The GT-R just keeps on getting better and it appears as if Nissan is not planning on slowing down any time soon. This is courtesy of Nissan North America’s senior vice president saying to “stay tuned later this year for news that will electrify our legions of GT-R fans worldwide” at the 2013 New York International Auto Show. A rather innocuous statement on the surface, but if you look at that statement in a literal sense and also remember that Nissan has already planned a hybrid racer in the future, that makes you wonder if there was a more literal meaning to that statement.
Reading between the lines makes us wonder if this statement means that the hybrid system that Nissan is planning to use at the 2014 Le Mans may make its way into a production GT-R in the near future. Now we’re not talking about a hybrid system to drastically improve mpg – though it usually will just a little. Rather, we are talking about a high-performance hybrid system seen in the likes of the Porsche 918 and the Ferrari LaFerrari.
We already saw a shrunken down variant of the GT-R engine – a 3.7-liter V-6 – strapped inside the Infiniti Essence Concept with a powerful electric motor to add some extra ponies. Chances are, this concept was simply the first example of what Nissan plans to do with the existing 3.8-liter.
Imagine the GT-R with the added boost of an electric motor. We’re talking well over 700 horsepower and we are thinking conservatively here. That sounds like sweet music to our ears but also a nightmare to our wallets. Chances are that if Nissan does pull the trigger on “Electrifying” fans in a literal sense, the base GT-R would likely remain as a – dare we say – “cheaper” option.
We’ll keep you updated.
Today we decided to take a break from all those New York Auto Show debuts and start the day with an awesome report out of Japan. Sources close to Toyota have informed GT Channel that Lexus is preparing to launch two new sports cars in the upcoming future. One of the two is codenamed “Project 777L” and is slated as a successor to the SC. The second one is known as the LC 550 (Luxury Coupe) and will feature design elements from the LF-LC Concept.
The future LC 550 will be built on the LS chassis and will be offered with an all-wheel-drive system. As for the engine lineup, sources claim that Lexus will have two different possibilities: a 4.2-liter V-8 engine or a hybrid version with the powertrain borrowed from the LC 600h.
Either way, the output is reported to be somewhere in the 500-horsepower area, while the sprint from 0 to 60 mph will likely be less than 5 seconds. If the reports are true, you can anticipate a price tag somewhere in the $100k area. It will rival models like BMW 6-Series and Mercedes-Benz SL-Class.
Again, this is simply a report from a “source,” but GT Channel seems to put a ton of clout in this report. Stay tuned for more!
A few days ago, we brought you a video showing the LaFerrari Concept Manta at the Ferrari Exhibition. Manta and the Tensostruttura concept (shown here) are the two development versions of the new LaFerrari supercar that have been produced in 1-to-1 scale. It’s not that we do not like the two concept cars, but we are very happy Ferrari decided to continue improving its design language until it finally evolved to the masterpiece called LaFerrari.
Overall, Ferrari developed a total of nine different concepts for the LaFerrari before arriving at the final product. It’s a truly a unique opportunity to see this car, since most automotive manufacturers never show the development processes of their vehicles.
Let us know in the comment section below which of the two concepts you like better: Manta or Tensostruttura? We think the second one gets a little bit closer to the final product.
The Texas Mile has once again come and gone and if there was a takeaway from the weekend festivities, it’s Hennessey Performance’s show-stopping run that clearly became the news of the weekend.
According to The Texas Mile’s Facebook page, the fancily dressed Ford GT1000 managed to hit a blistering top speed of 267.6 mph at the biannual event in Corpus Christi, Texas.
267.6 mph, everybody!
If that speed is fully corroborated - and we no reason to believe it won’t be - then Hennessey’s GT has just set a new record, handily beating the 263.3 mph it set last October and the 257.7 mph top speed it did this time last year.
We expect to see an official update at any time with some more photos and videos of the Hennessey GT’s blistering top speed run.
For what it’s worth, though, big props to the fellas over at Hennessey for once again setting a new bar in man’s insatiable quest of driving faster than it ever has before.
Note: Photo courtesy of The Texas Mile’s Facebook page
UPDATE 3/16/2013: Hennessey has released the video of the record-setting run be the GT. You can see it above.
Bugatti Veyron can say “good-bye” to its supremacy in the hypercar world, as Weber announced the launch of its new supercar: the F1. Weber was founded by engineers coming from the former BMW and Sauber Petronas Formula 1 team, so they definitely know a thing or two about building fast cars.
A V-10 engine that delivers more than 1,200 horsepower and, thanks to a super-low weight of just 2,755 pounds, it delivers exceptional performance figures. The sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes less than 2.5 seconds, from 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 6.6 seconds, from 0 to 300 km/h (186 mph) in 16.2 seconds and up to a top speed of in excess of 400 km/h (248 mph). In the future, Weber plans to unveil a 1,600-horsepower hybrid variant of the F1 that uses KERS technology.
