Archive
Mine’s Release Carbon Grille for 2012+ GT-Rs
Improving on the look of the new DBA-R35 is tough but Mine’s don’t back down from a challenge. Following in the path laid down years before for the CBA-R35 Mine’s have firstly tackled the grill to add a splash of carbon to the front end.
This wet carbon grille replacement is a straight fit item that will go on without modifications. It’s slightly different from standard in that it features three fins that give it a slightly aggressive appearance. It comes pre-applied with a UV protecting clear coat and will set you back around the 59,000 yen mark in Japan.
Link: Mine’s Official Website (English)
FIA GT1 2011: Follow Nismo GT1 Driver Michael Krumm’s Video Diary
I think it’s great Nissan are improving the visibility of their FIA GT1 teams with more and more of this kind of social media. Michael Krumm is a fantastic ambassador for Nissan Motorsports in Japan, Europe and all over the world. This year he drives for the JR-Motorsports team in the #23 GT1 spec Nissan GT-R.
Take a tour with him from round 1 of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season at Abu Dhabi where he’ll take you behind the scenes. Introduce team mates and other drivers and give some personal insights into the cars performance of late.
Link: Nissan’s Youtube Channel
AMS Performance: AMS Alpha12 GT-R Updates
It’s been an interesting couple of months for the AMS Performance crew. The culmination of a lot of hard work has seen the AMS Alpha 12 GT-R see a lot of results, especially in Texas. The TX2K11 Nationals event in March saw the Alpha 12 GT-R owned by Tim Sander’s show off it’s muscle to take the first place in the Dyno Comp GT-R Class with 1069 awhp.
In the days that followed they continued to push the GT-R to the limits and at the drag strip came away with another new record – a 9.1 @ 159mph pass. Despite the tune not being fully ironed out the Alpha 12 is still the quickest GT-R around.
There’s quite a lot of other GT-R happenings over at AMS’s blog and there’s more records lined up to fall soon. Two Alpha 12 GT-Rs are getting set to run the Moscow Unlimited event coming up in September. This year it seems the GT-R crowd wont be satisfied with second place in Moscow as it was in 2010.
Looking forward to hearing more as the Alpha12 gets closer to fully tuned. You can find out more from AMS at the links below!
Link: AMS Alpha GT-R Website
Link: AMS Performance Website
Widebody GT-Rs Part I: Axell Auto
Tokyo Auto Salon saw the debut of what many consider the most radical aero parts for the GT-R ever in Axell Auto’s full widebody kit.
We can let the pictures do the talking…
Prior to their GT-R kit, Axell Auto had been primarily known for their modifications to Japanese luxury vehicles like SUVs and vans, but their GT-R kit is Axell trying their hand in the sports car realm. Axell’s fascination with the R35 started after the President of Axell purchased his GT-R and began modifying it with off-the-shelf parts.
The kit takes some styling cues from Tommykaira and features wide front and rear fenders, completely new front and rear bumper designs with a carbon fiber rear diffuser, rear wing and side skirts with functional brake ducting.
While pricing hasn’t been released, you can visit Axell’s website for pictures, video and more information.
Link: Axell Auto’s Website
In addition, Axell has enlisted GT-RR to be the first international distributor for the kit.
Link: Axell Auto on GT-RR.com
This post will be the first in a series regarding the recent widebody options that have been released for the R35. Look out for more in the coming week!
NISMO GT-R RC Race Car Debut – Now Available
After making it’s Super Taikyu debut and track debuts in 2010, Nismo has finally put the finishing touches on the production model Nissan Nismo GT-R RC race car. Coinciding with Tokyo Auto Salon 2011, the car is now officially available for customers to buy both in and outside Japan.
The NISSAN NISMO GT-R RC is the latest entry to the RC (Racing Competition) line of high performance, production model race cars developed and outfitted by NISMO. It’s built up from the world renowned, top performance NISSAN GT-R (R35) road car. The body has been lightened, fitted for slick tires and equipped with safety equipment to ready it for competition use. During the car’s development, it was entered in the 2010 SUPER TAIKYU Round 4 at Fuji, where it confirmed its high performance, reliability and durability.
