APEX Kings

Kazunori Yamauchi vs. NASCAR Driver Joey Logano in GT5

ApexKings — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:30:56 GMT

Kazunori Yamauchi went head-to-head in a fastest lap shootout with NASCAR driver Joey Logano at a private Gamestop manager’s convention just last week. Logano managed to best Yamauchi’s time in his own NASCAR machine on Tokyo R246, winning everyone in attendance a free copy of GT5. Thanks to Bryan Cook of*Logano’s team, Joe Gibbs Racing, for capturing this video of the event and sharing it with GTPlanet!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

COBB Tuning Motorsports Mid-Season Recap!

GarySheehan — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:10:45 GMT

With September nearly upon us, The COBB Tuning Motorsports Team is preparing for the final three races of the Redline Time Attack Season. With the conclusion of the East Coast Championship, the COBB Team will be concentrating on securing the championship in both the Street and Modified AWD classes in the COBB Tuning Motorsports Subaru STI and Nissan GT-R.

The COBB Tuning Motorsports STI has run a very impressive season finishing on the podium at every single event and twice in first place in class! Driver Cameron Benner has shown that his aggressive driving style, coupled with the tuning power of the AccessPORT wins races. The combination of a Cosworth engine tuned with the COBB Tuning AccessPORT has proven to be a winning formula by finishing every single event on the podium. Thanks to the crew at COBB Tuning Surgeline, the car is a shining example of what a properly-prepared Subaru can achieve in the hands of a talented driver backed by a dedicated team.

�This season of Redline has been about development for both the car and myself,� said STI driver Cameron Benner. �We started at Buttonwillow with our first podium in 3rd place, and since then have continued development on the STI platform. The car has been wonderful to drive and continues to get better with every event. I�ve really focused with my car chief on dialing the suspension setup to optimize the chassis for the amount of power the AccessPORT enables the car to put down. We�ve got some new cooling upgrades in store for Pahrump and will be pursuing another win to further secure the Street Tire overall championship.�

Cameron leads the AWD Street Tire Class with 162 points; 46 points ahead of 2nd place, Steve Ruiz, in the AEM stand alone-tuned EVO X and 55 points ahead of 3rd place Jon Drenas in his AccessPORT-tuned EVO X.

The COBB Tuning Motorsports GT-R driven by Brian Lock has had a very successful, if not a bit of a challenging season, with the team pushing the envelope of performance in the highly competitive Modified Class. Being one of the first teams ever to race this exotic monster, the COBB Tuning Motorsports Team has discovered a few weak points in Godzilla�s scales leading to not a few late nights both at and away from the race track. Those late nights have produced incredible results with the GT-R taking the podium and the overall class-win at every event it has finished in the AWD Modified Class, as well as a series first of two overall event wins by a Modified Class car. The GT-R has only DNF�d at one race this season at Round 3 in Las Vegas as the bone stock engine internals tired of putting out nearly 1,000 crank horsepower.

“This year has been extremely taxing, but rewarding. As with our GT-R racecar, our crew has been pushed to its limits time and time again only to persevere and win�, said GT-R Driver Brian Lock. �The grueling pace of a full coast to coast racing schedule along with two emergency engine rebuilds, constant chassis development to keep up with the amazing power our AccessPORT squeezes out of the engine, and lots of travel have left everyone a bit burned-out after Willow Springs. This nice break has allowed everyone to recharge their batteries and the GT-R to get some much-needed R&R. We will be back in Pahrump ready to secure our championships.”

This season, COBB Tuning sponsored the Redline Time Attack Modified Class and this has turned out to be the most closely contested class of the series. These cars walk a fine line between street and full blown racer with some cars pushing well over 700whp! The COBB Tuning Modifed Class is the battleground for big power and the winner of this class will be well deserving of the street cred and bragging rights that a victory here will bring!

The COBB Tuning Modified Class GT-R currently sits in 2nd place, just one point behind the Takata Time Attack/LIC Motorsports STI. The LIC STI is also powered by a COBB Tuning AccessPORT, tuned by our experienced calibrators at the COBB Tuning Surgeline facility, and is making just under 550whp on the stock ECU! Mike Cronin Jr is sitting third in the Fontana Nissan GT-R, also tuned with a COBB Tuning AccessPORT, making the COBB Tuning Modified Class a clean, AccessPORT-powered sweep!

These next three events will be crucial for the team as they push to continue their winning ways and prove to the world that COBB Tuning has what it takes to not only best the nation�s top AWD vehicles, but also take the overall Redline Time Attack Championship!

For the East Coast Championship, both the COBB Tuning Motorsports GT-R and STI finished third in their respective classes despite not running at the final race at Sebring in Florida. While the COBB Tuning Motorsports team made a strong showing in the East Coast Championship, the team decided to concentrate on the West Coast series and focus efforts closer to home.

The next event will take place September 18th-19th at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, NV. This event could be the deciding race in the championship!

NOTE: This post is from the Cobb Tuning Blog.

Video: Spectre Performance Speedliner takes to the salt

ApexKings — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:33:31 GMT

Filed under: Aftermarket, Motorsports, Videos

Spectre Perfromance Speedliner hits 366 mph - Click above to watch video after the jump

Spectre Performance has been busy. The team made impressive progress toward its goal of toppling the 400 mph barrier in a four-wheel, gasoline-powered vehicle during this year's Bonneville Speed Week. Their weapon of choice? A twin-engined speedliner with a combined displacement of 1,026 cubic inches and a total output of somewhere between 3,200 and 4,000 horsepower thanks to twin turbo systems on each engine. In 2009, that contraption walked all the way up to 330.569 mph - good enough to set a world record at the SCTA World Finals, but still well short of the team's goal.

This year, they headed to the salt flats with driver Amir Rosenbaum at the tiller. Rosenbaum managed to squeeze quite a bit more speed out of the machine, pushing it all the way to 366 mph and breaking three records in two classes in the process. If you're like us, you're probably wondering just what it feels like to fly at those speeds with the seat of your pants mere inches from the Earth. Fortunately for all of us curious types, Spectre has put out an excellent video detailing the experience. Find it and the full press release after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]Continue reading Video: Spectre Performance Speedliner takes to the salt

Video: Spectre Performance Speedliner takes to the salt originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gran Turismo 5 Demo Playable at Best Buy in Oregon (Confirmed)

ApexKings — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:05:29 GMT

The playable GT5 demo which was first spotted last night at a Best Buy in Oregon has now been confirmed by multiple sources. GTPlanet reader Jeramy has also grabbed video of the new demo, walking us through all of the available cars, tracks, and features. Vermontster of the PS Forums has also shared his conversation with the Best Buy employees (thanks, calvins48), which you’ll see below. We do, indeed, owe a lot of thanks to Oldschool27 for his discovery!

The demo should be coming to more (and hopefully all) Best Buy stores over the coming weeks. For now, if you’re in the Clackamas, Oregon area (outside of Portland), you can get an early taste of GT5 right now. Click here for the exact location and directions to the store -- tell them GTPlanet sent you!

We all owe a big THANK YOU to Oldschool27 for this find.

He was in fact correct.* The Best Buy in Clackamas, OR has a working, PLAYABLE demo.*It has 2 modes. Time trial or Arcade mode,*arcade mode has 3 levels of difficulty- A ,B, C

5 tracks are available

1. Rome

2. Toscano

3. Indy Super Speedway

4.* The RING Nordscheif (sp)

5.* Tokoyo R 246

11 cars are available.

1. Merceds Benz SLS AMG

2. Corvette Stingray ‘69

3.*Enzo Ferrari

4.* GT Citroen

5. Ferrari 458 Italia

6.* Lambo Gallardo

7.* Audi R8

8. #24 Jeff Gordon Dupont Chevy

9.* Nissan Motul Autech GTR (super GT)

The last 2 cars are available to use in rally

10.* Nissan GTR V Spec

11.* Citroen C4 WRC

I had a lengthy conversation with the stores manager.* He said Sony sent it to them and they just set it up.* I think I may have really scared the guy.* He left me to go search to see if he was under any gag order.* He was not fond of the idea of hundreds of people comming in just to play a demo.* I told him to stock up on steering wheels and enjoy the next 2 months. :)

I am down loading the 3 pictures I was able to take.* The manager was very addament about not filming in his store.* They are of the TT screen, the arcade screen and home screen.

The physics are going to be familiar to those who did the Indy time trials.* They are a step up in difficulty for sure.* The graphics are nothing short of spectacular.* The demo was set up*for controller use and the left stick didn’t work so I was forced into using the D-pad.

I’m not sure if my photo’s will be any better than Oldschool were.* All I have are those 3 photo’s and a half an hour playing the demo as proof of its existance.* I also met Oldschool at Bst Buy.* He walked me through the demo then let me at it.

Thank you Oldschool.* This was a great find.

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

COBB Tuning Film Festival Grand Prize Winner Announced!

GarySheehan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:05:29 GMT

Congratulations to the top 5 entries of the 2010 COBB Tuning Film Festival. Evan Younker of Winter Park, Florida takes home the Grand Prize of $2000 for the most viewed video of the competition. But the contest isn’t over yet. It is now up to you to decide which is the best video for the People’s Choice Award, worth $500! Simply watch the videos from our 5 finalists then vote for the one you like the most.

While you are doing that, the COBB Tuning staff will be voting on the videos to select the COBB Employee’s Choice Award, worth another $500!

Check back on September 13th to see who took home the People’s Choice Award and the COBB Employee’s Choice Award.

		Evan Younker Winter Park, FL
		Raksmey Praing Homestead, FL
		Ryker Garrett West Jordan, UT
		Jared Auslander Astoria, NY
		Barbara Manrique Garden Grove, CA

NOTE: This post is from the Cobb Tuning Blog.

Ferrari to release Virtual Academy online driving simulator [w/video]

ApexKings — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:54:39 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Ferrari, Toys/Games

Ferrari Driving Academy Trailer - Click above to watch the video after the jump

There are a handful of F1 driving simulators out in the market today, ranging from Codemaster's F1 2010 to the $191,000 Cruden Hexatech simulator. Ferrari has decided to try their hand at their own version called Ferrari Virtual Academy 2010.

The simulation racing game will benefit from much of Ferrari's own expertise in Formula One. The team's engineers were consulted to provide realistic driving dynamics and each of the tracks were digitally recreated with Laser Scan and Motion Capture. Ferrari's current competitor, the F10, is the vehicle of choice, and Fiorano, Mugello and the Nürburgring are the current tracks available. There's no word as to whether historic cars or additional tracks will be offered.

The game will be available for download on September 9 with a price tag of 15 Euros (around $19 USD), although to tantalize potential users, Ferrari has said that there will be "exclusive Scuderia gadgets and further surprises" for the drivers. We don't know what that means, but we can't imagine a Ferrari gadget that we wouldn't like. Need to see more? You can watch the game's official trailer after the jump.

[Source: Ferrari]Continue reading Ferrari to release Virtual Academy online driving simulator [w/video]

Ferrari to release Virtual Academy online driving simulator [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Top Gear?s Stig Identity Revealed!

ApexKings — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:54:39 GMT

Associated Press just reported that the secretive racer, Stig, in BBC’s successful “Top Gear” television program is Ben Collins, who has raced in Formula 3,* Indy Lights, 24 Hours of Le Mans, European Stock Car Series and FIA GT. He was also the stunt driver in the 2008 James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace.”

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Playable GT5 Demo Coming to Best Buy Stores?

ApexKings — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:22:29 GMT

Before you read any further, keep in mind this rumor – while very promising – has only been mentioned by one person, so proceed with caution. With that said, Oldschool27 of the PlayStation Forums claims to have spotted a playable Gran Turismo 5 demo at a PS3 kiosk inside a Best Buy in Oregon. He’s backed up his story with pictures and information about the “5 tracks” and “15 cars” featured, including Rome, Daytona, Toscana, and Jeff Gordon’s #24 NASCAR.

You can read his thread for yourself, though it was unfortunately closed by the PS Forum moderators due to “flaming”. Others were understandably suspicious, and as of Wednesday night no other Oregon-based forum users were able to find this at their local stores just yet.

Regardless, the pictures are quite convincing, and it should be expected that retailers will receive playable demos of the game at least some time between now and November. Oldschool27, if you’re reading, please contact me or leave a comment below regarding the exact location of the store you visited so that others can go and check it out. Thanks to Ricardo for the tip!

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Gran Turismo 5 Releases in Australia November 4th

ApexKings — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:22:29 GMT

Our friends down under finally have an official release date for Gran Turismo 5: November 4, 2010, as confirmed by this press release from Sony. If you know you want the Signature Edition, be sure and reserve your copy now at a local retailer such as GAME Australia or EBGames.

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

AMS Release Upgraded Mass Airflow (MAF) Sensors for Nissan GT-R

ApexKings — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:21:07 GMT

As time goes by and big power GT-Rs get more plentiful more and more tuners are running into the same old pesky problems. In fact, whenever you see horsepower at these levels this problem tends to rear it’s head. That is flaky air flow sensors, air flow sensors that lack resolution or airflow sensors that just max out way earlier than needed.

To put this problem to bed AMS have tackled it head on;

The AMS Nissan GT-R upgraded MAF sensor was designed to eliminate the driveabilty problems with big horsepower GT-R�s. As with any GT-R, once you start to reach the 800HP threshold, driveablity problems occur. AMS diagnosed these issues and quickly sorted out a solution. Thanks to our tuner Chris Black, we now have a MAF sensor capable of handling big power and big amounts of air. Kiss your P0700 codes goodbye! Stop dealing with rough driveablity problems if you are running Greddy 20G’s, big bolt-on turbos or full turbo kits. These Mass Air Flow Sensors are designed and calibrated to handle big power!

