<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- RSS generated by Radio UserLand v8.2.1 on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:38:44 GMT -->
<rss version="2.0">
	<channel>
		<title>: Nissan GT-R</title>
		<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/</link>
		<description>News and opinion about the upcoming Nissan GT-R, successor to the Skyline GT-R.</description>
		<language>en-us</language>
		<copyright>Copyright 2009 </copyright>
		<lastBuildDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:38:44 GMT</lastBuildDate>
		<docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss</docs>
		<generator>Radio UserLand v8.2.1</generator>
		<managingEditor>moderator@DrivingEnthusiast.net</managingEditor>
		<webMaster>moderator@DrivingEnthusiast.net</webMaster>
		<category domain="http://rpc.weblogs.com/shortChanges.xml">rssUpdates</category> 
		<ttl>60</ttl>
		<item>
			<title>You will never guess who blew up his GT-R transmission...</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2009/01/18.html#a2568</link>
			<description>&lt;OBJECT width=425 height=344&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/TOAXJTTc__w&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; VALUE=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; VALUE=&quot;always&quot;&gt;
&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/TOAXJTTc__w&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2009/01/18.html#a2568</guid>
			<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:27:07 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2568&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2009%2F01%2F18.html%23a2568</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Saw my first GT-R on the street... getting a ticket</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/12/24.html#a2558</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;Saw my first GT-R on the street the other day here in Austin, getting a ticket from some our finest. I don&apos;t know if the driver was speeding or not &lt;EM&gt;(I would have been),&lt;/EM&gt; but he didn&apos;t have a front plate and the cops in this state use that as an excuse to pull over sports cars. Ok, it&apos;s legally required in this state... but no matter how many times the state legislature brings the issue up for a vote the police &quot;associations&quot; put an end to it before it reaches a vote.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT color=maroon&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Question of the year&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;: is the GT-R &quot;legitimate&quot;? I&apos;m of course referring to the launch control controversy that is all over the web... where if you use it and then break your tranny you won&apos;t be covered by your warranty. And the tranny costs $20k for a replacement. Why put a feature on a car if using it voids the warranty? Fast forward the following video to the 6 minute mark for more discussion on this question.&amp;nbsp;Then ask yourself: why is this transmission so weak?&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;
&lt;OBJECT height=344 width=425&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/qqyEjMTTito&amp;amp;rel=0&amp;amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; VALUE=&quot;true&quot;&gt;
&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/qqyEjMTTito&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;hl=en&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;That brings us to the dearly-departed&amp;nbsp;4th-gen Supra TT. One of the many good things about the Supra TT was that it&apos;s tranny was almost unbreakable - at least up to 8 or 900 horsepower give or take. And the engine was built like a battleship. Remove the light-off cat in the downpipe, you get&amp;nbsp;50 rear wheel&amp;nbsp;horses. Turn up the boost and open up the intake &amp;amp; exhaust, and 500 is within easy reach. There hasn&apos;t been a car like it in the country since, and there certainly won&apos;t ever be again. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;The GT-R might have been a contender... but apparently the tranny is like glass.&amp;nbsp;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT color=maroon&gt;The GT-R&amp;nbsp;my disappointment of year&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/12/24.html#a2558</guid>
			<pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:56:26 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2558&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2008%2F12%2F24.html%23a2558</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>National Geographic GT-R docuomentary</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/10/22.html#a2535</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;National Geographic was given unprecedented access to Nissan development during the creation of the GT-R. Here is the resulting 45 minute video, in three parts courtesy of YouTube: 
&lt;P&gt;
&lt;DIV&gt;
&lt;OBJECT height=339 width=420&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k3fIrGcU6UgHPdOy3a&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; VALUE=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;allowScriptAccess&quot; VALUE=&quot;always&quot;&gt;
&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k3fIrGcU6UgHPdOy3a&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; width=&quot;420&quot; height=&quot;339&quot; allowFullScreen=&quot;true&quot; allowScriptAccess=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A href=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k3fIrGcU6UgHPdOy3a&quot;&gt;&amp;#24188;&amp;#20816;&amp;#12539;&amp;#25945;&amp;#32946; &amp;#25240;&amp;#12426;&amp;#32025;&amp;#12398;&amp;#25240;&amp;#12426;&amp;#26041;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/B&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;I&gt;by &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/RocketPunch&quot;&gt;RocketPunch&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;
&lt;P&gt;
&lt;DIV&gt;
&lt;OBJECT height=339 width=420&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k5pC6FvJMC3BkJOy5w&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; VALUE=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;allowScriptAccess&quot; VALUE=&quot;always&quot;&gt;
&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k5pC6FvJMC3BkJOy5w&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; width=&quot;420&quot; height=&quot;339&quot; allowFullScreen=&quot;true&quot; allowScriptAccess=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A href=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k5pC6FvJMC3BkJOy5w&quot;&gt;&amp;#26085;&amp;#26412;&amp;#25240;&amp;#32025;&amp;#21332;&amp;#20250;&amp;#12398;&amp;#12506;&amp;#12540;&amp;#12472;&amp;#12391;&amp;#12377;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/B&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;I&gt;by &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/RocketPunch&quot;&gt;RocketPunch&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;
&lt;P&gt;
&lt;DIV&gt;
&lt;OBJECT height=339 width=420&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k7GgPUFSeWO3QdOy6Z&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; VALUE=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;allowScriptAccess&quot; VALUE=&quot;always&quot;&gt;
&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k7GgPUFSeWO3QdOy6Z&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; width=&quot;420&quot; height=&quot;339&quot; allowFullScreen=&quot;true&quot; allowScriptAccess=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A href=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k7GgPUFSeWO3QdOy6Z&quot;&gt;&amp;#29645;&amp;#29539;&amp;#12398;&amp;#39208;&amp;#12501;&amp;#12521;&amp;#12483;&amp;#12471;&amp;#12517;&amp;#20316;&amp;#21697;&amp;#38598;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/B&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;I&gt;by &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/RocketPunch&quot;&gt;RocketPunch&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/DIV&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/10/22.html#a2535</guid>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:34:26 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2535&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2008%2F10%2F22.html%23a2535</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>GT-R transmission troubles</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/10/18.html#a2530</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;Seems that some GT-Rs are breaking their transmission by shearing the teeth off of first gear. Allegedly, &quot;launch mode&quot; is the culprit. Several people have had to pay for the new transmission (with the attached rear differential as well as the AWD center diff) without warranty coverage. Cost is unknown, but is certainly ungodly. The units cannot be repaired at the present time. The transmission is designed and manufactured by Borg-Warner.
