I found some pictures of Subaru Impreza Sti at Tristatetuners... WOW is all I can say. Surely Photoshoped picture, but who cares, I just love it. Hope to have something like this in my garage some day, I would sleep in garage for sure. Advan RS rims are the last piece of perfection.
Spoon Sports NSX-R with HKS GT3087 Pro Turbo. Boosted Queen of NA cars... like selling a soul to devil. Driver Keiichi Tsuchiya can handle any beast on the track.
A todos nuestros lectores de España, les comentamos que el próximo 4 de Julio, se realizará el VI encuentro de audio-tuning en la playa de la punta en San Sebastián de La Gomera.
Los eventos comenzarán a partir de horas 11, y se llevarán a cabo durante todo el día, hasta las 11 de la noche.
Los organizadores, son los miembros del club de Tuning de La Gomera, y se espera una gran concurrencia, ya que es el único evento anual de tuning que se realiza en esta isla.
Best Motoring: Battle at 10.000 rpm. Battle of NA cars. Shinichi Yamaji: 1.3L 160hp G-force City Shunei Kawasaki: 2.0L B18C spec-R 240hp SS Works CRX Naoki Hattori: 2.0L 260hp Spoon S2000 Super Taikyu Model - group N Nobuteru Taniguchi: 2.0L 250hp Redline Lexus Altezza Super Taikyu Model - group N Manabu Orido: 2.1L b18c spec-R 246hp JUN auto EK Civic Keiichi Tsuchiya: 3.2L 340hp Esprit NSX
Okay, throw the old script away. You know, the one where Mustang invents the pony car, but after a couple of hot new kids named Challenger and Camaro come to town, rapidly loses its edge.
That was so 40 years ago. Literally.
One thing is immediately clear after an afternoon...much less a week...in the 2010 Mustang GT:
Ford is serious.
The new 'Stang ought to be just a mid-cycle refresher...but it goes a big step further...it's slightly smaller, a bit lighter, handles and rides a ton better than last year's...and the interior is now a much nicer place to do business. We're talking a jump of two or three grades of materials and workmanship. And it's lighter and airier than the Challenger and Camaro, both of which tend to sit you low and cloak you in darkness.
The GT comes with those big fog lamps in the grille, leather trim sports seats, a power 6-way driver's seat, air, ambient lighting, the Shaker 500 audio system, SYNC, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel standard.
Oh, yeah...and a 325 horsepower 4.6 liter V8, which logic says ought to be mincemeat for the V8 Challenger and Camaro, but ends up being very competitive...partly due to the weight and size savings I mentioned earlier.
All that for a base price of $30,995. Sure, a six-speed manual would be better than a five, but the five shifts smoother and easier than ever before.
The one I had for a week (up until this very morning, in fact) had the premier trim with color accent (see photo above) for $395, a Security Package (another $395), a Comfort Package with heated seats ($595), and the 3.73 rear axle ($495). With destination and delivery ($850), the total tab was $33,725...a couple grand less than the Challenger.
Gas mileage? 16 city/24 highway, according to the EPA. Again, a six-speed would be nice.
A lot of the goodness in the new Mustang GT comes from last year's Bullitt package, right down to the throaty exhaust note and the chrome cue-ball shifter. Here's hoping they're not done with that franchise and that there will be a new Bullitt to raise the bar further still.
I took it to the local cruise night this past weekend...the Ford guys were all over it...and the GM and Mopar guys expressed admiration too. They talked about the styling, the interior upgrades, the engine note.
But the thing everyone dug most?
Yep...gotta love the sequential turn signals. Tells the guys in lesser cars where to follow.
Write this down...if pony cars survive at all, Mustang's here to stay.
Note: The Mercury Milan is gone, just like all of Mercury. However, the Ford Fusion Hybrid is virtually identical apart from some cosmetics. Until we get a Fusion Hybrid to review, we'll roll with the Milan.
I've said it before...the real game in hybrids isn't in small cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight that are born economy machines...it's in the conversion of larger, more thirsty vehicles and getting great mileage from them.
Here's a surprise (at least it was to me): The Mercury Milan Hybrid blows those three away.
