2013 Nissan 370Z Review
Nissan is back with their 370Z for 2013 and it was shown at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show this week. Available in June, the 370Z looks much like the older 370Zs, but does have some slight changes to it's wheels and other small things that give it a subtle update. Some of the new features are LED daytime running lights, which have been made extremely popular by Audi. Red brake calipers sit behind new redesigned 18 or 19inch wheels.
We have added a video above so you can get a full 360 view of the car. The 2013 Nissan 370Z is easy to review, since there is not really much of a difference in the new year. Still the same 332 horsepower 3.7L engine, 6 speed manual or 7 speed auto. The sport package offers new shocks to give it a bit of better handling, but not much to write home about.
Smart ForTwo SharpRed – Another Tuner Smart
When Mercedes released the Smart Car, the purpose was to create a fuel efficient car that can be parked in places most other cars can not. Perfect for someone living in the city, working in the city, or just traveling to the city. The Smart ForTwo became a hit, and not just with people who want to leave a small footprint.
Tuners have gotten to the Smart ForTwo, doing all kinds of crazy modifications such as swapping in motorcycle engines like from the Hyabusa, or adding turbo kits. There is a new edition of the Smart ForTwo called the SharpRed. Available with the 1.0L 71hp motor, or the 1.0L 84 hp motor, the SharpRed features mainly looks than performance.
Currently only available in Europe, the Smart ForTwo SharpRed might soon come to the United States.
Bloodmasters Bloodbath – Nissan New Jersey Drifting
Looking for a drifting bloodbath? So are the Bloodmasters, a drifting group from New Jersey that drifts in Nissan 240SX coupes. They created a 5 minute video showing off their drifting prowess at Raceway Park. Looks like a lot of fun... most of the cars have no front bumpers, and a bunch of broken body pieces, so we know these guys are true drifters. Good stuff guys!
Bikini Girl takes a ride in a 900 horsepower Lancer Evolution
There has been a fascination lately with taking videos of girls in bikini's going around a track in a high power race car. This video is no different. This is a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9, which makes 900 horsepower with a Forced Performance GT3794 HTA turbo. The model in the bikini knows it's going to be a fast ride, so she holds on tight.
The video is courtesy of "ThatRacingChannel" on YouTube. The video starts off with the model having a photo shoot on the white Mitsubishi. After the shoot, they go for a ride in the street, not on the track like they usually do. What's interesting, is this Lancer EVO is apparently street legal. Not sure what state they are in, but in California, a 900 horsepower EVO would not be legal.
900 horsepower and the EVO doesn't even have a cage. Instead of a bikini, she should be wearing a fire suit 
GReddy Nissan GT-R R35 4.3L – Amazing!
This Nissan GT-R R35 by GReddy is simply stunning! It has a custom 4.3L Twin Turbo V6 that is designed for all out performance. GReddy has taken it one step further with a very nice BENSOPRA Wide Body Kit.
I'll take two.
Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 Hemi Twin Turbo
When you think of a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, you think of a big hemi under the hood and incredible power and performance. Add a Hennessey badge, and you think ridiculous power. Introducing the 805 horsepower, twin turbo, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 by Hennessey. Known as the 2012 HPE800, the Twin Turbo Jeep will be made in limited quantities, so you better hurry to snatch up one of the 24 Jeeps being custom modified to produce such ground breaking power.
To create 805 horsepower, Hennessey uses a 426 cubic inch Hemi (7 liter), which is a bored-out 6.4L hemi that comes in the SRT8 Cherokee from the factory. The engine creates it's power at 5800 rpm, and also makes 823 ft lbs of torque. So what does all of this translate into? Hennessey says this Cherokee can do 0-60 in 3.1 seconds and 10.9@130 in the quarter mile. Watch out Corvette Z06, you just got your doors blown off by a SUV!
However, for all of this performance and exclusivity, be prepared to shell out some hard earned cash. $235,000 is the price for this Jeep, and gets you into the Hennessey exclusive club of twin turbo madness.
Customer installs E92 M3 Exhaust
One of the most popular exhaust systems for the E92 M3 is the Megan Racing BMW E92 M3 Exhaust. Our customer installed this on his beautiful M3, and sent us in some pictures of the exhaust once he installed it.
Enjoy!
Above is the finished product. The catback has been installed and the car has been taken off the lift. Looks great!
Above is a closeup of the exhaust.
Above is a side shot.
For more information on this exhaust, click here: Megan Racing BMW E92 M3 Exhaust
Camaro ZL1 Nurburgring Lap Time: 7:41:27 Video
The Camaro ZL1 is proving to be a beast. 40 seconds quicker around the Nurburgring than a Camaro SS, but not quite fast enough to beat the world record currently held by a Dodge Viper.
