|
Browse by Tags
All Tags » Japan ( RSS)
-
|
Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Etc. , Japan , Marketing/Advertising , Supercars , Audi , Lifestyle The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong bought 13 Rolls-Royce Phantoms for shuttling guests around the city. The Peninsula Hotel in Tokyo has purchased just one car, and will leave the guest to drive himself. That car is an R8, finished in the hotel's trademark Brewster Green, with a gold Peninsula logo outside, and cognac leather inside. To avail yourself of it -- once you've gotten to Tokyo -- you'll need to book the Peninsula Suite, which goes for the ho-hum figure of ¥850,000 per night. That $8,000 U.S. every day to burble at single-digit speeds in Tokyo traffic, although you are allowed to take it outside of Tokyo. Come to think of it, the speeds probably don't matter -- if you have that kind of money, there's a good chance you've got an R8 or better in your own garage already... [Source: Asahi via German Car Blog ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
|
-
|
Filed under: Aftermarket , Tuners , Japan , Supercars , Nissan Click above for a gallery of the HKS Nissan GT-R GT570. Serious Nissan GT-R tuners aren't coming out of the woodwork - yet - but one of Japan's largest aftermarket firms has thrown its hat into the ring, and to good effect. HKS will begin offering its GT570 kit to consumers in Japan later this year (no word on U.S. distribution) and as it's name implies, output is getting close to the 600 hp mark. The package includes new wastegate actuators for the stock turbos and an electronic boost controller, along with aluminum intercooler piping, silicon hose couplers and straight pipes that replace the stock catalytic converters, reducing back pressure, but negating the GT-R's road-legal status. All of those tweaks add up to a total of - you guessed it - 570 PS, or 562 hp and 540 lb.-ft. of torque at the wheels. Check the gallery below to see the dyno charts and a few shots of the wastegate and plumbing mods. Gallery...
|
-
|
Filed under: Aftermarket , Tuners , Japan , Supercars , Nissan _450op.jpg" alt="" /> Click either image for a high-res gallery. NISMO has finally released all the details on its line of upgrades for the R35 Nissan GT-R, and per usual, there's good news and bad news. On the positive side, the parts are the typical blend of OEM quality and fitment, with a focus on tighter handling and weight reduction. The Club Sport tuning package includes the Chassis pack made up of race-tuned Bilstein Damptronic adjustable dampers sheathed in 18.5kg/mm (front) and 9.6 kg/mm (rear) springs. The combination of rock-hard coils and adjustable damping at both low and high speeds should make the GT-R stickier through the corners and more stable while bombing through a fast sweeper. Rounding out the handling package is a set of Rays forged aluminum wheels, sized 20x9.5-inches in front (+45mm offset) and 20x10.5-inches (+25mm offset) in the rear, and wrapped in Bridgestone RE070R run-flats, sized 225/40 and...
|
-
|
Filed under: Detroit Auto Show , Japan , Plants/Manufacturing , Commercial Trucks , Nissan Sensing the ripe market opportunity, Nissan will start producing various light-commercial and medium-duty trucks in 2010. The targeted segment is currently dominated by Ford and GM, where the miscellaneous cabs and frames are used to produce such vehicles as dump trucks, tow trucks, and school buses. Now, Nissan wants a piece of the pie. Larry Dominique, Nissan's VP of product planning, wouldn't disclose details right now, but he did say that a handful of new products will be needed to satisfy the new commercial truck dealers - and Nissan is more than willing to oblige. Joe Castelli, the former director of Ford's commercial trucks (and now a VP of commercial trucks at Nissan), said the Japanese automaker will be pulling from their global stable of commercial components (branded Atlas and Atleon in other markets) to quickly adapt them for the U.S. market. Nissan's official commercial...
|
-
|
Filed under: Motorsports , Japan Just under a year since the concept was announced, two brand new 2009 Formula Nippon chassis, designed and built by California's Swift Engineering , have gone through shakedown trials at Fuji Speedway. Autoblog spoke to Team Toyota TOM'S Andre Lotterer, one of the first two F'pon pilots to take the radically designed machine out for a spin, to see what he thought of the exceptionally wide single seater. First off, they seem to be pretty well put together. In an unusual turn of events for a brand new car, nothing broke or fell off during the its first outing in anger. Equally unusual, the new design is almost as quick as the Lola chassis it replaces, and with a few adjustments is destined to be even quicker. That's saying something: Andre has managed to lap Fuji in 1 minute 23 seconds in the 2008 Formula Nippon car, less than 5 seconds off Lewis Hamilton's record of 1:18.7 Although the chassis currently lacks mechanical grip, pitching...
