History of the GT-R Manga Comic - Part 8

A few more pages of the Nissan GT-R story. The Skylines body was inspired by fish. Just one of those things, you probably wouldn't have known, unless you read this manga.

One Lap of America GT-R : Top Speed

Last year Leh Keen and Top Speed ran a Porsche 911 in the One Lap of America, and did pretty well. Pretty well if you consider winning every single road course event, and finishing in first overall is pretty well.

Doug Wilks and Rolex Sports Car Series driver Leh Keen run a flawless series of events, taking first at every road course we visit with their well-prepared Porsche GT2. The trouble comes after the drag strip: Keen begins complaining that the rear feels slippery. After a corner worker brings over a chunk of rubber, saying it fell from underneath their car, the team looks closer. They find that one of the rear sway bar mounts had snapped and the resulting damage has torn the rear axle boot. They spend all night at a friend's fabrication shop and make it to the next track with just enough time to make their run group. With three hours of sleep under his belt -- four from the night before -- Keen still wheels the GT2 to first place. "It didn't feel like One Lap until last night," he says after a quick nap on the pit floor.
Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/

In 2010 2nd place belonged to a Nissan GT-R, but the year before in 2009, a Nissan GT-R won overall.

Rather than try and beat them, Top Speed and Leh have decided to join them for 2011. Right now the Top Speed R35 GT-R is undergoing upgrades for the 2011 One Lap of America event. Over at NAGTROC, the Top Speed guys have been posting information on the build.

Black Edition Nissan GT-R Interior

For 2012 the Nissan GT-R has gone though a minor change or update. Along with the changes, a new trim level has been introduced: the Black Edition.   The Black Edition has been available in Japan, Australia, and the UK, but not in the US until 2012. In most countrys it is just the interior trim, however in the US it includes a version of the SpecV or Egoist wheels.
Autoblog posted these high resolution pictures of the Recaro branded Black Edition seats.

FIA GT3 Nissan GT-R

Ian from NAGTROC posted up a couple of pictures of an FIA GT3 spec Nissan GT-R. The rumors are that it is a V-6. In GT3 it would go up against the BMW’s, Audi R8’s , Ferraris, Porsches, and even a Ford Mustang.

2012 Nissan GT-R's At US Dealers

The 2012 Nissan GT-R's are being slowly released to dealers here in the US. They have been delayed several weeks due to a few issues with the backup camera.  For now only the 2012 Premium editions are available, with the Black editions coming around May.

The 2012 GT-R information has also finally gone live on the Nissan website, which means that cars should be in owners hands very soon.  Who is going to be first in the 10's with a stock GT-R? 

Source: NAGTROC and NAGTROC

History of the GT-R Manga Comic - Part 7

More of the Nissan GT-R story, manga comic book.  From the Prince Skyline to the R35 GT-R, the cars heritage is not well known outside of Japan.  Follow the story here.

Bridgestone RE070 Tires For Sale : USED in Costa Mesa, CA

If you need some used 255/ 40/20 or some 285/35/20 Bridgestone RE070 tires STILLEN has a couple of sets in stock. If you need just one, or you need them all, give me a call at x165, and we can get some tires for you. Most of the tires are in good shape, prices will depend on the condition.

Front tires are a 255/40/20. Rear tires are a 285/35/20 The premium tire was the Bridgestone Potenza RE070, it is a treadwear 140 tire. The Bridgestone tires run about $1700 a set new.

OC GT-R Meet and Nismolism @ Cal State Fullerton

Today was an all day car show and play with car day.  Started the morning meeting up a group of R35 GT-R owners from NAGTROC at the 85C café.



Then a couple of us headed over to Nismolism at Cal State Fullerton.  They were trying for a record gathering of Nissans in one place, but from the looks of it, they fell well short. There was still a really good turn out of modified Nissans, with the 240SX, and the drift guys being most represented. Then a good number of 350’s and G’s.  A few R35 GT-R’s, and even a couple of older heritage Nissan Skyline GT-R’s.


Check out the slideshow below from the events. After Nismolism, the plan was to head to K1 Speed for some indoor karting action, but the hour and a half to two hour wait, put us off. Next time, K1.

