One Lap of America : Mid Ohio Results

Another day, another track.  Yesterday the One Lappers were at Mid-Ohio.  Mid-Ohio is many peoples favorite tracks, but I personally hate it, as it tried to kill me twice.  Well, maybe not kill, but it poured rain in 2006, when we were there with World Challenge and the R34. The mud was about 6 inches deep in our pit, which lead to lots of other issues.  In 2008, I went to Mid-Ohio with Dan and his Scion, and the tail end of Hurricane Ike came though. Rain, wind that picked up port a potty’s, and weight drums and threw them around like empty aluminum cans.  Yeah, it pretty much sucked.  We have another World Challenge event there August 6-8,2010 , I think I might be sick that weekend.

Mid-Ohio One Lap results.  Again, probably not suprising the 911 GT2 with Leh Keen at the helm placed first in both the standing start sessions.

1     3 Porsche          GT2              SSGT1 BB        4:51.717   340
Douglas Wilks, Leh Keen
2     4 Nissan           GT-R             SSGT1 BB        5:00.672   335
Catesby Jones, Jose Collado
3    39 BMW              325is            SSGT2 SB        5:05.051   330
Anthony Magagnoli, Kevin Kreisa
4     6 Subaru           WRX STI          MidPri Sed      5:08.934   325
Michael Lattos, Erik Van Cleef
5     5 Chevrolet        Corvette         SSGT1 BB        5:14.297   320
Jeremy Herzberg, Danny Popp, Todd Rumpke

The rest of the top 5 swapping positions between the morning and afternoon sessions.

1     3 Porsche          GT2              SSGT1 BB        4:40.493   340
Douglas Wilks, Leh Keen
2     5 Chevrolet        Corvette         SSGT1 BB        4:45.910   335
Jeremy Herzberg, Danny Popp, Todd Rumpke
3     4 Nissan           GT-R             SSGT1 BB        4:49.667   330
Catesby Jones, Jose Collado
4    39 BMW              325is            SSGT2 SB        4:52.736   325
Anthony Magagnoli, Kevin Kreisa
5     6 Subaru           WRX STI          MidPri Sed      4:59.414   320
Michael Lattos, Erik Van Cleef
 
 
The overall points lead puts the GT2 25 points in front of the Nissan GT-R.
Barring any big mistakes by the GT2, it looks like the GT2 will take the win
this year.  However, there have been somereports of possible rain, which could 
throw a wrench into things.
Cumulative Overall Points as of - Wed May 05 15:04:29 2010
Page 1
Results sorted by position
Pos Car # Vehicle                          Class            Points

1     3 Porsche          GT2              SSGT1 BB         4340
Douglas Wilks, Leh Keen
2     4 Nissan           GT-R             SSGT1 BB         4315
Catesby Jones, Jose Collado
3     5 Chevrolet        Corvette         SSGT1 BB         4205
Jeremy Herzberg, Danny Popp, Todd Rumpke
4     9 Porsche           997 Turbo       SSGT1 BB         3905
Rene von Richthofen, Hugh D. Bate
5     8 Porsche          911 GT3 RS       SSGT1 BB         3855
Geoffrey Bond, 

 
Source : One Lap and Motor Trend Blog

Nissan GT-R Spec M Rumors

Motor Trend is reporting more on the Nissan GT-R Spec M rumors that have been floating around the interweb.The R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R had a MSpec or “Man spec” version. It had softer dampening in the suspension, and leather interior. Less boy racer, more grand touring car.

The Spec M is supposed to take a spot above the Spec V with a sticker price of around $210,000 when it goes on sale in December. Only 30 cars are supposed to be built, making this a very limited production car for a company like Nissan.  One would almost wonder why they would even bother.

The Spec M interior is supposed to get upgrades with higher quality leathers, alcantra, and carbon fiber. Perhaps Nissan is looking at the Lexus LF-A, and trying out the market.

