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Last week I got to so spend some time with the chief engineer of the Nissan GT-R, Kazutoshi Mizuno. He’s clearly a proud bloke, and rightfully so.

After all he’s been in charge of the program to bring back one of the most eagerly anticipated sports cars in years.

The Nissan GT-R is a cult car that’s admired the world over, but particularly in Australia where the R32 model dominated the local motor racing scene almost 20 years ago. It was so good it was effectively banned as the rulemakers reverted to a V8-only formula, ousting the twin-turbocharged six-cylinder all-wheel-drive that was nicknamed Godzilla.

The new GT-R is a cracker, something I experienced with three laps to really test it at the Estoril race track in Portugal.

There’s 358kW and 582Nm from the 3.8-litre, twin turbocharged V6, which is nothing to be sneezed at. The GT-R is supremely quick - and does it so easily.

Outright acceleration isn’t quite as brutal as the new Porsche 911 GT2, which has incredible mid-range urge thanks to its prodigious torque delivery.

But the GT-R compensates with all-wheel-drive traction (the 911 GT2 – the fastest Porsche on the market – drives only the rear wheels and can struggle for grip in lower gears due to the immense grunt of the twin-turbo engine). Its double clutch semi-automatic gearbox also punches through the gears extremely quickly helping shave precious tenths of a second off acceleration times.

The all-wheel-drive system does a brilliant job of clawing what is a reasonably heavy car (1.7 tonnes) out of corners, while still allowing keener drivers to slide the rear-end with the sort of controllability cars like this need.

The Brembo brakes bite hard, although the three hot laps were enough to leave the fronts smoking by the time I arrived back in the pits (Nissan was replacing the brake pads every day of the test drive program and each car was doing about 70 laps a day).

The result is an extremely capable and potently fast car. Plus it has a character of its own – the digital display brings a little bit of computer game to the dash, for example.

Still, there’s little doubt the GT-R is one of those cars that needs a race track to fully appreciate its potential.

And it’s a race track where the GT-R recently earned its best accolade – a scorching lap time around the Nurburgring race track in Germany. The 21-kilometre undulating track is used by car makers all over the world for testing and development and as a benchmark of performance.

The GT-R’s 7 minute, 29 second time is quicker than any production Porsche sold here, something Nissan is – understandably – eager to point out.

There are already mutterings that some think Nissan went to extreme lengths to achieve the blistering time. And they did.

Then again, the likes of Porsche has renowned test driver – and former world rally champion – Walter Rohrl.

In 2007 Nissan set a time of 7 minutes, 38 seconds in 2007 in the GT-R at Nurburgring, but Mizuno says two parts of the track were wet. Hence the second attempt to better that time.

Mizuno is also adamant the time was achieved in exactly the same car customers will be able to buy, right down to the road legal Bridgestone tyres. The passionate chief engineer even showed journalists detailed data, overlaying the data from the 2007 run with the data for the 2008 run.

There’s little doubt Porsche will have a tilt at beating the GT-R benchmark, be it in one of their existing cars or an upcoming car (the updated 911 isn’t far away). Then again, the marketing message doesn’t work quite as well for Porsche because people expect a Porsche to beat a Nissan.

Toby Hagon

Plans for a Formula One night race at Albert Park have sparked a drive to the front of sports lighting.

Hella Australia has developed an innovative trackside illumination system that is being pitched for grand prix work, but could revolutionise night coverage of a wide range of sports.

The reflector system is said to be safe, immune to blackouts, shadow-free and compatible for live TV coverage.

Hella ran a secret test at Calder Park Raceway on November 12, which involved Red Bull F1 driver Mark Webber and former world motorcycle champion Mick Doohan.

It has submitted the results to world motorsport governing body, FIA, for certification of its system.

“We have shown it can be done. That is the most important thing,” Hella Australia spokesman Thomas Plessinger said yesterday.

Plessinger is in Europe for a series of meetings involving FIA and other potential F1 opportunities.

“A year ago it was a dream, but now we know it’s realistic. We are submitting our technical measurements and television footage to the FIA and Formula One management and we are waiting for their response,” Plessinger said.

The multi-million-dollar development program began at Hella’s technical centre in Mentone earlier this year, following serious talks about night grands prix in the Asia-Pacific region. Night races could be broadcast live into Europe in the morning.

Australian Grand Prix organisers have already moved the starting time for next year’s race back to the late afternoon, while the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix on September 28 will be a full-scale night race under lights.

There is still talk of a night race at Albert Park in the future.

More than 50 engineers were involved in the work as Hella created its system and build 44 trial units, including a generator, supports and lighting unit, for the Calder trial.