These babies are good to handle airflow levels up to 1200bhp and are retailing for $999.95. Hit up the AMS website linked below for the full details…

Link: AMS Website

View Entire Article: AMS Release Upgraded Mass Airflow (MAF) Sensors for Nissan GT-R at GTRBlog.comOriginally appeared on and � GTRBlog.com. 2010. | Read comments.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

NASCAR's greatest cheats detailed

ApexKings — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:23:06 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports

It is only fitting that NASCAR has as history of cheating that's as cunning and varied as the methods of the original, moonshine-running racers skirting the law. Popular Mechanics has detailed 11 great moments in the bending and breaking of NASCAR rules, which include a cheating incident and ejection in the very first series race in 1949, an inflated basketball to circumvent gas tank capacity and frame rails loaded with BBs to get around weight restrictions.

And although a stricter rule book and the Car of Tomorrow might make "rules violations" harder ever year, it certainly hasn't stopped: a site that keeps track of NASCAR penalties shows the series has docked five teams five teams already this year. Perhaps that's because, as Darryl Waltrip said after getting busted in 1976, "If you don't cheat, you look like an idiot."

[Source: Popular Mechanics | Image: Jason Smith/Getty Images]NASCAR's greatest cheats detailed originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tanner Foust wins first RallyCar Rallycross event in U.S. [w/video]

ApexKings — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:23:06 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Ford, Racing

RallyCar Rallycross at New Jersey Motorsports Park - Click above for high-res image gallery

Tanner Foust took the top spot in the first-ever Rallycross competition in the United States this past weekend, piloting an all-wheel-drive Rockstar Engergy/Etnies Ford Fiesta.

Rallycross has existed around the world for years, but the sport officially debuted in America at the 2010 X Games, where it was called Super Rally. Foust just happened to win gold in the inaugural X Games competition, too. Rallycross mixes circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition on a short course, featuring jumps, hills, unbanked turns and quick transitions between different road surfaces. Two more Rallycross events are scheduled to take place this year, all of which will be held at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Foust has been participating in European Rallycross events for quite some time, and he's also gained exposure by competing in Formula Drift and previous X Games competitions. What's more, Foust is one of the hosts for the U.S. version of Top Gear. Somebody get this guy a vacation.

Look for the next U.S. Rallycross event to take place on October 2-3 and follow the jump for the full release about Foust's win along with a brief video of Tanner ripping down the front straight with his rear bumper flapping in the wind.

Gallery: RallyCar Rallycross at New Jersey Motorsports Park

[Source: Tanner Foust]Continue reading Tanner Foust wins first RallyCar Rallycross event in U.S. [w/video]

Tanner Foust wins first RallyCar Rallycross event in U.S. [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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InsideSimRacing GT5 Special: Yamauchi Interview, Gameplay Impressions & More

ApexKings — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:58:59 GMT

InsideSimRacing has just published their Gran Turismo 5 Special, dedicating almost the entire 38-minute episode to video reports from Gamescom 2010 by our cooperative team of Andreas (from InsideSimRacing), Famine, and Venari. They discuss everything that we learned from the show, and go into more detail about the private breakout session, the Yamauchi interview, and how the latest GT5 demo compares to previous games from the series. It’s divided into three different segments, so be sure to watch through the full episode to make sure you catch everything. The guys at ISR have even more GT5 material from the show coming, so stay tuned.

Once again, I’d like to thank Famine, Venari, and Andreas for all their hard work at the show, Darin at InsideSimRacing and their Sony representative, Alex, for providing us with so much awesome access throughout the week. Well done, guys!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Siena�s Flags Removed from GT5�s Piazza del Campo Circuit

ApexKings — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:14:28 GMT

Remember the outraged city of Siena, which was preparing legal action against Sony because the city’s*Contrade flags appeared around*GT5’s karting track, Piazza del Campo? There was some concern and confusion regarding what the eventual outcome would be, but the solution fortunately turned out to be quite simple: the offensive flags were removed and Siena’s cultural heritage “protected”… *As*reported by Corriere Fiorentino:

The Consortium*continues the note, “notes also welcome the establishment of the Sony to withdraw immediately from the market any promotional materials containing references to and claims on which there are exclusive rights of Contrade and the Consortium, as well as the commitment to remove, dall’edizione the game on the market by November, flags and any reference to the Feast Contrade and Siena.*In addition to the successful from the strictly legal matter, the Consortium is pleased because the reasons underlying its action, namely the protection of historical and cultural heritage as the Palio of Siena community were listed by Sony. “

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

More Power In Store for 2012, Spec-M Named for Japan Market: The Nissan GT-R EGOIST

ApexKings — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:14:28 GMT

Well we did mention that the SpecM name was tentative and today we’ve heard another rumor from sources close to Nissan that the R35 GT-R “Gentleman’s Edition” will launch in the Japanese market as the Nissan GT-R Egoist. While the name seems insane to us it’s not too far outside the bounds of Japanese naming schemes so that we’d completely rule it out.

The SpecM nameplate is likely to be kept in markets outside Japan however so don’t completely cross it off your wish list just yet…

On the topic of rumors from sources close to Nissan Japan, here’s another we’ve just heard. Those folks hopeful that 520ps is the new peak power figure for the 2012 GT-R might be surprised to learn they can expect to be dissapointed. After seeing this figure making its way around blogs and forums one might start quoting it as fact by now but to this date no figure has appeared either officially or leaked. In the true spirit of it not being over ’til the fat lady sings, we’re now told by our reliable sources that 530ps – 540ps is more accurate.

I’ll leave that last one out there…

View Entire Article: More Power In Store for 2012, Spec-M Named for Japan Market: The Nissan GT-R EGOIST at GTRBlog.comOriginally appeared on and � GTRBlog.com. 2010. | Read comments.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Video: Overtaking redefined

ApexKings — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:50:26 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Videos, Humor, Racing

Courses de Bazous St. Ferdinand Autoquad pass - click above to watch the video

We've seen some fine passes in our day, both by professional shoes like Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna, as well as unnamed trackday heroes. The pro stuff is great, but sometimes, nothing succeeds like a course full of bangers with nothing to lose. Case in point, this dirt track pass captured on amateur video at the Courses de Bazous St. Ferdinand Autoquad in Quebec. We're not sure it was intentional, but simply put, we've never seen a move like this one.

Due to the graininess of the video footage and the condition of the cars involved themselves,, we're not entirely sure what the overtaking car is (perhaps you can help us out with a guess in comments), but it appears that the racer being 'passed' is an old Honda Civic hatchback. Have a look for yourself after the jump. Whoop-de-do indeed! Hat tip to Duy.

[Source: YouTube]Continue reading Video: Overtaking redefined

Video: Overtaking redefined originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boris Said � Montreal 200 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series

K1 Speed — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:17:49 GMT

K1 Speed partner Boris Said and driving partner Eric Curran, qualified Friday for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve capturing respective poles for Saturday’s Montreal 200, Round 11 of 12 in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. Boris drove the GT class Corvette of Marsh racing to the pole position with a 1:38.895 second single lap time with an average speed of 98.613 mph.

On Saturday luck would run out for the Marsh racing team, as Paul Edwards, who came from being nearly a lap down, would take the overall win in the GT Class with the Banner Racing Corvette along with co-driver Scott Russel. Boris and his co-driver would finish 9th overall in the GT class, after a hard fought battle with the full class of participants all gunning for the top spot on the podium.

NOTE: This post is from K1 Speed.

13-year old motorcycle racer killed during warm-up lap at Indy

ApexKings — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:27:24 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Motorcycle, Racing

Tragic events unfolded at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend when Peter Lenz, 13, was killed after falling off of his motorcycle and being hit by another rider during a warm-up lap.

Ben Spies, who took second place during Sunday's MotoGP event, commented on the unfortunate events:

"I told myself before the race, I was riding my heart out for him today. I've lost a teammate in the past, my best friend. He was at an age at least he knew what he was doing; he obviously loved it. He knew how dangerous it could be."

Lenz was set to compete in a USGPRU series race, which is for riders ages 12 to 18 who would like to gain experience for higher-level competitions like MotoGP. This was the first fatality in the nine-year history of USGPRU. Our condolences go out to Lenz's family and friends.

[Source: The Indianapolis Star | Image: Facebook]13-year old motorcycle racer killed during warm-up lap at Indy originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sept 17th track day at Streets of Willow in California

momo — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:31:21 GMT

www.Extremespeedtrackevents.com will be at The Streets of Willow Springs on Sept 17th for a day at the track,they are having have a special track day price of only $110.00 for a whole day of fun.Contact Chris Willard(former co-owner of REDLINE TIME ATTACK and new owner of extremespeedtrackevents.com) at chris@extremespeedtrackevents.com for details .

Sept 17th track day at Streets of Willow in California

momo — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:30:00 GMT

GT5 Gameplay Videos: Circuit de la Sarthe

ApexKings — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:01:02 GMT

Videos from the most recent build of the game shown at Gamescom 2010.

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Tanner Foust Keeps Winning ? Takes Home 1st at Rallycross

ApexKings — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:24:37 GMT

Tanner Foust is just collecting wins all over the place in rally racing this year. After a double gold medal week at X-Games he kicked off Rallycross with a victory. He has one amazing For Fiesta that let him take home another win to kick off this new Rallycross season. He is stacking up an impressive resume of wins this year and has to be looking at a Formula Drift championship to finish off 2010.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

2010 Belgian Grand Prix packs in the action [SPOILERS]

ApexKings — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:11:58 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Europe

2010 Belgian Grand Prix - Click above for high-res image gallery

After the nearly month-long break that followed the Hungarian Grand Prix, F1 fans around the world have patiently awaited the return to business as usual on the grand prix circuit. And by business as usual, we mean nail-biting, wheel-to-wheel action and bitter rivalries. With that much pent-up anticipation, it would take some spectacle to make up for the hiatus. Fortunately, this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix - held at the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit - provided exactly that. Follow the jump to read how it went down.

Gallery: 2010 Belgian Grand Prix

Continue reading 2010 Belgian Grand Prix packs in the action [SPOILERS]

2010 Belgian Grand Prix packs in the action [SPOILERS] originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2012 Nissan GT-R Leaks: Part II More Confirmed Details

ApexKings — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:39:47 GMT

As mentioned in our previous Spec-M Expos� the 2012 Nissan GT-R is set to arrive on the scene shortly with so many changes that Nissan had to go out and revise the chassis designation bumping CBA-R35 in favor of the new DBA-R35 tag. While we touched on the cosmetic changes in part 1 of this post we didn’t delve into the more technical changes yet so here goes.

Aero Updates

Aero changes to the front bumper, rear diffuser and rear underspoiler mean that the 2012 GT-R slips through the air with even less drag than the already impressive 2009 model. As mentioned previously, these changes help it lower it’s co-efficient of drag as well as increase downforce in the rear by as much as 10%. The rear vents also assist in keeping rear underbody temperatures lower meaning less heat transfer from the GT-R’s hot exhaust into the critical areas like the GR6 transmission fluid and rear differential.

Nissan took the opportunity with the rear diffuser/underspoiler rear design to build in a rear Euro mandated fog light using an LED strip along the bottom edge in the center.

Chassis Updates

As well as aerodynamics, street and circuit handling in the 2012 GT-R is going to benefit greatly from some key chassis stiffening updates in the DBA-R35. Strengthening members are added to the front area under the dashboard (highlighted above). In the engine bay, new bracing members extend from the rear of the strut towers to the firewall.

As well as increasing chassis rigidity by adding new key metal – the GT-R engineering team has improved the manufacturing line to improve GT-R build quality and panel fit consitency for every car built.

Suspension Updates

Again showing that the Nissan GT-R engineering team is focussing on driver feel, they’ve gone to the extrordinary length of changing the suspension geometry on the DBA-R35 model. The changes to the front suspension lower arm move the stabiliser bar further out and change the shock absorber lever angle. To go with these changes up front is a castor angle change from 5�35 to 6�00. In the rear, Nissan has tuned the roll center.

All around, Nissan’s update to the suspension to adopt an aluminium free piston design as well as spring, damper and valve rate changes mean the suspension is able to more quickly adapt to changes in surface and direction. The net benefit is a more stable and more responsive feel with even more feedback to drivers than ever before.

Brakes, Wheels and Tires Updates

Nissan’s experience with racing over the past few years with the GT-R has taught them that more stopping power is always better. To that end they’ve upped the front rotor size on the DBA-R35 from 380mm of the CBA-R35 to 390mm.

As mentioned already, the DBA-R35 will debut with a new design Rays forged aluminium wheel each 3kg lighter than the outgoing type. These wheels will come in two new colors Hyper Blue Black and Hyper Titanium. The new Rays wheels feature improved knurling to help further with reducing tire slip on the rims themselves.

To fit these new wheels are updated versions of both summer tires already being fitted to the GT-R, namely the RE070R R2 from Bridgestone and the SP Sport Maxx GT 600 DSST CTT from Dunlop. Both are touted to improve grip and increase sidewall stiffness, something very important in a heavy awd vehicle such as the GT-R.

Part III to come soon where we’ll cover the remainder of the DBA-R35 changes including interior and engine changes, so stay tuned…

View Entire Article: 2012 Nissan GT-R Leaks: Part II More Confirmed Details at GTRBlog.comOriginally appeared on and � GTRBlog.com. 2010. | Read comments.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Some say he's Ben sacked! BBC reportedly fires The Stig

ApexKings — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:15:59 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Celebrities, Rumormill

We saw this one coming; the BBC has apparently sacked The Stig. Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid reports that the Stig, a.k.a. Ben Collins, has been let go and that a new Stig has already replaced him on Top Gear. In fact, the Mirror says it already have pics of the new Stig at a Nürburgring track event, wearing the signature white coveralls and smoked visor helmet. How does the paper know it's not Collins in the photos? Simple: it had another photographer at Ben's house - 1,100 miles away - watching Collins play with his children at the same time.

