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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Japan , Nissan The Inside Line gang has just returned from Japan, where they performed instrumented testing on Japanese journo Jun Nishikawa's privately-owned 2009 Nissan GT-R. The test car had 1,500 km on the clock and was equipped the same way the US-spec cars will be. Boy, did it ever bring the goods. Zero to sixty came in 3.3 seconds, and the quarter mile flashed by in 11.6 at 120.9 mph. This, according to Inside Line, makes the '09 GT-R the quickest car that they've ever hooked their test equipment to. Some time is spent detailing the GT-R's launch control system, which involves flipping the transmission and damper settings to R mode, killing the VDC, and basically doing a brakestand. Once you let go of the stoppers, you get what IL describes as "crushing acceleration." The full test also touches on the car's predictably good braking and handling. You can read the whole thing here . After reading it, you're left with...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Japan , Mitsubishi , Subaru var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/motorsport/New_STI_faster_than_the_EVO_X_2'; It didn't take long for Japan's journalists to get the new STI and EVO X side by side, and the results are now officially in. Tsukuba circuit regulars Kazuo Shimizu and Manabu Kawaguchi spent an afternoon thrashing around the notoriously twisty short circuit just north of Tokyo and here (drum roll please) are the best times they could ring out of the AWD rivals: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X : 1:06:46 Subaru Impreza WRX STI : 1:05:95 So there you have it. The new engine placed further forward in the engine bay of the EVO X than in the EVO IX has indeed proven to be a handicap, while the STI's "wheel at each corner" longer wheelbase plus new double wishbone rear suspension has proved its worth. Neither car is quite as quick as its immediate ancestor though. Check out this 15 year rivalry of the EVO vs the STI as recorded at Tsukuba...
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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Japan , Tokyo Motor Show , Nissan That sound you hear are cracks forming in an embargo that's about to break wide open. Though Nissan had planned to officially unveil the GT-R at next week's Tokyo Motor Show, today's gaffe by Motor Trend in which an image of the car on its December cover was accidentally released has given other outlets reason enough to spill the beans and enjoy the ensuing onslaught of traffic. First up is AutoWeek , which has just published 11 new official images from Nissan shots taken at a media event a while back in Japan. While most are of the interior or details of the exterior, AW did include two clear shots of the entire exterior so we can more easily analyze the design. What we learn is that the GT-R will have a fairly straightforward dash design with a thick-rimmed steering wheel and large nav screen. This particular model appears to be an automatic and a (boo!), and additional shots reveal a useless back seatsurprisingly large...
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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Japan , Tokyo Motor Show , Nissan Today is October 16, but Motor Authority reports that the December issue of Motor Trend has begun arriving in some subscribers' mailboxes. What those readers will find on the cover is the first unmasked photo of the 2008 Nissan GT-R. According to MT's headline, the GT-R boasts a 0-60 of 3.5 seconds, an 11.7-second quarter mile, a 192 mph top speed, and a sub-$80K price. Motor Authority had no additional info, but we expect to see that explode onto the web in the immediate future as other outlets sitting on long-lead info react to the Motor Trend release. As for the car, it looks good to us. It essentially retains the GT-R Proto's appearance minus the Alice Cooper makeup under the headlamps. We'll wait for the information/photo avalanche to comment further, as we'd like to hear the final engine specs, too. Stay tuned for more. As you know already, we'll be in Japan next week to see the big reveal in person. We're curious...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Minivans/MPVs , Japan , Tokyo Motor Show click above image for 17 more pics of the Daihatsu Mud Master-C Concept var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/motorsport/Daihatsu_Mud_Master_C_Like_a_Dakar_support_truck_just_pocket_sized'; The Mud Master-C Concept from Daihatsu looks like a Dakar rally van that's been left in the wash too long. It's a true truck with a body-on-frame design, though. It's generous ride height and copious degrees of approach and departure angles mean that the Mud Master-C can actually go places while leaving an eency-weency footprint in its wake. Daihatsu says that there are three gullwing doors on the concept, though they're really hatches, one on each side and one on the back. The truly neat thing about the Mud Master-C Concept is that it's configurable. For instance, the mountain bike support model developed with professional cyclist Raita Suzuki (shown at right) is configured to carry a pair of bikes, but the concept can also be configured...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Japan , Mitsubishi click either image to view complete high-res gallery var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/world_news/Mitsubishi_officially_unveils_the_new_Evo_All_hail_the_X'; Though print mags bearing the new...
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Filed under: Coupes , Economy , Japan , Subaru , Toyota var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/design/Toyota_Subaru_s_rear_wheel_drive_AE86_successor_MORE_DETAILS'; More details have come to the fore about the ongoing development of a lightweight sports...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Coupes , Sports/GTs , Japan , Tokyo Motor Show , Nissan click above image to enlarge We chuckled as we saw the official image that accompanied today's press release from Nissan about its upcoming GT-R. It's a high-res studio...
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Filed under: Japan , Tokyo Motor Show , Hatchbacks , Subaru click above image to enlarge We've seen more spy shots of the upcoming Subaru Impreza WRX STi than we care to recount, but it looks like the first official image of Subie's road rocket has finally...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Japan , Hatchbacks , Subaru Click images for photo gallery var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/design/New_Subaru_Impreza_STI_revealed_in_Japanese_magazine_Pics'; If Japan's Best Car isn't BSing everyone, the car you see in the magazine...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Coupes , Economy , Sedans/Saloons , Green , Japan , Tokyo Motor Show , Mitsubishi Click images to enlarge That's right, children, there are other car shows coming up in addition to Frankfurt. In October, everybody heads to...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Minivans/MPVs , Japan , Honda Winding Road is reporting that the next-generation Honda Stream mini-MPV may be sold in the U.S. Having just been redesigned last year, the next Stream won't arrive until 2009, and even then we doubt...
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