Nissan GT-R: Porsche killer

Ad agency TBWA, Düsseldorf undertook a campaign on behalf of Nissan to increase footfall into German dealers and encourage more test drives of the Nissan GT-R. This video shows the results as well as the unconventional way in which they reached out to Porsche owners.

History of the GT-R Manga Comic - Part 6

You may know a little bit about the Nissan GT-R, but its history is really not known that well outside of Japan. Here are pages 12 and 13. It reads like most Japanese books from right to left, backwards from most English language books.

Ferrari 458 Italia vs 997.2 Turbo S PDK vs Modded GT-R vs Modded C6 Z06

1st  Run 458 vs. Turbo S

2nd Run Modded GT-R vs. Modded C6 Z06

3rd  Run Turbo S vs. Modded GT-R

4th  Run 458 vs. Modded Z06

Mine's Body Stabilizer PRO

Mine's has been producing parts for the Nissan GT-R for years. Their cars are always fast, and do more with less. They have recently released these body stabilzer pros that help to improve ride quality on a stiffly sprung street car. Mine's is not a company for fluff products, so if they are selling them, they probably work.

As for the body of the car which is in the midst of traveling, body deformation and the minute vibration with the vibration and the distortion, cornering and the acceleration and deceleration etc with road surface change always occur.
Impact and the vibration which occur in the body by installing MINE'S body stabilizer PRO, under all circumstances are eased, quality of driving and pulling up efficiency are possible.
The damper for the body which absorbs the vibration and the like promptly and makes stabilize is the point whose attenuation quality and installation place are important. With [mainzu] the practice test is repeated and in GT−R the highest performance the part which bodily sensation is produced is offered.

Source: NAGTROC

STILLEN Tax Return Special - Up to 20% off

Up to 20% off regular priced items, 5% off sale priced items

Call in 866-250-5422

Code: TAXMAN

Feb 16 - 28.

History of the GT-R Manga Comic - Part 5

You may know a little bit about the Nissan GT-R, but its history is really not known that well outside of Japan. Here are pages 10 and 11. It reads like most Japanese books from right to left, backwards from most English language books.

Autoblog : 2012 Nissan GT-R First Drive

Michael Harley from Autoblog had the chance to attend the media event for the release of the 2012 Nissan GT-R. Here are a few of the excerpts from the article.

The seven-spoke forged alloy wheels found on 2009-2011 Nissan GT-R models have been replaced in 2012 with new ten-spoke forged alloys that are reportedly more rigid and slightly lighter than their predecessors, coming in at 26.4 pounds each.

Lighter is better.  No matter what Mizuno said to Pistonheads in one video interview.  Lighter is faster, turns easier, brakes sooner.

In addition to the aforementioned increased airflow to the brakes, the coupe's standard Brembo monobloc six-piston front calipers clamp down on slightly larger 15.4-inch rotors (up from 15-inches), while the rear four-piston calipers and rotors are carried over from last year.

I have been thinking that the front and rear rotors had been upgraded to 390 mm. Its just the front rotors. Is that extra 5 mm OD really worth it?  Why not 400 mm?

History of the GT-R Manga Comic - Part 4

You may know a little bit about the Nissan GT-R, but its history is really not known that well outside of Japan. Here are pages 8 and 9. It reads like most Japanese books from right to left, backwards from most English language books.

Motor Trend Comparision Test - Corvette Z06 vs Shelby GT500 vs 2012 GT-R

Coming out of the bowl at Streets of Willow Springs

Motor Trend pitted three high end performance cars together in a recent comparison. The new 2012 Nissan GT-R is getting set to be released to the public here in the US on Feburary 21. These three cars, two from the US, and one from Japan, show you don't need to spend supercar money, to get supercar performance.

The Mustang came at the low end of the price scale, and if you checked out the lap times from my last post, it is pretty quick on the road course.

Our tester benefited from an SVT Performance Package that adds a sportier 3.73 rear end, stiffer springs, and Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G: 2 tires, all in the name of improved lap times for the live-axle, 3801-pound pony car. Total cost for this mightiest of Mustangs? A basement $55,330.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/1104_2011_chevrolet_corvette_2011_ford_shelby_gt500_2012_nissan_gtr_comparison/index.html#ixzz1E3P8LmD2

History of the GT-R Manga Comic - Part 3

You may know a little bit about the Nissan GT-R, but its history is really not known that well outside of Japan. Here are pages 6 and 7. It reads like most Japanese books from right to left, backwards from most English language books.