The firing of the Stig comes a week after a battle erupted over Collins' autobiography, slated for release in September. Details about the Stig's true identity have been trickling out for some time, including the recent discovery that Collins Auto-Sport, a company owned and operated by Ben Collins, claimed income from "driving services for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear programme."

Of course, this could still just be speculation, and TG may have hired another driver just for that one track event. If Collins has indeed been canned and the show follows form, a segment will be filmed showing the demise of the white Stig and the appearance of his replacement. At least that's what they did when the original black-clad Stig, Perry McCarthy, left the show. Wonder what colors the new Stig will fly...

[Source: The Daily Mirror]Some say he's Ben sacked! BBC reportedly fires The Stig originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Aug 2010 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IndyCar: 2010 Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 [SPOILERS]

ApexKings — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:15:59 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Racing

2010 Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 from Chicagoland Speedway - Click above for high-res image gallery

It might seem that the 2010 IndyCar championship is a foregone conclusion. After all, Team Penske's Will Power has a sizable lead in the standings and there are just four races left to run. Ah, but those four are all on ovals, and Will has never claimed the top step of the podium at an oval track. Plus, right behind Power in the race for the overall IZOD IndyCar Championship are Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon - two drivers who have considerably better luck than Power when everybody only has to turn left.

In fact, Dixon leads Franchitti in the new-for-2010 A.J. Foyt Oval Champion standings. Furthermore, Dixon basically owns this week's venue - Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois - despite never actually winning there. That might seem like a contradiction, but Scott has been the bridesmaid on five separate occasions at Chicagoland.

IndyCar's return to the ovals also means bigger fields, with 29 drivers lined up to run for the checkers on Saturday night. Among those 29 were a record five female drivers - Ana Beatriz, Milka Duno, Sarah Fisher, Danica Patrick and Simona de Silvestro. Would Dixon finally take the win in Chicago? Would Dario claim victory and close the gap on Power? Would one of the ladies break through and be the first across the stripe? Follow the jump to see how the 2010 Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 from Chicagoland Speedway played out.

Gallery: 2010 Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 from Chicagoland Speedway

[Images: Jonathan Ferrey, Streeter Lecka/Getty Images | Skip Stewart, Nam Y. Huh, Warren Wimmer/AP]Continue reading IndyCar: 2010 Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 [SPOILERS]

IndyCar: 2010 Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 [SPOILERS] originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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QUIT Targa West 2010: Nissan GT-Rs Take Out Top Honors Again!

ApexKings — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:15:59 GMT

For the third year running the Nissan GT-R has taken out top honors in Western Australia’s QUIT Targa West Tarmac rally as Peter Major scores the win in the Competition Modern class and outright first for 2010. His R35 GT-R sped him to a 51 second victory over tarmac legend Jim Richards in his formidable Porsche GT2 which finished second. A tough position for Richards though as he was sandwhiched in by another GT-R of Peter Rullo and Simon Iseppi who were just 25 seconds behind by the end of the rally in third place.

“We�re over the moon the car was fantastic it did everything we wanted it to do. It was great racing against Jimmy (Jim Richards), you know he�s going to come hard and no matter what he does he�s going to be fast. You never know how hard he�s pushing so we just tried to stay on it and stay as quick as we could, luckily we were able to keep that gap we gained in the first leg”

- Peter Major

Back in the Modern Challenge class the GT-R is also proving it’s the tarmac rally weapon of choice as Mark and Andrew Conacher took their R35 to a class victory while Robert Darrington and David Abetz in their R35 followed them up by just 1 minute. Both GT-R’s were 8.5 minutes in front of the nearest, third place competitor in the class.

Major victorious at QUIT Targa West 2010
Peter Major has won his first QUIT Targa West Competition Modern crown holding off Jim Richards to take the outright rally win in Perth today.

Major and his co-driver Kim Screaigh (Nissan GTR 35) took top spot on the timing sheets from Richards midway into Leg 1 and continued to stretch their advantage across the final two Leg�s of the tarmac rally, ultimately taking victory by 51 seconds.

continued…

(...)

View Entire Article: QUIT Targa West 2010: Nissan GT-Rs Take Out Top Honors Again! at GTRBlog.com Originally appeared on and � GTRBlog.com. 2010. | Read comments.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Gran Turismo 5 HD Installation Approximately 10GB in Size

ApexKings — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:07:42 GMT

Kazunori Yamauchi has given us a heads-up regarding what to expect from GT5 in terms of hard drive installation size via Twitter (human translation thanks to*our own SHIRAKAWA Akira):

If you have at least 256MB it will work, but if you have 10 GB available you will be able to play comfortably.

Most of today’s heftiest games consume at least several GB – by comparison, GT5 Prologue requires about 6GB. Copying data to the system’s internal drive significantly reduces loading times due to the faster rate at which data can be read from HDD into the system’s memory. Yamauchi’s tweet is a little ambiguous on the details regarding exactly how much space you will need, but for the best possible experience, just make sure you’ve got at least 10GB available before November comes along!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Lotus Evora GT4 and Cup cars take to the 'Ring and Laguna

ApexKings — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:51:52 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, Lotus, Racing

Lotus Evora Cup Car GT4 - Click above for high-res image gallery

Lotus has set about proving that the Evora is more than just a pretty face, just recently putting its Evora Cup GT4 and 2-Eleven GT4 racers through their paces at the infamous Nürburgring and most recently at Laguna Seca. Both cars were hooned 'round the Green Hell by none other than Olie Hancock, the Lotus rookie test driver. The company didn't release any lap times for either car, but we're guessing the two are plenty quick. Lotus has entered the Evora Cup GT4 in the European GT4 Championship, where it will campaign against the best and brightest of the sports car world.

In order to get the car fit for battle, the company trimmed a total of 441 pounds from the car's curb weight, landing the track-going Evora at just 2,623 pounds. Throw in a 360 horsepower V6 and you've got yourself a recipe for tarmac glory.

Meanwhile, a total of four 2-Eleven GT4 racers will be entered into the same championship, two of which will be campaigned by NFS Racing Dubai. The other two will be flying under the Scuderia Giudici banner - the team that currently leads the GT4 Super Sports category.

Hit the jump for the full press release.

Gallery: Lotus Evora Cup GT4 Race Car

[Source: Lotus]Continue reading Lotus Evora GT4 and Cup cars take to the 'Ring and Laguna

Lotus Evora GT4 and Cup cars take to the 'Ring and Laguna originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cyrious Productions Presents 2010 Drift Mania Montmagny [VIDEO]

ApexKings — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:48:59 GMT

Cyrious Productions Presents 2010 DMCC Round 4 at Montmagny

A great Cyrious Productions piece from DMCC Round 4 of the 2010 season. Watch as Formula Drift driver Matt Waldin takes home an insane victory at one of the first Drift Mania night events in history. A great video highlighting members of the Drift Posse and other DMCC drivers at Round 4.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/cyrious-productions-presents-2010-dmcc-round-

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Forza Motorsport 3 - Week in Review (8/27)

ApexKings — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:23:08 GMT

We here at Turn 10 are no strangers to high performance cars and last Friday, August 20, we had a chance to share some of the high-speed coolness with the rest of Microsoft. The Forza Motorsport Car Show was held at the Commons--one of the large open areas on the MS campus and near the massive--and massively impressive--MS cafeteria (forgive my awe but I'm still new here!). The event was a great mix of real-life cars and some good old-fashioned Forza 3 racing and here's how it all went down:

First, the cars. The folks at Evolution Motorsports and Max RPM Motorsports brought the goods that brought the crowds--namely six high end racing cars--including four Porsche models, a gorgeous lemon-yellow Ferrari 430 Scuderia and, the star of the bunch, a bright orange Gumpert Apollo. If you own the Forza 3 Exotic Car Pack DLC, you probably know that the Gumpert is a fantastic beast of a machine, and it's even more impressive in person. Microsoft employees and their guests got a chance to take pictures, sit in the driver's seat and even hear the car's massive engine in action for a few minutes.

The roar of Gumpert's engine was a fearsome thing but I have to say that, personally, the car's most impressive aspect was the incredibly wide rear tires--they looked better suited for the Batmobile and quite obviously provide the kind of grip you need in such a powerful car.

In keeping with the Gumpert theme, inside the Microsoft cafeteria, we ran a Top Gear-style time trial for MS employees with the top prize winner getting his hands on a Fanatec Wheel, as well as numerous copies of Forza 3 and DLC codes aplenty. We had a great turnout--with Jube doing a great job of running the tourney and making sure everyone stuck to the rules, which were as follows:

Car: Gumpert Apollo
Track: Mugello Club Circuit
Laps: 3
Assists: All allowed

To keep a level playing field, all competitors drove with the Microsoft Steering Wheel. The top time clocked in at 55.712 which was a valiant effort but it didn't come close to the 53.759 lap turned in by Turn 10's Christian (good thing T10 employees were exempt). The driver with the best time won a brand new Fanatec Porsche wheel, with runners up getting copies of Forza 3, and free download codes to boot.

Image by o Aperture o - See this in more in the Community Gallery

In all it was a great chance to show the rest of Microsoft just how fun Forza can be and I hope we can do something like this again in the near future. Who knows? Maybe we'll be able to get some of you local guys involved as well. Now here's Fred with the rest of the Week in Review.

Featured Video

Community Update

Special time trial this week, in order to compete and compare the community’s times against the MS employees who took on the Gumpert challenge last week. You will need to have the Exotic Car pack installed in order to compete. Let’s see how close community can come to beating Christian’s time

Time Trial: Apollo Challenge

What: Official Turn 10 Featured Time Trial Challenge

When: Now until Friday September 3rd at 12:00PM PDT

Where: Time Trials in Forza Motorsport 3.

Track and Car: Mugello Club Circuit – 2010 Gumpert Apollo

How: Navigate to the “Leaderboards” menu and scroll down to “Time Trial”. Scroll down to “Apollo Challenge” and “Press A to Start Race” at the top of the leaderboard. Set your best possible lap time!

Image by Roberts RS - See this in more in the Community Gallery

Production Hopper Refresh and More New Hoppers Coming
The first refresh of the Cycled Production hopper is just around the corner. Next week we will be reviewing all the hopper data from our latest update and putting together the next set of car and track combos for the Cycled Production hopper. Also in the works is a whole new hopper category, not going to go in to all the details just yet but suffice to say this hopper will be the place to go when you want something a little different than straight up circuit racing.

Interested in getting featured in the community update?
The community update is a great way to get one of your upcoming events, leagues, competitions or giveaways noticed. Do you want to get your event featured in this section? Head on over to our brand new community events section and promote your items. We changed the way this works and condensed it to one thread, I cannot stress enough that the events we post come directly from that thread so if you want to get the word out, stop on by.

Image by INR Jossman - See this in more in the Community Gallery

Corvette Challenge Paint Competition
There is still a week left in the Corvette Challenge, a paint competition that CRjakeFAN stated early last week. You have your choice of replicating any of the liveries for the Corvette Challenge racecars from the 1988, '89 or '90 seasons on the C4 Corvette Grand Sport. Make sure to check out all the contest details in the link above.

Porsche Photocomp
The Porsche photo competition, being hosted by Bleuprint, still has a week left and it already has a lot of great photos posted. Rules are pretty simple for this one any Porsche on any track with no outside editing. Now don’t let the stiff competition scare you away from the chance to pick up cool million credits, check out the submission thread above to get in on the action.

Real life photography
Showing that their skills are not limited to in-game photography many of the Forza photographers have been showing off their real life photo work. Some of the new photos from Old Boone’s trip out to Road America are especially nice. Take a look at all the great real life photos from the talented members of the Multimedia section by clicking on the link above.

Image by AZT B Tender - See this in more in the Community Gallery

Golden Years Tuning Comp
Entries have begun to come in for TruthWhenILie’s Golden Years Tuning Comp. Those of you who are not familiar with this competition, the goal was to create a C425 tune on any car from the years 1980 to 1999. TruthWhenILie has your regular prizing structure combined with a bunch of mystery prizes categories that have not yet be totally revealed. Click on the link above to follow along with the action from this tuning comp.

C30 Spec Tournament
Looking for some competitive racing in B class? F1R Amackin has the C30 Spec Tournament starting on September 18th. This new series is a 10 week long season featuring the 2009 Volvo C30 R. This series will be running simulation damage and wear so in some of the longer races you should be prepared for pitstops. The race details and schedule can be found in the link above if you are interested in some clean racing Volvo action.

NOTE: This post is from Forza Motorsport.

Abarth 1500 Bertone B.A.T. 1 Coupe Wins Gran Turismo Trophy at Pebble Beach 2010

ApexKings — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:05:05 GMT

For the third consecutive year, Kazunori Yamauchi has been invited to the prestigious Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance to present the Gran Turismo Trophy – an award “to support those who make efforts to preserve irreplaceable, precious automotive culture for future generations to come”. This year, it goes to the one and only*1952 Abarth 1500 Biposto Coupe in existence – an unusual, quirky, and significant car:

Designed by master designer Franco Scaglione, working for Bertone at the time, the Abarth 1500 Biposto boasted not only a mix of strong character and unique style, but first-class aerodynamics as well. The eye-opening triple headlights and the carved out features of the front and rear fenders gave it its own unique look, while the shape of the rear featured hints of the coming of the popular tailfin design. The overall design later proved to produce superior aerodynamics in wind tunnel testing, thanks in part to Scaglione’s previous study of aeronautical engineering. Scaglione was later credited for having “anticipated the flow of air” way back in the 1950s.

There was only one Abarth 1500 Biposto manufactured, and it was shown in the 1952 Torino Auto Show. After that it was purchased by Packard of the United States, and it disappeared from the public’s eye. This historically significant car was restored to perfection by Chris Drake of the United Kingdom, and brought to the United States to appear at the 2010 Concours de Elegance in Pebble Beach where it took home the Gran Turismo Trophy.