&lt;P&gt;Broken transmission: 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG style=&quot;WIDTH: 754px; HEIGHT: 558px&quot; height=600 alt=&quot;A picture named GTR-first-gear-sheered.jpg&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2008/10/18/GTR-first-gear-sheered.jpg&quot; width=800 border=0&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;New transmission with center diff and rear diff. 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG style=&quot;WIDTH: 754px; HEIGHT: 608px&quot; height=768 alt=&quot;A picture named GTR-tranny-2.jpg&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2008/10/18/GTR-tranny-2.jpg&quot; width=1024 border=0&gt; 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG style=&quot;WIDTH: 766px; HEIGHT: 563px&quot; height=768 alt=&quot;A picture named GTR-tranny-1.jpg&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2008/10/18/GTR-tranny-1.jpg&quot; width=1024 border=0&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/10/18.html#a2530</guid>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:13:05 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2530&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2008%2F10%2F18.html%23a2530</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Nissan shows up nasty Porsche elitists</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/10/11.html#a2526</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;Nissan has released further video of their heroic record-setting run in a standard production GT-R on the Nurburgring. Perhaps now Porsche will shut up and get back to work on improving their own product. 
&lt;P&gt;
&lt;OBJECT id=viddler height=347 width=437 classid=clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;_cx&quot; VALUE=&quot;11562&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;_cy&quot; VALUE=&quot;9181&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;FlashVars&quot; VALUE=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;Movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.viddler.com/simple_on_site/17901a33&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;Src&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.viddler.com/simple_on_site/17901a33&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;WMode&quot; VALUE=&quot;Transparent&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;Play&quot; VALUE=&quot;-1&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;Loop&quot; VALUE=&quot;-1&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;Quality&quot; VALUE=&quot;High&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;SAlign&quot; VALUE=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;Menu&quot; VALUE=&quot;-1&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;Base&quot; VALUE=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;AllowScriptAccess&quot; VALUE=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;Scale&quot; VALUE=&quot;ShowAll&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;DeviceFont&quot; VALUE=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;EmbedMovie&quot; VALUE=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;BGColor&quot; VALUE=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;SWRemote&quot; VALUE=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;MovieData&quot; VALUE=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;SeamlessTabbing&quot; VALUE=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;Profile&quot; VALUE=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;ProfileAddress&quot; VALUE=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;ProfilePort&quot; VALUE=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;AllowNetworking&quot; VALUE=&quot;all&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;AllowFullScreen&quot; VALUE=&quot;true&quot;&gt;
 &lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.viddler.com/simple_on_site/17901a33&quot; width=&quot;437&quot; height=&quot;347&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowScriptAccess=&quot;always&quot; allowFullScreen=&quot;true&quot; wmode=&quot;transparent&quot; name=&quot;viddler&quot; &gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Ultimately, Nissan will come up against a wall given the size and weight of the GT-R. Just as Porsche is already at a near stop&amp;nbsp;because of it&apos;s&amp;nbsp;dead-wrong engine location.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/10/11.html#a2526</guid>
			<pubDate>Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:11:41 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2526&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2008%2F10%2F11.html%23a2526</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Edmunds GT-R - is it representative of all</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/09/16.html#a2507</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;That&apos;s the big question this week. Follow the link in the title of this post to the complete set of reports of Edmund&apos;s experiences with their GT-R - good and bad (shown).&amp;nbsp;Wholesale replacement of parts to track down a bug that can&apos;t otherwise be found is not a good quality statement. 
&lt;P&gt;Are their problems representative of&amp;nbsp;all GT-Rs, or are they just an isolated incident? 
&lt;P&gt;The following picture is their GT-R a few days ago with the fuel tank and entire rear suspension/transmission/diff removed for replacement. Be sure to click on the picture in their blog to get a high-res image. 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG height=370 alt=&quot;A picture named guttedbig-thumb-555x370.jpg&quot; src=&quot;http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2008/09/16/guttedbig-thumb-555x370.jpg&quot; width=555 border=0&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/09/16.html#a2507</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:02:45 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2507&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2008%2F09%2F16.html%23a2507</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Edmunds: 2009 Nissan GT-R vs. the World </title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/06/07.html#a2420</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG border=0 align=right src=&quot;http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//pictures/VIDEO/COMPARISON/20232114-T.jpg&quot; width=160 height=101&gt;Edmunds.com has untaken a test of the GT-R versus several other cars, both on the Streets of Willow Springs and on back roads outside of Los Angeles.&amp;nbsp;This is a very valid test, because this is exactly what driving enthusiasts do with their cars - take them to the track on some weekends, and alternately drive them hard and fast on back roads on other weekends. Cars like this would rarely get a rest... that is their fate in life. 
&lt;P&gt;The comparees are the 2008 Audi R8, 2008 Lotus Elise SC, 2008 Porsche 911, 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR and 2008 Subaru WRX STI. Dodge and Chevrolet declined to participate so that their cars wouldn&apos;t have to go up against the GT-R. A Racelogic VBOX was used to gather the test results. 
&lt;P&gt;The overall test, as you might expect, was &lt;FONT color=red&gt;won&lt;/FONT&gt; by the &lt;FONT color=red&gt;2009 Nissan GT-R&lt;/FONT&gt; ($75,925 US) with a track time of &lt;FONT color=red&gt;1:25.68&lt;/FONT&gt;. 
&lt;UL&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;&lt;FONT color=red&gt;2nd&lt;/FONT&gt; place in both tests was&amp;nbsp;taken by the &lt;FONT color=red&gt;Audi R8&lt;/FONT&gt;&amp;nbsp; ($134,545 US) with a track time of &lt;FONT color=red&gt;1:26.92&lt;/FONT&gt;. 
