One Lap of America : TopSpeed : Live Video Feed

Technology, isn't it cool? You can be a stalker, and get an idea of what it might be like to participate in the One Lap of America. This live streaming video gives you that opportunity.  TopSpeed, Leh Keen, and Doug Wilks are challenging the event again this year in a tuned Nissan GT-R. Follow along here in the adventure.  The full schedule of events is here:  The first event, the wet skidpad starts 4/30 at 8 am. Summit Point comes up on Sunday.  The final event is the dry skidpad 5/7 back at Tire Rack.  Head over to the TopSpeed page and chat with the drivers and other fans.



Online video chat by Ustream

Source: TopSpeed

25 Years and Older Vehicles Importation to the USA

Most of the world has some kind of vehicle importation laws. Most of these laws are written to protect local markets, local manufacturers.  Many countries in the world have an exemption, where cars over 15 years old are allowed to be imported. Canada is one local example of having a “15 year rule'”.   Here in the US we have a weird stack of rules. It may not make sense, but don’t try and figure it out, just understand it. 

Vehicles over 25 years old are Department of Transportation(DOT) exempt from meeting federal motor vehicle safety standards(FMVSS).  Over 21 years old are Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) exempt.  To meet California smog exemption requirements, the car must be older than 1976. This does not make cars newer than 1976 impossible to import to California, but there are extra requirements, and testing.

We have started to work with a company in Japan, R- International, which gives you direct access to Japanese car auctions.  Sign up for their website, for a free preview of the dealer auctions. Today, there are over 21,000 cars available at auction.  Only a few of these cars are eligible for import to the US, but an example of eligible cars are below.

1975 Toyota Celica. The auction starts at 100,000 yen or about $1200.  Twin cam, wing mirrors, all good stuff.

1981 Toyota Landcruiser.  This 4wd diesel landcruiser is a fairly rare sight in the US. Diesels of this vintage are smog exempt in California.

1982 Nissan Cedric. 2 liter, turbo. wing mirrors. Who else has a Cedric in the US?

1984 Nissan President Limo.  Check out the plush lazyboy seats. I am not sure if you could drive this, I think you need to be “driven” in it. This is pimptastic.

1967 Nissan Cedric.  Another very unique car. 151k km. The auction starts at 30,000 yen or about $368.

 

These are just a few examples of the cool cars available overseas.  Are you looking for a new unique project?   Once you have signed up and have an idea of what kind of car you want, contact us. We can help you organize payment, get the car deregristered, and arrange shipping to the US. Once its on its way to the US, we will organize the customs brokering and paperwork clearance for you. Then once its here, and legally imported, we will arrange transportation to your location, and assist with registering your over 25 year old car. Contact us for cost estimates.

For the last 22 years, we have been involved in the vehicle export and import business. Over the years we have shipped thousands of cars overseas. Cars, trucks, boats, and motorcycles to Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. We have experience in both container and Ro-Ro shipping.

Importation is not difficult if you know what you are doing, but if you do it wrong, you can end up with huge shipping charges, and the possibility of getting your cargo seized.  Our experience will ensure that you will minimize any risks associated with vehicle import.

Source: R-International

500 km/hr (311 mph) Nissan GT-R

The other day, while at work posting on the NAGTROC forum for my day job at STILLEN, I ran across a link from Ian- mindlessoath.  Ian is a wealth of links, and information. He is a huge GT-R fan, and finds some cool stuff. He posted a link to some fans, on this site Suzuka Racing Services.  After poking around a bit, reading though an article Flying like the wind, I came to the realization that the guy that did a lot of the aero development work for the Nissan GT-R was a real car guy, with a real car background. GTP, Electramotive, Can Am.

I love the trumpeted intakes on the Can Am cars. If you have never seen or heard, or felt Can Am cars thundering down the front straight at Road America, or any track, you haven’t lived.  Check out the rivets in the chassis of this car. The cooler setup, and the minimal driver protection.

Further digging, and I ran across this page - 500 km/hr (311 mph) page.

Looking for an investor who want to set a new world speed record of 500 kph (311 mph) with 350Z or R35 GTR.