Read more on the car’s fascinating history right here – it was regularly used by its previous owner to pick up his children from school!

It is likely – though not guaranteed – this little Abarth will be coming to a Gran Turismo game near you. The 2008 winner – a 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400 Bertoni Prototype – was just confirmed for GT5 at Gamescom 2010. Last year’s winner, a 1965 Alfa Romeo TZ2, has yet to be seen…

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

InsideSimRacing Gamescom 2010 GT5 Video Coverage Preview

ApexKings — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:46:47 GMT

As I mentioned earlier, GTPlanet teamed up with InsideSimRacing to provide comprehensive coverage of GT5 at Gamescom 2010 (which turned out to be quite a job!). We covered the announcements as they happened -- now the ISR team is sorting through over 80GB of material to include for their upcoming GT5 and Gamescom special features. Watch for a quick preview in the latest episode (posted above) around the 28:00 mark, or take a look at a few of these screenshots from their*footage below.

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Tuerck Brothers by JerseyStreets.tv [VIDEO]

ApexKings — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:30:30 GMT

The Tuerck Brothers at XDC and Clubloose

Check out this awesome video from the Tuerck brothers as they took on some events on the east coast. This video doesn’t include Formula Drift star Ryan Tuerck but his twin brother Justin Tuerck and younger brother Evan Tuerck. Watch them as they take on some Clubloose events and XDC weekends in their respective rides.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/the-tuerck-brothers-at-xdc-and-clubloose-

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Single Turbo GT55 runs 8.680 @ 164.800 MPH in the 1/4 mile

DragTimes.com — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:17:12 GMT

A 2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Single Turbo GT55 driven by Mark Carlyle ran a 8.680 @ 164.800 MPH at National Trail Raceway.

View the timeslip on DragTimes.com

Back to His Roots: The Kentucky Kid returns to the Indy Mile, but not to race

ApexKings — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:14:24 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Motorcycle, Celebrities, Racing

Before Nicky Hayden was an international superstar making use of some of the best front brakes in the world on his MotoGP bike, he was just a kid from Kentucky who made a name for himself forgoing the front binder altogether and winning a ton of AMA flat track races. Back then he was known as the rookie, or the Kentucky Kid... On August 28th, that same kid from Kentucky will have officially come full circle (pun-intended) by returning to the track that helped launch his career.

Timing being everything, Mr. Hayden will be in Indianapolis working his real job as a Desmo pilot, which gave him the opportunity to accept the invitation to act as Grand Marshal of the AMA Pro Grand National Championship at the historic Indy Mile. Is it a coincidence that Nicky's sponsor, Ducati, recently made some major in-roads to the Harley-Davidson-dominated world of flat track racing? Not likely, but the return of the Kentucky Kid to his childhood playground will no doubt be a special occasion for the racer and fans alike.

If you would like to read the complete event blotter, hit the jump. Nickey Hayden fans can join us in the hope that the trip to the Indy Mile will be a powerful reminder of what it takes to win races when he makes it back over to the big show at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

[Source:Ducati]Continue reading Back to His Roots: The Kentucky Kid returns to the Indy Mile, but not to race

Back to His Roots: The Kentucky Kid returns to the Indy Mile, but not to race originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SuperGT 2010: NISMO Second on Podium for Suzuka 700 Enduro Round 6

ApexKings — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:14:24 GMT

Team NISMO were able to recover from a potentially race ending spin to pull off a 2nd place finish for round 6 of the SuperGT Championship series of 2010 last weekend. On the scorching hot Suzuka Circuit, NISMO were able to use pit stops/driver changes effectively and take advantage of the cooling conditions as night came to push the GT-R into second place and keep it there.

Engine and drivetrain issues hampered the HIS ADVAN KONDO Racing and the CALSONIC IMPUL teams race efforts and both teams had to retire early from the race. A dissapointment for both teams, especially team IMPUL who had a good shot at moving up the championship ladder this week.

For the full race report hit up the read more link below…

Images: (C) NISMO

(...)

View Entire Article: SuperGT 2010: NISMO Second on Podium for Suzuka 700 Enduro Round 6 at GTRBlog.comOriginally appeared on and � GTRBlog.com. 2010. | Read comments.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

NASCAR Video from Latest GT5 Gamescom 2010 Demo

ApexKings — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:25:08 GMT

Thanks to our own Alba and*Denur for this footage!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Video: Trans-Am race cars battle it out at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion

ApexKings — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:27:34 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Videos, Ford, Racing

1969 Ford Boss 302 Team Shelby Trans-Am Mustang - Click above to watch the video after the jump

One of our favorite events from the Monterey car week earlier this month was watching the field of 44 Trans-Am race cars tear it up at the Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The sights and sounds of classic Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers battling it out on the track just like they did in the late '60s and early '70s was something we'll never forget.

The eventual winner of that race was a 1969 Boss 302 Mustang (which is now up for sale) owned and driven by Laguna Seca veteran Bruce Canepa, who has put up a video of his victory. The video shows that the win wasn't easy, as he traded places with a 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A and a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 multiple times. You can watch the entire race in the embedded video after the jump, and be sure to turn up your speakers.

Gallery: 1969 Ford Boss 302 Team Shelby Trans-Am Mustang

[Source: YouTube]Continue reading Video: Trans-Am race cars battle it out at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion

Video: Trans-Am race cars battle it out at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Race the Base fundraising event pits supercars against military jets

ApexKings — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:55:41 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Canada

Supercars and airstrips go together like Corvettes and gold chains. There are simply few other locations on this blue marble we call Earth that allow owners to legally and somewhat safely tickle the upper limits of their speedometers. That's exactly why Zahir Rana, the owner of ZR Auto, has organized a charity event to allow supercar owners to have their time on the tarmac at the Canadian Forces Base in Cold Lake, Alberta. For the low, low price of $1,500 per car and $500 per passenger, drivers can ratchet their exotics all the way up to 185 mph or better.

There will even an exhibition in which Rana will put his twin-turbo, 860-horsepower Ferrari Enzo toe-to-toe with a CF-18 Hornet fighter jet, but the best part is that every last dollar will go to four charities. The Military Families Support Society, Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation, Bonnyville Health Foundation and Hearts for Healthcare will all benefit from the Race the Base event. There are only 100 slots available, so if you happen to own a car worth wringing out and have $1,500 Canadian burning a hole in your pocket, head over to the ZR Auto site for more information.

[Source: ZR Auto via The Vancouver Sun]Race the Base fundraising event pits supercars against military jets originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2010 Summer Drift Matsuri [VIDEO]

ApexKings — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:10:20 GMT

Summer Drift Matsuri at Ebisu Circuit by Remi Schouten

Check out this great piece from the current Drift Matsuri that just took place at Ebisu Circuit. Wrecked Magazine attended Spring Matsuri with Chris Forsberg which you can see Part 1 of by clicking here. This video is from the current event that just happened over the past weekend in Japan. The video was shot by Remi Schouten who captured the true essence of Matsuri from all the tracks.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/summer-drift-matsuri-at-ebisu-circuit-by-remi

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

From the internet: 2012 Nissan GT-R

ApexKings — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:01:56 GMT

At Road & Track, we always strive to bring the latest and greatest car news and tests. We looove tests. But sometimes we can’t get the break we need. The manufacturers may have a coordinated international launch scheduled out, or maybe a particular trim is not destined for our consumption. Or maybe it’s just our breath?

Regardless of the reason, sometimes an industry insider will leak pre-release info onto his or her favorite forum or blog, and then we get to spread the news without any regard to embargoes. After all, this is all public domain information!

So, check out some information about the upcoming 2012 Nissan GT-R. The changes center primarily around appearance, but one appearance update, the wheels, are also lighter and stronger. I must say they look particularly good.

Check out the blog-release here.

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2012 Nissan GT-R : DBA-R35

tyndago — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 05:42:03 GMT

DBA-R35? You probably were not aware but the current chassis code of the �R35� is actually CBA-R35. The 2012 US(2011 Japan) Nissan GT-R gets a new chassis designation � DBA-R35. Tekknikal from NAGTROC wrote an excellent post explaining some of the new changes for the DBA. Head over to NAGTROC for the full post.

Some of the changes for 2012

Chassis reinforcement in the strut towers
Chassis reinforcement under the dashboard
New spring rates and dampers
New suspension geometry
390mm brake rotors, up 10mm from the CBA-R35
ABS and VDC upgrades
Engine power up to 500+hp
New tire options
New lighter wheels
New fuel save mode
Launch control 4 (4,000 rpm)
2 wheel drive mode
Front bumper changes
Rear diffuser changes
Seat redesign
New colors

More information will be available over the next few days, and the full official specifications should be released in October.

Source: NAGTROC

GT5 Gameplay Videos: Zonda R, Tom�s Supra, IS-F Concept, Z4 M at the Nurburgring

ApexKings — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 05:42:03 GMT

Also, don’t miss these two extended clips at Gamersyde!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

2012 Nissan R35 GT-R Details Continue to Leak Prior to Late 2010 Official Launch ? Sp

ApexKings — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:07:31 GMT

As we learn more about the upcoming model refresh we’re surprised again at how much Nissan is changing. The car changes so much in fact that the model designator is changing too, so long CBA-R35 – meet the DBA-R35.

The DBA-R35 is available in a truly astonishing number of variaties, more than we probably thought we’d see just 3 years ago when the CBA-R35 first launched. With the 2012 model comes updates to the Spec-V Nissan GT-R as well. It receives all of the cosmetic frills that will even further compliment with it’s range topping hardware underpinnings. As predicted though it is no longer the most most expensive street GT-R money can buy as, with the right options ticked, the new 2012 Spec-M ultra luxury Nissan GT-R edges it out in some ways.

What we can tell by the information that’s been leaked to us so far is the Spec-M will command a high price tag after all. I was hoping that rumors to the contrary were true and that the Spec-M would be priced sort of closer to the Premium GT-R ballpark but it winds up being more like SpecV ballpark. Let’s compare the pricing below for the known current and 2012 variants of the Nissan DBA-R35 GT-R:

DBA-R35 ModelPricing in Japan (yen)Pure Edition8,694,000Black Edition9,303,000Premium Edition9,450,000Club Track Edition10,479,000 (plus member fees etc)SpecM15,000,300SpecV15,750,000S-Tec GT-R (ST1)23,000,000 (approx)You can see that the smallest of options is going to bump that Spec-M price over the Spec-V and we still don’t have a list of hardware inclusions in the Spec-M to justify it. What we do know is:

The official name for the Spec-M is not final, whether it is called the Spec-M at launch is yet to be decided
Official announcement of the Spec-M is scheduled for 18th October 2010
Official launch will take place at Nissan HQ in Yokohama on 17th November 2010
One new exclusive body color – Ultimate Opal White (QAG color code)
Interior color choices are wild, see the below list of color choices.

Interior Color Choices for Spec-M:
Lower Section:

Muelheim Brown
GT Black
R-Red
Ruhr White
Caramel Beige
Espresso Brown
Cointreau Orange
Aqua Gray
Shadow Gray
Sakura

Upper Section:

Muelheim Brown
GT Black
R-Red
Ruhr White

Stiching Colors:

Brown
Black
Red
White
Gray
Beige

Could Spec-M Really Have an Interior This Wild? Photoshop of potential Sakura seats.

As mentioned above, with the Spec-M will launch with a new color, Ultimate Opal White (a 525,000 yen option btw) but you can get one in any of the following body colors:

Ultimate Metal silver (KAB)
Ultimate Opal White (QAG)
Nebula Opal Black (GAG)
Vibrant Red (A54)
Dark Metal Gray (KAD)
Aurora Flare Blue Pearl (RAY)

As far as option packages go, we don’t have all the details there, suffice to say interior color options are included in the Spec-M price tag as well as a BOSE sound system. However three levels of additional upgrade BOSE sound systems are available at a price tag of approximately 1,200,000 yen.

So that’s got you up to date with the Spec-M details. We’ll be keeping our ear to the ground for more as it comes in but I for one am keen to see how a Sakura colored interior will look in a GT-R…

View Entire Article: 2012 Nissan R35 GT-R Details Continue to Leak Prior to Late 2010 Official Launch – Spec-M Details Inside at GTRBlog.comOriginally appeared on and � GTRBlog.com. 2010. | Read comments.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Ohio State University's Buckeye Bullet claims another electric speed record

ApexKings — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:47:40 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Specialty, Electric

2010 Ohio State University Buckeye Bullet - Click above for high-res image gallery

As they have for the past several years, the kids from Ohio State University made the trek out to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah this month to see how fast they could go without emitting any pollutants. The Buckeye Bullet has always been electrically driven, but in past years the juice for the motors was provided by hydrogen fuel cells. In 2009, a fuel cell-powered Bullet set an FIA two-way land speed record of 300.992 miles per hour. This year, OSU has teamed up with Venturi, the Monaco-based maker of very few electric vehicles, and transformed the Buckeye Bullet 2 into a test mule for an all-new 2011 car.

The fuel cells have now been replaced by lithium-ion batteries from A123 Systems and, after several days of aborted runs and wind-storms, the team finally got in two clean passes Monday afternoon. On the first run, the Bullet traversed the flying mile at 286 miles per hour. After repacking the parachute and turning the car around, the students watched as the car sped by in the opposite direction at 297 mph for a two-way average of 291 mph and, yet again, a new battery-powered vehicle record.

Gallery: 2010 OSU Buckeye Bullet

[Source: BangShift]Ohio State University's Buckeye Bullet claims another electric speed record originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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COBB Tuning SF Intake for GT-R Available Now!

