By John Coyle

Editor

Kazunori Yamauchi, the designer behind the Gran Turismo series, is a serious gearhead, and he's no slouch behind the behind the wheel. Check out this clip of him taking a new GT-R around a wet and slippery Nurburgring. The part where loses control is hair-raising. via Autoblog

By Ben Schaffer

Bulletproof Automotive

I’ve been holding this one back. Charlie gave this to me a few weeks ago as a present to all of us at Top Secret. I believe this is his finest work to date and an exercise in not just great photoshop skills, but overall incredible automotive design skills. I'm extremely impressed with the bodywork concepts in this photoshop.

When I first got this from Charlie I asked him permission to use it and he agreed. So this was originally going to debut on our upcoming www.gt-rr.com website. However it got leaked to the net today so I’m moving the schedule up, even though the much anticipated GT-RR.com is not yet up and running. We’re aiming to integrate this design into the website since I feel it embodies where R35 GT-R tuning is going.

By John Coyle

Editor

Rental cars companies know that most people get a kick out of abusing their cars, and since it's probably not good to preemptively scold customers, they just try to stick it to us in other ways. So if you want to save a little money next time you have to rent a car, check out the 6 Secrets Rental Cars Don't Want You to Know. I found it pretty informative—or maybe I just like sticking it to the man. Anyway, here's the news:

• The General says that it will be able to keep up with demand for the its award-winning and popular Malibu, despite the strike at American Axle. Good news for Chevy dealers, bad news for AA. Auto Observer
• Remember when all those Explorers were flipping in the early '90s? Even those owners that didn't wind up topsy-turvy took a financial hit, as their vehicle's resale value tanked. Now a California judge has ordered Ford to compensate them. Automotive News
• Will we see a "people's bike" in the next few years? The idea might not be that far-fetched, as VW honcho Ferdinand Piech says the company might buy a motorcycle manufacturer. Stay tuned. AutoWeek
• Remember how popular Vanilla Ice was before he went back to being Robbie Van Winkle? That's what this review of the new GTR—which says it's more fluffy kitten than Godzilla—reminds me of. Looks like Mr. Angry isn't the only one underwhelmed by Nissan's halo car. LA Times
• Everybody likes taxes. Everybody hates paying more for gas. That's stuff nobody likes. But is suspending the gas tax—as John McCain has suggested—a good idea? Probably not. Wired

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

With all this talk of the new Challenger and GT-R going for well over sticker, I'm curious, how many of you would be willing to pay more than MSRP for a new car?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

By John Coyle

Editor

Ok, so the actual top speed has always been higher than the little Honda's. But unless the nanny-tech GPS system confirms the car is on a race track, a stock GTR won't exceed 112MPH. It's really lame that Nissan's engineers put Godzilla on such a short leash, but fortunately, American company COBB Tuning has cracked the ECU's code, so owners who opt for the treatment will be able to get all the performance they paid for. More over at Winding Road.

By John Coyle

Editor

The camera-jockeys from Auto Express just posted some shots of Nissan's V-Spec GTR running laps at the Nurburgring. While the exterior changes aren't anything earth-shattering—Mr. Angry probably still thinks it looks boring—it was sporting a carbon fiber rear wing, packing almost 80 more horses and managed to shave 13 seconds off the standard model's already impressive lap time. The big question now? How many will Nissan produce annually?  Previously, the company has said it can only build 1000 GTRs per month, and it's unclear how many will get the Spec-V package. We'll keep you posted. Four more pics after the jump.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

As a Mopar guy I'm used to seeing real-life pictures like this involving Challengers and Road Runners (though usually the foliage in the background is weeds and not bamboo). So this GT-R photochop at The Real JDM really cracked me up.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This is the car forum story of the year, if not the decade. A guy missing two fingers steals a 1991 GT-R off a Calgary car lot, the car salesman posts about the theft on Beyond.ca, and within hours the forum members track down the thief, box the car in at his house, and get some good video as the cops haul the guy off to jail. And now, to add insult to injury, the thief's hat, which was found in the recovered Skyline, is up on eBay. Ain't the internet great?

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Yeah, it's porky, but it's damn quick... Does the quarter in 11.5 seconds at 124 mph. If you can't wait for your May issue of Car and Driver, someone over at NAGTROC scanned in the full road test and converted it to a PDF.

By Mike Musto

AKA Mr. Angry

I now have my flame suit on, so fire away people. Rob and I both saw the GTR, walked over to it, checked it out and then walked away with two very different opinions. Now, keep in mind before you rip me apart that I KNOW what this car can do. I know it has 473hp, will break the sound barrier and make supercars run for cover. I know it has more computers than the space shuttle, and aerodynamics that will let you drive upside down if you want to, but one thing is does not possess is styling. Rob liked the styling of the GTR--he thinks it looks better in person than in photos--and I can see why. It's clean and everything is where it should be. Same goes for the interior--it's nice. That's it though, nice.

What this car is missing is all the things that make a supercar a supercar. Where are the bulges and angles, where is the beautifully designed interior, where is the soul of this car? The GTR will be a great car, but without the aforementioned items, it just leaves me feeling... cold. Here's Rob's crummy video.

By John Coyle

Editor

Early next week, Rob and I are headed to the Big Apple for the New York International Auto Show. We've basically been chained to our desks since returning from SEMA, so we're both looking forward to getting out of the office. Along with all the general gawking, blogging, and picture-taking we'll be doing from the show floor, we'll also be hobnobbing with honchos from GM and Hyundai, and meeting some of our comrades from other automotive blogs. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing the new GTR and Jag's XF in person, picking up some Engrish-laden Chinese press kits, and of course, soaking up some nightlife. What do you want to see?

By John Coyle

Editor

All of the games in the Gran Turismo series have been super popular, and from the looks of this trailer, the fifth installment should be a total blast. One big complaint die-hard fans have had with the series—the lack of damage modeling—has been fixed, and graphics look so good, it almost makes you wonder why you can't smell any exhaust. Of course, there's a laundry list of different cars available to flog—check out some of the superstars starring in the preview below. The prologue—which doesn't have all the features the full version will contain—will be released on April 28th, with the complete game to follow in the next 12 months. Get more details over at Winding Road.

By Rob

Editor-in-Chief

But with only 1,500 coming to the States in the first year with an M.S.R.P. of $69,850, it seems like it's gonna be tough. Still, Nissan is requiring dealers to be formally certified to even qualify to sell the car, and they are even announcing plans to sue UK resellers of Japanese market cars. Still, you know the first people to get their hands on one are gonna drive it for a week or two and then put it on eBay with the Buy It Now set at $120k. More at Motor Authority.

By Rob

Editor-in-Chief

GTR-World.net posted some great pics of the GT-R assembly line at Nissan's Tochigi Plant. Damn, those are some big brakes! 

By Jason

Marketing Lackey

Toyota is at the forefront of helping old people drive. I don't know if they should be commended or condemned for this (see what I did there?). Also, should Oldsmobile be worried about Toyota poaching their talent?

• Mazda is taking notice of Scion's success and might be taking a page from their playbook. Here's the problem—they might build a crossover based on the Miata. I'm all about the Zoom-Zoom but I'm not in love with the idea: Winding Road
• Once again, a brilliant answer to congested roads come straight from Russia. Don't worry about the lack of airbags, there's no way you'd survive a crash anyway: English Russia
• Because I know you love the Mazda, here's info on the new Mazda concept that I do like: Carscoop
• The new Nissan GT-R is going to be really, really quick: Edmunds