&lt;LI&gt;&lt;FONT color=red&gt;3rd&lt;/FONT&gt; place will surprise you :&amp;nbsp;the 2008 &lt;FONT color=red&gt;Evo MR&lt;/FONT&gt; ($38,940) won third in both tests,&amp;nbsp;with a track lap of &lt;FONT color=red&gt;1:29.02&lt;/FONT&gt;.&amp;nbsp;And note that&apos;s the &lt;FONT color=maroon&gt;MR&lt;/FONT&gt; edition, with the &lt;FONT color=maroon&gt;TC-SST transmission&lt;/FONT&gt;, Bilsteins, and Eibachs. Above the standard Brembos, Recaros,&amp;nbsp;and torque-proportioning rear diff. 
&lt;LI&gt;&lt;FONT color=red&gt;4th &lt;/FONT&gt;place will also surprise you:&amp;nbsp;the &lt;FONT color=red&gt;911 Carerra&lt;/FONT&gt; ($85,765 )with a track time of &lt;FONT color=red&gt;1:29.25&lt;/FONT&gt;. 
&lt;LI&gt;The Lotus SC&amp;nbsp;was next @ 1:29.49, followed by the STI @ 1:30.05.&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;My own conclusions&lt;/STRONG&gt;: 
&lt;UL&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;Bang for the buck: Evo MR. Hands down. With tuning and suspension mods (&amp;nbsp;&lt;A href=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/evo/2008/03/30.html#a2348&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/evo/2008/03/30.html#a2348&quot;&gt;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/evo/2008/03/30.html#a2348&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&amp;nbsp;), it&apos;ll just get even better. 
&lt;LI&gt;Don&apos;t go to a Posche Club of America event with the MR - those snobs will all hate you when you pass them in the middle of turns. Or if you do go, mark &quot;not sure&quot; on your application form where they ask you what you will be driving. Ye olde 911 is a&amp;nbsp;car that&apos;s happy to rotate, but at&amp;nbsp;the wrong place in the turn. Perhaps Porsche will put the engine in the right place someday, but then that&apos;s what the Boxster and Cayman are for. While the 2009 model year&apos;s direct injection and dual-clutch tranny will undoubtedly make up the .23 seconds difference, that fact that there isn&apos;t already an enormous gap between the 911 and the Evo is very telling. 
&lt;LI&gt;The GT-R remains the ultimate track day vehicle, as long as you&apos;re willing to spend in the&amp;nbsp;$70-80k range. And assuming you can even get one at list from the dealer - which for the first year will probably be impossible. 
&lt;LI&gt;The STI continues to dissappoint. It badly needs an automated dual-clutch manual (which is two years off, according to Subaru) and a torque-proportioning differential (no word yet, but it&apos;s an expensive peice of work to develop).&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Amazon Store&lt;/STRONG&gt;:&lt;/P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IFRAME style=&quot;WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 240px&quot; marginHeight=0 src=&quot;http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=jefffisheshom-20&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;p=8&amp;amp;l=as1&amp;amp;asins=B0014EBJII&amp;amp;fc1=000000&amp;amp;IS2=1&amp;amp;lt1=_blank&amp;amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;amp;bc1=000000&amp;amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;amp;f=ifr&quot; frameBorder=0 marginWidth=0 scrolling=no&gt;&lt;/IFRAME&gt;&lt;IFRAME style=&quot;WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 240px&quot; marginHeight=0 src=&quot;http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=jefffisheshom-20&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;p=8&amp;amp;l=as1&amp;amp;asins=B0014ECMUW&amp;amp;fc1=000000&amp;amp;IS2=1&amp;amp;lt1=_blank&amp;amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;amp;bc1=000000&amp;amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;amp;f=ifr&quot; frameBorder=0 marginWidth=0 scrolling=no&gt;&lt;/IFRAME&gt;&lt;IFRAME style=&quot;WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 240px&quot; marginHeight=0 src=&quot;http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=jefffisheshom-20&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;p=8&amp;amp;l=as1&amp;amp;asins=B0014DYLBQ&amp;amp;fc1=000000&amp;amp;IS2=1&amp;amp;lt1=_blank&amp;amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;amp;bc1=000000&amp;amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;amp;f=ifr&quot; frameBorder=0 marginWidth=0 scrolling=no&gt;&lt;/IFRAME&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/06/07.html#a2420</guid>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:08:06 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2420&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2008%2F06%2F07.html%23a2420</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Jay Leno drives the GT-R - but will it last?</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/04/28.html#a2378</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;Jay Leno&apos;s Garage features his take on the Nissan GT-R. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;As you know, and as Jay says, this is the &quot;1st Japanese Supercar&quot;. 480 HP, AWD, dual-clutch, fabulous handling and a net-net that out-races any 911 or the Z06 on the racetrack. This is hardcore stuff... yet&amp;nbsp;completely driveable and civil for pedestrians and racers alike. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;And note that the GT-R is just the base model... when the upcoming &quot;V-Spec&quot; model comes out it will be an even better performer... and will undoubtedly defeat any late-comers like the ZR-1 or further updates to the aged (and inherently faultly architected) 911.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;This video is probably the most extensive and up-close look at a left-hand drive GT-R. And as you might expect, Jay drives it extensively, and of course demonstrates the launch control.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;EMBED id=W4816548953d40ccf height=283 type=application/x-shockwave-flash pluginspage=http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer width=384 src=http://widgets.nbc.com/o/47f1317f105123ad/4816548953d40ccf allowNetworking=&quot;all&quot; allowScriptAccess=&quot;always&quot; quality=&quot;high&quot; wmode=&quot;transparent&quot;&gt; &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;But is there a &quot;fly in the ointment&quot;? Japanese tuners have already broken the codes in the engine computer and have passed 600 horsepower at the crank. But they are starting to wonder about the durability of the dual-clutch transmission. Seems that two small clutches may not be as durable as one large one. Or at least that&apos;s the theory... nothing has been proven yet and it&apos;s too soon to have any experience with the durability of the transmission. And we know that this same tranny will be found (perhaps with enhancements?) behind the upcoming 550-or-so HP V-Spec engine. So only time will tell.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Meanwhile, Jay Leno is emotionally evolved with the GT-R. I suspect that it wil only last until another outrageous car comes along... he does after all have probably a hundred cars in his multi-hundred-thousand-square-foot-garage. And a mega-milllion dollar yearly income to support his emotional affairs. Life in the Leno garage couldn&apos;t be better.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/04/28.html#a2378</guid>
			<pubDate>Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:54:24 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2378&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2008%2F04%2F28.html%23a2378</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Autocar: GT-R vs M3 vs GT3 track comparison</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/03/08.html#a2323</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;An Autocar test, brought to us courtesy of YouTube. 