GarySheehan — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:47:40 GMT

COBB Tuning’s popular SF intake system is now available for the Nissan R35 GT-R. Constructed of polished 2.75-inch diameter aluminum tubing with K&N dry-fabric, cone filter elements and 3-ply silicone couplers; the SF Intake System is easy to install and requires no special tuning.

Easy to Install

The COBB Tuning SF Intake was designed to be easy to install without having to modify your car or remove the bumper skin. Installation requires no cutting or trimming or removal of the bumper skin or bumper support and can be completed with simple hand tools. Simply remove the stock airbox and bolt the SF intake into place in just minutes!

No Calibration Needed

The SF Intake for the R35 GT-R has been painstakingly designed to eliminate the need for a specific intake calibration. This intake is 100% compatible with the stock calibration as well as all Off the Shelf AccessPORT maps.

Increased Induction Sound

Enjoy the increased snort and snarl from your GT-R with the addition of the COBB Tuning SF Intake system. Turbocharger induction noise and bypass valve venting sound is now louder thanks to the new this intake system! Don�t just look the part, sound like it too!

The COBB Tuning SF Intake system comes with everything you need to improve the performance potential of your R35 GT-R. Add the COBB Tuning Silicone Intercooler Hose Kit to complete your engine�s intake system to enhance your car�s under-hood appeal!

NOTE: This post is from the Cobb Tuning Blog.

Chris Forsberg Racing x NOS Energy Drink E3 Giveaway Nissan 370Z on eBay [BUY IT NOW]

ApexKings — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:15:48 GMT

Seems like the winner of the Nos Energy 370z designed and built by Chris Forsberg is for sale on eBay. Right now the seller is asking for a Buy It Now price of $37,999.00*with zero bids currently and a starting price of $29,999.00.*The bidding ends on*Aug 29, 2010. Lets see what it goes for and hopefully the car will go to a good home, and put to proper use. The car is currently located in South Carolina.

Buy It Now: eBay.com

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

DSPORT Magazine 2011 New Cars, and 2011 Car of the Year

tyndago — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:03:35 GMT

DSPORT Magazine pitted a big group of 2011 cars against each other in a Car of the Year test featuring dyno, dragstrip, and road course testing. Included with the video is a 70 minute DVD covering all the aspects of the testing. The quickest car on the road course, and at the dragstrip was the Nissan GT-R. Overall the Nissan GT-R was DSPORTS car of the year for 2011. Wait until they have a chance to test the 2012 version.

Check out the link below for a chance to win $2000 in STILLEN bucks.

Volkswagen unveils Race Touareg 3 for 2011 Dakar Rally duty

ApexKings — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:22:56 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Volkswagen, Diesel, Off-Road, Racing

Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 - Click above for high-res image gallery

Volkswagen has had great success with its diesel-powered Race Touareg 2, earning wins in both the 2009 and 2010 Dakar Rally. For the 2011 event, however, a brand new race truck will be entered, mimicking the changes made to the road-going Volkswagen Touareg for the 2011 model year.

Cosmetically, the Race Touareg 3 gets new LED running lamps up front, as well as a new grille, rear clamshell, window line and a different set of 16-inch wheels wrapped in 235/85 BF Goodrich tires. It still looks mean as ever, and new improvements to the roof-mounted cooling systems won't affect airflow at higher speeds out on the dunes.

Power will still come from a twin-turbocharged 2.5-liter TDI engine, producing 296 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque. Volkswagen says that the diesel powerplant has been tweaked to give slightly better fuel economy without sacrificing power, and the Race Touareg 3 will be capable of reaching 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) in just 6.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 117 mph.

Will the Race Touareg 3 be able to secure another win for Volkswagen in the 2011 Dakar Rally? We'll have to wait until next year to find out. Hit the jump to read Volkswagen's official press release and scroll through the gallery below for high-res shots of the new race truck.

Gallery: Volkswagen Race Touareg 3

[Source: Volkswagen]Continue reading Volkswagen unveils Race Touareg 3 for 2011 Dakar Rally duty

Volkswagen unveils Race Touareg 3 for 2011 Dakar Rally duty originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GT5 Gameplay Video: Fiat 500 F �67 at Piazza Del Campo

ApexKings — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:57:49 GMT

Regardless of what you think about this*controversial little Italian track, you’re going to love this classic little Italian car. Enjoy some cockpit gameplay footage, courtesy of our own Alba and Denur!

Related posts:

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

2012 Nissan GT-R

tyndago — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:45:25 GMT

GT-R Blog is reporting on some leaked information about the 2012 US Nissan GT-R.

The rumors and speculation have been floating around the internet on some of the changes for the 2012 MY GT-R. There are a few noticeable differences, and some that we are going to have to point out. First off the front bumper has been altered to open it up for increased airflow. The upper grill opening now follows the bumper design, and the intercooler inlet has been opened up. In addition, LED lights, and a 3rd mini canard have been added. The rear difuser has been altered to give a 10% improvement in downforce, and the overall coefficient of drag has been lowered to 0.268(more faster).

There are two new colors for 2012, neither of which have been confirmed for the US market. Aurora Flare Blue Pearl � RAY , and a new black called Nebula Opal Black � GAG (choke?). Part of that GAG may be the Premium price increase of 210,000 yen to 9,450,000 yen in Japan ($110,811 USD). Will the US market Premium car be able to be under $100,000?

New Rays wheels are 6.6 lbs lighter , and stronger than the 2009-2011 GT-R wheels, taking a total of 26.4 lbs of unsprung, rotating weight off the 2012 GT-R.

Head over to GT-R Blog for some more detailed pictures, and some more upcoming information on the engine changes.

Source: GT-R Blog

Breaking News: 2012 GT-R Leaks, More Confirmed Info on Upcoming GT-R

ApexKings — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:37:27 GMT

The 2012 GT-R (2011 JDM) is in the final stages of pre-launch preparation and we’ve received tips from sources close to Nissan regarding the final look of the new GT-R. Above you can see many of the GT-Rs new cosmetic external updates that we’ve already noticed while pouring over spy shots from Nurburgring. It’s finally confirmed though that the new GT-R will feature LED driving lights/daytime running lights integrated into the front fascia. Yes these are not photoshops.

Along with the driving lights you can see the shape of the canards themselves is different to previous model years this change plus other changes from a reworking and restyling of the front bumper have improved the GT-R’s already stunning aerodynamic performance. By the numbers, the GT-R’s coefficient of drag (Cd) drops from 0.272 to 0.268. Combine that with a rear downforce improvement of 10% thanks to a redesigned rear diffuser and the GT-R continues to redefine what is possible for today’s supercar.

Most noticible on the photos though is the new blue. The official (tentative still) name for the blue is Aurora Flare Blue Pearl (color code RAY) but what you can’t tell from this photo is that the GT-R gets a new black too. The updated black is officially (but again, tentatively) called Nebula Opal Black (color code GAG). These two colors represent the only body color changes for the 2012 GT-R base and premium models.

Speaking of base and premium models, earlier speculation that the base model goes away was partly true, the base model GT-R is now named the Pure Edition, but the features remain the same. To go with the changes comes a small increase in pricing. Starting with the Pure edition which is hit with a 80,000 yen bump to 8,694,000 yen. The Premium edition receives a larger bump of 210,000 yen to 9,450,000 yen in Japan.

Let’s try not to get too distracted by those minor negatives though because there’s a wealth of positives going on here. Take the new wheels for example, each new Rays forged aluminium wheel cuts 3 kg (6.6lbs) off the GT-R’s unsprung weight – a total of 12 kg (26.4 lbs) around the car. So they’re lighter but they also manage to be stiffer too to improve steering response and feedback. Lastly, the wheels are available in two colors starting next year, an attractive 3 layer ultra deep paint process known as Hyper Blue Black and a Hyper Titanium color (which looks bronze to me).

On the inside GT-R owners will get treated to a couple of updates too as well as some engine bay goodness. For more information on that stay tuned for part II of the GT-R Blog 2012 Nissan R35 GT-R info dump!

View Entire Article: Breaking News: 2012 GT-R Leaks, More Confirmed Info on Upcoming GT-R at GTRBlog.comOriginally appeared on and � GTRBlog.com. 2010. | Read comments.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Formula Drift Throwdown ? DMac takes 3rd at Evergreen Speedway [VIDEO]

ApexKings — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:16:00 GMT

2010 Falken Throwdown – DMac takes 3rd at Evergreen Speedway

Team Falken Driver Darren McNamara scored his first podium of the year by taking third in Saturday night’s Formula Drift Championship at Evergreen Speedway. It was Falken’s sixth podium in four races and Falken’s Vaughn Gittin, Jr., who qualified first for the weekend event, continues to lead the series championship.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/2010-falken-throwdown—dmac-takes-3rd-at-eve

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Nissan GT-R Premium runs 10.880 @ 128.660 MPH in the 1/4 mile

DragTimes.com — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:16:00 GMT

A 2009 Nissan GT-R Premium driven by bgee55 ran a 10.880 @ 128.660 MPH at Woodburn Dragstrip.

View the timeslip on DragTimes.com

Paparazzi Intern Shoots The Monterey Vintage Weekend

ApexKings — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:55:10 GMT

Our summer intern, Gideon Gillard, is a young guy who loves cars� and loves to photograph them. Everywhere we went over the weekend, there was Gideon with his camera at the ready to grab a shot of the cool car of the moment�and there were plenty of moments to capture. Check out some of his favorites:

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Keep it off the streets

Greg S. — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:53:39 GMT

Wow. Just wow. (If the embedding doesn't work, go here. It's worth it.)

Video: Ken Block's ADAC Rally prep is no match for mechanical failure

ApexKings — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:44:55 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Hatchback, Ford, Celebrities, Racing

Ken Block preps for the ADAC Rally - Click above to watch video after the jump

They don't call it the World Rally Championship for nothing. The globe's best and brightest descend on the pinnacle of the rally sport to duke it out all over the planet, and while Ken Block hasn't fared as well as predicted this season, he's at least made it to the point where he can step into the ring. Right before Block took to the ADAC Rally in a new Focus bruiser, he sat down to answer a few questions from the likes of the crew at 0-60 Magazine. At the time, Block had never ran a tarmac WRC rally and was busy practicing the wheels off of the new car.

That practice served him well. For the first time, it looked like Block was going to land points with a ninth place finish over all until the car's alternator died on day three, effectively banishing him to the back of the pack once more. There's just no beating bad luck. Hit the jump to watch the interview for yourself.

[Source: 0-60 Magazine via Cold Track Days]Continue reading Video: Ken Block's ADAC Rally prep is no match for mechanical failure

Video: Ken Block's ADAC Rally prep is no match for mechanical failure originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GT5 Gameplay Videos: Ferrari 330 P4 at Monza, Nurburgring

ApexKings — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:46:05 GMT

A huge thanks to our own Alba and Denur for filming the first clip up there with quality sound!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

IndyCar: 2010 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma [SPOILERS]

ApexKings — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:24:47 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Honda, Racing

2010 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma - Click above for high-res image gallery

Just five races remain on the 2010 Indy Racing League IndyCar schedule, and only one of those is a road course. The final four rounds of the championship will all be contested on ovals - but this weekend the drivers will be taking on Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. Last race at Mid-Ohio, series points leader Will Power saw his lead shrink a bit when second place Dario Franchitti took the win. Still, Power clinched the inaugural Mario Andretti trophy for being the road course champ. Not a lot of drivers have a shot at catching the seemingly invincible super Power, but Franchitti has a better track record at Sonoma...and on ovals.

In fact, Power had a pretty nasty crash at Infineon just last year, while Franchitti claimed victory, so it was going to be interesting to see if 2010 would bring a reversal of fortune for the duo. Heading into qualifying, Power was looking to extend his consecutive pole position record and secure enough points to give him a bigger buffer going into the ovals, which haven't been as lucky for him to date. Follow the jump to see how things played out at Infineon.

Gallery: IndyCar: 2010 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

[Images: Donald Miralle, Christian Petersen/Getty Images | George Nikitin, Rich Pedroncelli/AP]Continue reading IndyCar: 2010 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma [SPOILERS]

IndyCar: 2010 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma [SPOILERS] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nissan GT-R premium runs 10.590 @ 131.570 MPH in the 1/4 mile

DragTimes.com — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:27:08 GMT

A 2009 Nissan GT-R premium driven by gotboost ran a 10.590 @ 131.570 MPH at Woodburn Dragstrip.

View the timeslip on DragTimes.com

Gran Turismo 5 Wins Top Honors at Gamescom 2010

ApexKings — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:58:52 GMT

GT5 may not be too popular in Italy, but that’s fortunately not the case with the judges at Gamescom in Germany. They’ve awarded the game two of the most important prizes of the show: “Best of Gamescom” and “Best Console Game”. As you can see from the results below, it won each category in which it was nominated. Congratulations to Kazunori Yamauchi and his team at Polyphony Digital!

Best of Gamescom:

Gran Turismo 5 (Sony)
Portal 2 (Valve)
Crysis 2 (Crytek)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (LucasArts)
Civilization V (2K)

Hardware Accessories:

Kinect (Microsoft)
PlayStation Move (Sony)
Cyborg R.A.T. 7 (Mad Catz)
Instruments: Rock Band 3 (MTV)

Best Console Game:

Mafia II (2K)
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montr.)
Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda)
FIFA 11 (EA)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Nintendo)
Gran Turismo 5 (Sony)

Best Mobile Game:

The Sims 3 (EA)
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Sony)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (Nintendo)
Super Scribblenauts (Warner Bros.)

