Nissan GT-R is one of the most appreciated sports cars among tuners; but if you ask us, it needs no upgrades. Still, the folks over at Litchfield are offering new performance upgrade options for the GT-R that manage to take the output up to an amazing 750 horsepower.
The tuner is offering five different upgrade stages for the GT-R, with a sixth one under development and promising to raise the output to a total of 1,000 horsepower.
The upgrades include changes from small ECU recalibration or new Y-Pipe for the exhaust system up to the addition of new Turbo intake pipes or improved boost control.
The prices for the upgrade differ depending on the stage the customer selects and will range from £1,095 ($1,700) for stage 1 and up to £14,895 (about $23,000) for stage 5.
Click past the jump to read more about all the five tuning stages offered by Litchfield.
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The Nissan GT-R, Audi R8 V10 Plus and Porsche 911 Turbo S form the dream garage for any car enthusiast. In the latest episode of the Drive’s "Chris Harris On Cars" show he puts these three amazing sports cars to the test – a head-to-head-to-head test, that is.
It’s true that the GT-R has a big advantage from the start, as it is a heavily modified version by the fine folks over at Litchfield and it delivers a total of 750 horsepower. On the other hand, the R8 V10 plus delivers a total of 550 horsepower and the 911 Turbo S has just been upgraded to a total of 560 horsepower. So, if you do a little math, that’s like 1,860 horsepower in just one place! Is your mouth watering yet?
Watch the video to see what Harris thinks of the three cars. On top of the awesomeness of the cars, you also get to hear some of Chris’s iconic quotes; out favorite quote was: "packaged under-steer for the masses!"
Ever wondered if a Nissan GT-R can conquer a ski slope? We have to admit, we didn’t! But the guys over Team Icericers did, so they invited Sweden’s best Auto-Movie producer Fredrik Jönsson from Redhouse Media to shot a movie while attempting to see if this is possible.
The video was shot during two days of filming at a ski slope in Kåbdalis, Northern Sweden. The team was allowed on the ski slope only between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., this is why the filming took so long, but the result is more than impressive: the Nissan GT-R is pretty good on the snow!
The GT-R is powered by a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-6 engine that delivers a total of 545 horsepower and 463 pound-feet of torque, enough power to help it climb the snowy hills without any problems!
We’re just wondering if there is something the GT-R can’t do? It looks like no!
Every year at the Wörthersee event, Audi makes sure that its presence is felt significantly.
This year, the German automaker is presenting the “Home of quattro” and it’s got a pretty impressive concept on tap to make its debut in the form of the TT Ultra Quattro Concept.
It’s based on the Audi TT, the German brand’s resident sports car. That’s as far as similarities go because the TT Ultra Quattro Concept is more like the TT’s hotter and sexier cousin, dressed more provocatively to accentuate its sexier curves.
Sure, it’s a concept, which is a real shame, and if Audi ever decided to bring the car to production, it might have to do so at the cost of what makes this car really unique.
At the end of the day, the TT Ultra Quattro is a fantastic concept that will probably give Audi headaches should it decide to green light production. But in its current state, it’s remarkably awesome in every sense of the word.
Updated 05/08/2013: Audi unveiled new images of the TT Ultra Quattro Concept and a new video featuring Le Mans-winning driver Andre Lotterer behind the wheel. Enjoy!
Click past the jump to read more about the Audi TT Ultra Quattro Concept
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The world of motor racing has seen many cross-industry partnerships, but when it comes to Porsche’s racing history, there are two brands that are normally associated with it: Gulf and Martini.
The latter, in particular, has had a long partnership with the German automaker that dates back to 1968. Since then, Porsche racecars dressed in the iconic Martini Racing livery has become the stuff of legends.
With the Italian multinational alcoholic beverage company celebrating its 150th anniversary, it was only right to bring back its racing colors and return to racing.
And it did so with the return of the Martini livery on the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup when it competes in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Barcelona, Spain. The car itself will be driven by nine-time world rally champion Sébastien Loeb. Loeb will compete in the first two races, while a still-to-be-determined driver will take the reins of the Porsche racer at a third race later this year.
It goes without saying that Martini Racing’s involvement is not only a way of celebrating its esteemed history as one of the premier alcoholic brands in the world, but also as a hat tip to the bygone days when the two companies won multiple titles together, including a handful of Le Mans 24 hours victories.
As for the car itself, the 911 GT3 Cup is a bonafide bad-boy, built and designed for racing purposes and anchored by a 3.8-liter flat-six engine that produces 460 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque while mated to a six-speed "dog type" transmission. The racecar’s performance numbers allow it to hit 0-to-100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.9 seconds with a top speed of 193 mph.
Click past the jump to check out other vehicles dressed up in Martini Racing livery
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BMW’s involvement in MotoGP is well-chronicled, having been bestowed the title of "Official Car of MotoGP" for the past 15 years.
