Among the buzz already surrounding the 2013 Mustang, Ford has announced that the specialized Cobra Jet drag version will be part of the lineup. However, like the more mainstream variants, it will feature a number of updates. The 5.4 quad cam V8 will return, in either naturally aspirated or supercharged forms, but joining it on the options list is a version of the 5.0 ‘Coyote’ engine, found in the current Mustang GT.

The folks over at AMS have been working hard at setting records with their Alpha Series  Nissan GT-R and the Alpha 12 has now become the world’s first 8-second GT-R down the quarter mile. What makes the pass even more remarkable is how many of the GT-R’s standard features are kept intact, including air conditioning. Oh, and it’s also quite steetable.

AMS claims that the Alpha 12 GT-R makes around 1500-hp and according to their data log, the GT-R went from 60-mph to 130-mph in 3.34 measly seconds. That is also a record for any street car to hit 130-mph from 60-mph. AMS estimates that the top speed of the Alpha 12 GT-R is around 230-mph and with a final drive upgrade could hit a over 250-mph.

Check out the video of the record setting run after the break.

Jens Eklund is hardly a stranger to building high-horsepower Audi drag cars, having campaigned a wildly popular 9-second 1,000-hp Audi S6 in the past. He decided that the S6’s styling was becoming outdated, and given just how beautiful the new A5 looks, he decided to build a whole new chassis to terrorize Sweden’s drag racing tracks with.

The headline could have also read “finally, a Honda with some torque.” Ok, we kid. But the mere existence of a rear-wheel-drive Acura Integra with a blown 454 Chevy big-block says two things: 1.) you can turn anything into a Pro Street racer with enough knuckle sweat, and 2.) always follow your dreams, kids.

The impressive Integra was reportedly built by Pro Street Unlimited, based in Manchester NH, and features a manual transmission, a belt-driven supercharger, electric blue paint and a sound like God’s Own Cuisinart. Rumors that this car is the current prototype for the next NSX are still unsubstantiated.

[Source: 1A Auto Blog]

Watch the video after the jump:

This red 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, known as the “Newman Bug”, isn’t your typical old Beetle, and it’s price tag of $250,000 should reflect that. The drop top Bug, owned by Paul Newman, is fitted with chrome bumpers and a black cloth top in good condition but the beauty of this car is in the rear engine compartment. A mid- mounted 351- cubic inch Ford Windsor engine has been shoe-horned into the little car to make it a deadly hot rod.

It’s only been out for a month, but now, thanks to the efforts of veteran racer Dave Thomas; the 2011 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak (Mopar’s spelling not ours), has blazed into the history books.

It’s called the Mustang Cobra Jet and it is strictly for drag racing, so no you can’t drive it to the mall. What you can do is trailer it to your local drag strip and lay some rubber. Under the hood is a 5.4-liter V8, which now features an aluminum-block. You can choose to then have either a 2.3-liter TVS supercharger or a mammoth 4.0-liter Ford Racing whipple supercharger.

Following in the footsteps of the Mustang Cobra Jet and Challenger Drag Pak, Chevrolet is reportedly considering a track-only Camaro to terrorize dragstrips across the nation.

Every year over in Houston, Texas, Toyota Supras from all over the nation gather at the Lonestar Motorsports Park for a weekend of motorsports festivities. It begins with a Dyno Day then a weekend of test-n-tune and drag racing. Over the years, every big player in the Supra industry has shown up with Florida heavyweights Titan Motorsports and Big Daddy being no exceptions to the rule. This year however, there was plenty more excitement when the two MKIV Supras took to the track.

Titan’s Supra has really been shoved aside for their full race program, with it only making select appearances yearly. One thing’s for sure, they never miss the Texas event with their infamous Copper Supra. Their day started out just fine, rolling out a 7.75 @ 178 mph pass as they made the rounds in the Unlimited Class. Fast forward to the end of the day and Titan found themselves in the final against fellow Florida rival, Big Daddy.

Big Daddy knew they’d have to be on their A-game to topple Titan’s giant, but unfortunately they might have pushed the pedal a little too hard as their Supra goes out of control, flying through the center line and into Titan’s lane slamming into the wall. Titan’s driver, Gary White, was able to escape with minimal damage to the car (though it’s still not a pretty sight) and luckily both drivers were just fine after the accident.

Check out the video after the break.

[Source: Titan Motorsports Blog]

To continue promoting the sport of drag racing, GM Performance Parts will be putting on the LSX Challenge Series restricting entry to GM production-based LS and GM Performance Parts LSX engines and engine components.

Every December, racers and gearheads gather at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show, located in sunny Orlando, Florida.

And there you have it folks, Lingenfelter’s wickedly-sounding Chevrolet Camaro has broken the 8-second barrier in the quarter mile. It was just back in July when we broke news that Lingenfelter’s Camaro had ran a 9.974 and just four months later, they’ve shaved a whole second off their time going 8.997 @ 158.8 mph.

More astonishing is the car’s insane 1.384 60-foot launch by driver Jon Ebert. It’s obvious that Lingenfelter has tuned the Camaro inside and out, tweaking every component imaginable to get it into the 8-second range. The 377 ci LS9 features a GM LS9 Eaton TVS2300 supercharger mated to a fully built motor with JE pistons, ported heads and more.

