Breaking news! Nissan GT-R Spec-V has been priced. Or at least better “guesstimated”. Earlier consensus had been that GT-R Spec-V’s release date would be delayed for various reasons, including the current world economic downturn. Good news is that it hasn’t. Bad news is the initially speculated price has gone up in real terms.

From a 13,000,000 Yen prediction to what is now 15, 000, 000 Yen (about USD 154,000 today or 122,500 Euros), the Spec-V is not exactly el cheapo. We certainly don’t expect it to be, but hell, a little bit of affordability would be welcome. The car is expected at NISMO 2008 Festival in a couple of weeks, so a live visual will make our palms even sweatier. First deliveries will happen in February 2009 after an “official” release date of January.

The GT-R Spec-V will sport more power, less weight, more carbon fiber, more performance as the road-legal track version of GT-R. Read the rest of this entry »

The Toyota and Lexus modifying veterans at Five Axis have put together a seriously hot-rodded Lexus GS 460 for the SEMA show. Following up last year’s IS F concept, the Troy Sumitomo-designed super sedan was revealed on Tuesday. As the teaser illustrations hinted, the Five Axis GS 460 features a widebody kit housing massive 20-inch offset wheels, 8.5 inches up front and 10.5 at the rear. Custom-formatted PPG paint contrasts with the blackout wheel trim.

That striking bodywork is wrapped around a lowered and stiffened suspension, and Five Axis has added a big-brake kit and custom fabricated exhaust as well.

The GS 460 shares display floor space with last year’s IS F concept, which has returned with more power, as well as a range of F-branded Lexus modification products. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a reason German engineering is considered one of, if not the, best in the automotive world. It’s because you have some of the world’s greatest engineers devise a vehicle like, say, the Porsche GT2 and then, along comes a tuner like Dortmund-based 9ff, with its own crew of lab coats, and “optimizes” the results.

The head of that team is 9ff owner Jan Fatthauer, who himself oversees development, and with extensive modifications the 9ff GT2 670 reaches a maximum horsepower of 670 (hence the name) and top torque of 800 Nm (that’s 140 and 120 more respectively compared to the serial model).

The engineers (we can call them lab coats. lab rats, or worse but we have to be respectful here, after all, they’re the ones who make these machines we love) call the tweaks they put to the specially constructed V670 turbochargers “variable turbine geometry”. What does that mean?

• Air inlet system with 9ff manifolds
• In-house racing headers
• 100-cell sport catalytic converters
• Titanium mufflers with driver-adjustable sound

Yes, the driver can adjust the sound from a “close-to-production” sporty sound to a “powerful” racing sound, which one has to take to mean very loud. They’ve also done some jimmying of the clutch and suspension. You can read the press release for those details.

Final numbers: 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 9.8 seconds, 0-300 km/h in 25.8 s.

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German tuning firm JMS has taken a more discreet approach with their Audi A5 tuning kit compared to their recent Audi A3 Sportback. The new Audi coupe starts with the JMS Racelook body kit which includes a front bumper lip spoiler (Euro 269) which sits only 3cm closer to the ground, side skirts (299 Euro) and rear apron (Euro 259) with diffuser look that is a perfect fit with the standard bumper fascia. For the S5 look JMS has also created a stainless steel exhaust system with 4 oval tips which JMS says provides a little more horsepower and torque. JMS is planning to make available the same Racelook kit for all S5 and S-line models.

For the chassis JMS has added H&R lowering springs (EUR 239) which drop the front end by 40mm and the rear by 35mm. The springs are compatible with the standard Audi shock absorbers. In the footwear department JMS has fitted 3-piece racing wheels 9.5×20 and 10×20 with 255/30R20 Dunlop tires (Euro 5699).

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The good folks at Kahn Design have been kind enough to send WCF these initial photos of their first Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. Admittedly, there’s not much in the way of actual body and performance upgrades, but Kahn keeps it simple with their first 599 project. Here they have added a lowered suspension, volume enhanced exhaust system and 20- and 21-inch Kahn Design F1-X Carbon wheels front and rear respectively, but the photos are quite nice.

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German tuner A.R.T. has named its latest idea the MAMMUT, which is translated as MAMMOTH and you can see why. Appropriate because of size association but also because of current attitudes toward SUVs of this size, the GL could very well go the mammoth way. Before that though, treatment from A.R.T. is fitted to Mercedes-Benz’s GL-Class to the max; only the engine has received minimal work. The A.R.T. MAMMUT differs from standard dealer cars in a number of areas, so we’ll start from the exterior.

The MAMMUT holds its own looks-wise by going very aggressive, incorporating broadened front fenders, LED headlights, large nostriled air inlets, cornering lights and fog lights. As a consequence, MAMMUT by A.R.T. looks very purposeful upfront.

Rear lights are also LED and feature a function that illuminates them when any of the doors are open, which is a good safety precaution. Enhancing the look backside is an integrated rear diffuser, four-pipe hard-chrome tail pipes with A.R.T. logos and an integrated roof spoiler. Illuminating for passengers too, are the STEPLIGHTS which light up the running boards for easy access into the cabin area.