The EPA mileage estimate (41 city/36 highway) is enough to pole-vault over that trio (as well as the Insight) for second place on the TireKicker Top Ten Fuel Savers (clickable list in the right column of this page, just below the TireKicker Top 20 Cars (So Far).
But EPA estimates...you know...even the new, improved ones...you can't really trust 'em....they're estimates...not Gospel.
For the Milan Hybrid, they're low.
Nothing on that sheet says that I should have been able to do a 40 mile roundtrip in town (one-third freeway, two-thirds surface streets) and get 45 miles per gallon. But I did. Or the Milan Hybrid did, anyway. And I wasn't playing the game...just trying to get a library book across town before the branch closed and I owed a fine. Which means if anything, I was driving a little less than eco-conciously.
Didn't seem to matter.
How do I know how I did on one trip? Well, that's the other cool thing (besides sheer mileage) aoout the Milan Hybrid...its new LCD instrument cluster looks more like something from a high-end laptop than a Dearborn dashboard...and it serves up interesting and useful information...including your mileage from the moment you turn the car on until you shut it down. Trip after trip. Want to know more? Watch this Ford-produced video:
I put 300 miles on the Milan Hybrid in a week's worth of driving. I handed it back to Ford with half a tank of gas and a distance to empty reading of another 300.
$27,500 gets you into a Milan Hybrid. My tester had a package including Moonroof, a 12-speaker Sony audio system, a driver's vision package, the "Moon & Tune" package (moonroof and audio), blind spot detection, a rear-view video camera and rear spoiler. Package price: $3,735, minus a $660 Rapid Spec discount. This one also had a nav system ($1,775).
Leather seating? Standard.
Anyway, with $725 destination and delivery charges, this bottom-lined at $33,075. Ditch the moonroof and nav system and you're under $30K. Buy the Ford Fusion Hybrid (essentially the same car) and the base price is $230 less.
Comparably equipped, the Camry and Altima Hybrids still cost a bit less...but the story of hybrids thus far has largely been about people paying a premium for the highest gas mileage. If you're looking for an excuse to go green and buy American, it's just arrived.
Ayrton Senna, a legendary Brazilian professional racer, testing at that time- new Honda NSX-R at Suzuka race track.
Ayrton Senna (1960-1994) was quick and aggressive driver, with 3 titles of Formula 1 champion. He won 41 out of 162 F1 races. He died in Imola F1 race in 1994, when he tragically lost grip in a corner, crashed into a wall at high speed. Although I was 7 years old, I remember that day, sitting with my dad on a couch, watching TV... Still remember tears of everyone at that race and I won't forget ever my dad's words, when he sait that F1 lost the greatest driver there ever was and will be. And many people still believe that Senna really was the greatest of all times.
Fujita Engineering RX-7 is a monster I posted a video about it. Here are some nice pictures of Fujita Engineering RX7 on touge race, looks really hot, boosted rotary engine sounds dangerously serious.
JDM Insider:Respect to drifting girls, some of them even have children. How cool is a kid with mom who's got drifting skills? -My mom makes the best pancakes -My mom makes the best apple pie -Well my mom does an one-hand 180 turn drifting any time
Breaking a top speed record. Rear spoiler increases air resistance and top speed, but it also decreases downforce and grip, so car can fly... Crash happened at 330 Kph (205 Mph)
Rumors say good stuff is coming in U.K., Mugen version of new Honda Civic Type R FN2. Very good news for all Civic Type R enthusiasts. They are mostly disappointed with current CTR FN2 for EU market. Bad stability caused by bad rear suspension setup. For saving production costs, Honda decided to install torsion bar for it's OEM FN2, it turned out to be a big mistake... JDM Civic Type R FD2 is better in every way., not to even mention it's Mugen version FD2R. Looks like Honda bosses are starting to worry for Europeans, so U.K will get FN2 tuned by Mugen Japan. Engine will probably be the same as in JDM Civic Mugen RR with 240 bhp. Now the bad news: Mugen will only make 100 pieces of FN2 and the price about £40000 is not cheap at all. Mugen always does the best job with Honda, we can aspect interior with hot carbon fiber accessories, brutal exterior and improved performance in every way, but all the secrets will be revealed in the next couple of months, stay tuned for more news.