Randy Pobst Breaks Down 2012 Nissan GT-R, 2011 Corvette Z06 and Shelby GT500

Randy Pobst is a very well known, and very fast race car driver. For the last few years in World Challenge, he has ran the K-Pax Volvo S60’s in GT class. I helped a friend with his World Challenge Scion tC’s that ran in TC class, which competed on track at the same time as Randy and his S60’s. Really nice guy, really fast driver.  Motor Trend stuck him in a 2012 Nissan GT-R, 2011 Chevrolet Corvette, Z06, and a Shelby GT500 and set him free on the Streets of Willow Springs.  The Streets is a very tight track, You really don’t get a chance to unwind a car like a GT-R.   All three cars ran in the 1:20 range, with the GT-R on top. -edit the information in this chart for the Mustang's lap time is wrong - it should be - 01:23.5

Head over to the Motor Trend article for the full turn by turn breakdown from the track.
Source: Motor Trend

JRM Group to enter four Nissan GT-Rs in 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship

 

This year the JRM Group will be running four Nissan GT-R’s in FIA GT1.   No word yet on the Swiss Racing Team and there two cars in FIA GT1. The FIA GT1 cars are rear wheel drive an Nissan V8 VK56 powered. No twin turbo V6, no all wheel drive, bearing very little resemblance to the street cars.

The JRM Group is pleased to confirm that it will enter four Nissan GT-Rs in this year’s FIA GT1 World Championship. The cars will be run as two completely separate teams, in two different liveries: JR Motorsports and Sumo Power GT.
Following recent negotiations with NISMO (Nissan Motorsports International Co. Ltd.) and, after a successful season in 2010 with its two Sumo Power GT cars, the JRM Group has taken the opportunity to expand its racing operations. The two additional cars acquired by the Group are those that were campaigned last year by Swiss Racing Team.
Driver line up for the two JRM Group teams is as follows:

JR Motorsports
Car 23 Michael Krumm/Lucas Luhr (Germany)
Car 22 Peter Dumbreck/Richard Westbrook (UK)

Sumo Power GT
Car 20 Enrique Bernoldi/Ricardo Zonta (Brazil)
Car 21 TBA/TBA
The selection of the final two drivers for the Sumo Power GT team will be made following a test at the Losail circuit near Doha, in Qatar. The test is scheduled to take place during the first week of March, when 12 drivers will be assessed for car number 21.
“For the FIA GT1 World Championship and for NISMO, it is important to have four Nissan GT-Rs running in this year’s series”, explains JRM Group Executive Director James Rumsey. “Therefore, acquiring another two cars means that, not only does this satisfy these two issues, but it also strengthens our association with NISMO and gives us, as a group, a greater opportunity for success.”
“We learnt a lot in 2010 and therefore we will use the information we gained for 2011”, continued Mr. Rumsey. “I believe that this year, between our two teams, we will have the strongest driver line-up on the grid, a factor that will help us to achieve our goal of becoming 2011 Champions.”
Round one of this season’s ten-round FIA GT1 World Championship takes place at the spectacular Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on 26 March.

 

Source: JRM Group via NAGTROC

History of the GT-R Manga Comic - Part 2

Here are a few more pages from the history of the GT-R comic book. 
Page 4 is the first page. It reads like most Japanese books from right to left, backwards from how most English readers are used to.

History of the GT-R Manga Comic

This history of the GT-R comic book was released when the Nissan R35 GT-R was first shown in the US.  I had a few people ask me to scan it, so this weekend I finally did.  Some of the pages lifted a little during the scan process. I will post up a couple of pages a day.

The history of the worlds most powerful touring car.

IglooCase: Transform an iPhone/iTouch into an Action Camera

A couple of car friends of mine have come up with this new case and mounting solution for an iPhone or iTouch. Curtis and Matt have been involved with motorsports for several years. I met Matt at the Sport Compact Car Ultimate Street Car Challenge, when he was driving his Toyota Supra. Curtis is also a Supra owner, and has done a number of Time Attack and magazine events with it. As much as I am a Nissan Skyline GT-R fan, I have a ton of Toyota Supra friends. Lots of good guys.  This idea needs some contributions though Kickstarter to meet their goal of $20,000 to cover the molding costs. Sign up, and get in on it, so they can have it built.