Best Online Game:

Guild Wars 2 (Ncsoft West)
Poisonville (Bigpoint)
Black Prophecy (gamigo AG)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (LucasArts)
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (Blizzard Entertainment)

Best PC Game:

Civilization V (2K)
Portal 2 (Valve)
Crysis 2 (Crytek)

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Sony, Polyphony Digital Face Italian Legal Threats

ApexKings — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:58:52 GMT

The new karting track revealed in the latest*GT5 demo shown off at Gamescom 2010 is now causing problems for Polyphony Digital and Sony Computer Entertainment. The track, named Piazza del Campo after the famous city square in Siena, Italy, hosts a world-renowned horse race twice a year known as the Palio di Siena (you may remember it in*Quantum of Solace - ironically a Sony movie). Unfortunately, though, in Polyphony’s digital recreation of the location, they’ve (gasp!) used flags of the local contrada without permission.*As reported by Corriere Fiorentino, the city is none too happy about it, and is threatening to take legal action against Sony to prevent sale and distribution of the game in Italy.

While other sites are publishing headlines suggesting this legal scuffle could cause the delay of the game, I don’t see any need for alarm. This is clearly a money-grab for Siena officials, but even if Sony isn’t willing to pay, it seems their demands could be easily worked around by replacing the flags with something less “offensive” and/or re-naming the track (there has to be a reason GT4’s rendition of the Monaco F1 circuit is known as “Cote d’Azur”).

Siena should be careful, though – a little free advertising in a game that will sell millions of copies around the world might not be a bad thing…

Related posts:

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Racecar Engineering : Nissan GT-R GT1

tyndago — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:46:17 GMT

This is from last months issue, but I just picked the issue up off the newsstand. The V8 is not my favorite way to see a Nissan GT-R raced, but it is how Nissan has seen some success with its racing platforms within the Super GT, and now GT1 rules.

Featured in the Volume 20, number 8 issue is the Sumo Power GT1 R35 GT-R. The V8 engine is a VK56DE, putting out about 600 hp in accordance with the rules. The body shell is based on the production car, but it has a lot of tricks to bring it down to 1250 kg total. Nismo ditched the VR38DETT, and the all wheel drive, and replaced it with the V8 and a Ricardo transaxle. The clutch is a 5.5 inch AP racing triple plate, brake are Brembo carbon.

Check out the magazine for the full technical specifications and pictures.

Source: Racecar Engineering.

2010 Formula Drift Post Round 5 Championship Race [RESULTS]

ApexKings — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:21:43 GMT

Looking at the championship points it is quite clear that Tanner Foust with his Top 16 elimination against Sam Hubinette and Ryan Tuerck with his Top 16 elimination against Vaughn Gittin Jr. were the biggest losers of Las Vegas. They have both fallen significantly*behind in the championship points race with two rounds left. Here is how the Top 16 looks.

1. Vaughn Gittin Jr. – 439 points

2. Dai Yoshihara – 417 points

3. Tanner Foust – 386 points

4. Ryan Tuerck – 361 points

5. Darren McNamara – 342 points

6. Sam Hubinette – 304 points

7. Chris Forsberg – 296 points

8. Rhys Millen – 291.75 points

9. Tyler McQuarrie – 275.50 points

10. Justin Pawlak – 267.50 points

11. Michihiro Takatori – 239.50 points

12. Charles Ng – 228.50 points

13. Conrad Grunewald – 213 points

14. Ken Gushi – 203.50 points

15. Joon Maeng – 190.25 points

16. Ross Petty – 186 points

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

More GT5 Menu Screens Show Photomode

ApexKings — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 05:49:54 GMT

Thanks for the tip, Randy!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

2010 Formula Drift Las Vegas ? Friday Qualifying/Practice [GALLERY]

ApexKings — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:41:33 GMT

Here is our Friday night practice gallery from Formula Drift Las Vegas. Once the sun drops the temperature feels just perfect with the light breeze rolling through the track. Some drivers including Kyle Mohan and Mad Mide Whiddet looked the best I have seen them all season. Enjoy our 200+ photos from night practice in Las Vegas.

Check out the Gallery: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=189

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Wilton house supercar day 2010

tyndago — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:54:08 GMT

David Yu of Auto Journals, and Purple Zilla notoriety, had the chance to attend the Wilton House Supercar day.

Not only did they have a bit of a show, they also had some go time at Thruxton race circuit, to strech some of the supercars legs.

Despite being on worn Toyo R888s, P Zilla made light of the conditions and seemed to be the fastest car of the morning, although Lord Pembroke was apparently the most sideways driver in his beloved Bayside Blue R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II! (He wisely left the Veyron in the paddock...)

Check out the video from inside the Purple Zilla.

Source: GTR.co.UK Forums

2010 Formula Drift Las Vegas Round 5 ? Qualifying [RESULTS]

ApexKings — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:54:08 GMT

Here is how the qualifying order went at Formula Drift Las Vegas yesterday.

1. Sam Hubinette 93.5

2. Kyle Mohan 91.2

3. Conrad Grunewald 89.4

4. Chris Forsberg 88.9

5. Vaughn Gittin Jr. 88.2

6. Tyler McQuarrie 87.1

7. Michihiro Takatori 86.3

8. Dai Yoshihara 86.2

9. Mad Mike Whiddet 86

10. Justin Pawlak 83.8

11. Darren McNamara 82.6

12. Ryan Tuerck 81.1

13. Charles Ng 80.9

14. Joon Maeng 79.8

15. Ryuji Miki 79

16. Tanner Foust 77.4

17. Eric O’Sullivan 75.9

18. Alex Pfeiffer 75.6

19. Jeff Jones 74.5

20. Fredric Aasbo 73.2

21. Ross Petty 72.7

22. Matt Field 72.2

23. Matt Powers 71.6

24. James Deane 71.3

25. Taka Aono 69.7

26. Tony Brakohiapa 68.6

27. Michael Essa 68.3

28. Brian Wilkerson 67.3

29. Rhys Millen 67.1

30. Patrick Mordaunt 65

31. Nicoli Konstantinov 63.7

32. Jeff Abbott 59.6

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Gran Turismo 5 Menu Screens Show Tuning Options

ApexKings — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:54:08 GMT

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Video Reveals Polyphony Digital Studied Spa-Francorchamps

ApexKings — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 06:24:53 GMT

Before you read any further, keep in mind the information below should NOT be taken as confirmation that any of the following tracks will be in Gran Turismo 5. I am posting this here to get ahead of other media outlets who post this without more careful consideration of what may actually be shown in these images. With that said, the following is an interesting discovery you GTPlanet readers should know about.

In the three-part Nurburgring 24-Hours documentary just published by Polyphony Digital, you’ll see several scenes from within the company’s headquarters. In that footage, one very interesting screen shot of an employee’s computer showing what appears to be a directory of “assets” or reference material for tracks both seen and un-seen in the GT series throughout the years. The text is in Japanese, but that didn’t stop new GTPlanet user kyono from taking a closer look. His discoveries include the much-wanted Spa Franchorchamps, Pikes Peak, and the much-loved classic fantasy circuit from Gran Turismo 2, Grindelwald (refresh your memory here). Here’s a picture:

See more analysis of the screenshot here. Even if you can’t read the language, you can double-check the translations by matching up the Japanese characters with Google: Spa Francorchamps, Pike’s Peak, and Grindelwald (you’ll find it in the image immediately above Gornergratbahn). Watch for this screen yourself at around 12:40 in the video below.

Here’s a partial translation of the tracks visible in this list, kindly offered by SHIRAKAWA Akira*in our forums:

????/ Europe ????
????????????
????????? America ????
????????? Italia ??????????
????? Fuji Speedway
????? Europe ????
BBC Top Gear Test Track
???? Fuji Speedway
?f-3000
Indianapolis
Infineon (raceway)
Capri
Kleine Scheidegg
Grindelwald
Gornergratbahn
Seattle
Spa Francorchamps
Seoul
Tahiti
Twin Ring Motegi
Daytona
Nurburgring
— [Nurburgring data files following]
— [...]
Pikes Peak
Paris
Valencia
Bandimere Speedway (At least, that’s my interpretation for what I read as ????????????)

(See parts 2 and 3 here.)

Let me reiterate, there is no reason to believe this is the list of tracks in development for Gran Turismo 5. It’s most likely a compilation of material for all the tracks that Polyphony Digital has included or has considered for their games. With that said, a Spa-Francorchamps sticker appeared on this suitcase in the company’s studios (you’ll also see a sticker for Monza, which was just confirmed). Also, a tipster with a perfect track record told me either Spa-Francorchamps or Indianapolis would be the track used for the GT Academy 2010 demo.

With this latest discovery, there is now no question for me that Polyphony Digital has studied the track. Whether or not they will include it in GT5, though, remains to be seen.

Related posts:

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

GTTV Documentary: Racing at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring

ApexKings — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 04:43:39 GMT

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

COBB Tuning SF Intake System for MAZDASPEED3 and MAZDASPEED6 Now Available in Stealth

GarySheehan — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 01:08:28 GMT

COBB Tuning’s popular SF intake System is now available in �Stealth Black� silicone for those looking for a more sleeper look in their engine bay. The SF intake system is an easy-to-install short ram intake that unlocks the power of your MAZDASPEED3 or MAZDASPEED6. Previously only available in COBB Blue, the SF intake for MAZDASPEED vehicles is now available with both Stealth Black and COBB Blue silicone elbows.

The COBB Tuning SF Intake with Stealth Black silicone is now available for purchase from COBB Tuning.com with free ground shipping! For more information visit the MAZDASPEED3 and MAZDASPEED6 SF Intake product pages.

NOTE: This post is from the Cobb Tuning Blog.

Thursday Pit Notes at Formula Drift Las Vegas

ApexKings — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 01:08:28 GMT

Thursday night practice was pretty insane/crazy for a night practice before an event starts. Forrest Wang took honors for the hardest hit of the weekend and clearly totaled the Infiniti G35. Just looking at the car it had some frame damage and I cannot see him driving it at all this weekend. Joon Maeng had some contact with the wall in his Mazda Rx-8 but it looks like it did some minimal damage.

Fredric Aasbo had some contact with the wall and I am not sure on the condition of that car. However, when I left the track around 1:00am his team was hard at work fixing it up. With all day to prepare I can only imagine the car will be ready for qualifying. Sam Hubinette connected with the wall in practice but just made contact with the tire wall. Everything looked fine on the car so he should have no concerns.

Justin Pawlak was the fastest consistently of the day by far and I was told by Falken he was being clocked at 88mph on entry. If he can keep that performance level up in tandem he has an easy shot at the podium. Tyler McQuarrie from the Falken camp looked better than he has all season by a mile.

Tanner Foust and Tyler McQuarrie both got clocked at 89mph which were the top entries of the day. Tanner Foust looked amazing and did win this race last year. Ryan Tuerck never ran a real constant line and has some things to work before he can put down a top qualifying performance. Practice/qualifying will kick off around 7:00pm tonight.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Video: Get your F1 fix during the break with 30 of the sport's greatest on-track batt

ApexKings — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:09:03 GMT

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Videos

Thirty of the greatest Formula One battles since 1935 - Click above to watch the video after the jump

The second worst part of the Formula One season is right now during the summer break when F1 fans have to endure four weeks of no racing.

We've made it this far and have but a week to go until racing resumes at Spa, so to get us over the hump, we have the help of Breakdown Cover. The website has compiled thirty of the best on-track battles dating all the way to Tazio Nuvolari's Alfa Romeo beating a passel of Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows in Germany in 1935 and put them all into one place.

We've dropped one of our favorites after the jump, Ayrton Senna's first lap antics at Donington Park back in 1993. Click the link for the other 29, and feel good about it - it's not wasting time if racing is involved.

[Source: Breakdown Cover]Continue reading Video: Get your F1 fix during the break with 30 of the sport's greatest on-track battles

Video: Get your F1 fix during the break with 30 of the sport's greatest on-track battles originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Forza Motorsport 3 - Week in Review (8/20)

ApexKings — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:09:03 GMT

Last week, someone asked me to clarify what the job of a community manager is. Here’s what I had to say on the forums:

"As community manager, my job is to figure out ways to better serve the existing Forza community base while also growing the community over time. Communication is certainly an aspect of that--though it should be obvious that there will often be times when the community team cannot talk about certain subjects for various reasons. Nonetheless, listening to the community's feedback is always a priority.

A large chunk of community management is removed from the game (and found here in the forums, blogs, and podcasts of FM.net), but another aspect of the job is helping to figure out ways to improve the social experiences in the Forza series itself. It's an aspect of the job that I relish for a number of reasons, not the least of which is getting to work with some of the most talented developers in the industry."

Image by DUI Fallen - See this in more in the Community Gallery

It’s a pretty straightforward, if not entirely complete, answer. Later, as I was thinking more about the role of a community manager--as well as the role of the community within a game’s ecosystem--I came upon this bit of wisdom from games community blog SixOkay:

"I see it this way – a developer, or publisher, or Community Manager has to act as a government would, and the community will act as a neighborhood naturally would. Community Managers should strive to provide good metaphorical roads, well lit sidewalks, and nice parks for people to congregate in. Make it safe for people to come out of their homes. Once that job is accomplished, it’s the people within the neighborhood who will build the community."

Now that’s a great explanation of the community relationship we strive for here at Turn 10, and nowhere was that more clearly represented than at this week’s Game With Turn 10. This was the fifth such event we’ve hosted and, to say it was a rousing success would be a massive understatement. We had a great turnout from the community and Turn 10 folks as well. Between Landin hanging out in the Playground hopper, Fred getting his drag racing on, Jube driving an ugly, ugly VW Beetle, resident Turn 10 ringer Christian (aka VoodooUomo) handing people their butts en masse, and Yours Truly redefining mediocrity in the Cycled Production Car hopper, there was a lot going on (and lots of unicorn cars up for grabs). I look forward to doing another Game With Turn 10 event soon.

