Home / Posts tagged 'Japanese'

• The Scion Experience: 2014 & Beyond

  In Featured / By Ari Cox / 24 May 2013

  

  Scion doesn’t have a long, rich or storied history (having been launched just over 10 years ago). Nor does it have multi-generational consumers, strong name recognition (some people still call it ‘Sky-on’) or a product lineup that’s typically discussed in detail over dinner at Morton’s (all MSRPs start below $26k). But considering the overwhelming success of the brand, none of that seems to matter.

  Scion was originally created by Toyota as an experimental product line to draw Generation Y consumers into the North American sales funnel. The thought was that the folks they attracted at an early age would later enroll at Toyota College and graduate from Lexus University. And by using a fresh sales approach, innovative marketing techniques and consistent focus, Scion has capitalized on that approach and blossomed into an automotive brand more than able to stand on its own.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Custom Wolf Turbo Wolf is A Boosted Suzuki Bandit 1200

  In Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 22 May 2013

  

  We love custom street bikes, but there are only so many variations on the theme. Take a classic or late-model standard or sportbike, ditch most or all of the bodywork, tweak or replace the front and rear suspension, and give it a jaunty paint scheme. We appreciate the artistry and the craftsmanship, but where’s the imagination?

  Well, it seems Custom Wolf, a German bike builder, has had a stroke of inspiration. No, it’s not a twist you’ll spot right away. But it is a twist you’ll definitely notice when you give the throttle a twist.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Team Galag TG1 is a High-Powered Mutant of a Nissan GT-R

  In Tuning / By Tom Anderson / 21 May 2013

  

  If a bone stock Nissan GT-R isn’t special enough, there’s no shortage of tuners capable of making it look meaner, go faster, or both. However, it seems like most tuned R35 GT-Rs – even the double-throwdown 1,000+ horsepower ones from the likes of Switzer Performance – don’t look radically different from the ones rolling off the boats and into Nissan dealerships. Some people are okay with that, and some aren’t.

  For people who aren’t okay with a fairly stock appearance for their tuned GT-R, and would prefer more radical alterations, help is on the way. It comes from Florida-based Parker Brothers Concepts and Saudi Arabia’s Team Galag, and is called the TG1. And as you can see, this looks almost nothing like the off-the-shelf Godzilla.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Oh No, They Say It Really Goes: MotorTrend Wrings out the Nissan GT-R Track Pack [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 21 May 2013

  

  We’re all quite familiar with the criticisms leveled at the Nissan GT-R, right? It drives like a video game, it weighs as much as an SUV, no Average Joe can afford one, blah blah blah. If only there was a way to get these petrolhead Eeyores to shut their latte slots and appreciate Nissan’s supercar for what it really is: A 2+2 rocket sled that makes you question the veracity of your high school physics textbook (You know, the one in which you drew a 97% accurate Slayer logo on the inside back cover?).

  This video, hosted by MotorTrend’s Carlos Lago with a power lap cameo by the mag’s favorite pro shoe Randy Pobst, might not get all of Godzilla’s naysayers to pour their Haterade down the drain. But it’s hard to argue against the numbers the GT-R – specifically the new-to-America GT-R Track Pack – puts up. Those absurd, hypercar-harassing numbers…

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Supra Duper: XCar Pays Tribute to Toyota’s Performance Flagship [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 20 May 2013

  

  For four generations and 25 years, the Supra served as Toyota’s high performance leader. With a strong (particularly on later turbocharged versions) and smooth straight-six under the hood, hatchback versatility and room for four (at least in a pinch), it truly was the Toyota of sports cars. And in case the Supra wasn’t famous enough on its own, prominent roles in video games like the original Gran Turismo and movies like The Fast and The Furious certainly bumped up its notoriety even more.

  XCar’s Alex Goy decided to see if the reality lives up to the hype by driving a fourth-gen Supra. But this isn’t just any Mk. 4 Supra; not only is it the last one imported to Britain by Toyota, but it has also been turned into a tribute to the iconic Castrol TOM’s Supra JGTC race car from the late ‘90s. And automatic transmission notwithstanding, it looks (and, once the turbos spool up, is) the business.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• USDM Tyte, Yo: Japanese Tuner Cultivates American Style J-Tin [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 16 May 2013

  

  Car geeks are intimately familiar with the well-worn saying “The grass is always greener on the other side.” No matter what country on this big wet marble you call home, there’s always some car or car part that was never available in your homeland that you will absolutely covet. How else do you think the JDM scene got to be so popular here in the U.S.?

