Don’t forget, tomorrow is your chance to chat with the Corvette ZR1’s Chief Engineer Tadge J. Juechter on GMNext.com. Hopefully everyone gets some good questions in. I suggest everyone ask about the car’s Nurburgring time and where the ZR1 stands in it’s claimed ability to set the production car lap record on any road course in the world. However I’m guessing he most likely won’t reveal too much.
Excited about the ZR1? Chat with Vehicle Chief Engineer Tadge J. Juechter about the history of the ZR1 and the legacy it leaves on the road.
Tadge J. Juechter, Corvette Vehicle Chief Engineer
Environmentalism be damned! New remote controlled HUMMER H3 lets drivers destroy mother nature (figuratively and literally) from the comfort of a lawn chair … or perhaps something equally as outlandish, like a coal burning La-Z-Boy. We love it!
Famed Japanese powerhouse Amuse now unofficially has the first maybe-kinda 600+ hp Nissan GT-R (outside of the Nissan factory anyways). Nissan’s not-so-hacker-proof ECU was cracked and the boost was upped to 18psi (1.25 bar) using an HKS EVC5 boost controller. Also installed was a Amuse titanium muffler. The exact figures are 602hp and 576 ft-lbs of torque…
However, those numbers are not exactly 100% accurate. Amuse used some dyno math to account for a 10% drivetrain loss (which is apparently accurate), so the actual figures are around 548hp to the wheels (or in this case, the wheel hubs: numbers measured via the wheels would be even lower). In the picture above, notice the box where it says “TCF” (Torque Correction Factor); it should read 1 (effectively 1 to 1, no multiplier) for power to the wheels, however it is at 1.10, which basically multiples the power by 1.10 (548 * 1.10 = 602.8).
Comedian slash avid car enthusiast Jay Leno has a new video of him driving and discussing the Nissan GT-R on his website, Jay Leno’s Garage. In the video he declares the Nissan GT-R Japan’s first true supercar, despite the Honda NSX and previous Nissan Skylines, and I completely agree with him. Good video with some good details on the car. Follow the jump for the video.
Epic Tsukuba battle from the Land of the Haha. Old STi vs New STI vs Evo X vs Evo IX. Note that Keiichi Tsuchiya, aka the Drift King, is driving the New WRX STI. Spoilers after the jump.
The link to the RSS subscription was redirecting to the wrong Feedburner page, but I’ve fixed it now. Also, I’m hoping to have a mobile friendly version of TDC online soon.
Also noteworthy is that this was the D1 homecoming event for Nobuteru Taniguchi, who had previously spent some time away from the D1 series. He placed a respectable 9th overall.
Top Gear’s docile Richard Hammond takes the new Lexus IS-F for a spin and seems genuinely impressed. And while doing his best Flanders impression, declares the car FLIPPING ZIPPY!
Slot the gear-lever into drive and take off. Flipping heck. Letting the V8 off the leash is like, well, doing exactly that - letting it off the leash to have a run around the park.
Seldom do I get the chance to really sit back in the driving seat and give in to genuine surprise. But here, at the wheel of a car from a manufacturer known best for durability and discreet reliability, I was flabbergasted as the IS-F took off and headed for the horizon.