Infiniti Essence 592 hp Hybrid at the LA Auto Show

The Infiniti Essence is a 592 hp hybrid show car. The car has been in the US since 2009, and has done the show car circuit a few times. This was my first chance to see the car up close. It looks like it is built on a Nissan GT-R chassis. So its possible, this could be a future Nissan GT-R, or Infiniti supercar.

VVIP 2012 Nissan GT-R : The Gold Package

Nissan has a special program for Nissan GT-R sales in the middle east called the VVIP program. Its so VIP, it has an extra V. For the 2012 minor change, Nissan has made a few extra visual changes to the DBA-R35.

The VVIP cars have a bit of EGOIST, and a few unique features for the VVIP.

January 2011 Nissan GT-R Sales

In January 2011, the Nissan GT-R had a huge month, in the wrong way.  22 total sales. Lowest total so far. We probably will not see any significant 2012 sales for a few months. Cars are on order, and the Black Editions have been delayed slightly.

US GT-R Sales Figures

Switzer P800 Video Review

The Switzer P800 has been a popular upgrade for the Nissan R35 GT-R. Stars of some of the most viewed R35 GT-R videos on Youtube, the P800 has established itself at the forefront of GT-R tuning. In this video, Hartvoor Autos in the Netherlands drives a P800.

For www.hartvoorautos.nl we drove the very spectacular Nissan GT-R Switzer P800 with between 800 and 840 BHP and an acceleration time from 0 - 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds!

Motor Trend Test : 2012 Nissan GT-R

The reviews and tests for the 2012 Nissan GT-R keep rolling in. Deliveries of the 2012(US) GT-R have started in Europe, but we have not heard of any US deliveries. The US deliverers, rumored to start on or about Feburary 3rd, seem to be delayed due to a back up camera issue. There is no confirmed date on deliveries as of today.

The numbers. Everyone wants to know the numbers.   2.9 , 11.2@122 , 101 feet , 1.05 .  What does that mean in real life?  Its faster than the 2009-2011 car.  The as tested weight is even a little lighter, although those numbers are always a little suspect to me.

	2011 Nissan GT-R	2012 Nissan GT-R
Output	485-hp/434-lb-ft	530-hp/434-lb-ft
Weight	3939 lb	3898 lb
Weight to Power	8.12 lb/hp	7.35 lb/hp
0-60 mph	3.5 sec	2.9 sec
Quarter Mile	11.8 sec @ 119.8 mph	11.2 sec @ 122.7 mph
Braking, 60-0 MPH	99 ft	101 ft
Lateral Acceleration	1.03 g (avg)	1.05 g (avg)
MT Figure Eight	23.7 sec @ 0.85 g (avg)	23.3 sec @ 0.89 g (avg)

With the 2012's 3.8-liter VQ38DETT V-6 producing 45 more horses and 14 additional pound-feet at meatier low- to mid- range rpms, and its weight cut by 41 pounds (to 3898 pounds), phenomenal sprinting speed is but only one facet of this Nissan's true character.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/1102_2012_nissan_gt_r_test/performance_comparison.html#ixzz1DJqdbaqh

Head over to Motor Trends website for the full story and the rest of the pictures. 

Source: Motor Trend

DSPORT Tests the 2012 Nissan GT-R

DSPORT got some hands on time with the 2012 Nissan GT-R, and has relayed some of the technical information that makes the 2012 Nissan GT-R different than the 2011 Nissan GT-R.

Source: DSPORT via NAGTROC

Japanese Market Nissan GT-R Sales

While at the Mituswa marketplace having lunch, I picked up the latest GT-R Magazine, March 2011 , #97.  On the cover is one of Mines R34 GT-R demo cars, and their new DBA R35 demo car.   In the magazine they list total Nissan R35 GT-R sales for Japan.  The data is current as of December 2010.

