Modified Cars Blog » Tokyo Motor Show

Lexus LFA supercar to debut at Tokyo

Brett — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:32:18 +0000

Toyota Motor Corporation is set to give the production version of the long awaited Lexus LFA supercar its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month. Several concept versions of the LFA have been displayed at the Detroit Auto Show back in 2005, 2007 and 2008 but only 500 units of the LFA will be produced worldwide and will be sold at a hefty $375,000 each! Despite the heavy price tag, Lexus still expects to make a loss on the LFA!

The Lexus LFA will be powered by a newly developed high reving, light weight 4.8-liter V10 engine with the redline at 9,000 rpm! Lexus claims that 90% ofLFA’s torque will be available from 3,700 rpm! The V10 engine will be mated to a six-speed ASG transmission with four driving modes and a seven-stage shift-speed selector. Stopping the car will be high-performance carbon ceramic (CCM) brake discs and an electronically controlled braking system.

Suzusho Supasse V supercar to debut at Tokyo

Brett — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:34:36 +0000

Suzusho, the Japanese kit car specialist, is to debut its all-new Surpasse V later this month at the Tokyo Motor Show in Japan. The Suzusho Surpasse V with its “aluminum twin-tube monocoque spaceframe” and fiberglass body was designed by Formula 1 designer Kenji Mimura and has a few distinct styling cues from the Pagani Zonda and Ferrari Enzo! Like the Lotus Exige S, the Suzusho Surpasse V is a light weight sports car weighing in at just 1,874 lbs!

Powering the Surpasse V is a tuned 2.3-Liter DOHC turbo engine from the Mazda Mazdaspeed3 that produces a maximum power of 270 bhp at 5,500 rpm. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual transmission that is also derived from the Mazdaspeed3.

The car is expected to go on sale in the second half of 2010 with a price tag in the $50,000-$80,000.

[Source: Suzusho]

Honda S2000 going hybrid?

Brett — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:14:02 +0000

The Japan car magazine, Best Car is reporting that the recently discontinued Honda S2000 will return in 2012, but that the new S2000 will be powered by Honda’s second-generation hybrid drivetrain used in the Honda Accord rather than by Honda’s high-revving F20C 2.0-Liter engine. What will probably disappoint fans of the original Honda S2000 more is the news that car will also be front-wheel driven rather than rear wheel drive of its predecessor, although rumors of a front wheel drive Honda S2000 have been circulating since late 2006.

Best Car also reports that the new convertible is likely to be fitted with a retractable hard-top and will be a step up from the all-new Honda CR-Z hybrid due for release in 2010. The new Honda S2000 is thought to make its debut in production form at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show and is expected to be released for sale in the first half of 2012.

[Source: Best Car via 7Tune]
[Image: Best Car]

Nissan GT-R Spec V

Brett — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:28:04 +0000

A week after Nissan unveiled the GT-R supercar at the Tokyo Motor Show last year, the company announced that a more powerful Nissan GT-R, the GT-R Spec V was on the cards. Apparently the folks at AutoExpress have uncovered more information on the Nissan GT-R Spec V. It seems the Spec V will be a massive 300 pounds lighter than the stock GT-R, while it’s VR38DETT twin-turbo engine will be tuned and refined to produce a maximum of 550 hp! That’s a massive 77 more hp with an equally substantial 300 pound decrease in weight, making the Spec V is a serious supercar with a 0-62 mph acceleration time substantially lower than blistering 3.5 seconds of the stock Nissan GT-R, which already annihilates the Porsche 911 GT3 time of 4.1 seconds! That alone should make the GT-R Spec V the supercar! No doubt, the Nissan engineers are designing the Spec V to break the Nürburgring circuit record for production cars and will be aiming at a lap time of less than 7 minutes and 25 seconds!

To accommodate the extra power, Nissan will add a wide body-kit with side skirts and splitters. The GT-R Spec V would need wider, bigger wheels to transfer the extra power to the road, and the bigger wheels would need bigger and wider wheel arches. It will also need the aerodynamic balance provide by the splitters and a bigger rear wing to provide better downforce at high speeds. The interior of the GT-R will be stripped out to reduce overall weight; but the dash-mounted touchscreen will remain. AutoExpress also speculates that more advanced features that will provide greater control of the set-up on the move will be available in the hi-tech system by the time the Spec V hits the market.

The Nissan GT-R Spec V is expected to arrive in the UK late in 2009 and in the U.S. in mid-2010. In the UK, the GT-R Spec V is expected to add £22,000 to the £55,000 price tag of the stock Nissan GT-R.

[Source: AutoExpress]

Nissan GT-R makes its U.S. debut

Brett — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:59:22 +0000

The Nissan GT-R, heir to arguably the most popular of modified cars, the Nissan Skyline GT-R, has made it to North America! Earlier this week, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn unveiled the GT-R for the first time in North America at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The GT-R made its world debut late last month at the Tokyo Motor Show and has already sparked a plethora of news articles. But let’s begin with the car itself.

The all-wheel drive 2009 Nissan GT-R follows long line of Skyline GT-R’s that date back to the 1964 Skyline GT 2000 that competed in the GT-II class at the 2nd Japanese Grand Prix. But the GT-R and the Skyline have parted ways, with the GT-R becoming a separate model in the Nissan lineup, with true supercar performance! Following in the tradition of the R32, R33 and R34 Skyline GT-R’s, the new GT-R is powered a detuned race bred, the twin-turbo VR38VETT V6 engine. The VR38DETT is based on the 3.5-liter VRH35 V8 engine that powered Nissan race cars such as the R89C, R90C and R390 GT1 and in detuned form, pushes out a healthy 480 hp at 6,800 rpm and 430 ft-lbs of torque! That translates to a blistering 0 to 62 mph time of just 3,5 seconds and a quarter mile of just 11,5 seconds! That means it’s faster to 62 mph that the Porsche 911 GT2!

But the GT-R, with its all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering, has really been built to take on the Nürburgring. A feat it has accomplished in just 7 minutes and 38 seconds during testing in September. That’s not as quick as the Porsche 911 GT2 that completed a tour around the Ring in six seconds less, or the 7.3-liter V12 engined Pagani Zonda F Clubsport with its carbonfibre chassis and body that did it in 7 minutes and 27:82 seconds!

Power is fed to all four wheels via an all-new GR6-type dual clutch paddle shift transmission and a rear-mounted independent transaxle that provides better weight distribution. The all-wheel-drive system can split torque distribution from 50-50 percent to 2-98 percent during hard acceleration, braking and cornering.

But this does not mean that the GT-R will be a handful on the road. The car comes with a special “Set-up” selection switch on the instrument panel that allows the driver to select “Normal”, “Comfort” or “R” (for Racing) settings. Each setting changes transaxle shift points, Bilstein damping rates and the vehicle dynamic control!

The GT-R was unveiled alongside the all-new 2009 Nissan Murano and will be available from the second quarter of 2008 but from a select group of Nissan dealers that meet specific and stringent certification standards. With pricing starting at only $69,850, the new GT-R is a true performance bargain! Pre-orders will taken from January 2008 so get in early! If that isn’t enough power for you, you can always wait for the 2010 Nissan GT-R Spec V that is currently under development and is expected to be available from the second quarter of 2009!