For 26 years, my favorite piece of automotive journalism has been Brock Yates' "Escape From Baja" in the July 1983 Car and Driver (you can download it as a full-color .pdf here...and you really should...scroll to the bottom of the linked page and click on the image).
I mean, really...what could be more fun than 9 frequently inebriated American writers and a photographer driving 8 midsize sedans through inhospitable territory, Biblical weather and (in the case of one of the cars) halfway through a cow before abandoning the trip...and more than $100,000 worth of loaned press vehicles...south of the border (where current press loan documents specifically forbid taking testers)?
Not having BBC America, I missed Jeremy Clarkson'sTop Gear review of the Ford Fiesta until Jalopnik posted it today. If you haven't seen it, trust me...it's worth the 11 minutes it will take to watch it...and the hour you'll spend watching it again with friends. It's epic automotive journalism and great TV.
Of course, Pontiac doesn't really build the G8 GXP...it comes to them from GM's Australian division, Holden. But it looks, feels and goes like what Pontiacs from the glory days (1961-1970) spoiled us into expecting.
It's too late now...GM having announced that Pontiac's a dead division. The only 2010 Pontiac will be the Vibe...not because they'll just make that, but because it was an early 2010 model and has been on sale for months.
And GM's new boss (for now, anyway) Fritz Henderson, has repeatedly swatted down proposals from inside and outside GM that the G8 live on as a Chevrolet.
Let's just cut to the chase: This is the best car General Motors sells. It may be the best car GM has ever sold. It certainly is in the top 3.
Quality materials and assembly, an all-business 6.2 liter V8 with a six-speed automatic...it's a four-door GTO. It's the car domestic car buyers would buy instead of a BMW 5-series if there were such a thing as domestic car buyers who wouldn't dream of buying an import.
It's $37,610...and if you stopped right there and didn't order a single option, you'd still probably have the best car in town.
In fact, the tester I had for a week had only one option...a $900 moonroof that had I been playing with my own money would never have made it onto the car. It would have kept the sticker price under 40 grand ($1700 for the gas guzzler tax and $685 in destination charges add to that otherwise reasonable base price).
And yes, it guzzles gas...at least by modern standards. 13 city/20 highway is what the EPA says and they're probably right and it took a six-speed transmission to make it that good.
But folks, what we're talking about here is probably the last true American big muscle sedan. And after decades of disappointments, it needs to be noted that on the way out the door, Pontiac got it absolutely right.
Chrysler, which watched its domestic competition (now-defunct minivans from General Motors and Ford) wither away and die, still has competition in that arena...from itself.
You see, the Chrysler Town & Country is really just a loaded Dodge Grand Caravan. And that means it's also a slightly different-looking, differently outfitted Volkswagen Routan (and tragically for Chrysler, VW got the looks and the materials).
And given that the Town & Country Limited starts about nine grand higher than the Grand Caravan, the sell gets real tough real fast.
Loaded with what I hope was everything, the T&C I tested for a week bottom-lined at $44,205. If it's not everything, then Chrysler's way too close to 50 large for comfort.
The Town & Country is by no means a bad ride (you can read my review of the Grand Caravan for details...the vehicles are so similar), and if you prefer it to the competition, both within and without the Chrysler/VW alliance, then you should get one.
But do yourself and your bank account a favor and shop around...see if you can find one that came in from a newly disenfranchised Chrysler dealer at a fire sale price. Under $40,000, the T&C starts to look a lot better.
EPA estimates: 17 city/25 highway. Five-star crash ratings for all passengers, front and side impact. Four-star rollover rating.
Hot Version International 2007 NSX tuned by US Comptech. US tuners are known for their use of superchargers, unlike NA tuning that is mainstream in Japan. Comptech specifications: engine swap: Honda C32B (290hp in stock condition) Comptech mods: Custom Supercharger, 3.0L head, headers, exhaust, Pro Shock suspension, brake kit and 4.23 final drive in 6-speed transmission. Out of 6 US tuners, Comptech NSX got maximum points from drivers Tsuchiya and Orido although lap time 1:05:00 wasn't the best. But respect to Comptech guys, perfect setup of suspension on mid-engine car is the hardest.