My career  in racing started from BRE (Brock Racing Enterprises) working 510 and worked for Electramotive IMSA GTP, NPTI , NISMO, NTC and TRD as an design engineer, involved in variety of race cars and production cars.
Last 30 some years, I was heavily in aerodynamics field and have strong desire
to set a world speed record with Nissan 350Z car , R35 GTR or any other production cars.
There is no record over 305 mph with production car based car.
Above 305 mph records are all made by Lakester.

Mean, low looking Nissan GTR. It looks like he wants to set the engine back a bit, convert the car to 2wd. The engine even looks like he might have planned for some kind of V8 setup.

The fastest well known semi-production car is Callaway Sledge Hammer that went 255mph at
TTC, Ferrari GTO with 1850 hp motor went 268 mph but front lift made him roll over at Salt Flat.
Oldsmobile Aerotech went 257 mph at Ford Stockton in 1997 and made closed circuit speed record,
this vehicle was designed strickly for maximum speed.
To go such high speed, the wind tunnel testing is essential and this is my daily life last 30 some
years and to achieve low Cd with adequate front and rear downforce is my specialty.
To reach 250mph will be easy, but to go over 300mph will be a different world, since the aero force act as a square of the speed. The traction/ drag ratio is the key.

The 350Z is high Cd car, but it can be modified to much lower drag car. It will require about
four to six weeks in a wind tunnel to study with a detailed wind tunnel model.
The R35 GTR has much better basic aerodynamics but still need a windtunnel model and testing in a tunnel.
Renting a typical wind tunnel with a moving ground (essential device) costs about US$5,000 to $17,000 per day and a model will cost from US$100,000 to $300,000 for this purpose.
To set 500 kph is a monumental record and it is quit possible.  If the investor wishes to drive this car by himself and if he does not have an experience for high speed run, I will set up some practice program.
The car will be very stable and safe, so only need to be get used to its high speed. There is nothing to hit in case of the accident and I will make state of the art survival cell and other well destined apparatus.

So who out there wants to try and go 300 mph in a Nissan GT-R or 350Z? It sounds like a really cool project.  One of these years I would love to get out to Bonneville. MotoIQ’s Chuck Johnson took a Nissan Sentra out to the salt and ran it. The Sentra has the aerodynamics of a barn, but he still managed a respectable mph.

One Lap of America GT-R from TopSpeed: Pre- Event

Tomorrow is sticker day for the One Lap of America. An arrival day, meet and greet. The cars undergo a tech/sticker/tire check in preparation for the week long event that is One Lap of America. The Top Speed car has been stickered, and its a unique look.  I love the hood sticker, reminiscent of the Trans Am "flaming chicken" logo.  Doug and Leh are going to have a live streaming camera, and other interactive items available starting tomorrow.

The car sports STILLEN/AP Racing J-hook curved vane rotor upgrade with Endless brake pads. For the suspension they are using a KW adjustable ride height coil kit, and STILLEN adjustable sway bars. On the power side, they sport an AMS Alpha 9 kit.  The TopSpeed designed wing, splitter, and STILLEN canards add up to an aero package that should give this GT-R an advantage over the other cars in this event. 

Check in tomorrow for more info, and the livestream.  Good luck to Top Speed.

Source: NAGTROC

One Lap of America Schedule

Cobb AccessTune Pro: Real Time Tuning

Cobb Tuning has been at the forefront of Nissan GT-R ECU tuning since the car has been released in the US. A couple of very talented individuals, and lots of shop testing has brought a great product that gives lots of range and control for a Nissan GT-R from stock to over 1000 hp.

This upcoming upgrade, teased here, to the Accesstune Pro software is Real Time Tuning.  Real time tuning will speed up the time it normally takes to fully custom tune a GT-R. Real time tuning is a common item in aftermarket stand alone ECU's, but it takes some time to figure out how to do it for a OEM ECU.

If you look closely you see that this software has real Time, map switching, Speed Density, and a few other things added in to make the software the best it can be.

