When we first caught a glimpse of the Kids Heart Nissan Stagea R35 GT-R conversion at Nagoya Auto Trend back in March we were instantly in love with the idea. M34 Stagea’s have been giving up their mundane wagon appearances to star as R34 GT-Rs forever so it was only right that the M35 should get in on the act too.
Edmunds must have also seen the appeal because they headed to Japan to find out more.
Head on over to read the full story with photos, albeit tiny ones, at the link below…
Link: Edmunds: Nissan GT-R Wagon by Kids Heart
Edmunds, Magazines/DVD/Books
Edmunds, gt-r, gtr, kids heart, nissan, r35, stagea, wagon
The Japanese have a bit of a history of building hot wagons. Whether it’s the R33 GT-R wagon hand built by Option and Trial or the official “unofficial GT-R wagon” the Autech Stagea RS260 famous for it’s GT-R drivetrain and the subsequent R34 GT-R Masa Motorsports front end fascia swaps adapted to it later on.
Of course times change and we move on. The RB26DETT is out of production and so the Autech Stagea has become somewhat less of a buff over the stock M35 Stagea car so what can you do to fix that?
As shown here the answer was staring you in the face the whole time, this R35 front end swap on a M35 Stagea was on show at Nagoya Auto Trend this weekend. The swap seems to continue to the sides and the rear quarters are also slightly flared to keep with the theme. Overall looks to be a real solid job.
Powering these is usually the VQ35DE NA V6 3.5 litre engine in either RWD or AWD configuration so this one could easily be hiding a stroked VQ with a twin-turbo kit.
If you can’t picture what the M35 Stagea looked like before this check after the jump for a photo…
Link: Nagoya AutoTrend Website (warning, j-pop soundtrack)
Read more…
GTR News, Motor Shows
Well a big weekend is ahead of us, the SuperGT round 6 37th Annual Pokka 1000km race and the Customised Street mega tuner event both at Suzuka Circuit. Garage Defend don’t want to show up underdressed so today they received their Blitz production Nur-Spec F-Ti titanium exhaust to replace their currently standard exhaust.
Yes it looks a lot like their prototype Blitz exhaust seen at Nagoya Auto Trend in March this year but this final production version has a few unseen benefits such as actually improving exhaust flow.
More photos after the jump.
Link: Defend Racing home page
Read more…
Garage Defend
Another update with more images from Garage Defend. Someone needs to buy these guys a real camera but otherwise their car looks great and I’m sure it drew a lot of attention at the show. Looking forward to the pics from Auto Trend magazine 2008 which should be out soon.
For the rest of the images click the continue reading link below.
Link: Continue reading “Garage Defend at Nagoya Auto Trend 2008: More Images”
GTR News, Garage Defend, Tuner News
aero, carbon, carbon fiber, carbon fibre, cf, g-r, garage defend, gtr, nissan, r35
Another update with more images from Garage Defend. Someone needs to buy these guys a real camera but otherwise their car looks great and I’m sure it drew a lot of attention at the show. Looking forward to the pics from Auto Trend magazine 2008 which should be out soon.
GTR News, Garage Defend, Tuner News
aero, carbon, carbon fiber, carbon fibre, cf, g-r, garage defend, gtr, nissan, r35
Garage Defend’s Nagoya Auto Trend 2008 preparation is coming along. They’re stickering up their red R35 GT-R and have decided to paint the standard wheels gloss black. They have also modified the standard suspension to give them a lower ride and fitted up their Bride seats which we have already seen. The results look good. Also in the works are some carbon parts (grill, canards, wing) but whether we will see them at Auto Trend is unknown as it’s coming up this weekend!
Garage Defend, Tuner News
aero, carbon, carbon fiber, carbon fibre, cf, g-r, garage defend, gtr, nissan, r35
Garage Defend finally completed their goals and the car looks great. The modifications are not to everyone’s taste but the argument can be made that at least they could be functional. In the past Garage Defend have used large canards and GT wings on their track cars so this is no departure from that tradition.
When we get some more pictures we will update this post.
GTR News, Garage Defend, Tuner News
Garage Defend have taken some new pics of their R35 GT-R while fitting up their brand new carbon fiber parts they will be officially unveiling at Nagoya Auto Trend this coming weekend. On the car as of now are the GT wing courtesy of Voltex as well as some monster carbon canards and a carbon center front section for their front bar.
Also fitted to the Garage Defend GT-R is a Blitz Nur Spec F-Ti exhaust system.
GTR News, Garage Defend, Tuner News
Better late than never Garage Defend are about to delve head first into development of their new R35 GT-R. They had received a red one a short time ago and are now working on it. Amongst the planned modifications are, suspension work, Bride seats (fitted), carbon cooling panel parts and a carbon GT wing. Garage Defend are known for their premium quality carbon parts (of which I personally recommend and use) so this will be interesting.
Expect to see this car in Nagoya Auto Trend magazine 2008 which will be on sale shortly to pre-empt the Nagoya Auto Trend show on March 7th, 8th and 9th where their R35 GT-R will be shown along with their Tsukuba time-attack R34 GT-R.
We will keep track of their progress and update as time goes by.
Link: Nagoya Auto Trend 2008 Website (Warning for music)
GTR News, Garage Defend, Tuner News