Amateur vs professional : Idea-reaction-done-in-5 minutes vs Months-of-preparation Subaru Legacy 2.2 4wd from Slovenia "flies" 82 feet (25m) through air. Ken Block wanna be people:)
But they are still about 89 feet shorter than Ken block himself...
Tatsuru Ichishima, owner of Spoon Sports brought their old Honda Civic EF9 to Best Motoring test. Drivers Tsuchiya and Hattori were skeptical about ages of that EF9, but bottom line of test was that performance of Spoon EF9 is impressive, especially handling and balance. In a fact, time lap of Civic was close to Civic Type R lap time. Many old cars can surprise by their performance and power, as long as they are properly tuned.
Como ya le hemos comentado, recientemente se realizó en Barcelona, una nueva edición del Salón Internacional del Automóvil, donde los coches más espectaculares de mundo se dan cita para deslumbrar a los miles de visitantes que día a día admiraron la muestra.
Algunas fotos del Salon del Automóvil de Barcelona
In my opinion some of the ricest Japan cars I have ever seen. I don't know what they do, their job is probably plowing fields on a countryside with that bumpers. Local kids must have nightmares because of those cars. It's funny how spoilers should improve handling and down-force of car... but it ain't happening here. Plus those 300 kilos of home made plastic must have really bad influence on acceleration. But hey, laughter is healthy and when you see that kind of car roaring with super-duper-2pipes-rear-muffler-fart-can-look-at-me-i'm-a-racer, don't say you don't smile:) EK or EJ... something Poor EG :( Eclipse with stickers of "hardcore" trademarks on doors... Trademarks of "hardcore" parts this Eclipse never had:s pic source: http//www.anti-rice.com
Pictures of my ex 91' Civic ED7 I found on my computer, too bad the dreams about b18 or k20 swap never came true...
If I ever finished my project with ex ED7, it would look close to this JDM EF9, but of course with b18c or K20. Super light weight of Civic HB 4th generation makes perfect platform for tuning project! Even in nowadays, check out testing of tuned Civic EF9 by Spoon Sports and see how it handles!
Nice report of Japan drifters, abusing public road for having fun drift times. JDM Insider is a collection of videos about JDM tuning scene in Japan. A view to JDM enthusiast's lifestyle and their passion in car tuning world.
Great battle of two top modded JDM Hondas S2000. J's Racing vs Amuse.
Tsuchiya in Amuse S2300 lost the battle, but is this the ultimate final test? J's Racing S2000 has advantage of better gear ration (final drive), Amuse maybe choose wrong tires and too big wheels... but who knows
GM built a reputation over the years (especially the bad years) of introducing cars that weren't quite ready and then refining them during the production run so that the final few years of a model were pretty close to perfect.
And, wouldn't you know it...the last Solstice is way better than the first. Part of it certainly has to do with the fact that the Solstice I just drove for a week was the GXP...the one with the 260 horsepower turbocharged engine. Yep, it's quick.
Plus, there's been some attention to niggling little details...the reverse-hinged trunk actually shuts on the first try now...ending the frustration of jumping out of the car, closing it again, getting back in and finding the "trunk ajar" light still illuminating on start-up.
Base price is $28,460...quite a bit more than a Miata, but again, more powerful, too. The tester was loaded up with a Premium Package (leather, steering wheel audio cotrols and Bluetooth), air conditioning (yep, it's an option), 18-inch chrome wheels, the Monsoon audio system and a rear spoiler.
Bottom line: $32,125. Not a bargain, but not bad.
And...this is a huge surprise...I beat the EPA mileage estimates by a large margin. They say 19 city/28 highway and in my mix of city street and freeway driving I saw 32.5 for the week. I've beaten the government numbers before, but not by so much. I wonder what it would've done if a six-speed manual were available instead of the five-speed.
It's not my first choice for a 2-seat roadster (the Miata wins that one based on handling, build quality and sheer fun), but if you've never driven the Mazda and love the look of the Solstice (and a lot of people do), now's the time.
I don't understand. this are all fails, what NOT to do with your Honda. Mixed Civic, S2000, Del Sol, Integra... Why destroying beautiful stock cars with soul and make this kind of crap?
Integra or DelSol?
Nice looking S2000?...
...I don't think so...
Civic EG mixed with S2000 parts... looks like albino rat on wheels to me