&lt;P&gt;Notice how poorly the new V-8 (m92) M3 does in the testing: it&apos;s heavy, has slow steering,&amp;nbsp;terrible brakes (2 fast laps = an extra 4&quot; of brake travel; third lap = brake pedal on the floor!), and it&apos;s&amp;nbsp;not particularly fast&amp;nbsp;(0-60 in 5.2 seconds!). 
&lt;P&gt;The GT-R does of course win, despite being the heaviest (and not the most expensive). Note that this is the standard model of the GT-R, whereas the GT3 and M3 are special models of the existing lineup. When the GT-R&amp;nbsp;V-Spec comes out in another year, the results will be even better&amp;nbsp;in the favor of the GT-R. 
&lt;P&gt;
&lt;OBJECT height=355 width=425&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/iWAficaFl3c&amp;amp;rel=1&amp;amp;border=0&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;wmode&quot; VALUE=&quot;transparent&quot;&gt;
 &lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/iWAficaFl3c&amp;rel=1&amp;border=0&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; wmode=&quot;transparent&quot;width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;355&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;
&lt;P&gt;
&lt;OBJECT height=355 width=425&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/_IMWhKciBDs&amp;amp;rel=1&amp;amp;border=0&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;wmode&quot; VALUE=&quot;transparent&quot;&gt;
 &lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/_IMWhKciBDs&amp;rel=1&amp;border=0&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; wmode=&quot;transparent&quot;width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;355&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/03/08.html#a2323</guid>
			<pubDate>Sun, 09 Mar 2008 02:20:17 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2323&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2008%2F03%2F08.html%23a2323</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>How to get *real* Best Motorings from Japan</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/01/01.html#a2281</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG height=498 alt=&quot;A picture named BM-2007-12.jpg&quot; src=&quot;http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2008/01/01/BM-2007-12.jpg&quot; width=348 align=right border=0&gt;Best Motorings are one of the&amp;nbsp;greatest aspects of the hobby for Japanese car enthusiasts, but also one of the most frustrating. Why? Because it&apos;s been almost impossible to get original copies of them, and even harder to get them when they come out in Japan.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;In case you&apos;re not familiar with Best Motoring, it&apos;s a monthly Japanese &quot;car magazine&quot; - in video form. The emphasis is on performance cars. There is usually a &quot;battle&quot; comparing several cars on a roadrace track. There is also testing on&amp;nbsp;winding roads, on the Touge course, with drifting, and&amp;nbsp;on occasion&amp;nbsp;special tests such as&amp;nbsp;a notable 0-300 KPH test. All the latest Japanese performance cars are tested, and occasionally they are tested against similar performance cars from Europe and North America. There is extensive in-car multiple-camera video and analysis;&amp;nbsp;it&apos;s very clear which cars work better and why.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;It comes in DVD form only, and&amp;nbsp;that&apos;s one problem: it&apos;s region code is not compatible with 99.9%of DVD players sold in North America. DVDs worldwide are not all compatible, each geographic region has it&apos;s own &quot;region code&quot; and players sold in those regions can only play DVDs of the same region. So, if you want to play a DVD from Japan, you need to buy a region-free DVD player. That&apos;s not hard to do, nor is it expensive: you can&amp;nbsp;get one from JList.com here in the United States. By coincidence, I bought a $30 dollar DVD player in my local food store that was unlocked. You can also find sites on the web showing how to unlock some models of players.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;The drivers speak in Japanese, most of the text is in Japanese, but the performance numbers and most of the specs are all in English. Have patience and you&apos;ll learn a lot about your favorite cars.l&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;I&apos;ve made it easier for my readers&amp;nbsp;to get the real Best Motorings, as well as other videos such as Option and Hot Version as well as a&amp;nbsp;large selection of Japanese magazines and books. Look at the top of my site for an Amazon store button and follow the link:&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;UL&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;See my links for the items relevant to your particular area of interest 
&lt;LI&gt;Read my special &quot;how to&quot; section about how to order on the Japanese website of Amazon (with screen-by-screen examples) 
&lt;LI&gt;Follow the links to order.&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Amazon makes it easy for you by handling the transaction - ordering is the same process&amp;nbsp;as it is with any other Amazon site in the world. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Start your collection today! In my collection, I&apos;ve got over 40 Best Motorings going back 10 years, as well as a large sampling of Option, Hot Version, and a number of special edition videos.&amp;nbsp; My first Best Motoring was from 1998, which featured a 0-300 KPH battle of several tuner cars including Supras and GT-Rs. It was won by an 800-HP GT-R. Needless to say, I was hooked.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2008/01/01.html#a2281</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:12:06 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2281&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2008%2F01%2F01.html%23a2281</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Car of the Year, and Disappointments of the Year</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/12/30.html#a2278</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;Since everybody and their brother are picking: 
&lt;UL&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Car of the Year&lt;/STRONG&gt; (Motor Trend picked the CTS - are they as out of it as current CTS owners?) 
&lt;LI&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Product of the Year&lt;/STRONG&gt; (hands-down winner this past year and next is the large&amp;nbsp;flat-screen TV) 
&lt;LI&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;Person of the Year&lt;/STRONG&gt; (The liberals at Time magazine&amp;nbsp;picked that bum&amp;nbsp;Vladimir Putin, and&amp;nbsp;undoubtedly had&amp;nbsp;Hugo Chavez&amp;nbsp;as runner-up)...&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;
&lt;P&gt;... here is my choice for &lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT color=maroon&gt;Driving Enthusiast Car of the Year&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;The choice is entirely obvious: the new &lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT color=maroon size=3&gt;Nissan GT-R&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;. Fabulous performance, fantastic driving dynamics, incredible technology. And it all works- it&apos;s lap time at the Nurburgring demonstrates that without a doubt. 
