Juke crossover is beating sales projecting in Japan by 300%, moving 1300 units in its first week. The turbocharged Juke is certainly unique looking, and its compact proportions and relatively low price should help make it an attractive proposition in a land where novelty and quirkiness are highly sought after traits in an...
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The new Honda CR-Z will go on sale in the U.S. on August 24th, with a starting price of under $20,000 reports InsideLine. Unfortunately the car will not be eligible for a federal tax credit. Apparently the rules state that only 60,000 tax credits for hybrids are allowed per automaker and Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky...
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As the minivan segment continues to shrink, those left fighting it out don’t have to be quite as innovative. Evidence of that came with the new Toyota Sienna, and now with the reveal of Honda‘s new 2011 Odyssey we’re starting to see a pattern. Perhaps, however, the minivan has reached its pinnacle and the only...
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Password JDM first established themselves as one of the premiere importers of rare and fine JDM goods. This author remembers when he had to trek over there to pick up a JDM Integra front end for one of our own project cars (back in the Modified Mag days). Their shop was filled with front clips,...
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In a reversal of previous trends, domestic brands reported fewer aggregate quality problems than import brands for the first time in the history of J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Survey. Domestic vehicles reported 108 problems per 100 vehicles, compared to 109 problems per 100 vehicles for imports – not a very wide margin, but an important...
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After being kicked out of the WRC for cheating, and then coming back to win the championship in 1999, it’s safe to say that Toyota has had an interesting history with the World Rally Championship. Whatever you think of the team, their white and green Castrol livery is still one of the most iconic examples...
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Posting identical numbers to its sister car, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the Lincoln MKZ has garnered an identical EPA rating of 41 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway. This might be a snooze to some, but the MKZ Hybrid bests its nearest rival, the Lexus HS250h, by 6 mpg in the...
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Gordon Murray is eager to stress that his firm, Gordon Murray Design, is not in the business of producing cars, especially not his new T25 city car. “We’re not a car company; our business is selling intellectual property for the production process,” Murray told Auto Express. Murray’s proclamation comes on the heels of his announcement that he...
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Nissan‘s GT-R might now be better-known for its grenading transmission than for its legendary performance. At least that’s true if your life revolves around an internet car forum. Back in 2008, a member of NAGTROC posted that his local Nissan dealer wanted to charge him $20,000 to fix his GT-R’s busted transmission, which broke because...
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We’ve heard of people swapping Mazda rotary engines into older Miatas, but if reports out of Japan are to be believed, the next MX-5, due out in 2012, will come standard with an all new, super efficient rotary engine – as well as a hybrid system. 7Tune is reporting that an article in the Japanese...
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Honda Performance Development is the first engine manufacturer to release details of an engine that complies with the ACO’s revised technical regulations that go into effect for the 2011 ALMS/Le Mans season. This new HPD LMP2 engine, based on Honda‘s global V6 engine used in everything from the Accord to the Acura ZDX, is a...
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Ugh. We guess it was only a matter of time before it happened, and as much as we wanted to avoid the inevitable, well here it is. Over in Japan some crafty tuner has outfitted the Nissan R35 GT-R front end onto their Skyline R34 Coupe. And while it seems like the overall body flows...
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The end goal for most venture-capital financed start-ups is to issue an IPO and help get some money into the hands of those investors brave enough to give the company money at the early stages. Tesla Motors, perhaps the first Silicon Valley car company(and headed by Elon Musk, a former dot-com executive), is about to...
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The biggest question surrounding Toyota‘s awesome FT-86 concept isn’t if the car will make it to production, but what it will be called. That mystery may have just been solved, with word that Toyota Motor Corporation has just filed a trademark for the “FR-S” name in both the U.S. and Canada. The name certainly makes...
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With the SC430 set for elimination this summer, Lexus has announced a new Eternal Jewel special edition for sale in Japan. Just 200 versions of the car will be built with exclusively features like a contrasting roof color and a new and more elaborate selection of interior finishes. Each model will also come with special...
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