Image by GrahamC216 - See this in more in the Community Gallery

Thanks to all of you who took some time to play with us--you guys are truly proof that the Forza “neighborhood” is alive and well. Now, that’s my perspective, but what do you guys think? What do you most appreciate about the Forza community? What appeals to you most about our little automotive home away from home and which aspects of the Forza “neighborhood” do you think could use some public works crews to repair? I’d like to hear your feedback and I’ll be gifting out a few unicorn cars for the best (and most constructive) thoughts.

In other news, I don’t know about you but I’m looking forward to the return of F1--that four-week break between Hungary and next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix has seemed like a miniature eternity, especially considering the epic setting of Spa. If you’re heading out to the Grand Prix next weekend, or if you’re planning on attending any cool motorsports or automotive events in the next few weeks and you’re planning on taking photos, let us know. We’d love to feature some of your photos in a future blog.

Well that’s all for this week. I’ve got a date in the Cycled Production Car hoppers that should keep me busy this weekend…

Community Update

Time Trial: 944 Turbo on Sebring

What: Official Turn 10 Featured Time Trial Challenge

When: Now until Friday August 27th at 12:00PM PDT

Where: Time Trials in Forza Motorsport 3.

Track and Car: Sebring Short Circuit – 1989 Porsche 944 Turbo

How: Navigate to the “Leaderboards” menu and scroll down to “Time Trial”. Scroll down to “944 Turbo on Sebring” and “Press A to Start Race” at the top of the leaderboard. Set your best possible lap time!

Twitter Trivia:
Hey guys, due to a really packed Friday here at Turn 10 there will not be trivia taking place this week. However we will be back on track next week with a new set of questions, picture trivia and of course, lots of unicorn prizes to give out! You can follow us at twitter.com/turn10studios.

Image by Wrytch - See this in more in the Community Gallery Interested in getting featured in the community update?
The community update is a great way to get one of your upcoming events, leagues, competitions or giveaways noticed. Do you want to get your event featured in this section? Head on over to our brand new community events section and promote your items. We changed the way this works and condensed it to one thread, I cannot stress enough that the events we post come directly from that thread so if you want to get the word out, stop on by.

Socks Out Racing: V8 Saloon Racing Series
Socks Out Racing is launching a new B-Class racing series this week! The series will take place over the course of 6 weeks, with races taking place on Thursday nights. The first race kicks off today August 19th, but you must join before Race 2 on August 26th if you do not want to start with weight penalty. Click the link above for further details. Deadline: August 26th. 2010

Image by DB9D9 - See this in more in the Community Gallery

Forza Rolex Series
The Rolex Grand-Am Series is back in Forza form with the first race of the season set for next Friday (8/27). If you are looking for close racing with the perennial sports car companies represented, this is the series for you. All cars have been balanced to be unique in their own respects, but still competitive against the competition. More details in the link above, but make sure you sign up this week!
Deadline: August 26th, 2010.

How much drift can you get out of $35,000?
Do you have $35,000 in your pocket? Do you want to enter a drift competition? Well here's your chance! In this event, you are challenged to build a drift car by purchasing the car and upgrading that car with aftermarket parts, all on a budget of $35,000. There is no limit on what car you buy or what you do with your car, just make sure you don't spend more than 35 grand! Once your machine is ready, take it out to the track and show off your machine's sideways capabilities and your drifting skills! Do you have what it takes? Sign up NOW!
Deadline: September 1st 2010.

Nurbracer ADAC 2.4h Rennen Nordschleife
Hey, it's me again. Every year, the Nurburgring holds a 24 hour race around the Nordschleife and a section of the GP track. Hundreds of drivers flock to enter the event, many of them unable to finish. The winner of this event is the driver that covers the most distance in the time given. The rules are as realistic as possible; drivers can only drive for a maximum of 150 minutes at a time (that's about 2.4 hours). So a 2.4 hour race it is, then!

NOTE: This post is from Forza Motorsport.

Autocar New Zealand ; STILLEN R35 Nissan GT-R

tyndago — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:09:03 GMT

With the STILLEN GT-R down in New Zealand for both the Speedshow (NZ�s largest auto show) where it was on display with the matching orange STILLEN Ford GT, and the upcoming Targa New Zealand Rally, it was the perfect opportunity for Steve Millen to meet with Kyle Cassidy, Editor of NZ Autocar, and get his take after experiencing the STILLEN-built R35 GT-R.

To quote Kyle Cassidy from the September 2010 issue of NZ Autocar:

�For crushing performance, we thought we couldn�t do much better than the Nissan GT-R � but we were wrong. Strapped into a modified STILLEN version, we recorded our fastest four-wheeled 80-120km/h time ever.�

��it�s ludicrously loud, and the ride is uncompromising, but the leap in performance of the STILLEN car over the alerady quick stock offering is staggering.�

Source : STILLEN Blog

66 Stunning Gran Turismo 5 Screenshots (18 Megapixels)

ApexKings — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:21:03 GMT

You’ve probably seen most of these before – I had them posted here for a few hours yesterday until Sony asked me to take them down due to a press embargo on the material. No matter – now I’m able to share the full, original images with you in all their glory at 18 megapixels. Enjoy!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Forged Performance Time Attack GT-R NASA TTU 1st Place 1:28 Fast Lap

tyndago — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:41:06 GMT

Forged Performance Owner and GM Sharif Abdelbaset pilots their Time Attack GT-R to fast lap of 1:28 lap at NASA Regional Time Trials at Road Atlanta.

Gardella Racing Swaps in LS7 for Ryan Tuerck?s Pontiac Solstice at FD Vegas

ApexKings — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:17:36 GMT

Not to be upstaged by Chris Forsberg who added his CORR truck motor this weekend it looks like Gardella Racing has put a LS7 in the Pontiac Solstice for the rest of 2010. The LS7 is a hand built engine from GM which is found in a Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06. The power output is rated from the factory at 505hp.

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Gran Turismo 5 Karting Videos, 18-Megapixel Screenshots

ApexKings — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:00:00 GMT

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

John Russakoff at Gymkhana Gird [VIDEO]

ApexKings — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:13:05 GMT

John Russakoff at Gymkhana Grid Test Event

Check out Formula Drift star John Russakoff participating in the Gymkhana Grid Media Day in his 1985 Toyota Corolla. This video features a ton of interview time with John talking about his weekend and his two races against Ken Block in the Ford Fiesta.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/john-russakoff-at-gymkhana-grid-test-event

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

Pagani Zonda R GT5 Gameplay Video at Madrid

ApexKings — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:31:49 GMT

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

GamesCom Gran Turismo 5 Breakout Session: Full Details

ApexKings — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:31:49 GMT

At 9am on August 18th, Andreas Nie, Venari and myself (representing InsideSimRacing and GTPlanet) along with other members of the American press were ushered in to the first breakout session of GT5. Penrose Tackie and Alex Armour (Sony) were on hand and passed on the first vital piece of information – all material and information from this session was under a strict press embargo until 9am GMT on Thursday 19th August. So we had to keep all this to ourselves… The floor was then given over to Kazunori Yamauchi and Translator-san.

Kazunori told us that the 140-strong PD team were still hard at work, refining the game, and that the version he would demonstrate to us had been downloaded from Sony’s servers that very morning. It was, he said, a continuation of the presentation he’d given at E3.

Exclusively revealed at GamesCom the previous day was one new track – Autodromo Nazionale Monza – and a series of new vehicles. Monza, said Yamauchi, is an interesting track for both beginners and advanced drivers as the corners are typically very fast and the track can get quite narrow. The cars were of particular importance – the Pagani Zonda R ‘09, which he credited with recently lowering the production series vehicle ‘Ring lap time record, the Impreza WRX Sedan ‘10 which had just gone on sale and the DTM-based Lexus IS-F Racing Concept ‘08. The remaining four cars were special to him. First is the Ferrari 330 P4 ‘67, which locked out the podium in the 1967 Daytona 24hr and is one of Kazunori’s personal all-time favourite cars. Second was the Ford Mark IV Race ‘67 which, at the end of that season, finally beat the P4 at the Le Mans 24hr. Third was the Jaguar XJ13 Race ‘67, which was conceived and developed as a Ferrari-beater but never made it to track – Kazunori’s inclusion of this car is to allow drivers to recreate “what if” scenarios. Last was the Lamborghini Miura Bertone Prototype P400 ‘67, modelled on the only existing surviving car and distinguished from its production counterpart by a 1″ lower ride height.

Kazunori then moved on to what he termed “The Red & Blue of Gran Turismo”. He explained that, in 2001, when GT3: A-Spec was released, he’d intended to almost immediately release GT3: B-Spec – many of us are now familiar with the concept of B-Spec through the affectionately dubbed “B-Spec Bob” from GT4. B-Spec was intended as a racing-driver management simulator – akin to Football Manager – or, as the PD team term it, the Car Racing* Simulation RPG. However, at the time of GT3, it proved impossible to implement adequately and it has taken 10 years to reach the point where the Blue (B-Spec) is at an equal level to the Red (A-Spec).

Indeed in the GT Home section, B-Spec and A-Spec are centrally-placed with equally-sized icons.*Your B-Spec counterpart this time round is not one driver, but a whole squad of them. You can train only one to start with, but eventually you can have a stable of up to 6 B-Spec drivers at once – with four of them required to run a 24 hour race. Each driver has their own personality, from the ultra-calm to the hot-head and how they drive can be affected by current emotional state and mental and physical exhaustion.

The new B-Spec mode was demonstrated to us. GT4 players will be familiar with the strategy screen showing lap/split times, track position, vehicle place and gap and the instructions, but in GT5 this can be mixed with live footage of the race, rather than switching from one to the other and tyre wear and damage status are also included. The driver can be given instructions to speed up, maintain pace, slow down, pit or not pit as before, however there is a side-effect of the personalities – a particularly tired, agitated or aggressive driver may not necessarily follow your instructions!

A-Spec mode, of course, remains as it ever was, though with additional refinement of vehicle physics and dynamics. Kazunori was keen to point out that the tyre and suspension geometry physics have evolved yet further and our impressions of the show floor demo certainly agree with that assessment. In particular, Kazunori was proud of how Gran Turismo has improved to the point where he felt he could introduce karting mode – a feature accidentally scooped and originally planned for GT6, but brought forward – due to the unique nature of kart handling. The demo of karting mode on the Sony stand was spectacular fun.

The remainder of GT Mode retains all the old favourites – licences, dealerships, tuning shop, used cars and five different levels of series (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Professional and Extreme) with the five different types of cars (Kart, Production, Rally, Race and Formula).

The next big piece of news was, as first mooted by amar212 on GTP back at the start of 2009, the Course Maker. Kazunori pointed out that they didn’t call it a “Course Editor” simply because one is not able to edit an existing course, but create wholly new ones from scratch with an intuitive interface. The player selects from one of four themes (three – Toscana Sunset, Springtime Germany and Belgian High Fens – were named), adjusts the parameters of the course and the track is randomly generated from scratch. The parameters available include switching between a loop/circuit and a rally-style point-to-point track, selecting the weather, the time of day, the frequency of corners, the sharpness of corners and the bank angle. The track can be divided into up to four sectors and each sector given a different set of corner characteristics – so you can generate a long straight in one sector and a tight, complex series of corners in the next. Kazunori demonstrated all of these features and the track generation time was incredibly short. The track is limited to 6.5 miles/10km, but since that’s nearly twice the length of an average F1 track, even the most ardent future-Tilke should be happy!

Though some might prefer a full-scale track editor to recreate their own Road Atlanta, Spa-Francorchamps or Bathurst – Kazunori included – at the present time the level of customisability combined with the scope and detail of Gran Turismo means it would require a huge editor program and, of course, the resulting track may not be accessible to everyone, whereas GT5 Course Maker tracks will be available to race online.

Lastly, Kazunori presented GT5’s Photo Mode, which supports 3D and was, in his opinion, the best implementation of 3D (though having seen the XJ13’s cockpit in 3D during a race, we’d disagree). Photo Mode should be quite familiar to GT4 players, but this time round it features almost all the image treatment features of dedicated photography software, infinitely variable camera angles and, as always, the time, space and backgrounds to crack out the perfect shot. Amongst the new locations is the Red Bull Racing hangar in Austria, where Kazunori briefly demonstrated photomode using a Viper SRT-10 ACR.

As we were the first session and had a slight overrun, Kazunori couldn’t take many questions. However, he was able to confirm that the number of unique courses available in the game is “more than 70″ – with the added scope of online Course Maker circuits – and that despite their best efforts to respond to criticism about standard car interiors, they were not able to implement cockpit camera (even one similar to GTPSP’s) in GT5 – a source of some disappointment to Kazunori, who is never happy to let down his fans and is probably his own biggest critic.

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe PDK runs 10.957 @ 126.000 MPH in the 1/4 mile

DragTimes.com — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:31:49 GMT

A 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe PDK driven by Brian Sherwood ran a 10.957 @ 126.000 MPH at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

View the timeslip on DragTimes.com

Drift Mania Round 4 at Autodrome Montmagny [GALLERY]

ApexKings — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:53:37 GMT

Check out the day/night event that was Drift Mania Round 4 at Autodrome Montmagny, Quebec City. Some of the northeastern Americans can in and put up a good fight. The 2009 champion and American Matt Waldin took home the victory after beating Fred Girard. We have a full feature of Pro Am and DMCC main event coverage from Jeremy Glover.

Check out the Gallery: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=188

NOTE: This post is from an outside source.