“We spoke to the FIA in August in Hungary and we agreed on a demonstration. We had a light sample which we had already tested in Melbourne as a proof of concept,” Plessinger said.

“For the trial we had 44 units. The requirement from the FIA was to light 500 metres, so we did a straight, a fast corner and a slow corner.”

Plessinger said the Hella trial followed a trial at Indianapolis by American company Musco, which has provided lighting systems for a number of motorsport operations, including the Calder Park Raceway.

The company is looking to mass produce its system and is scouting a range of business opportunities, although it had not pitched for the planned Qatar MotoGP race, to be run under lights in the Middle East next year.

“Our system is designed, developed and manufactured in Australia. It is possible that we can light all motorsport, even as far as Formula One,” Plessinger said.

“There are opportunities for other sports. Any application is suitable for our lights, but Formula One is the pinnacle.”

- Herald Sun

Square world: the Nissan Cube, Japan’s most successful city car and a hit with younger drivers.

Nissan’s radical city car is there if Australia has the market

The most successful of Japan’s boxy Gen-Y city cars, the Nissan Cube, is finally firming for Australia.

The compact Cube was previously rejected as too radical and too expensive for local buyers, but things could change — and fast — after a European preview last week.

Nissan Australia now believes there could be a place for the car — and it could give the company an edge against Toyota, which is still struggling to find a Gen-Y niche for Australia.

“It’s an interesting car that would give us a unique proposition for Gen-Y. It’s something I believe is lacking in the Australian market,” says Ross Booth, the new general manager of marketing at Nissan Australia.

The Cube has an 80kW 1.5-litre engine, fuel consumption of 5.15 litres/km and a CVT automatic gearbox. Its boxy body has two rows of folding bench seats.

Japan’s twentysomethings love it and customise it to their individual preferences.

Booth has been won over by the car. But he knows it will not be a straightforward sell to Australian customers or to Japanese management.

To succeed, he says the car needs to be priced right and sell in enough volume to fund a proper launch.

“It’s the business equation of volume and price to do the job.”

But he sounds a warning on the likely price, which will be much higher than Nissan’s current Micra price leader at $14,990.

“It’s going to be closer to $30,000 than $20,000. Will Generation Y fork out that amount to be different?” Booth asks.

He says final decisions will have to wait for the next-generation Cube, probably next year.

The Cube has been a top-10 seller in Japan since 2003, but its appeal to Gen-Y is the reason Nissan wants it to get an edge on Toyota.

Toyota has had nothing like the Cube since it canned its Daihatsu division in Australia, though it has created an all-new Scion brand in the US to lure younger buyers.

“Scion works in the US, but would it work in Australia? We don’t know,” Booth says. “And we’d have to establish the market.”

Do you agree the Cube is the car for Aussie Gen-Y? Have your say below.

- The Daily Telegraph

By Robert Farago
May 15, 2008 - 582 Views

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In a recent interview with Piston Heads, the company’s new boss Peter Boutwood announced that the launch of the new M600 is near by. The car will be conceptually similar to a Ferrari F40 and will be limited to only 40 unit a year.

The car is currently under testings and development programme. The M600 is to be announced, but this will not happen before it has been completely and thoroughly tested.

It will however be a carbon fibre body shell, twin turbo V8 powered, with a six speed gearbox designed and developed for Noble by Graziano Trasmissioni.

The M600 will have no “absolute” competitors, but obviously it will appeal to those already in the high performance market; the nearest competitor Noble can equate in conceptual terms is probably the Ferrari F40.

The car will not have a convertible version and Noble will soon post the first images on its official web site.

Subaru is taunting us again with yet another limited-edition model that we’ll likely never see Stateside. The Legacy STI S402 will be limited to (appropriately) 402 units in both sedan and wagon trim, featuring the STI’s turbocharged, 2.5-liter flat-four. Unlike some of the other “special” Subies, the S402 Legacy means business. To begin with, the front fenders have been widened by 20mm, the steering ratio has been reduced to 13:1 and Bilstein shocks are fitted at all four corners, along with 18-inch BBS wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza RE050A rubber. The brakes have been upgraded to units from Brembo, with six-piston calipers up front and two-pot calipers in the rear gripping upgraded rotors. Aside from all the required badging, Subaru has fitted new gauges to the IP, along with a MOMO steering wheel and aluminum shift knob.

Sales begin in Japan on June 27th, with prices starting ¥5,491,500 for the wagon and ¥5,355,000 for the sedan. We’ll take one of each, thank you very much.

[Source: Subaru]