Fitted with the same VR38DETT and GR6 transmission that powers the road car, Nismo aren’t giving the exact power/torque specifications away except to say that they exceed 485ps and exceeds 60 kg/m of torque. We’ve seen the GT-R RC quite a few times on here before so the special aero, carbon and race preparations are certainly not new to you.
What is news though is the price, Nismo will build you a GT-R RC to order for 20,790,000 yen or around $250k USD for a circuit ready race car.
NISMO GT-R RC Specifications:
Length | 4,650mm |
Width | 1,895mm |
Height | 1,370mm |
Wheelbase | 2,780mm |
Front track | 1,640mm |
Rear Track | 1,640mm |
Weight | 1,520kg |
Engine Model | VR38DETT DOHC V6 |
Cylinder | Bore 95.5 mm X Stroke 88.4 mm |
Displacement | 3,799 cc |
Power | over 357 horsepower @ 6,400 rpm (485ps/6,400rpm) |
Torque | over 588 N?m @ 5,200 rpm (60kgm/5,200rpm) |
Fuel Feed System | NISSAN EGI, electronic concentrated control fuel injection system |
Front Suspension | Double Wishbone |
Rear Suspension | Multi-link |
Shock absorbers | Specially developed by NISMO for high performance driving (height adjustable) |
Front brakes | Ventilated Disc Brake (rotor ø410 mm) |
Rear Brakes | Ventilated Disc Brake (rotor ø380 mmÂj |
Transmission | GR6 Dual Clutch Transmission |
Drivetrain System | All-wheel Drive |
Wheels (Fr / Rr) | specialized for 10.5J X 20 +25mm size wheels |
Tires (Fr / RrÂj | ADVAN 290/710 R20 slick tire, standard for all RC models |
Source: Nismo
TAS 2011: Axell Auto Producing Wide Body GT-R Kit for AutoSalon
In what is becoming a tradition, January’s Tokyo Auto Salon will debut another wild wide body kit for the Nissan GT-R, this time from Axell Auto. After spending 2010 clothed in the Tommy Kaira Ebrezza-R full aero kit, Axell Auto decided to get even more extreme with the GT-R than their contemporaries have so far.
While it’s not completely finished yet, the concept drawings can give you a sneak peek at how they expect it to look when it debuts in January at Auto Salon. The guys at Axell look to have the proto kit in the finishing touch stages before assembly and paint judging from these workshop pics.
The kit will have pumped front fenders, rear fenders, a completely new front and rear bumper and chunky side skirts. The GT-R’s rear wing will be replaced with a taller stylized wing as well.
What else Axell Auto will do to the GT-R isn’t clear yet but we’re looking forward to seeing the finished product, even if it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Tokyo Auto Salon runs from the 14th to the 16th of January 2011 at Makuhari Messe in Tokyo Japan.
Source: Jon Sibal’s Blog
Link: Axell Auto Website
SouthSide Performance Transmission Cooler for Nissan GT-R
Another cool product from South Dakota based SSP is this R Spec Race Transmission Cooler for the R35’s GR6 transmission. The guys at SSP have tried a lot of various solutions on the circuit and finally decided on this three part solution. Originally released earlier in the year, it’s now been re-released at a lower price point with updated availability.
On the track they were able to gather enough data to say that this is the ideal solution for keeping your trans fluid temps in check. During 10 lap sessions in 85 degree heat they saw average fluid temps of 220 – 225 degrees.
The kit comes with everything you need for a quick easy install, is available now and sells for around the $2399 mark including a 1 year warranty on parts. Hit up the link below for contact details for SSP.
The price may be going back up in the new year so check it out soon if this is something you’re looking into…
Link: SouthSide Performance Website
Willall Racing Launch GT-R Rear LSD Upgrade Kits
Here’s another good idea from Aussie workshop Willall Racing. Instead of ditching the entire rear LSD assembly for a fancy aftermarket job they’ve decided to beef the stock one up to the task. With the goal of making the OEM LSD good enough for circuit abuse they reckon they’ve achieved it with as little as their new WR35DS Rear LSD Super Lock Kit.