63 Stunning GT5 Screenshots: Karts, Le Mans Classics, Zonda R, & More

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:10:07 GMT

Thanks to all who sent these in!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Suzuki Kizashi topples 200 mph at Bonneville for new land-speed record

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:00:51 GMT

Filed under: Aftermarket, Motorsports, Budget, Sedan, Suzuki

2010 Suzuki Kizashi takes Bonneville - Click above to watch video after the jump

The crew from Suzuki and Road & Track officially hold the new land-speed record for the Blown Gas Coupe Category. The team wheeled out their modified 2010 Suzuki Kizashi to the Bonneville Salt Flats and managed to average 203.720 mph across two high-speed runs, besting the previous record by a little less than a second and a half. R&T commissioned legendary engine builder Richard Holdener to rework the engine in the Kizashi before it hit the salt, and as a result, the car wore forged internals and a beefier turbo that shoved a full 16 pounds of boost into the four-cylinder as the car headed down the lake bed.

Now that the Kizashi has one record under its belt, Road & Track is planning to try for a second, naturally-aspirated record by unbolting the turbo and going hog wild. Now all we have to wonder is how much it's going to take to convince Suzuki to offer those slick seam-welded steel wheels as an option on the Kizashi Sport. Hit the jump to take a look at a video of the car during its record-setting run, as well as a press release detailing the occasion.

Gallery: First Drive: 2010 Suzuki Kizashi Sport

Photos by Zach Bowman / Copyright (C)2010 AOL
[Source: Suzuki]Continue reading Suzuki Kizashi topples 200 mph at Bonneville for new land-speed record

Suzuki Kizashi topples 200 mph at Bonneville for new land-speed record originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASCAR Gran Turismo 5 Gameplay Video at Monza

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:00:51 GMT

You knew this was coming – check out this in-car NASCAR gameplay on GT5’s newest circuit, Monza. Click on the image below to watch the video, courtesy of Gamersyde.

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

FIA GT1 World Championship Nurburgring Road Trip with Sumo Power

tyndago — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:00:51 GMT

The Sumo Power GT team will be racing its two Nissan GT-Rs at Nurburgring on the weekend of the 28/29th August. The event represents the sixth round of the FIA GT1 World Championship and, with Sumo Power GT one of the front-running teams, this pair of awesome machines combined with one of the worlds� most demanding circuits is going to provide a memorable weekend of not-to-be-missed motorsport.

Each of this season�s 10 FIA GT1 World Championship events feature two, hour-long races, both of which include a compulsory pit stop to change tyres and drivers. The Nissans will be up against a grid of 22 other cars comprising Corvette�s, Ford GTs, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins and Maseratis.

Nissan are using this event as a major publicity drive and, with this in mind, the Sumo Power team are inviting R35 owners to join them for a road trip to the �Ring�. This will include pit and paddock passes, hospitality at the Nissan Sports Centre, accommodation in the team hotel and a bag of goodies to mark the occasion. Unfortunately, numbers are limited and there are only nine car spaces available. There will be a nominal charge but, as this is not a profit making exercise, this fee is just to cover cost of the ferry, accommodation and passes into the NSCC for the car, driver and one passenger.

All taking part will meet on Friday morning (27th August) at the Sumo Power team�s workshop in Rye, East Sussex, where special sunstrips will be fitted whilst crews can grab a coffee. After an official photo-shoot, the convoy � headed by company boss James Rumsey in the Sumo Power R35 demo car - will travel to the docks (a one-hour drive) for the ferry. It�s then a run through France, Belgium and then Germany, before arriving at the infamous circuit, where we have arranged for the convoy to park directly in front of the NSCC - for more photos.

All guests will have exclusive access to the Sumo Power pit garage for a guided tour and will have the opportunity to see how an international GT race looks from the team�s perspective.

Cost, based on two people sharing one car, with two nights hotel and catching a late Sunday evening ferry will be c.�400 per-person.

This will be strictly first come first served basis, so please email us ASAP direct on sales@sumopower.com

Source: GTR.CO.UK, and SumoPower Blog

First Gran Turismo 5 Monza Gameplay Video

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:33:10 GMT

Thanks to Jon and XEPEGSM for the tip!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

GT5 Gamescom 2010 Demo Menu, Car/Track Selection Videos

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:33:10 GMT

Via GTHQ.nl.

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Password JDM R35 GT-R Dry Carbon Fiber Induction Snorkel

tyndago — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:13:06 GMT

Password JDM R35 GT-R Dry Carbon Fiber Induction Snorkel

By directly feeding colder outside air into your stock airbox, the PWJDM Ram Air Induction Snorkel will do wonders for your GT-R. At increased speeds, it maintains positive pressure in front of the filter� ramming as much colder air into your intake. This principle alone is what this Ram Air Induction Snorkels are all about. It isn't exactly rocket science... more colder air in, more HP period. By working within the confinements of the stock air box and keeping within CARB compliance, we were able to utilize our expertise and develop a Ram Air Induction Snorkel that perfectly compliments a stock air box and dramatically increases horsepower at increased speeds. It isn't exactly rocket science, but it isn't all that difficult to comprehend either. Getting colder, denser air into your engine makes more horsepower.

� Race proven Ram Air Induction methodology utilized in design
� Directly forces colder air into your stock intake
� Increases Horsepower
� Weighs under 4oz/side
� CARB compliant

Source: STILLEN Catalog

First Video of Gran Turismo 5 Karting Gameplay

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:36:54 GMT

NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Gran Turismo 5 �Racing Pack� Bundle Announced for Japan

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:36:54 GMT

The GT5 Japanese release date has been announced today (November 3rd), along with yet another special edition of the game that includes a limited-edition, blue PlayStation 3 console. Read up on all the details right here.

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Early Info on Gran Turismo 5�s �Course Maker�

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:36:54 GMT

Remember the track editor our inside man, amar212, told you about all the way back in April of 2009? It’s now been officially revealed, and IGN is first to give a few hints of what’s in store for this interesting new feature.

Rather than being a fully featured editor � a feature that, Yamauchi confessed, was tinkered with but deemed too complex � the course maker allows players to select certain set parameters to create a track. A theme can be selected, with the Belgian High Fens or Toscana two examples, and the individual track sectors are then defined.

Sectors are edited individually, with frequency of curves, sharpness of corners, degree of topography and banking angle are set with a series of sliders.

Catch the full article right here. We’ll have more details once the press embargos have been lifted!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

GamesCom � The Yamauchi Interview

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:36:54 GMT

Hello all, from drizzly Cologne!

At this morning’s breakout session at the Radisson Hotel, Cologne we were told that all information and media given was subject to an embargo until 0900 GMT Thursday morning – which we, unlike other sites, intend to respect – we were left in somewhat of a no-man’s land. Andreas, Venari and I couldn’t really bring you any of the information we wanted to and yet, at the same time, we have to report something. This is, after all, what you’re paying us for.

What we can bring you is news that, yet again, the GT5 code has received a few tweaks and is another, more recent build than E3, there’s some good news on expected features, some better news on some potential fears and some great news on some unexpected (but by now, thanks to “other sites”, internet-wide) features. We’ll provide more the instant the embargo expires tomorrow. Kazunori seemed quite nervous beforehand – pacing the courtyard, cigarette in hand – but his nervousness was unfounded.

Luckily, after a quick play on the GamesCom show floor of the latest GT5 build (with new tracks and cars as exclusively revealed late yesterday), Andreas received an SMS from Sony’s Alex Armour – Kazunori Yamauchi would see us now…

As Andreas, Venari and I sat down with Yamauchi, we were asked to be brief – it was, after all, lunchtime after a stressful morning and we were feeling hunger-pangs too. We didn’t quite get all the questions out that we wanted and Kazunori didn’t want to be filmed during the interview, but we tried our best to interrogate while respecting his time constraints.

Can you tell us anything about PSN Trophies in GT5?

Kazunori looked a little confused at first. We’d put to him the rumour about multiple Platinum trophies which he dismissed as just that – rumour. He clarified that he really hadn’t thought about Trophies in GT5 but that they will be in. Our considered opinion is that GT has been doing “trophies” since 1997 and it’s more likely than not that the Trophies system will be grafted onto the existing trophy aspects of the game.

Will GT5 feature LAN mode/multiple monitor support?

“Probably” was the reply. At this point, there are still aspects of the game that the 140-man strong team are still refining. My understanding of Kazunori’s precise words were more probably-likely than probably-possibly.

We’ve seen changing light and, recently, weather. Will this be available on all tracks?

“Not on all tracks, but some.”. We’d imagine that tracks with 24 hour races are more likely to see diurnal cycles, but whether you can race the ‘Ring in snow… at this point it is still up in the air.

With GT5, how close are you to your goal of “The Real Driving Simulator”?

“90%” was the instant answer. “Well, 85-90%”.

Are there any features missing from GT5 that you’d like to have included?

Kazunori said “Yes”, without hesistation. “But there’s still time to work on things!”

Would this include a livery editor?

“Probably not for GT5, though it’s certainly on our list of things to work on…”.

Previously we’ve seen you say things about weather, lighting, skidmarks, that you’d add them if you felt they added to gameplay. How much is this the case, compared to community pressure (from sites like GTPlanet) to add things?

“It’s probably evenly balanced”, said Kazunori. We’d interpret this as a borderline tacit admission that our forums – and many other sites – form research for PD, especially with regards to features. We have, after all, seen a recent addition of real-time skidmarks and reverse lights in the latest demo builds, now that there is the software and hardware to achieve it.

At this point we were asked if we could wrap it up quickly – we were originally told 3-4 minutes and we were already near ten. So the last question was the question I’d decided (hey, executive decision!) was the very best “alternate” question we’d received.

Given the time, money, space and resources, which fantasy Gran Turismo track would you create in the real world?

Kazunori was visibly awed by this question and spent nearly a minute thinking of an answer. “Deep Forest”, he said. I countered with “Trial Mountain?”. His next answer was complex – the team haven’t revealed anywhere near all of the tracks yet and there may be a fantasy GT5 track which exceeds Deep Forest in his estimations, and Trial Mountain in mine.

Kazunori continued, “A construction company in Japan [Maede] investigated the possibility of building Grand Valley. They wrote a book about it!”. We weren’t able to get an accurate title from Kazunori or Translator-san – it didn’t seem to translate well, but “Fantasy Business Scheme” was the final answer. If you know of this book, please let us know!

And that was that – the first meeting between the world’s largest Gran Turismo site and the game’s creator, courtesy of Alex Armour at Sony, Darin Gangi at InsideSimRacing, Andreas Nie (our co-conspirator) and Jordan.

As ever, we’ll let Translator-san have the last word:

“We need your name!”

“No you don’t. Translator-san will do just fine…”

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

Fifth Gear: Evo FQ400 vs GTR

tyndago — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:36:54 GMT

Fifth Gear is a TV show from the UK. In this episode they take a UK delivery Evo FQ(F**king Quick) 400 vs a R35 GT-R. Watch the video for the results.

Karting, Monza, Skidmarks & More in GT5 Gamescom 2010 Demo: Full Details

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 02:39:24 GMT

Thanks to our team at Gamescom 2010 (and a new YouTube video), we’ve got an early scoop on the contents of the latest*Gran Turismo 5 demo on display -- confirming some of the game’s most exciting new features. GT5’s*new karting mode is revealed, along with the debut of the*Autodromo Nationale Monza circuit! Andreas of InsideSimRacing also noticed that skidmarks are visible on the tarmac (see video above, though it’s not from Andreas), and a non-functioning*“course maker” option was visible in the menus. He also wisely compiled a complete list of all the cars and tracks available:

Tracks

Monza
Piazza del Campo (Karting Only)
San Galgano
Nurburgring (Nordschleife & GP)
Rome
Madrid
R246
Indy Speedway
Toscana
La Sarthe (chicaned)
TG Test Track

Cars

Ferrari P4 Race ‘67
PDI Racing Kart 100
XJ13 ‘66
MkIV Ford ‘67
Zonda R ‘09
IS-F concept ‘08
Impreza Sedan ‘10
Z4 M Coupe ‘08
TTS Coupe ‘09
500F ‘68
500 1.2 8v Lounge SS ‘08
Miura P400 Bertone Prototype
C30 R-design
C3 Convertible
Enzo
SRT10 ACR ‘08
ZR1 C6 ‘09
Ford GT ‘06
SLS AMG ‘10
Citroen GT
458 Italia ‘09
Gallardo LP 560-4
SLR McLaren ‘09 19″
GT-R Spec V ‘09
R8 4.2 ‘07
M5 ‘08
Esprit V8 ‘02
2010 Jeff Gordon Impala
2010 Dale Earnhardt ?
Calsonic Impul GT-R ‘08
Castrol Tom’s Supra ‘97
Impreza WRC ‘08
SX4 WRC ‘08
C4 WRC ‘08
Ford Focus WRC 07 ‘08
XKR Coupe ‘10
135i Coupe ‘07
Amuse Nismo 380RS Superleggera

Thanks, once again, to InsideSimRacing’s Andreas and our own Famine for passing along this early bit of information from Germany, and thanks to owen.c93 & SolidSnakeX*for the tip on the video. We’ll have a lot more details after the private GT5 press conference up soon!

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NOTE: This post is from GT Planet.

McLaren Supercar pays visit

ApexKings — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:07:12 GMT

Fresh from Monterey, California, where it made its North American debut during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance event, the new McLaren MP4-12C made a stop at Road & Track for a brief photo session. As expected, nearly everyone from our office filed out to see this new supercar in person.

Prior to its arrival, we were told that this silver McLaren 12C was a show car, and that it cannot be driven. We guessed it was probably powered by an electric motor similar to many other cars of this type intended to show to the public as a prototype. But to our surprise, the 12C came to life with a big roar, thanks to its twin-turbo, 600-bhp 3.8-liter V-8. According to the factory, the car can accelerate from a standstill to quarter mile in around 11 sec. Top speed is rated at over 200 mph.

And believe me, we have been, and continues to pester McLaren about the first opportunity to drive the 12C ourselves. Perhaps we will finally get our turn behind the wheel late this year. Or maybe if we can come up with $200k and put in an order for one, McLaren will put us in front of the line?

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