Over the coming weeks we will be testing this software and firmware and pushing an update all of our tuners as soon as we are ready!

Source: NAGTROC

Nissan GT-R's Racking Up Records Worldwide

This story came up in my Google Alerts, and well, it made me laugh out loud a bit.  This story is pretty intrusive, getting down and personal enough with the speeders, name, plate number, an estimated price, and average speed.  The Nissan GT-R, one of only three they say in  Xiamen, averaged the tunnel at 154 km/hr or 95 mph, the highest average speed they have EVER RECORDED.  Hardly even breathing for a GT-R. I expect someone in Xiamen to try harder next time.  They should be able to average at least 150 mph or 241 km/hr.  We don't want anyone in a Porsche even having a chance to get close.

It only took a red Nissan GTR sports car 72 seconds to run through the 3080-meter Xiamen Wucun Tunnel at an average speed of 154km/h on April 20th, according to Xiamen Daily report. 

The sports car belongs to Mr. Liu, with a license plate number of Min D8999E. It is reported that this sports car is worth RMB1.5 million. There are only three of these sports cars in Xiamen.  

The speed of this car is the maximum that the video surveillance of Xiamen police has ever recorded, a policeman said. The owner of car will be fined RMB 1,500 and have 6 points deducted or have his driving license revoked. 

It is estimated that during ten days from 21st to 30th March, 16,300 cars at speed of more than 80km had been recorded by video surveillance in Xiamen’s three main tunnels.

Source: Xiamen Whats On

How to Break a Nissan GT-R Axle

Driveline parts are consumables. If you have a very powerful, all wheel drive car, instead of wheel spin, you get parts breakage. One member of NAGTROC, just documented how he cleanly broke a rear axle on his Nissan GT-R. This 900 whp, 9 second GT-R, puts some hurt to the driveline.    Using a "trick" to get the RPM's up to around 7000 rpms at launch, he got some wheel hop, that broke the axle. As seen below, the snap looks like it was cut.

This is not supposed to be 2 piece

The axle was replaced with another factory axle. The car already has an upgraded GR6 transmission, so if the axles are upgraded, then we would have to see what will be the next part in the driveline to let go. If you want to snap axles , try 7000 rpm launches with some wheel hop, seems to work out.  Now that there are a few Nissan GT-R's making 1000-1100whp, headed to the drag strip, hunting the 8's, there should be a few more broken axles, and other driveline parts in the near future. Let the R&D begin.

Source: NAGTROC

World Challenge Race at Long Beach 2011 : Start

Watching the start of the Long Beach Grand Prix World Challenge race in 2011. I thought that the Volvo of Randy Pobst would get a pretty good start. All wheel drive, 25 psi, and starting at the back of the pack should have been good. However, the stall by the vette, then a couple of touring cars getting together, threw the race and the standings for a real loop. No Brass Monkey cars at Long Beach, after their struggles at St. Petersburg. They say they are headed to Miller Motorsports Park April 29th for round 4 of the World Challenge Championship.

At the end, the winning VW of Navarro was found to be non compliant, funny other VW's last year were also found to be non-compliant, and Shea Holbrook in the Civic was declared the winner. The lure of the $15k winning bonus by VW is probably just too great for most, and they will try and win at any cost, including bending the rules.

The full race can be viewed at World Challenge TV.com

Forum Wars : Nissan GT-R vs Porsche Turbo S

The Forum Wars in its second season of taking two cars from opposing internet forums, and running them against each other in a put up or shut up contest.  Nissan has benchmarked the GT-R vs the Porsche Turbo since its inception. The GT-R development team with a Porsche along, has been seen at tracks around the globe. The Porsche guys are mostly in disbelief that a $90k, 3800 lb Nissan, can beat their $140k, 3500 lb Krautwagon. In this forth episode, the NAGTROC.org GT-R goes against the Luxuxy4Play.com Turbo S.  On paper the Porsche looks like it should be quicker, is it?  Drag race, autocross, and slalom. Head over to the Forumwars website for all the episodes.