  Conversely, there seems to be a growing demand for USDM cars and components in Japan. One man at the forefront of this movement is Masayoshi Nagano, propreietor of Nagano Koubou. One of his specialties is mating American S13-chassis Nissan 240SX noses with home market Silvia bodies to create what Japanese Nissan buffs call “Onevias” (The “one” in the name is derived from 180SX, the JDM version of the S13 hatchback that shared its front sheetmetal with all three American S13 body styles.). We quite like this two-way cultural exchange, and hope it continues for years to come.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Boxer Rebellion: Crawford Performance’s Cray Cray Subaru BRZ Turbo [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 15 May 2013

  

  The rear-drive sport coupe wonder twins from Toyota/Scion and Subaru get all manner of praise heaped upon them, and deservedly so. But there is one noteworthy bone that even some of their most ardent supporters have to pick with them: Lack of power. While the 2.0L flat-four’s 200 horsepower and 151 lb.-ft of torque is okay for virtually all situations, it won’t cause your cheeks to ripple like a pond that’s been bombed a pebble, either.

  But leave it to the Subaru experts at Crawford Performance to change all that. You see, this pearly BRZ’s lump has been fully rebuilt and treated to a laundry list of hot rodding tricks. Oh, and it also now breathes through a rather hefty turbocharger. And as our host Matt Farah explains, roughly 430hp and 500 lb.-ft in a 2,700 lb. package is not something to be taken lightly.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Feeling Board: Downhill Skateboarder Kevin Reimer and His Nissan Skyline GT-R [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 13 May 2013

  

  It is often assumed that because athletes are able to get their adrenaline fixes when in competition, their lives off the field or course are pretty chill. For example: Downhill skateboarder Kevin Reimer probably drives some milquetoast, beige (in spirit, if not color) transportation appliance when he’s not using gravity to get around/risk severe bodily harm, right? Well, not quite: Mr. Reimer’s motorized vehicle of choice is actually an R32-chassis Nissan Skyline GT-R.

  But lest you assume this Canadian (Hence why he was able to import it, thanks to the Great White North’s far more sensible laws regarding four-wheeled forbidden fruit.) extreme sports star hitched his wagon to the ur-Godzilla by accident, know that Kevin and this classic Nissan super coupe have both won races on Australia’s Mount Panorama, home to the Bathurst 1000. Some things are just meant to be.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Mountain Slide: “Mad Mike” Whiddett Drifts His Mazda RX7 through the Crown Range [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 9 May 2013

  

  Despite the dizzying variety of cars competing in the uppermost echelons of drifting, it seems like more and more of them are starting to rely on GM LS-series V8s for power. And while we love the LS engines and their ability to make whack-a-doodle power figures despite having just one camshaft and two valves per cylinder, we’d love to see more European and Japanese drift cars vying for high scores with the smaller-displacement, fewer-cylinder engines with which they were born (or at least ones from the same company).

  Consequently, you can imagine how giddy we were when we heard the distinctive bud-bud-bud-bud-BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT of a rotary engine emanating from Kiwi “Mad Mike” Whiddett’s Red Bull sponsored FD-chassis Mazda RX7. Of course, the massive orange backfires coming from the Mazda’s tush made us even more giddy. Throw in the fact that Whiddett and his roughly 750hp four-rotor Wankel weapon are sliding their way along one of New Zealand’s most scenic byways and you have one honey of a tire snuff film.

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

   

• Classified Moto Honda CB750F Superstrada Engages in Four-play

  In Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 7 May 2013

  

  The Honda CB750 is widely credited with being the motorcycle for which the term “superbike” was coined. Prior to the model family’s 1969 debut, engines like the CB750’s muscular overhead cam (DOHC starting in 1979), transversely-mounted four-stroke inline-four was strictly the domain of high-priced exotics and racing motorcycles. But because American Honda dealers told Soichiro himself that their customers wanted bigger and badder bikes, the company brought this four-pot powerhouse to market for the highly-competitive starting price of $1,495 ($9,233.71 in 2012 money).

  As a result of all these significant achievements, part of us is inclined to believe cutting up a CB750 is straight-up blasphemous. But the other part of us, upon seeing this highly-customized 1980 CB750F from Classified Moto called “Superstrada,” wants to place a piece of duct tape over the first part’s mouth. Why is that?

  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>