Total Sales

2007	807
2008	4871
2009	531
2010	298

Since 2007, Nissan has sold 6507 Nissan GT-R’s in Japan.  The following chart breaks down the 6507 total cars sold by model

Total Sales by Model
My Japanese is not perfect, so please correct me if this is wrong

Normal	1298
Premium	1844
Black Edition	3304
SpecV	49
EGOIST	1
Pure Edition	5

The most popular seller by far was the Black Edition.  I wonder if the US had the Black Edition from the beginning, if we would see a similar sales percentage of Black Editions to Normal/Premium’s. Only 49 total SpecV’s sold.  Only 1 EGOIST, although they had not been released for very long by December.  The 5 Pures, that is just the new name for the base model.   I would be surprised if Nissan sells 12 EGOIST’s in 2011.  Seems like a pretty big waste of time and money on making a fast car pretty.

Current Prices
US conversion as of 2-4-11

Pure Edition	8,694,000 yen ($104,469)
Black Edition	9,303,000 yen ($111,787)
Premium Edition	9,450,000 yen ($113,554)
EGOIST	15,000,000 yen ($180,244)
SpecV	15,750,000 yen ($189,256)

Dylan’s Donation Drive – Win an AccessPORT!

COBB Tuning is giving away a free AccessPORT in each of the markets we support in an effort to drive donations to assist with the medical bills from Dylan and Noah Levy's upcoming partial liver transplant surgery. Their father/son transplant is scheduled for February 7th, which is rapidly approaching, so time is of the essence!

Noah is half of the two brother team that owns LIC Motorsports, a Subaru performance specialty shop based in Novato, CA. LIC Motorsports. You may have become aware of their racing efforts in the 2010 Redline Time Attack Series through their season long documentary called "The Underdogs". These videos show just what can be accomplished with little more than drive, determination and a true love of cars and racing. Noah and Adam have made lasting impressions on their fellow competitors as well as the car enthusiast community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Throughout the 2010 racing season, few of us were aware of the stress the Levy's were dealing with away from the track in dealing with Dylan's illness. Dylan is Noah and Amber's 5 year old son, and he has biliary atresia. It is a condition that affects the liver from birth and has advanced to the point that little Dylan now requires a liver transplant. His dad, Noah, is the only available donor right now, and will be donating half of his liver to his son on February 7th. Episode 5 of "The Underdogs" drives home just how stressful this year has been and how dire Dylan's situation is now.

This is a very difficult time for the Levy's and while the upcoming medical bills are not what their focus is on right now, it is something they will have to face in the near future. COBB Tuning is donating six AccessPORTs (one each for Subaru, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan, MINI and BMW) as an incentive to drive donations to help the Levy's deal with the post surgery bills.

Donations can be made directly to the Levy family via their website at http://www.dylanwlevy.com/donate.html. For every $10 donated, you will receive one entry to win an AccessPORT for your vehicle manufacturer. Multiples of $50 donations receive six entries to win. Simply email your PayPal donation receipt to dylan@cobbtuning.com with your name, vehicle manufacturer, telephone number, email address and street address. You will receive a confirmation for the number of entries recorded. The drawings will be held on February 7th and the winners will be notified via email.

Let's show the Levy's just how close knit a community we are!

AccessPORT being Donated

• 1 Subaru (AP-SUB-001, AP-SUB-002 or AP-SUB-003)
• 1 Mitsubishi (AP-MIT-002)
• 1 Mazda (AP-MAZ-002)
• 1 Nissan (AP-NIS-005)
• 1 BMW (AP-BMW-001)
• 1 MINI (AP-MINI-001)

Episode 5 of "The Underdogs"

Source:NAGTROC

2012 Nissan GT-R Dyno Tested by Inside Line

Inside Line took a 2012 Nissan GT-R to the dyno at GMG racing, and  it made 430 whp, and 397 lb-ft of torque. Even though the specs for the 2012 Nissan GT-R say it runs 13 psi, and the specs for the 2009-2011 Nissan GT-R say it made 10.8 psi peak, on the dyno the 2012 actually made a little less boost (just under 11 psi) than the 2009(about 12 psi).

Inside Line speculates that the 91 octane fuel may be the root of it.  If they can clock 0-60 times in 2.9 seconds, and 1/4 mile times in 11.1@124 mph and only make about 12 psi of boost, we will see some 10 second stock cars in 93 octane land out there.


Source: Inside Line