|
-
|
Filed under: Aftermarket , Tuners , Japan , Supercars , Acura , Honda Click above for a high-res gallery of the Honda NSX-R. Honda's decision to only offer one Type-R model in the U.S. - the DC2 Integra - is still considered a crime among Hondaphiles. And of all the models that could have benefited from a serious performance injection later in life, the NSX was a prime candidate. Thankfully, Spoon Sports , a long-time motorsport partner with Honda, will rectify the matter by converting left-hand-drive US-spec NSXs into NSX-Rs. The conversion involves a long list of modifications, including stiffer springs and shocks, larger anti-roll bars, forged 17-inch wheels, a shorter final-drive gear ratio, slotted brake rotors, flat underbody trays and a rear diffuser. Part of the NSX-R's appeal was a product of Honda's desire to keep weight in check, so in order to get as close to the JDM version's 2,800-pound curb weight, Spoon will replace the hood, rear spoiler and seats with carbon...
|
-
|
Filed under: Economy , Green , Japan , Honda Much attention has been paid to Ford's decision to bring six Euro Fords over to the States, but the Blue Oval isn't the only automaker that has good looking, fuel efficient vehicles overseas. Honda has a variety of petrol-sipping vehicles in its Japanese home market, and is now studying whether those are worth selling here in the U.S. The Japan-to-U.S. formula has already worked well with the stylish, sporty and efficient Fit, sales of which are up 73% this yea. While the Fit has been sold in the U.S. since 2006, it has also been available in almost identical trim in Japan since 2001. So Honda is considering offering its JDM Odyssey and compact Stream wagon (above) for the U.S., which would give the brand some wagon-like choices in its lineup. For now Honda is trying not to deviate from its long-term plans, but if the gas-drag on the U.S. market persists, bringing JDM models to market here is a no-brainer if they don't require a ton...
|
-
|
Filed under: Coupes , Japan , Supercars , Nissan , Toys Click above for more shots of the Tomy GT-R Transformer Dozens of new vehicles are expected to appear in the forthcoming Transformers sequel, and we're excited by the possibility of seeing motorcycle transformers mix it up with an Audi R8 and a mystery Corvette. But after seeing these pics, it's obvious what the movie is really missing: a Nissan GT-R. Seriously, take a good look at the GT-R that we recently drove -- it's just begging for some sort of crazy robot-transforming goodness. At least toymaker Takara-Tomy sees in Godzilla what seems so obvious to us, as the Japanese company has worked up a new series of Transformer toys for a new series called "Alternity." Included in the series is the Nissan GT-R, of course. Considering the off-screen battle that the Team Corvette has waged with the new hotness from Nissan, isn't the movie just begging for an epic, to-the-death fight scene? Gallery: Tomy GT-R Transformer...
|
-
|
Filed under: Aftermarket , Tuners , Japan , Supercars , Nissan Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Nissan GT-R. The word from Japan's BestCar magazine is that Nissan has delayed the launch of the GT-R Spec V in Japan from this fall to sometime later this year or early 2009. The reason for the delay hasn't been divulged, but as a stop-gap measure, Nissan will be releasing an Evolution or S-Tune version fitted with several of the parts developed by NISMO and fitted on the race-spec version of the GT-R that campaigned in Tokachi 24-hour enduro . The launch of the Evolution/S-Tune model will coincide with the release of NISMO's line of performance parts , due out later this month, and will include suspension upgrades, new aero parts, wheels and tires, along with a revised ECU and a new exhaust system. Look for an official announcement from Nissan on August 20th. Gallery: Nissan GT-R Spec-V - spy shots Gallery: NISMO Tokachi 24-hour Nissan GT-R [Source: BestCar via LeBlogAuto...
|
-
|
Filed under: Motorsports , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Japan The formula racing world is rife with the offspring of long-retired F1 drivers making a name for themselves: Rosberg and Piquet are already in F1, Jacques Villeneuve has already come and gone, and the Mansell brothers are working their way up, to name just a few. But since both the Schumacher brothers have retired, Formula One has been lacking that sibling rivalry. (Mind you, with Michael having won more championships than Ralf did races, it wasn't much of a competition). However, we might get to see some serious brother-on-brother, wheel-to-wheel action in the near future. With his older sibling Kazuki (pictured at right) already racing for Williams-Toyota, 18-year-old Daisuki Nakajima is competing in the Japanese Formula 3 championship. Their father Satoru, who raced in about 80 grands prix in the late 80's and early 90's, says that Daisuki could be even faster than Kazuki. If that's the case, the younger Nakajima...