&lt;P&gt;And a price that can&apos;t be beat: US$69k. The performance bargain of the century. Except, of course, you can&apos;t touch these for under 100k (for&amp;nbsp;the first&amp;nbsp;year, or two, or ever?), but it&apos;s the&amp;nbsp;intent of Nissan&amp;nbsp;that counts. And while&amp;nbsp;there is an even faster track-specific version coming, the base&amp;nbsp;model right&amp;nbsp;out of the box has absolutely everything you need to clean up on your local tracks. This is truly a track car where you wouldn&apos;t need to change a single thing. 
&lt;P&gt;And, kudos to Nissan for announcing that this great new platform will underpin the upcoming all-new 2009 Z. A 350-HP 3.7 liter DOHC V-6, a 50%-50% weight balance, a new rear-mount transaxle, and fully adjustable camber (finally!) will make for a great new Z! 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG height=304 alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/12/30/gtr-1.jpg&quot; width=450 border=0&gt; 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG height=294 alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/12/30/gtr-2.jpg&quot; width=450 border=0&gt; 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG height=300 alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/12/30/gtr-3.jpg&quot; width=450 border=0&gt; 
&lt;HR&gt;

&lt;P&gt;And now, without a doubt controversially for many of my readers, my choices for &lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT color=maroon&gt;Disappointments of the Year&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;. 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;FONT face=Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif color=maroon size=3&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;1st&lt;/STRONG&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;: the &lt;STRONG&gt;Mitsubishi Evo X MR&lt;/STRONG&gt;. As much as I like this car, and as much as I appreciate it&apos;s sophisticated AWD system, and as much as I see the logic behind the &lt;EM&gt;automated&lt;/EM&gt; manuals (it&apos;s the wave of the future), the sum total appears to have too many issues for track use. Going thru a pile of newly-arrived Japanese car magazines and Best Motoring videos over the&amp;nbsp;last month&amp;nbsp;(all available for easy purchase via my JDM Best Motoring store), I noticed during a track battle that the car over-heated the longer it stayed out on the track. It started out as arguably the fastest car, then it got slower, then it went to the back of the pack.&amp;nbsp;That, to me, here in nuclear&amp;nbsp;heat of Texas, is the kiss of death for track cars. I may be wrong, and we haven&apos;t seen a true North American production-edition car &lt;EM&gt;yet&lt;/EM&gt; (not counting the pre-production and sickly-engined MR that the idiots at Motor Trend rushed to the track), so I am willing to keep the door open. But, I have reversed my direction to get one for the track for the time being (as an instructor at track events, I should be able to drive what my students show up in, so the theory was to drive an AWD car for the next year). I do still think it would make a&amp;nbsp;fabulous street car. 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG height=295 alt=&quot;Mitsubishi Lancer Evo&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/12/30/evo-1.JPG&quot; width=548 border=0&gt; 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT face=Arial color=#800000 size=3&gt;2nd&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;: the new &lt;STRONG&gt;STI.&lt;/STRONG&gt; Initial reports looked promising (assuming you can get past the wagon body and it&apos;s styling oddities), but the latest track reports have it understeering as bad as ever. The latest report&apos;s author&amp;nbsp;even says it is &quot;clearly NOT a track car&quot;. Yes, it has a &quot;plain&quot; non-automated 6-speed manual transmission... but note that&amp;nbsp;it also has an &lt;EM&gt;automated&lt;/EM&gt; manual coming in 2 years. Nonetheless, after attempting to drive one too many understeering pigs around the track, this one is off my list. 
&lt;P&gt;Too bad about this one, one advantage is that&amp;nbsp;it could carry it&apos;s own race tires to the track!
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG height=218 alt=&quot;Subaru STI&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/12/30/sti-1.JPG&quot; width=450 border=0&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT face=Arial color=#800000 size=3&gt;3rd&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt;: the new &lt;STRONG&gt;BMW M3&lt;/STRONG&gt;. Any car that cooks it&apos;s brakes after only 3 laps around a track is NO DAMNED GOOD. And not only on the track, but the street as well (I don&apos;t care to find the limits of braking in a 4000-pound car while enjoying driving quickly on isolated back roads). Forget about this big pig for track use, unless you plan to immediately spend $5k on Brembos and another 5K for wheels to clear them. No thanks. And, while a miracle has apparently occurred that caused BMW to FINALLY start using&amp;nbsp;Brembo brakes on it&apos;s products (1 product at this point),&amp;nbsp;we&amp;nbsp;don&apos;t get them on the flagship M3. Unbelievable!&amp;nbsp;Only -&amp;nbsp;oddly - on the 135i.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;As to the 135i, well, track&amp;nbsp;evaluation tests&amp;nbsp;have it understeering too (although not as bad as the STI), and like it&apos;s 335i kin the engine needs an oil cooler the size of it&apos;s own hood to&amp;nbsp;run cool in the heat of summer on the track. And, incredibly,&amp;nbsp;neither have a mechanical limited slip diff - oh, that would offend prior-gen M3 owners!&amp;nbsp;Oh yes, BMW will tell you it has&amp;nbsp;a &quot;CSL&quot;&amp;nbsp;version of the M3&amp;nbsp;coming that is more&amp;nbsp;appropriate for track use, but it&apos;ll cost probably 40k more and will be impossible to get - just like the last one.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Typical BMW: while all the pieces are available, they won&apos;t put them all together and tune them properly or the M3 and it&apos;s owners would be mad.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG style=&quot;WIDTH: 451px; HEIGHT: 279px&quot; height=423 src=&quot;http://www.mwerks.com/gallery/albums/Events/International%20Motorshows/Geneva%202007/M3%20Concept/010.jpg&quot; width=632&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;HR&gt;

&lt;P&gt;So those are my &quot;awards&quot; for 2007. One absolutely fabulous no-compromise car, and three with just too many damned compromises. Use &quot;&lt;STRONG&gt;Comments&lt;/STRONG&gt;&quot; to discuss.&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/12/30.html#a2278</guid>
			<pubDate>Sun, 30 Dec 2007 21:48:04 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2278&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F12%2F30.html%23a2278</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>GT-R versus &apos;vette</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/10/27.html#a2246</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;Who can&apos;t be thrilled with the GT-R?&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;The inevitable forum arguments have begun comparing the GT-R to the Chevrolet Corvette. I&apos;ll gladly stay out of those... I won&apos;t say that the &apos;vette is hobbled by it&apos;s leaf springs, or that the Z06 is well known for it&apos;s high-speed stability issues. I won&apos;t say&amp;nbsp;that I hope the Corvette product planners leave all those behind in the next generation C7. I&apos;m won&apos;t say that&amp;nbsp;given the Corvette &quot;mindset&quot;, the replacement of the leaf springs with conventional coilovers will have the traditionalists crying as they&amp;nbsp;bemoaned the loss of the pop-up headlights in the C6.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;EM&gt;So lets instead look at the specs of the GT-R, directly&amp;nbsp;from Nissan,&amp;nbsp;followed by a Nissan video&amp;nbsp;via The Hollywood Extra.&lt;/EM&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;
&lt;HR&gt;

&lt;P&gt;
&lt;TABLE class=&quot;clear headlines&quot; cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=&quot;100%&quot;&gt;
