Nissan

I am not a big fan of convertibles. Like a pretty girl wearing a promise ring I generally write them off as a waste of something perfectly good. The reason for this is twofold. First, convertibles are usually hardtops that have had a lobotomy. What this means is a designer spent countless hours perfecting a gorgeous coupe, and then 5 minutes before a big meeting someone from marketing said, “Can you make a convertible design too? Thanks.” In a rage the designer simply erased the top and left. So they rarely look as good as their coupe sibling. Second, chopping the top affects the car's performance, which is against the law.

However, it's not the idea of a convertible that I dislike, simply the execution. However, when done right, it's something special. So when Matt Farah asked me to ride along in the 370Z with TheSmokingTire on a road trip to Pahrump, Nevada, I quickly obliged. I had read about this car plenty, but I had to see for myself whether the 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster was a proper roadster or another soft-top tanning bed with a motor. So I sat down at Matt's house and waited for it to arrive. It only took a moment's glance at the silver 370Z pulling into the driveway for me to think, “That's a good looking car.”

The special edition craze is now in full effect for the Nissan 370Z. First, Nissan announced the 40th anniversary model for those stateside, which makes its debut at the Chicago Auto Show, and now the "Black Edition" for the European market, which will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. Don't get your hopes up too much - in both cases, the 332-horsepower 3.7-liter dual overhead cam V6 engine remains untouched. That said, 0-62 mph times in the 5.3 second range is nothing to laugh at.  

Just like its brethren in the US, the Nissan 370Z Black Edition celebrates the 40th anniversary of the original Datsun 240Z and is nearly identical (to the 40th Anniversary Edition) in every way save one. Both sport "high-luster" smoke Rays wheels, red calipers, red leather and suede interiors, red-stitching on the leather wrapped steering wheel and center stack as well as 40th Anniversary emblems and embossing inside and out. The only real difference is that in addition to the "40th Quartz" dark gray paint that the American version comes with, the European version also can be purchased in - get ready for it - Black.

Unless you live on that island from Castaway, you know what the Nissan GTR is capable of... We all know it goes, stops and turns as well as almost anything on the planet today. Its computer system is so advanced it could probably give you an MRI while taking you around the Nurburghing in under 8 minutes. Well the guys at Motor Trend may have found its achilles heal; drifting. Teamed up with Scion's drift team and Streetfire.net, Motor Trend is pitting Godzilla against purpose-built Formula D cars. The video shows you what happens when the Nissan GTR tries to emulate two of the best purpose-built drift cars around, and how well those cars fair against the GTR in Motor Trend's standard performance tests. Check out the video after the jump...

Tommy Kaira is a Japanese tuning shop that has made a big name for itself by putting out some of the baddest (like bad meaning good) modification packages on the planet. Strangely enough, they got their start tinkering models from Mercedes but now focus exclusively on domestic rides from manufacturers like Nissan, Toyota and Subaru. And those outside Japan may have gotten their introduction through the Gran Turismo racing series, where Tommy Kaira makes a strong showing.

Now, at the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon, the company is unveiling their latest package for the Nissan R35 GT-R. Known as the Silver Wolf edition, their take on Godzilla gets a full body kit, upgraded brakes, exhaust system and suspension components along with some new wheels and a revamped interior.

2009 was a tough year for the auto industry to say the least. Not only did we witness massive government bailouts, epic bankruptcies and a precipitous plummet in sales, but over 1,500 dealerships shuttered their doors. When I was back in my hometown of Cleveland, OH over the holidays, I notice at least 6 large dealerships throughout the city that had closed up shop, with all of the remaining ones seemingly relegated to the ubiquitous "Auto Mile" of car lots mostly owned by large conglomerates. A sad state indeed.

Current estimates peg the total number of new cars purchased last year at just around 10.5 million, which is about 7 million shy of the high reached in 2000 and 2 million below sales in China (yes, we're no longer numero uno). The Cars Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program, aka Cash for Clunkers, dolled out $2.8 billion in $3,500 - $4,500 rebates and supposedly resulted in 700,000 new car sales.  According to several leading analysts, this was just enough to keep the industry on life support while everyone scrambled to figure out how to infuse more cash into daily operations. Even though many hailed the program as a success, it had its detractors as well, and for good reason. Edmunds concluded that really only an additional 125,000 cars were sold that wouldn't have sold otherwise, resulting in a taxpayer burden of $24,000 per vehicle.

For the last couple of years, CAR magazine has challenged designers from major auto manufacturers to come up with designs that upgrade Santa's sleigh to the toy-delivery vehicle of tomorrow. In 2008, the likes of Bentley, Ford, Nissan and Rolls-Royce all delivered spectacular creations. This year Vauxhall, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Audi and Land Rover came through with some crazy cool concepts. 

Land Rover has created transportation for Kris Kringle that follows their brand aesthetic remarkably well. The particle accelerator propulsion system is a nice touch and we dig the optional CRS (Chimney Recognition Software) technology. But we're not sure how Santa is supposed to see over the big dome of the reindeer in front of him and it looks like every time the animal swivels its head, it would skewer ole Saint Nicholas, but these are just minor quibbles.

Autocar magazine recently took three of the most popular and exciting entry-level supercars and pitted them against one another at the famed Castle Combe circuit in the UK. Steve Sutcliff took the Nissan GT-R, Audi R8 V10 5.2 FSI and the Porsche 911 Turbo around the track to see which of these dynamos could produce the best lap time.

The 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo packs 500 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque from its newly reworked 3.8-liter flat-six engine, tipping the scales at a svelte 3,495 pounds, the lightest of the bunch. The Nissan GT-R also uses a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6, with its engine good for 480 horsepower and 434 ft-lb of torque, but is much heftier at 3,814 pounds. The Audi R8 has the most power of the three with its 5.2-liter V10 good for 525 hp and 391 lb-ft of torque. It is also pretty light at only 3,571 lbs. The 911 Turbo has a base price of $132,800, fairly close to the $146,000 (manual) price of the R8 V10. However, the Nissan GT-R is almost a fraction of the cost of both cars with an MSRP of only $81,790.

We all know that the Nissan GT-R R35 is an absolute beast with 412hp and 393 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. We also know that the Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 is also no chump with a whopping 635hp and 581 lb-ft of torque. But what we didn't know was how Godzilla and the Super Snake would fare in a head's up quarter mile sprint. Stats aren't everything and real world performance is often surprising. This video has an entertaining intro with a Dharma Corp style quality, followed by the moment of truth. We won't spoil it... Just check it out after the jump!