Seeing an opportunity to commemorate the occasion, BMW and MotoGP have partnered up yet again to present a special one-off BMW M6 to the best MotoGP qualifier at the end of the season. This particular collaboration has actually been going on since 2003, but this year, they’re upping the ante with a pretty incredible prize.
The special-edition M6, which was recently unveiled at the Spanish Grand Prix, is dressed in a fancy Frozen Black Metallic exterior to go with an equally fancy set of 20-inch matte-black, light-alloy wheels. Meanwhile, the interior of the M6 Frozen Black carries a unique combination of carbon fiber trim with leather upholstery in Merino and Sakhir Orange. Oh, and don’t forget the M multi-function seats, the heads-up display and the GPS navigation capabilities.
No performance mods were given to this unique M6, so you can expect it to be powered by a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8 engine that produces 560 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. With those numbers, the M6 is capable of hitting 0-60 mph in just 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph.
Click past the jump to check out the safety cars that have participated in MotoGP over the years.
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There aren’t very much tuners out there that have put their talents to use on the McLaren MP4-12C, but the gang over at Autodynamica decided to load up the McLaren with all sorts of exterior, interior and, most importantly, performance upgrades.
The tuner started by updating the exterior look of the MP4-12C. For this the coated the lower lip in a sharp gray. Autodynamica then turned its attention to installing a carbon-fiber lower grille bars and side-view mirrors, giving the MP4-12C a more race-inspired look. Under the hood, the customers will get a surprise in the form of a signature from F1 McLaren driver Sergio "Checo" Perez.
Our favorite part of this project, as you can likely guess, is what’s under the hood. Under here, the tuner reprogrammed the ECU and spent an exhausting – no pun intended – 10 hours installing a new Fabspeed X-pipe and high-flow catalytic converters.
After these changes, the super car now turns in an astounding 724 horsepower and 552 pound-feet of torque.
After a tune of this magnitude, you need to add some extra sticky stuff under the car. Autodynamica was happy to oblige with a set of 20- and 21-inch HRE wheels on the front and rear, respectively, wrapped in high-performance rubber.
Click past the jump to read more about the standard McLaren MP4-12C.
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Earlier this year at the 2013 New York Auto Show, Jaguar unveiled the 2014 XKR-S GT - a special edition initially intended to be limited to only 30 units, but due to high demand, increased to 50 units. Now, in an interview with Edmunds, Jaguar’s design studio director Wayne Burgess confirmed that the company plans to offer more R-S GT models.
Burgess said that the R-S GT line will become something similar to the Black Series models offered by Mercedes. He said that starting at this point, all the future models will get an "R" version, while the "R-S" version will be offered for more extreme enthusiast-focused variants. He added that the "R-S GT" badge will be used for for limited-run, hand-built special editions.
While Burgess offered no details on the next model to get the GT treatment, we expect to see it applied to either the XFR-S or the new F-Type roadster.
Click past the jump to read more about the Jaguar XKR-S GT.
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In 2011, a Subaru Impreza STi became the fastest road-legal sedan around the Nürburgring with a lap time of 7 minutes and 55 seconds. Not too fast, relatively speaking, but still, good enough to push it to the top of the model’s list of fastest times. This year a road-legal Subaru Impreza that was prepared by UK tuners, Revolution Motorstore, became the fastest Impreza around the `Ring with a lap time of 7.53.08.
This specially prepared Impreza is powered by a 2.2-liter Cosworth engine that delivers a total of 508 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque. However, the record was set on medium boost, meaning the engine delivered only about 400 horsepower.
Other changes to the Revolution Impreza include the removal of the rear doors, wider arches, a carbon-fiber hood, aluminum boot and thinner glass. The car sits on 19-inch OZ Superturismo LM alloy wheels combined and comes to a stop by way of Tarox 10-pot brake calipers.
Check out the above video to see the Impreza Project STi in action.
See more of the Impreza Project STi after the jump
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A few months ago, rumors started floating around about an entry-level, rear-wheel-drive sports car in GM’s lineup that would target models similar to Scion FR-S.
Now, in a recent interview with Automotive News, General Motors North America President Mark Reuss revealed that he would like to see a lightweight, rear-wheel-drive sports car in Chevrolet’s lineup.
Reuss told Automotive News "A really nice, light, rear-drive car that’s inexpensive - we know that rings a bell. That would be a huge win for us if we had that." However, such a model is still not on the drawing board, but GM already played with the idea when it unveiled the Code 130R Concept at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show.
If built, the new sports car will not be developed on GM’s Alpha platform; instead, GM is considering a platform that is "really scaleable and efficient." The model will also not feature the same design language we have seen in the Code 130R because it is "already dated."
Click past the jump to read more about the Chevrolet Code 130R Concept.
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