The engine mates to a six-speed, semi-automated sequential gearbox with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters and sends its power to all four wheels thanks to an in-house all-wheel-drive system.
The F1 features a full carbon-fiber chassis and monocoque. It sits on 20-inch lightweight alloys wrapped in Pirelli high-performance tires, measuring 285/25ZR20 on the front and 325/25ZR20 on the rear.
The F1 will be officially launched in April 2013; prices are available on request.
The annual Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of the most eagerly anticipated auto shows in the world. It doesn’t have the usual expo-like feel attached to other auto shows, but it’s appeal is centered on the fact that only the most exclusive of cars are present in the event.
That and the Goodwood Hill Climb.
Ahead of the public opening of the festival this July, the annual preview day was recently held and one exotic, in particular, made quite an impression: the McLaren MP4-12C GT Can-Am Edition.
Courtesy of Shmee150, the MP4-12C CT Can-Am Edition can be seen performing some ridiculous acceleration runs to complement a steady diet of burnouts performed up the event’s famous hill climb road.
One of the most exclusive MP4-12Cs in existence, the 30-strong GT Can-Am Edition is a true spectacle of the British automaker’s renowned engineering.
Seeing it perform runs like this only adds more credence to its power, speed, and overall exclusivity.
Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are arguably two of the best racecar drivers in the world right now. So you can imagine just at-home they’d feel behind the wheel of a supercar like the Ferrari 458 Italia.
Well, it turns out, they’re a lot more confident in that seat than they are riding shotgun.
This video released by Ferrari, a marketing vid if there ever was one, features the two Scuderia Ferrari Formula One racers each getting his turn driving a 458 Italia with the other in the front passenger seat.
The video was shot at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona and if there’s a big takeaway we can get from seeing Alonso and Massa inside the Ferrari supercar, it’s that when you put them in a place where they’re most comfortable, you can see how genuinely human they can be. It’s a far cry from the serious nature of Formula One and to see both laugh, curse, and fear for their lives gives us a reminder that these two are all just like us.
The only difference is they get paid to do a job that most of us can only dream of.
A design masterpiece like the LaFerrari required lots of work and tons of concept versions that never made it to production. The work on the new supercar started years ago and it evolved with each year passing by. The Concept Manta revealed in this video shows how the LaFerrari looked almost two years ago. It has been displayed at the Ferrari Exhibition where YouTube user, Marchettino, already had the chance to be.
He learned that Ferrari has developed nine different concepts for the LaFerrari, but just two have been produced in 1-to-1 scale: this F150 Manta and the LaFerrari of course. We don’t know about you, but we find Manta a pretty interesting concept and LaFerrari would still have been a cool car if its design would have remained in this stage.
Enjoy the video, as this is a truly unique opportunity, since most automotive manufacturers never show the development processes of their vehicles.
At the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, McLaren unveiled the latest addition to its lineup: the new P1 supercar. Now the company announced plans to unveil a new sports car each year. The first to arrive will be a new sports car placed under the current MP4-12C. Codenamed P13 will be a little bit more practical than the 12C; "practical" meaning it will have a trunk, of course.
The new supercar will aim at models like Porsche 911 and will be priced a little under $200k. While no other details have been revealed, it is rumored that the upcoming P13 will be powered by a de-tuned version of the twin-turbo V-8 engine used in the 12C. We expect an output somewhere in the 500-horsepower area. On the exterior, the model will be featuring design elements seen in the recently unveiled P1 supercar.
The new P13 will arrive in 2014 and McLaren hopes to to sell around 2000 to 2500 units per year globally.
Image Note: The above image is of the MP4-12C, not the P13.
Ferrari has described the LaFerrari hypercar as the "maximum expression of excellence" from the Prancing Horse, an assertion that we’re not disagreeing with by any means.
And while Ferrari was beyond successful in unveiling the LaFerrari at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, what preceded it was insane amounts of buzz, anticipation and overall anxiousness to see the hypercar live and in person.
It came with leaked photos and spy videos, things that aren’t uncommon in the industry but nonetheless drew frustration from the folks of Ferrari who tried extra hard to conceal the hypercar before its Geneva debut.
Well, the Italian automaker is making up for it with the release of a behind-the-scenes video of the LaFerrari, featuring the hypercar getting filmed for its Geneva debut. How very nice of them.
The video, which lasts for a little over a minute-and-a-half, gives us a look at what happens when an automaker makes all the preparations needed to ensure that such a hotly anticipated debut goes as well as planned. And as always, the car looks absolutely stunning, which everybody will definitely agree on.
For all who wondered throughout months regarding this hypercar, this video will more than make up for all those sleepless nights. Enjoy it the best you can, fellas.
