This concept vehicle, called the GT-R Concept, debuted at the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show in October.
The official statement from Nissan is it'll continue building the GT-R into the next century, providing the ultimate driving pleasure to even more people worldwide. In its next generation, Nissan is looking to introduce the GT-R in overseas markets.
This means the next generation GT-R, which should look very much like this concept car, will be sold in America. Whether or not it'll land in the Nissan line-up or in the Infiniti camp is still unclear, but the twin-turbo engine and all-wheel drive that made the Skyline legendary will remain.
Other features on this concept car we expect to see on the production version are the funky headlights, the metal spin which runs the length of the headliner and that very cool hood scoop.
As we learn more, we'll let you know. Tune in next month for more coverage of the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show.-Scott Oldham
Tommi's New CarIn the car-eats-car competition for the great alpha male of the automotive universe, Mitsubishi's Evos are always near-or at-the top of the food chain. And among the Evos, the dominator's silverbacks are the factory's World Rally Championship cars. In October, those racecars got even stronger.
To keep its Lancer Evolution competitive, Team Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart moved its cars from Group A specification to full-blooded World Rally Car spec for the second half of the 2001 season. That means the engine has been repositioned for better weight distribution and there's greater wheel travel.
While the drivetrain is fundamentally the same as the Group A Evo, the WRC's reconfigured intercooler lowers charge temperature and its reshaped intake and exhaust manifolds improve throttle response. It also reduced the mass of the reciprocating assembly and took some weight out of the overall engine package.
For better stability, it stretched the wheelbase and switched to MacPherson struts for more suspension travel. (A look at the struts shows there's more money in those babies than anyone working for this magazine has in their house.) In order to bolster ruggedness and increase stability, there are also a lot of other changes to suspension geometry. Lessons learned in WRC competition have been reflected in production Evos in the past, and there's no reason to think that tradition won't hold for this latest series of mods.
Malibu CruiserSomewhere underneath all this fiberglass is a humble Chevrolet Malibu sedan. Yep, the Malibu-a car we'd forgotten was still in production.
Built for display at the 2001 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show in Las Vegas, the "Malibu Cruiser" has been tweaked with absolute fervency and features a reconfigured interior, a turbocharger wheezing into its 3.1-liter OHV V6 and enough exterior fiberglass to keep Hawaii in surfboards for a decade.
Is that enough to propel the Malibu to the forefront of our automotive consciousness? Um, uh, er...what car were we writing about?
IS300 Pace CarThe Team Lexus IS 300 racecars aren't the only Lexus sedans zooming around racetracks; the company also supplies pace cars to the CART Champ Car series.
The IS 300 pace car is packed with a prototype TRD supercharger (with an intercooler) and a customized suspension. The result is a 304-hp sport sedan that can pace a field of Champ Cars.
TRD is putting the finishing touches on a production supercharger unit that'll be available through the catalog, but won't include an intercooler. Output from that blower isn't set yet, but it'll be lower than the pace car. The IS 300's engine was rebuilt with lower compression to handle the stress of the supercharger, which runs at a modest 6 psi. A Motec engine management system controls the engine's functions, but the stock computer remains in place, providing functions such as speedometer and tachometer.
Brembo racing brakes and Bilstein shocks work with tweaked suspension mounts, 18-inch front wheels and 19-inch rears. The suspension is mounted in urethane bushings and the subframes are mounted to the unibody for increased rigidity. Eliminating the subframe bushings also contribute to the car's lower ride.- Dan Carney
Question Of The MonthLast year, the NHRA started its Summit Import Series, for the first time welcoming compacts, imports and front-drive machines into the competitive bosom of the world's largest, best-known and most-powerful drag racing organization. They ran six events last year and should run at least as many during 2002 (the schedule has yet to be announced at press time).
This begs the question: Is the NHRA relevant to import drag racing?Maybe you think the NHRA is just a bunch of irrelevant graybeards. Or that it's the world's drag racing authority. We want to know your answer.
E-mail sccnews@mcmullen argus.com and let us know. We'll publish five responses in the June issue. If yours is one of the e-mails selected, you'll get a Sport Compact Car license plate and a check for $1.83 written by new editor Scott Oldham.
Salt And PepperLast month we ran a report about the two Honda Civics The Progress Group set up for Land Speed Racing. During our time in Utah covering the Honda record setting runs, we discovered a few other interesting LSR racers. We thought you would like to check them out.
Rumors&Liesf,,* Nissan will move production of the Maxima sedan from Japan to its plant in Smyrna, Tenn. starting in 2003. The move will create up to 2,000 new jobs at the plant whose workforce, soon after the announced move of the Maxima, voted down an organizing effort by the United Auto Workers. Coincidence? You decide.
f,,* Upon the announcement that General Motors had taken over bankrupt Korean automaker Daewoo for $1.8 billion, some workers protested in Seoul. It seems bankruptcy may be preferable to being owned by GM.
f,,* XM Satellite Radio has launched its $9.95/month service with broadcasting for San Diego and Dallas. XM is partially owned by GM and Honda.
f,,* Honda has set itself the goal of selling one million cars in Japan during 2004. During fiscal 2002, it expects to put 830,000 cars into the JDM. The company will spend more than $425 million to increase the number of Honda showrooms in Japan from about 2,300 to 2,500.
f,,* During 2001, cars will replace computer chips as Korea's number one export to the United States. Hyundai's U.S. sales in September 2001 were up more than 50 percent from the same month in 2000.
f,,* U.S. parts maker Federal-Mogul applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October.