Episode 4

Porsche 997 Turbo S

• 3.8L TT H6
• 550 horsepower est.
• 531 lb-ft torque est.
• 7 SPEED PDK
• 3494 lb weight
• Driver: T. Blackman
• Forum: Luxury4Play.com

Nissan GT-R

• 3.8L V6 TT
• 526 horsepower
• 586 lb-ft torque
• 6 SPEED semi-auto dual clutch
• 3829 lb weight est.
• Driver: C. Wiman
• Forum: NAGTROC.org

TheForumWars.tv is the only series with enough huevos to engage two competitors from two rival forums in a full throttle, tire smoking track smackdown. This season the forums nominated their reps and they met on the track at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, TX. One person walks away victorious and the other a loser. It's not just the competitor's pride on the line; each represents hoards of enthusiasts loyal to their marque. Man vs. man, car vs. car, and forum vs. forum.

Source: NAGTROC

HKS Active Torque Split Controller - R35 GT-R

HKS has an ATTESA controller for the R35 Nissan GT-R, in the past they had controllers for the R32,R33, and R34 GT-R. This controller has 4 different levels of front torque adjustment. Each level gives you more front torque, and less oversteer.  Normally more front torque will give you a little more understeer. On a loose surface, or under rain conditions, this may find itself very useful.

Oversteer can occur during high load driving due to lack of front torque. ATSC can optimise this for improved high load stability.

Proper torque distribution can optimise full use of the engines power output. Therefore, ATSC is recommended for use on vehicles with GT570/600/800 specifications or similar.

Installation is made simple with the plug and play harness which can connect and disconnect easily to the E-TS unit under the driver’s seat. Installation time is approximately 2 Hours.

ATSC is active when vehicle speed is above 50km/h and when the brake is not applied. Therefore, it will not lead to instability from standing start or during low speed driving.

Source: HKS Europe

Top Speed GT-R : Roebling Road Pictures and Results : Now with Video

Top Speed has been preparing a Nissan GT-R for the One Lap of America event for 2011. Last year, with Leh Keen at the helm, they finished 1st overall in a prepared Porsche GT2, 2nd place was a Nissan GT-R. In 2009, a Nissan GT-R won overall.  Feeling the Nissan GT-R's breathing down the back of the Porsches, Top Speed and Keen decided to go the Godzilla route, and have been testing over the last couple of months.

Greddy Big Bored Headgaskets for VR38DETT

GReddy has put out some new headgaskets that have become a requirement for the big bore, big power VR38DETT builds.  They tried some Cometic gaskets on big power.high boost builds, and had sealing issues. The Cometics would probably be fine at lower power levels, but they are not working on this level of build.

Now they have 99 mm and 100 mm big bore headgaskets available with a stopper type center layer, to help prevent any leakage during high cylinder pressures imposed by 30+ psi of boost.

We do not recommend current Cometic gaskets for high boost, big power builds.
One of the reason we do not recommend them is that their center layer is almost flat with no stopper ring to better seal the cylinder. Outer layer seems good but we have seen leakage from both from deck surface and from the center layer. It leaked only at high boost and coolant overflowed from the reservoir tank.

GReddy gaskets features a stopper type center layer to completely seal the cylinder by adding extra torque around each cylinders. Stopper is basically a folded center layer that gives extra thickness around the cylinder bore. This serves the same purpose as O ring but with out the extra machining for the grooves.
Outer layers are coated with a thin layer of nitrile rubber to ensure good seal to the head and deck surfaces.
Designed to with stand high boost and power. Made in Japan

available bore sizes
Part #: 13521401 99mm t=0.8mm (for 98.5mm bore pistons) coming in next week
Part #: 13521402 100mm t=0.8mm (for 99.5mm bore pistons) Instock
Stock bore coming soon

MotoIQ had a good article giving some technical information on headgaskets, and sealing. Big power and big boost, want to try and lift the head off the block. The mixing of oils, waters, and combustion gases, makes for a bad day at the track.  With a headgasket, buy a good one, get a good set of studs to pull straight down on the head, and crank the boost. 