The new Camaro ZL1 features many impressive upgrades such as 580 horsepower and a street legal factory supercharger. The car was driven on the Nurburgring by an engineer on the Camaro Performance team, who's name is Aaron Link, so a professional race car driver could probably knock off a few seconds here. Not many other cars considered to be in the 2+2 market can break the 8 second Nurburgring barrier, but the Camaro ZL1 made it happen in street trim.
The video above shows the full lap, and it's pretty exciting to watch, especially since the Camaro ZL1 is a production car who's price is within many people's reach.
What is the Nurburgring and where is it? Nurburgring Information
You might have heard about the Nurburgring but aren't too sure what it is. Most of us that have heard of the Nurburgring know that it's used a lot of times in determining which cars hold the fastest lap times there. The Nurburgring has coming a staple in automotive performance and is used as a benchmark to determine which cars have true all out performance of power, handling and braking, all the components that make up a true sports car.
The Nurburgring is a 13 mile race track in Germany that has been used from manufactures testing their cars, trying to break Nurburgring lap times of competitors, to enthusiasts bringing their own cars, or renting a car there, to test their limits of what a car can do on an ultimate race track. The Nurburgring has 73 turns that test your brakes, suspension and power, and has been described as one of the most demanding race tracks in the world. Nurburgring construction started in 1925 and was opened in 1927 and to this day is available to the public.
The Nurburgring used to be host to the German Grand Prix until 1976 when a crash ended it's use for this purpose. Today, it's still used by most of the manufactures to do testing of their sports cars, and in the event that the manufacture doesn't test their cars here, you can bet a lot of magazines and enthusiasts push cars to the limit here for them.
Being 13 miles long, the Nurburgring is a long race track, and the good thing is that you can bring a passanger along with you for the ride. There are many hotels and places to stay and eat near the track so many enthusiasts make a vacation out of a trip to the race track. If you fly out there to visit the famous Nurburgring, there are a few places that allow you to rent a car of your choice that you can beat up on the track. My suggestion would be to go there for the fun and experience of being on a famous race track instead of trying to break the world record. It is a very fast and dangerous track and many people have lost their lives on it.
Many people ask how the Nurburgring got it's name. It's pretty simple actually. The motorsports complex is built around a German village called Nurburg. Since it rings it, they called it the Nurburgring.
There are such races as the Nurburgring 24 which is 24 hours of straight Nurburgring racing that tests the limits of man and machine. It's very exciting but not for the faint of heart.
If you want to go and check this out for yourself, but aren't too confident in your driving abilities (it's ok to be a newbie), a BMW dealer offers what they call a "Ring Taxi" service where you can ride in a BMW M3 as a passanger with a professional race car driver. This will allow you to experience the Nurburgring much faster than you might by yourself.
Many manufactures claim to be the fastest, but the true test is to go out there and get an official lap time. Manufactures go back and forth, but as of the writing of this post, the fastest currently is the Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR. You can see a video of the record breaking run here:
The video is of a Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR running the lap in 7 minutes and 12 seconds. Usually manufactures give full disclosure as to what kind of tires they run, and also if the car is a production unit or a full race unit.
Hopefully this answers many of our readers questions on the Nurburgring and gives an idea of what this famous race track is all about.
$250,000 for the first Camaro ZL1 at Barrett-Jackson Auction
Here we have the 2012 Camaro ZL1, which is powered by a 6.2L Supercharged V8 that makes a jaw dropping 580 horsepower and 556 ft lbs of torque. Hold on to your seats!
The very first Camaro ZL1 to roll off the assembly line was auctioned off at the famous Barrett-Jackson Auction, and it quickly went for a cool quarter of a million dollars. The auction, which was held in Las Vegas, had the ZL1 on display to much anticipation of the audience.
The 2012 Camaro ZL1 is the most powerful factory Camaro ever offered. This Camaro will be available early 2012, and is anticipated to go for around $50,000 - which is an incredible bargain.
The lucky owner of the 2012 Camaro ZL1, was Rick Hendricks, from Hendricks Motorsports, who owns Hendricks Automotive, which is one of the largest automotive dealers in the country. Even though he won the auction, he has to pay now, but still won't take ownership of the ZL1 until early 2012. Bummer Rick!
The engine comes from the 6.2L Supercharged V8 found in the Cadillac CTS-V, but makes about 24 more horsepower due to improvements made to the supercharger, intercooler and intake. This car will be offered with the tried and true 6 speed manual or 6 speed automatic.
The 2012 Camaro ZL1 sets the standard for pony car wars. Your move Ford and Chrysler.