&lt;TBODY&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH class=section&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Specifications&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A id=spec&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD class=spacer&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Engine&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; VR-series twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V6. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; 480 hp @ 6,800 rpm. 430 lb-ft torque @ 3,200&amp;#150;5,200 rpm.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Dual overhead camshafts with variable intake-valve timing. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Cast aluminum cylinder block with high-endurance/low-friction plasma-sprayed bores. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; IHI twin turbochargers, one per cylinder bank. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Pressurized lubrication system with thermostatically controlled cooling. &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Drivetrain&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; ATTESA ET-S All-Wheel Drive (AWD) with independent rear-mounted transaxle integrating transmission, differential and AWD transfer case. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Rigid, lightweight carbon-composite driveshaft between engine and transaxle. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Electronic traction control plus 1.5-way mechanically locking rear differential. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC-R) with three driver-selectable settings: Normal (for daily driving, controls brakes and engine output), R-Mode (for ultimate performance, utilizes AWD torque distribution for additional vehicle stability) and Off (driver does not want the help of the system). &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Hill Start Assist prevents rollback when starting on an incline. &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Transmission&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; 6-speed Dual Clutch Transmission with three driver-selectable modes: Normal (for maximum smoothness and efficiency), Snow (for gentler starting and shifting on slippery surfaces), and R mode (for maximum performance with fastest shifts). &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Fully automatic shifting or full sequential manual control via gearshift or steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Dual clutch design changes gears in less than 0.5 second (0.2 second in R mode). &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Downshift Rev Matching (DRM). &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Predictive pre-shift control (in R mode) based on throttle position, vehicle speed, braking and other information. &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Wheels and Tires&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; 20 x 9.5&quot; (front) and 20 x 10.5&quot; (rear) super-lightweight forged-aluminum wheels with Gunmetal Gray finish. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Exclusively developed nitrogen-filled Bridgestone&amp;#174; RE070A high-capacity run-flat summer tires, 255/40R20 front and 285/35R20 rear. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Optional exclusively developed nitrogen-filled Dunlop&amp;#174; run-flat all-season tires, 255/40R20 front and 285/35R20 rear (includes Bright Silver wheels).&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Brakes&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; Brembo&amp;#174; 4-wheel disc brakes with 4-wheel Antilock Braking System (ABS), Brake Assist, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Preview Braking. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Two-piece floating-rotor 15-inch front and rear discs with diamond-pattern internal ventilation. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; 6-piston front/4-piston rear monoblock calipers.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Steering&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; Rack-and-pinion steering with vehicle-speed-sensitive power assist. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; 2.6 steering-wheel turns lock-to-lock.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Suspension&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; 4-wheel independent suspension with Bilstein&amp;#174; DampTronic system with three driver-selectable modes: Normal/Sport (for automatic electronic control of damping), Comfort (for maximum ride comfort), and R mode (engages maximum damping rate for high-performance cornering). &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Electronically controlled variable-rate shock absorbers. High-accuracy progressive-rate coil springs. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Front double-wishbone/rear multi-link configuration with aluminum members and rigid aluminum subframes. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Hollow front and rear stabilizer bars.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Body/Chassis&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; Exclusive Premium Midship platform with jig-welded hybrid unibody. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Aluminum hood, trunk and door skins. Die-cast aluminum door structures. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Carbon-reinforced front crossmember/radiator support. &lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;A href=&quot;http://www.gtrnissan.com/specs.en.us.html#top&quot;&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD class=spacer&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH class=section&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Standard Features&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;A id=feat&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD class=spacer&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Exterior&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; Wide-beam headlights with High Intensity Discharge (HID) low beams. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; LED taillights and brake lights.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Dual heated power mirrors.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Flush-mounted aluminum door handles.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Body-color rear spoiler with integrated center high-mounted stop light.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; UV-reducing tinted glass.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Audio/Navigation/Performance Monitor&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; Digital Bose&amp;#174; audio system with AM/FM/in-dash 6-CD changer and 11 speakers including dual subwoofers.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; HDD Music Box system, including hard drive with 9.4 GB for audio storage. &lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; MP3, WMA and DVD audio capable. In-dash Compact Flash card reader.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; HDD-based GPS navigation with touch screen.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Driver-configurable performance monitor, developed with Sony&amp;#174; Polyphony, with graphical readouts of vehicle data and driving data displayed on a total of 11 screens.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; 7-inch WVGA high-resolution color-LCD display for audio, navigation and performance monitor.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Interior&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; Automatic Temperature Control (ATC).&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Electronic analog instrument cluster with multi-function trip computer and digital gear indicator.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Power front windows with one-touch auto-up/down feature.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Intelligent Key system with pushbutton start. Power door locks.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Cruise control.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Tilt/telescoping steering column.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Bluetooth&amp;#174; Hands-free phone system with voice recognition.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Seating/Appointments&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; Leather upholstered front seats with perforated Alcantara inserts.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; 8-way power front seats with entry/exit switch for rear-seat passengers.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Driver-shaped bucket seat.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Dual individual rear seats.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Heated front seats.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Drilled aluminum pedals.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TH&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;Safety/Security&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TH&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;