Source: NAGTROC

First 2012 Nissan GT-R in the 10's

A 10 second quarter mile pass is fast. If you have never ridden in a really fast car, the concept of a 10 second quarter mile pass is a little hard to imagine. For most people a 13 second car is quick. A 12 second car is scary. An 11 second car is mind blowing. A 10 second pass, your first 10 second pass is scary from the drivers seat.

1.61 60 foot is very quick for a street car on street tires

1000 HP Cadillac Escalade Beats a 485 HP Nissan GT-R

Take one 1,000 horsepower Hennesey Cadillac Escalade, and put it up against a 485 horsepower Nissan GT-R, and what do you think happens?  Watch the video to find out.




Its good marketing, in a straight line the big power twin turbo SUV beats the twin turbo GT-R.  The Caddy got a little jump, and didn't manage to pull much. I would say on an even race, they probably would have been side by side.    Again, this is another one of those races, if you have a twin turbo Escalade, and want to race a GT-R, just a midpipe and a tune, and the GT-R will walk it easily.  Put the big Caddy up against a 2.8 second to 60 mph GT-R, and its over in the first 60 feet.

Source: Jalopnik

CBA to DBA Upgrade Packages in Japan

Since the DBA Nissan GT-R was released, there has been rumors of an "upgrade" package that would be available to be applied to the CBA GT-R's.  MC at NAGTROC got some information on the pricing and what each kit consists of.  The kits do not include most of what owners were clamoring for, ECU and TCM upgrades. Thoughts of 530 hp, and 4000 rpm launches, are squashed by this early Japan only release. There is still the possibility of further upgrades, but if they do become available, don't expect them not to require many more parts to support the extra power.

These kits are only going to be available in Japan starting May 1, 2011.  There is a possibility that we might see them available in the US, but at the current prices, its not as good as an option, as some aftermarket parts and prices.

Kit "A" includes items such as the larger 390mm rotors new cross spring for rear brakes to reduce noise and shocks for the suspension produced by Nordring and Bilstein... this package is around $8500 US installed for 2010 MY GTRs price rises to over $12000 for previous years of the R35 if both braking and suspension parts are purchased and installed together

Kit "B" is more of an aesthetic only option and includes the Carbon HVAC cover aswell as the ability for all 4 taillights to be on at the same time (this was previously not available in the JDM market) 

Source: NAGTROC

Tony Kanaan's Mines Tuned Nissan GT-R

When you are a professional race car driver, and pick a Nissan GT-R, and want some upgrades, where better to turn than Mine's parts?  Mine's is well known in Japan and the US for their lightning fast, while looking stock upgrades.

Top Speed posted up pictures and story on Tony Kanaan's GT-R. It has the full Mine's catalog and more. Some go, some show.  Head over to Top Speed for the full story.

Exterior
 MINE’s Type 2 Carbon Front Spoiler
 MINE’s Carbon Grill
 MINE’s Carbon Engine Cover
 MINE’s Carbon Hood Scoops
 MINE’s Carbon Mirror Covers
 MINE’s Carbon Side Skirts
 MINE’s Carbon Trunk
 MINE’s Rear Wing
 MINE’s Carbon Rear Diffusor
 MINE’s Carbon Diffusor Tunnels
 MINE’s ESTA II coilover suspension
 Gloss Black Side Grills and GTR emblem

Mechanical
 MINE’s Big Rotor kit (405mm)
 MINE’s Stainless Brake Lines
 MINE’s Racing Brake Pads
 MINE’s Titanium Exhaust
 MINE’s Titanium Cat Delete and Mid Pipe
 MINE’s ECU
 MINE’s Titanium Intercooler Suction Pipes
 MINE’s Titanium Intercooler Hard Pipe Kit
 MINE’s Air Filter
 Yokohama AVS M7 forged wheels (painted gloss blk)

Interior
 CEC Edition Carbon Interior Trim
 RECARO CS Seats - Black Leather
 Password JDM Carbon Rear Speaker Shelf
 Password JDM Carbon Rear Seat Delete
 K40 Radar with Jammers

Source: Top Speed