Other upgrades include a 15hp bump over the standard car, Spec V Carbon Ceramic Brembo brakes, new wheels , new gear ratios, and an extra oil cooler.

Don’t expect to see anything like this in the US.  The carbon brakes are a no, and enough people complain about Nissan dealers service on a $80k car, let alone a $200k car.

Motor Trend : Farewell 2009

Angus MacKenzie, editor of Motor Trend Magazine posted up a few of his favorite cars of 2009, and the Nissan GT-R made his list.

This is what he had to say.

Speaking of character, here's an excerpt from a blog I wrote after hustling our long-term GT-R from LA to Vegas -- the long way -- for the SEMA Show last month: "The coolly calculated Nissan GT-R may not have the rosso romance of a Ferrari Daytona, the charming idiosyncrasy of a Porsche 911, or the aw-shucks muscle of a Corvette ZR1. But in form and function it is a supercar that deftly defines both its era and its origin. All gigabytes and manga, GT-R is a supercar like no other; a supercar that only Japan could have created. I'd call that character." And as for the performance... No matter how often I drive it, the GT-R's supercar-slaying capabilities never cease to amaze me. It is the world's best bang-for-the-buck performance car. Period.

Read more: http://blogs.motortrend.com/6590968/editorial/farewell-2009-a-few-of-my-favorite-cars/index.html#ixzz0bEsdphOO

Some, ok a lot of journalists like to default to explaining the Nissan GT-R has no character, the “computers” do all the driving for you.  Get in a GT-R and push the far right pedal all the way down, then try and say it has no character.  The Nissan GT-R from the R32 days have always been a easy car to drive fast. Would you rather have a car that scares you, and you are not able to extract the most out of unless you are a near pro driver, or a car that makes an average driver fast ? A fast driver in a fast car, is just faster.

 

Source : Motor Trend

Godzilla vs Super Snake

Motor Trend Magazine pitted a Nissan GT-R vs a Shelby Super Snake.  The GTR put 413 hp to all four wheels, the Super Snake 635 hp to the rear wheels. In real life its not all just about horsepower, as the GT-R destroys the Shelby in the quarter mile.

 

 

The dyno testing looks like it was done at K and N Engineering, the quarter mile was run at Fontana, but opposite the normal direction run.  Those magazine people are crazy.

Source : YouTube

Motor Trend Long Term test : 2010 Nissan GT-R

Motor Trend Magazine just welcomed a 2010 Nissan GT-R into their long term test fleet.   The $84,040 GT-R drags an extra $2950 from your bank account vs the 2009 model. The minor updates for 2010 are five more horsepower, a new Transmission control computer for the GR6 transmission, new spring rates and revalved Bilstein dampers, darker wheel color, and standard side and curtain airbags.

3.5 seconds to hit 60 and 11.9 seconds at 120.1 mph to eclipse the quarter mile. The GT-R's handling and braking did not disappoint, either, registering 0.98 of maximum lateral grip, 24.4 seconds at 0.81 g through the figure eight, and a scant 103 feet halt from 60 to 0. Perhaps most impressive, the GT-R puts up these astonishing numbers while delivering 16/21 mpg city/highway fuel economy, thus avoiding the gas-guzzler tax (a claim an M3 can't even make).

 

 

Source : Motor Trend

Source Interlink Files Chapter 11

Source Interlink is filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Source Interlink publishes numerous automotive titles, including , Motor Trend , Hot Rod , Modified , Import Tuner, Super Street.

The publishing industry is hurting, and carmakers are hurting — so it’s not a great time to be publishing magazines about cars. That helps explain why Source Interlink, the media company that publishes Motor Trend and Hot Rod magazines, is taking a pit stop in bankruptcy protection.

Under a reorganization plan that lenders have already agreed to, the company said it expects to eliminate $1 billion in debt and be out of bankruptcy protection in 35 days. That wouldn’t be a land speed record, but it is still remarkably fast for a billion-dollar-plus Chapter 11 case.

See what happens in the print world. Source : NY Times