&lt;TR&gt;
&lt;TD&gt;&lt;FONT size=2&gt;&amp;#149; Nissan Advanced Air Bag System (AABS) with dual-stage supplemental front air bags, seat belt sensors and occupant-classification sensor.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Driver and front-passenger side-impact supplemental air bags and roof-mounted curtain supplemental air bags.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Front seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Nissan Vehicle Immobilizer System.&lt;BR&gt;&amp;#149; Vehicle Security System.&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;&lt;/TBODY&gt;&lt;/TABLE&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;
&lt;HR&gt;

&lt;OBJECT height=366 width=425&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/-vlX2iOEPWA&amp;amp;rel=1&amp;amp;border=0&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;wmode&quot; VALUE=&quot;transparent&quot;&gt;
&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/-vlX2iOEPWA&amp;rel=1&amp;border=0&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; wmode=&quot;transparent&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;366&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/10/27.html#a2246</guid>
			<pubDate>Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:29:25 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2246&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F10%2F27.html%23a2246</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Picture Gallery - Nissan GT-R</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/10/16.html#a2232</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;Courtesy of Nissan Press, enjoy!&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/1.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/2.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/3.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/4.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/5.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/6.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/7.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/8.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/9.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG alt=&quot;Nissan GT-R&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/10.jpg&quot; border=0 &lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/10/16.html#a2232</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:02:46 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2232&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F10%2F16.html%23a2232</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Motor Trend breaks the GT-R embargo</title>
			<link>http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/FREE/71016002/1508/newsletter02&amp;template=zoom&amp;Site=CW&amp;Date=20071016&amp;Category=FREE&amp;ArtNo=71016002&amp;Ref=AR&amp;Profile=1508&amp;CRED=DINO%20DALLE%20CARBONARE</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG border=0 alt=&quot;A picture named gtr.jpg&quot; align=right src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/gtr.jpg&quot; width=366 height=177&gt;Motor Trend has spilled the beans on the GT-R, breaking the embargo with Nissan and releasing the details of the GT-R. The next issue of Motor Trend, available in a couple of weeks, has a cover story on the GT-R.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;The GT-R is one of the most eagerly anticipated Japanese new cars in many years, to say the least. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;AutoWeek and dozens of other sites have the full set of pics - inside and out. Including the final details of the engine and it&apos;s HP and torque specs (impressive). Yes,&amp;nbsp;an embargo is a legal agreement and directly or indirectly Motor Trend broke it. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG border=0 alt=&quot;A picture named mt_dec08_gtr250.jpg&quot; align=left src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/10/16/mt_dec08_gtr250.jpg&quot; width=250 height=348&gt;Follow the link above to AutoWeek, where you can see the full set of press pack images. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;The forums are full of discussion on this car already, comparing to the Z06 and others. What these people don&apos;t understand is that the Z06, as a Corvette, has a certain image it has to carry around on it&apos;s shoulders. It&apos;s baggage, it&apos;s a dark cloud. It will take a long time before it goes completely away.&amp;nbsp;GM has to earn it the hard way.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;The GT-R, on the other hand, is and has always been a far more sophisticated car - appealing to enthusiasts who appreciate cars for their technical sophistication as well as for their their accomplishments. The GT-R has no shortage of either. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;The Corvette has very very little technical sophistication.. . and a number of areas that are downright crude (such as the suspension... and the resulting bad high-speed dynamics). It does have it&apos;s accomplishments on the track, without which it&apos;d be nothing more than a low-brow muscle car. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Nonetheless, these are two different cars for two different markets. Only the smallest subset of 1% of Corvette owners will take their cars to the track to test&amp;nbsp;and their limits and develop true driving skills... it remains to be seen what the percentage&amp;nbsp;will be&amp;nbsp;for upcoming TR-R owners.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/10/16.html#a2231</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:14:11 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2231&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F10%2F16.html%23a2231</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Nissan opens worldwide GT-R site</title>
			<link>http://www.gtrnissan.com/</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG height=220 alt=&quot;A picture named gtr-mini-site.jpg&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/09/25/gtr-mini-site.jpg&quot; width=432 align=right border=0&gt;Opened today, in multiple languages worldwide. A great site, with extensive pictures of the history of the car. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Nissan even provides a countdown widget,&amp;nbsp;leading up to the Tokyo show.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Be sure to take advantage of these JDM offers:&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;UL&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;get on the mailing list here: &lt;A href=&quot;https://secure.nissan.co.jp/NHP1/KMS/GT-R/MEMBER/mail.html&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://secure.nissan.co.jp/NHP1/KMS/GT-R/MEMBER/mail.html&quot;&gt;https://secure.nissan.co.jp/NHP1/KMS/GT-R/MEMBER/mail.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;subscribe to the RSS feed here: &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.gtrnissan.com/xml/press.ja.jp.xml&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gtrnissan.com/xml/press.ja.jp.xml&quot;&gt;http://www.gtrnissan.com/xml/press.ja.jp.xml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;
&lt;P&gt;And their North American English equivalents:&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;UL&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;Mailing list for updates: &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.gtrnissan.com/update.en.us.html?intcmp=update.timeline.header&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gtrnissan.com/update.en.us.html?intcmp=update.timeline.header&quot;&gt;http://www.gtrnissan.com/update.en.us.html?intcmp=update.timeline.header&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/LI&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;RSS feed: &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.gtrnissan.com/xml/press.en.us.xml&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gtrnissan.com/xml/press.en.us.xml&quot;&gt;http://www.gtrnissan.com/xml/press.en.us.xml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;