A sports steering wheel makes for quite an attentive driving experience and interior appointments are sharpened by a choice of the following combinations: leather/fine wood, leather/leather, leather/alcantara, or leather/carbon fiber.

So far only cars marked “CDI” have been completed, with V6 and V8 models lined up for treatment later. A.R.T. promises a 20% increase in speeds for the MAMMUT over the standard vehicle, yet fuel consumption is kept in check. Read the rest of this entry »

California based tuner, Vorsteiner, is broadening its’ horizons with a new venture into Japanese brands. Not to alienate its current German car clientele which focuses on Porsche, Mercedes and BMW, Vorsteiner has created a new brand named Ventross to house all of its future endeavors in high performance vehicles from Japanese brands. And already, the Ventross name takes on the Lexus IS-F.

The offerings are lean but it’s a good start by offering in dry carbon fiber a front lower bumper spoiler and luggage lid with integrated spoiler which is 50% lighter than the standard lid assembly. An add-on carbon fiber rear diffuser complements the luggage lid while cleanly accommodating the stacked quad exhaust tips. Lastly, a 3-Piece forged aluminum wheel set will also be available in 19 & 20 inch sizes (not shown).

In 2009 Ventross plans to build a full carbon fiber aerodynamic & light forged wheel package for the Nissan GTR. Read the rest of this entry »

Kicherer has realised the value of absolute power by putting in some outstanding work into a Mercedes-Benz CL 65 AMG. The car is Benz’s finest work as far as the coupe body type is concerned, already sporting a nice 612 hp/ 450kW V12 of two turbos and 1000Nm. Kicherer was never going to be satisfied as any power-hungry world car fan would know, and so decided to up the game a little. Later on that.

For the exterior they chose a few changes, headlined by 9 and 10 x 20″ Kicherer RS-X lightweight wheels, carbon fiber mirror shells, rear diffuser, front grille and front apron whose deflector is also of the black light stuff. The exhaust system is a mirror-finished affair with four tailpipes, and supposedly makes the most glorious of sounds.

Inside as expected the CL 65 receives velvet glove treatment, from the alcantara ceiling, carbon intarsia, to the nappa leather seats, and handmade hand-worked shag pile carpet for the back. And now for the numbers you want. Kicherer has managed to squeeze out 38 more stallions out of the engine to give it a well-rounded 650 hp/ 486kW and oak-pulling 1200Nm. A rear diff lock helps plant it firmly on tar. For that you get 0 - 100km/h in 4.2 seconds and a limited 320km/h for your top end.

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The BMX X6 is a tricky vehicle to classify. In photos, it can look like a hot-hatch on steroids. Up close, you see the SUV in the vehicle. It’s dimensions are even larger than the X5 and the only thing that cramps its cargo room to make it less than the X5 is the sloping hatch - a styling cue that makes the X6 unique and hard to pin down.

Of course, the term-du-jour is Crossover, which is what Hamann-Motorsports uses to describe the X6. But their treatment is a little more adventurous than that. Hamann boosts the X6’s 3.5i gasoline/petrol version from 306 to 360 hp and the 3.5d (diesel) from 286 hp to 320 hp. Cranking power is also considerably elevated by 140 Nm to 540 Nm in the 3.5i and taken to a massive 660 Nm in the 3.5d from a previous 580 Nm.

On the outside, Hamann offers the option of 23-inch rims, in need of 315/25R23 tires. Oh, and the price tag for just the four wheels is 9,385 euros. Yes, this is an audacious tuner that also messes with the BMW sound with a four-pipe exhaust system that gives the X6 a more grounded sound.

The tuning kit also comes with a collection of spoilers and skirts and the interior gets a once-over with special carbon-fiber materials too. But Hamann is a performance tuner and this X6 definitely puts on a show.

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GM needs to seriously add some romance to its lineup if it is going to get out of the dire position it is in right now in the passenger car market. The Pontiac range is a good place to start and here GM has sexied up a few Pontiac models and delivered them as concept cars to SEMA, taking place in Las Vegas tomorrow.

The G8 GXP concept will feature a GM Performance Parts crate engine fetchingly named the LSX454 - a 7.4 liter engine with 638 hp and 813 Nm (600 lb-ft) of torque mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. This compares to the G8 GXP’s factory-issue 6.2 liter V8 with 415 hp and 562 Nm (415 lb-ft) of cranking power borrowed from the Corvette.

The G8 ST concept is the El Camino of 2008. If 70s retro is your thing, then you might enjoy this low-rider, transport bedded version of the G8 ST concept. You can check out the press release for details but there is nothing remarkable except for the optics which you can see in the photo.

Third comes the Solstice GXP Coupe concept, with the same 2.0 liter, 260 hp Ecotec engine found in the factory model which this SEMA version here boosts to 290 hp with the addition of an air-intake performance kit. Here GM engages in some tuner styling worthy of seeing the streets.

But, unfortunately, none of these concepts are slated for production, which leads one to deduce that this is pure eye-candy marketing on the part of GM and that it has no intention of delivering anything unique to consumers or true supercars, in the form of this G8 GXP concept, capable of competing with European models.

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