|
-
|
Filed under: Car Buying , Green , Japan , Tech , Honda , Nissan Honda and Nissan are looking for ways to make cars lighter, better, and more recyclable, both for their own benefits and their customers. We've heard about the increased use of aluminum to save weight; next on the heavy R&D frontier could be carbon fiber. Both companies have teamed up with Japanese carbon fiber company Toray, and Mitsubishi Rayon -- a Japanese version of DuPont -- to research new, less expensive carbon fiber for cars. Their efforts will be helped by the government, which is injecting two billion yen into the project over five years. The plan is that by the middle of the next decade, they'll be able to mass produce a cost effective carbon fiber and use it to reduce the weight of cars by 40-percent. And when they're finished with it, they will also be able to recycle it to reduce production costs. The current price of carbon fiber makes its use prohibitive except for ornamentation or for use on...
|
-
|
Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Japan , Tech , Toyota Toyota's Crown Hybrid gets brownie points for good gas mileage, but it's apparently a troublemaker in the motor noise department. Instead of merely adding insulation to the bulkhead, Toyota engineered an Active Noise Control system to reduce engine noise inside the cabin. The contraption uses three microphones on the interior of the car to detect engine noise. Based on the frequencies they detect, one speaker in each of the front doors and a woofer on the rear shelf create antiphase signals to cancel out the noise. The canceling is set up to occur at passenger head level, and does not interfere with the music system or your own talking. The Crown Hybrid, released this year in Japan, uses a slightly modified version of the hybrid system from the Lexus GS. Active Noise Control reduces cabin noise from the engine by about five to eight dB, and is permanently on. It's probably not out of the question that...
|
-
|
Filed under: Etc. , Japan , Honda , Lifestyle Click image to enlarge So you settled for the USDM, factory-built Honda Civic MUGEN Si because: a.) you don't live in Japan and b.) even if you did, you probably wouldn't have gotten your filthy mitts on a limited-edition MUGEN RR anyway. However, if you're still looking to get yourself something related to the RR, you're in luck. MUGEN has found another way to vacuum up fanboy dollars appeal to its enthusiast customers by offering up original artwork. First up in "The Art of MUGEN Power" series is "The Art, MUGEN RR", a 300-piece limited-edition print that shows the car in cutaway form. ¥39,000 ($368) puts one on your wall. Want a numbered plate for the frame? Tack on another ¥2,100 ($19.80). It's art a la carte , courtesy of MUGEN. The company website has all the details (in Japanese, natch -- the English pages are perpetually "under the construction" ). [Source: MUGEN Power] Read ...
|
-
|
Filed under: Green , Japan , Plants/Manufacturing As U.S. automakers thin their payrolls and cut production, demand for more fuel-efficient cars has Japanese automakers scrambling to build churn out enough cars. Over here, Toyota and Honda are increasing production and pretty much have applicants lined up for jobs. In Japan, however, it seems there are too many cars to build with too few people to build them. That's where Japan's connection to Brazil comes in handy. Thanks to a long-ago labor shortage , a 1908 law led to an influx of Japanese into Brazil, which now sports the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan itself. Under Japanese law, anyone claiming Japanese heritage can be issued a visa. Proof of one Japanese great-grandparent is all that is necessary, and even then not rigidly required. With visa in hand, the Brazilians work through intermediaries to find employment at Japan's labor-starved automakers. The companies avoid immigration issues by trusting the...
|
-
|
Filed under: Motorsports , Japan , UK , Celebrities Takuma Sato's fans had pretty much given up on seeing their idol on track this past weekend at the British Grand Prix. Many of them had bought plane and/or GP tickets well in advance, only to be disappointed when Super Aguri followed Minardi , and Arrows in to the annals of Formula 1 history just two months ago . So what did Taku do? Rent a kart track and invite his fans, plus a few select journalists, to race him in a 30-minute endurance race. Some fans, who had flown in from across Europe and of course Japan, were new to karting, so Taku graciously took them out for a few practice laps and providing one-on-one instruction. How many people get to have their first racing lesson from an F1 racer? Takuma and his team mate won outright (of course), but then were disqualified for "speeding". Autoblog's team was in second right up to the final pitstop when we were penalized for over taking on a yellow flag, but we still made...
|
More Posts Next page »
|
|
|