Given that the stock diff is a high quality, well machined 1.5 way item with solid steel assemblies to begin with – it made sense to at least have a look in this direction.
This series of hardened and heat treated differential shims is installed to adjust the pre-load on the factory diff to the owners liking. You can go from “mild” to “wild” depending on how many shims you use.
The end result is significantly more grip and an end to the inside wheel spinning during cornering. A good result for the price of just $395. Click the link below for more info…
Link: Willall Racing Website
HKS GT800 Turbo Kit – Installed and First Impressions
After hearing about the development of the HKS Turbo Kit, one particular GT-R owner closely involved with the GT-R community was privvy to some early information on this kit. As a member of NAGTROC forums, his enthusiasm for the GT800 kit brought him in contact with other GT-R owners, HKS pro dealers and HKS USA. Having been satisfied with the quality and results that HKS had seen, “Se7enGTR” was on the edge of his seat waiting for the final release of the kit.
When the day finally came, the HKS pro dealers were able to spill plenty of information over on the NAGTROC forums. They were confident that this kit would back all claims made by the HKS promo video.
Eugene from SP Engineering shared his visual comparison of the HKS GT800 kit vs the competitor’s kit and said, “The HKS GT 800 turbos seem to be capable of multiple things after simple visual comparison. This kit with proper combination of the tune and parts is capable of upto 900 WHP with quick response on our mustang dyno.”
Sean from Iveytune said, “Coming from my experience with the HKS 7640R turbos, I can assume the kit is easily capable of 800+ whp with very quick spool. These turbos have sweet spots after 24 psi. Each turbo flows 52 lbs/min and will max out around 500whp depending on the dynos. We will be testing our kit with shop car soon and will share the result with NAGTROC.”
Jotech Motosports built and delievered 2 kits to customers. Kenny@Jotech said, “We will let the customers to see the results with the kit and comment.”
Lastly, independant tuning company (i.e. not a HKS dealer) T1 Race Develpoment/InjectorDynamics, said, “As we tuned and saw the base result(600 whp 600 wtq just @ 19 psi on race gas) from one customer’s HKS GT800 GTR, we think there will be a lot of impressive results coming from these HKS turbo kits. These turbos are very responsive…”
Driving impression from the owners and the dealer testing will follow soon.
For more info on the HKS GT800 kit, please, contact the HKS prodealers at the forum:
Link: Iveytune: http://www.iveytune.com/
Link: Jotech Motorsports: http://www.jotechracing.com/
Link: ISP Engineering: http://www.sp-power.com/
Editors note: This is a guest blog from Se7enGTR, we’re pretty excited to see this HKS GT800 kit and Se7en has it fitted to his own GT-R. He supplied us with this excelent background piece but also this truckload of photos and we’re looking forward to hearing how he goes with it. – Kris
Global GT-R Nismo ST1 Spec GT-R Debuts in Altech GT Challenge South Africa
Back in September Nismo announced that they were adding an additional authorized NHPC outside of Japan that would be able to offer Nismo’s special edition GT-Rs. Global GT-R in South Africa was given this honor.
This includes not only the Nismo ClubSport Package but also makes them the first NHPC outside Japan to sell the Nismo RC ST1 race car which until now had only been seen during 2010 Japanese Super Taikyu series.
The first Nismo RC ST1 spec car in South Africa, the Global GT-R, made it’s racing debut in the Altech Challenge Series this month pit up against some serious GT cars at Kyalami Circuit. Racing in class A, they ended up in third place on the podium by the end of the day. Not a bad first day out.
Looks like the guys from Global GT-R have a full 2011 season ahead of them and hopefully they will continue to race and develop the Nismo RC ST1 car. It’s really great to see it on the track.
Source/Link: Global GT-R Website