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2012 Nissan GT-R Gold Usain BoltRecently, the world’s fastest man - Usain Bolt - stopped at Nissan’s GranDrive testing track and Yokohama headquarters where he tested the GT-R. After his little test drive, he was so impressed with the car that Nissan decided to build him a special GT-R painted in gold. This unique GT-R will be auctioned to raise funds for the kids. This special GT-R features Bolt’s signature embossed on it and comes with a number of trim pieces finished in real gold. The auction will be held on eBay and full details will be announced at the end of October. When talking about the experience he had with the GT-R, Bolt said: "it was wonderful. We came in and we had a lead car, and we were trying to push him to go faster in the GT-R, and he kept on pushing and pushing until he decided that he was going to just go past him. So, we had a good time coming in. It was exciting for me. Today at the track, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. I really enjoyed it. I tested two different types of GT-Rs – a sports one and a more luxury one. So, for me, it was really exciting. I can’t explain, it was just joy for me because I like speed and I really enjoy driving fast. So for me to be in the GT-R, as safe as I know it is, and to go as fast as I can go was a wonderful feeling."
Breast Cancer Awareness Month: TopSpeed’s Top-10 Pink Cars of 2012 
There’s one time each year when no grown man worries about walking around wearing or driving something pink and that is during Breast Cancer Awareness month. Even in the NFL, grown men are beating the hell out of each other rocking pink gloves, socks, or other random pink things. Well, the equivalent of strapping in a pink mouthpiece in the automotive industry is tossing a coat of pink on your car. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, TopSpeed is checking out all of the pink cars we have seen in recent years and laying them out for you, top-10 style. In this contest, we need to look into the dedication of the pink coloring (real or wrap), the overall car coolness factor, and, of course, its raw power. Fortunately for us, driving a pink supercar is nothing out of the ordinary, so we have tons of entrants to choose from. If we skipped one of your favorites, let us know in the comments section. Click past the jump to start our top-10 countdown to the best pink car of 2012. Full story Video: Godzilla Clips an Eagle at 140 mph on the `Ring
The Nürburgring, we’re sure, has seen plenty of animal casualties throughout its life span. Many of deer, squirrels, rabbits, and other fauna have likely tried their luck crossing it, only to be met by the front splitter of many supercars. This time around we get to see a little bit different of an animal meet a high-speed vehicle, as an eagle of some sort – hopefully not bald – decided to soar into the flight pattern of a Nissan GT-R as it circled the `Ring. The predatory bird smacked the top passenger side of the windshield while the GT-R was going roughly 140 mph and flew right over the top of the car. The thud alone is telling of exactly how hard the bird hit and the damage to the glass in the pictures shows you that the bird was likely not in great shape after this battle with Godzilla. “Ouch” is an understatement for this one. 2013 Nissan Juke-R by Shpilli Villi Engineering
So what’s a car buff to do when Nissan completely crushes your dreams of ever owning a Nissan Juke-R by building only a handful of them and charging €500,000 ($649,550 at the current exchange rate) for it? Build your own, silly. Then build more, market it, and hope to God that Nissan doesn’t sue you into bankruptcy. Well, this is exactly what Russian Company, Shpilli Villi Engineering, has done – well, almost. So far Shpilli Villi has only built a one-of model and it’s downright ignorant. This custom-built Juke-R features the GT-R’s 3.8-liter V-6 engine, but Shpilli Villi fitted it with a pair of HKS turbochargers and what sounds to us like the GT-R’s transmission and driveline too. This is good for a whopping 700-plus horsepower on regular pump gas or over 800 ponies when you manage to get a little 109-octane petrol in it. This one-off Godzilla-meets-Juke features a coat of white paint – unlike the official Juke-R – a set of monstrously wide rims, wheel flares and a center-dump exhaust that produces all sorts of awesome tones. Though the images are a little scarce and the videos don’t show much of it, you can make out that this Juke-R does boast at least the instrument panel from the GT-R, but reports indicate that it has the entire GT-R interior. What’s best is that the creator of this monster took it to the Nürburgring and let it loose, all while taking plenty of videos for us to see. We’re still trying to dig up more information on the vehicle, but at this point there isn’t much available on it. The only other bit of information we have is that Shpilli Villi will be building and selling these Juke-Rs to customers. Hit the jump to see the video! Full story 2013 Nissan GT-R laps Nurburgring in 7:16 It looks like the Nissan-Porsche war is far from being over. Just yesterday, Porsche announced that their upcoming 918 Spyder supercar had lapped the Nurburgring in an amazing 7:14, and today, Nissan is coming out with their own lap time. The fastest, official Nurburgring lap time of the current Nissan GT-R was 7:24, but it looks like the 2013 GT-R is working with something even better, scoring a Nurburgring lap time of 7:16! No official details on the time have been released just yet, but according to Bridge to Gantry, a 2013 GT-R with Nismo lightweight wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes (yes, like those seen on the Track Pack) was testing at the Green Hell. The best part is that Toshio Suzuki, the record-breaking test driver of Nissan, was behind the wheel. We expect to see an official confirmation of these results soon, as sell as a video of the event. Stay tuned!