&lt;P&gt;You may want to watch both the N.A&amp;gt; and JDM sites since the release dates are staggered worldwide. Information may not appear at the same time...&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Continue at the link in the header above above.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IFRAME src=&quot;http://www.gtrnissan.com/tokyo.ja.jp.html&quot; frameBorder=0 width=460 height=190&gt;&lt;/IFRAME&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;A href=&quot;http://www.gtrnissan.com/update.en.us.html?intcmp=update.timeline.header&quot;&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;IMG height=372 alt=&quot;A picture named gtr-proto.jpg&quot; src=&quot;http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/images/2007/09/25/gtr-proto.jpg&quot; width=605 border=0&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/09/25.html#a2217</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:14:33 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2217&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F09%2F25.html%23a2217</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>7Tune has the first test drive of the Nissan GT-R</title>
			<link>http://www.7tune.com/?p=100</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;&lt;IMG src=&quot;http://www.7tune.com/newtune/justin/gtrtochigi/gtr.jpg&quot; align=right&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;We&apos;ve been waiting for&lt;EM&gt; years&lt;/EM&gt; for this moment... and 7tune has it. The first test drive of the new GT-R. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Unfortunately, this test drive was for Nissan employees and related marketing people... not the press. But some impressions have been leaked to Car Top magazine. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Note that the picture of the engine is a mock-up, that&apos;s definitely not it. We&apos;ve seen the GT-R engine before in spy pics. The engine shown is simply the Nissan 350Z engine with a mocked up cover.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;There is some new information&amp;nbsp;clarifying transmission choice. Seems there is both a 7-speed (believed to be an automated dual-shaft manual) and a conventional 6-speed manual.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;If it&apos;s true that the magazines themselves haven&apos;t yet test driven the car... then we won&apos;t see any introductory road tests until at least the December issues. Comparison tests probably won&apos;t be seen until March or April. Given the introduction at the Tokyo show in October, this may well be the media schedule.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Having patience is very tough....!&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/08/28.html#a2177</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Aug 2007 16:04:15 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2177&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F08%2F28.html%23a2177</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Nissan GT-R details start to arrive: engine and price</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/08/13.html#a2166</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;Eurocar blog has some interesting details on the upcoming Nissan GT-R. They calculate the US price will start at $65k. But even more interesting is the first discussion of the VR38 engine: a new ultra high performance engine that is both lightweight and also very strong (understood to be capable of 600 HP, although rated at 480 in it&apos;s first iteration).&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Continue at source: &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.eurocarblog.com/post/521/nissan-skyline-gt-r-info-about-the-price-and-the-vr38-engine&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eurocarblog.com/post/521/nissan-skyline-gt-r-info-about-the-price-and-the-vr38-engine&quot;&gt;http://www.eurocarblog.com/post/521/nissan-skyline-gt-r-info-about-the-price-and-the-vr38-engine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/08/13.html#a2166</guid>
			<pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:56:43 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2166&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F08%2F13.html%23a2166</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Nissans own Skyline GT-R video</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/07/27.html#a2158</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;As the introduction date of the fabulous Skyline GT-R (finally) approaches, Nissan released&amp;nbsp;video of a prototype car driving on back roads. Since it&apos;s impossible to prevent spy videos, and since nearly everything that can be seen has already been caught by spy photogs, Nissan figures that they might as well play the game too. 
&lt;P&gt;Certainly the Skyline GT-R is one of the most anticipated cars ever released by a Japanese manufacturer! 
&lt;P&gt;&lt;BR&gt;
&lt;OBJECT height=350 width=425&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;movie&quot; VALUE=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/XnEy-YnxAzg&quot;&gt;&lt;PARAM NAME=&quot;wmode&quot; VALUE=&quot;transparent&quot;&gt;
 &lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/XnEy-YnxAzg&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; wmode=&quot;transparent&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/OBJECT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/07/27.html#a2158</guid>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:59:44 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2158&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F07%2F27.html%23a2158</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Nissan skyline dumping the clutch at 8500 RPM @ car-videos.biz</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/06/30.html#a2133</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;Not a good idea - in fact downright stupid. And expensive. &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;&lt;A href=&quot;http://www.car-videos.biz/car-photos/why-dumping-the-clutch-at-8500-rpm-is-a-bad-idea&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.car-videos.biz/car-photos/why-dumping-the-clutch-at-8500-rpm-is-a-bad-idea&quot;&gt;http://www.car-videos.biz/car-photos/why-dumping-the-clutch-at-8500-rpm-is-a-bad-idea&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;If you havent&apos; been watching car-videos.biz, you&apos;re missing great stories like this one!&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;UL&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;Site: &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.car-videos.biz&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.car-videos.biz&quot;&gt;http://www.car-videos.biz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt; 
&lt;LI&gt;RSS feed: &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.car-videos.biz/feed/&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.car-videos.biz/feed/&quot;&gt;http://www.car-videos.biz/feed/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/06/30.html#a2133</guid>
			<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:08:21 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2133&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F06%2F30.html%23a2133</comments>
			</item>
		<item>
			<title>Australian Car Advice on the upcoming Nissan GT-R</title>
			<link>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/05/28.html#a2117</link>
			<description>&lt;P&gt;Australian Car advice has a nice summary of the three Nissan GT-R models that wil lbe offered.&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;Continue: &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.caradvice.com.au/2902/new-nissan-gt-r-update/&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caradvice.com.au/2902/new-nissan-gt-r-update/&quot;&gt;http://www.caradvice.com.au/2902/new-nissan-gt-r-update/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
&lt;P&gt;This is a good site to keep an eye on, the Australians definitely know their performance cars!&lt;/P&gt;
&lt;UL&gt;
&lt;LI&gt;site: &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.caradvice.com.au/&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caradvice.com.au/&quot;&gt;http://www.caradvice.com.au/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt; 
&lt;LI&gt;RSS feed: &lt;A href=&quot;http://www.caradvice.com.au/feed/&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caradvice.com.au/feed/&quot;&gt;http://www.caradvice.com.au/feed/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;</description>
			<guid>http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net/sec-blog/categories/nissanGtR/2007/05/28.html#a2117</guid>
			<pubDate>Mon, 28 May 2007 15:02:53 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://radiocomments2.userland.com/comments?u=137994&amp;amp;p=2117&amp;amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DrivingEnthusiast.net%2Fsec-blog%2F2007%2F05%2F28.html%23a2117</comments>
			</item>
		</channel>
	</rss>
