Hot Hatch From Hell: Hayabusa-Powered VW Polo
Fox Marketing To Build Twin-Turbo, IS-F-Bodied IS Convertible
Old Meets New: Mitsuoka Himiko
WTF Files: GT-R Face Mightyboy
First Pics Of Evo X FQ-400 Surface
Nissan’s S-Platform Never Looked This Good…
Something Old, Something New…
Twin-Turbo IS-F to Feature at SEMA
Kesselman Go Crazy on Mazda CX-7
Smoking May Be Harmful…
What The Hell? Toyota Aristo Wagon Spotted
Spoon To Convert LHD USDM NSXs to Type R Status
What do you get when you cross a Volkswagen Polo with the engine from a Suzuki Hayabusa? You get a pint-sized pocket rocket that sounds like a disembowled banshee, that’s what.
We’ve little solid information on the precise specs of this half-breed, but we do know that it’s turbocharged, mid-engined and utlises a chain-driven rear axle with no differential.
Consequently, it’s a burnout machine. Hit the jump to see it waste some tyres. »
We’re big fans of the IS-F here at TMRT, but we’re not so big on convertibles. So what do we think of Fox Marketing’s latest project, an IS-F-bodied IS Convertible?
It’s hot.
If this rendering is anything to go by, the melding of IS-F bodywork with the IS C’s two-door frame is a winning combo - and one that any sun-dried 40 year-old cougar would be proud to be seen in. We’re not entirely sold on that unsightly and oh-so-80s support arch, but the rest of the package looks pretty tough for a ‘vert. »
Sometimes, owning one of the world’s most sought-after and desirable supercars just isn’t enough. So when Charlotte, North Carolina-based tuning house Underground Racing got its hands on a Lamborghini Gallardo, you don’t need me to paint a picture of what happened next.
Your standard Gallardo – if such a word can be applied to any supercar – makes around 382kW (513hp) and 510Nm (376lb-ft) of torque through its 5.0 litre V10. That’s good for a 3.9 second run to 100km/h and 12.1 second 400 metre (0.25 mile) pass.
So in ‘standard’ trim, it ain’t exactly a tortoise. »
If you’re wondering what’s going on and why you’ve been redirected from your beloved JPCN to this new-fangled “TMRtuned” site, listen up, for we’ve got news for you.
Regular readers of Japanese Performance Car News will have noticed that the site essentially stalled at the start of this year. We think the alternator crapped itself. After a lengthy hiatus (during which time I jumped over to The Motor Report), it was decided that we’d go back to the wrecking yard, pick up the rusting hulk of JPCN and give the old gal a new lease on life.
And here she is. »
Although notorious for producing the god-awful Orochi “supercar”, Japanese coachbuilding company Mitsuoka does occasionally get things right.
Take, for example, the newly-unveiled Himiko hardtop convertible. Yes, it’s yet another product of Mitsuoka’s peculiar fetish for retro-British styling, but unlike the ungainly Jag and Rolls clones that bulk out the rest of the Mitsuoka stable the Himiko actually looks… well… nice. »
It’s been a while since rumours of a performance-oriented Lexus LS F were bandied about, but now it seems the idea of a muscle-bound full-size luxury sedan appears to be gaining popularity with the automaker’s top brass.
Hirokazu Koga, general manager at the Lexus Development Center and one of the main players in the IS F project, recently mentioned to the folks at Autoblog that should Lexus eventually produce a hopped-up GS F, an LS F could very well follow. »
When we told you we’d get higher-res images of the FQ-400, we weren’t kidding around. Now, thanks to your friends at JPCN, all you Mitsu freaks out there can finally gussy up your desktops with a background image that’s worthy of your love: this high-resolution front-on view of the big-daddy FQ’s intimidating face.
Click the image to enlarge, and enjoy. »
Transplanting entire front ends between cars is nothing new. For instance, the “Strawberry Face” S15-to-other-S-platform swap is a tried-and-true mod, and the nose of an R34 GT-R also seem to graft quite well onto a WGCN34 Stagea. However, one swap that we’ve never seen done before is a KPGC10 GT-R front end on a Suzuki Mightyboy. »
British car mag Autocar have published these low-res photos of the upcoming Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-400, giving us our first glimpse at Mitsubishi’s special UK-only AWD monster.
Suffice to say, it looks great. The heavily vented bodywork stuffs more cold air into the engine bay and extracts more hot air out of it, while the carbonfibre front splitter and carbonfibre rear diffuser help glue the FQ-400 to the tarmac. An Evo IX-inspired vortex generator sits at the trailing edge of the roof and the whole lot is almost entirely carried over from the Evo X endurance racer that recently ran the Silverstone 24 hr. »
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