Video: Forza Horizon - Behind the Scenes Episode 1Forza Horizon will be making its official debut on October 23rd, but until that happens, Turn 10 Studios is providing us with a series of videos showing behind the scenes images of the upcoming game. In Episode One, you get to meet some of the creators of the game and learn what makes Forza Horizon such an incredible new expression of the Forza series. The video also presents the beauty that is Colorado, the unadulterated joy that is night racing, and lots of cool details to whet your appetite for the game. If you can’t wait until October, the game is now available for pre-order, so you can set yourself up for getting in with the likes of the 2013 SRT Viper, the 2012 BMW M5, the Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, and the Ford GT, among many others. Stay tuned, Episode Two will be available soon! 2010 - 2011 Nissan GT-R by Romeo Ferraris
Romeo Ferraris is the kind of aftermarket tuner that you really don’t want to mess with. Instead of spending their hours giving their programs styling makeovers, the Italian tuner prefers to spend their time building performance upgrades. No flash here, fellas; just straight up, hardcore aftermarket performance improvements. Their latest program is for a car that really needs no introduction. Heck, it even has arguably the coolest nickname in the entire industry - "Godzilla," aka the Nissan GT-R. Based on the 2010 and 2011 models of the Japanese super car, Romeo Ferraris prepared a two-stage performance kit for the almighty GT-R. The first stage of this impressive performance upgrade involves the removal of the car’s standard air filter and replacing with a new programmable module with three pre-set power settings - Normal, Sport and Race - that owners can set from their car’s steering wheel. What this does is improve the GT-R’s performance numbers from its 3.8-liter V6 engine from 485 horsepower to 525 horsepower for the 2010 model and from 530 horsepower to 576 horsepower for the 2011 model. From there, Romeo Ferraris also came up with a Step 2 program, which now involves a new high-performance exhaust, a remapped ECU unit, and the aforementioned new air filter, rounding out an output that’s further increased to 570 horsepower for the 2010 model and 622 horsepower for the 2011 model. Careful not to leave out any aero enhancements on the Japanese super car, the Italian tuner also provides aesthetic and aerodynamic upgrades, including carbon fiber aero components, a new set of alloy wheels, and a custom bespoke interior. Video: Switzer R1KX “Red Katana” Ripping up the Quarter Mile
So, we have already had a quick look-see at the Red Katana GT-R a few weeks ago and we were pretty impressed at how it looked on paper. Now we actually get a good look at it in action, as it runs down the quarter mile boasting all 1,000-plus horsepower when on pump gas and 1,300 horsepower on race gas. This monster rips off an impressive time at an unthinkable speed from a street car. To boot, this car is a whopping 300 lbs heavier than the model you can pick up at the local Nissan dealer. It’s hilarious and impressive to watch the above video for two key reasons. The first reason is that a more “street-friendly” car is in the lane next to the Red Katana and takes off well before the Katana does. Within a blink of an eye, the Katana takes off and reels in the other car like it was stopped. It is simply astounding. The second part, which carries even more weight, is the slip delivery. An older gentleman that probably delivers 10-second slips all day every day and likely is not too often impressed, was overwhelmed by the numbers this beast pulled. The driver then alerts the man that the car is not only street legal, but also weighs 300 lbs more than a stock GT-R. The slip delivery man has a few choice words of astonishment for the driver’s efforts. You may want to make sure the kids are out of the room, the ending has a little salty language. By salty, we mean a few Eff-bombs… Enjoy...and try not to drool. Chō Soku Henkei Gyrozetter is the modern-day Transformers
In the land where the Transformers were born - no, we’re not talking about Cybertron - a new robot franchise is set to be born and it’s serving notice to everyone that they’ve got the perfect car-to-robot set-up that could potentially replace Optimus Prime and company. It’s called Chō Soku Henkei Gyrozetter - no idea what that means - and the early renderings of the characters show some definite promise, particularly the licensed vehicles that are expected to be part of the franchise. Check out the photos and you’ll see that there’s a Toyota GT 86, a Mazda RX-8, a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO, and the Godzilla itself, the Nissan GT-R. Created by Square Enix, the people behind the Final Fantasy video game franchise, Chō Soku Henkei Gyrozetter was first launched recently as an arcade game with an animated film version set to be released later this year. No word on yet on whether this new animated franchise will head outside Japan, but from the looks of things, we’re expecting a lot based on what we’ve already seen. 2013 Nissan GT-R Facelift will have to do until Next-Gen GT-R in 2018
The Nissan GT-R will thankfully not be the one trick pony we were all lead to believe a few months ago. Nissan has already confirmed that the company is indeed planning a new generation sports car, but that it won’t arrive for at least another five years. Wipe the tears and stifle the grunts because they’re at least going to throw us a bone with a new facelift for the 2013 model year. The 2013 Nissan GT-R will feature significant changes to the exterior design and the engine, which is a good thing considering the long wait ahead of us for the new generation. The 2013 model year will also mark the GT-R’s sixth anniversary, making an extravagant facelift something of a certainty. All we know as of right now is that it will feature a new bumper and new headlamps. Hopefully, there’s a lot more up Nissan’s sleeve, As for the next generation, Kazutoshi Mizuno - chief engineer and product specialist of the GT-R - said that Nissan is watching the development of the upcoming Acura NSX closely since Honda has already announced that their hybrid NSX will lap the Nurburgring faster than the GT-R. That direct hit to the GT-R should light a fire under Nissan’s rear end to make their next generation bigger and badder. Part of that more extravagant package should be a new and competitive hybrid system. | Find us on Facebook | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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