On the dyno, the Camaro puts down a ridiculous 1,243-hp with 1,328 ft-lbs of torque to back it up. And even with a 4,075 lb race weight, it’s good enough to plant the Camaro into the prestigious 8-second club. We’re going to guess that there will be some diminishing returns now on Lingenfelter’s tuning efforts, but we’re confident they can get this thing running 8’s consistently and safely.

Video available after the break.

[Source: Inside Line]

Debuting alongside the new 2011 Challenger SRT8 392 at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Dodge unveiled an even more potent version of its Mopar Drag Pak model. While you might expect it to also come with a 392 under the hood, you’d be wrong. In it’s place is something even better: the Viper’s 8.4-liter V10! That’s right, with 512 cubic inches of displacement, the engine makes 600-hp and 560 ft-lbs of torque.

The reality of a fully streetable 8-second Nissan GT-R just got a whole lot closer. AMS took their Alpha 10 GT-R demo car back to the quarter mile after their 9.33 pass to lay down an amazing 9.192 @ 163.12 mph track time. Now obviously going from 9.33 to 9.192 is easier than going from 9.192 to 8.99, but the fact that they are gaining that much more top-end speed in between weeks of testing is impressive.

And wanting to just show off to the rest of the world what their Alpha 9 package can do to a GT-R on pump gas, AMG was able to pilot the Alpha 9 GT-R to its first 9 second pass at 9.95 @ 141.01 mph. And yes, on pump gas. To show off just how dependable and reliable the Alpha 9 GT-R is, AMS embarked on a road trip going from Chicago to Colorado and Nevada and ending in Southern California; 2,000 or so miles and not a single issue on the car.

They even released a video – unfortunately it’s not of the drag racing:

[Source: GTR Blog]

Switzer Performance announced their Nissan GT-R R1K kit earlier last month, claiming 1,005-awhp through their custom package sporting a pair of Garrett watercooled turbochargers and C16 fuel. And it seems with AMS and SP Engineering all scooping around the 1,000-awhp range, we knew the competition would heat up once these cars hit the actual track proving what they’re really worth.

And the battle for the first 8-second Nissan GT-R is well underway. Switzer took their R1K GT-R out to the drag strip and clocked in a best e.t. of 9.38 and a best mph of 156.44mph, making it currently the fastest R35 GT-R, though not the quickest. AMS still holds the record with a 9.33, but clearly Switzer is close.

Switzer will clearly do more thorough testing in resolving some of their traction issues. Knowing that they have a good 3-mph more than AMS’s GT-R, it’s clear that once Switzer finds some traction their GT-R has a few more tenths to knock off that quarter mile time. How long until we see an 8-second pass?

Check out the two videos after the break.

[Source: GTR Blog]

Built as a SEMA 2010 project, Toyota has been prepping their Tacoma X-Runner RTR and did some baseline test runs out at Pomona this past Tuesday. For those unaware of this project, Toyota was basically looking at producing a “ready to race” Toyota Tacoma X-Runner with the Tundra’s 5.7-liter V8 powerplant. But the fun doesn’t stop there – because a Tundra motor alone isn’t ready to race – TRD steps in with their supercharger and intake kit, pushing the V8 to 504-hp with 550 ft-lbs of torque.

One of our biggest gripes with so-called ‘street’ drag racing classes are that the cars aren’t really streetable. In the loosest of sense, the rules are geared towards cars that could be put on the street (whether it requires a catalytic converter or full interior or whatever the case is). Nine times out of ten, however, the cars just aren’t streetable.

We would love to see some of those 900 horsepowers Honda Civics reliably drive 200 miles at a time, then go tear it down the track.

Needless to say, our skepticism crept in when we heard about Larry Larson’s 6-second 1966 Chevrolet Nova ‘street car’. But lo and behold, we’re eating our own sarcastic internal monologue. Hot Rod Magazine has conjured up an event called Drag Week, which is similar to the One Lap of America. Basically, cars that wish to compete must race on five different tracks across five different states in five days. The cars must be driven from track to track (inevitably from state to state) and whoever gets the lowest ET wins. Simple enough.

Larry Larson’s 1966 Chevy Nova took the crown this year, having commuted well over 1,200 miles on the streets, highways and even in the rain to each track. And to top it all off, he piloted the car to a very impressive 6.95 second pass at 209 mph. The old Nova sports a twin-turbocharged 565 ci big-block Bowtie V8. Larson’s never dyno’ed the car but guesses it probably pumps out over 2,300-hp.

Kudos to you Larry Larson, you truly deserve a huge round of applause.

Check out three videos of this real deal street bruiser after the break:

[Source: Autoblog]

With a new 6.4-liter V8 due out for the 2011 Dodge Challenger, you’d expect the 2011 model year version of the special edition Mopar Drag Pak model to also get the more powerful engine… but you’d be wrong. In it’s place is something even better: the Viper’s 8.4-liter V10! That’s right, with 512 cubic inches of displacement, the engine makes 600-hp and 560 ft-lbs of torque.

When it comes to finding gobs and gobs of horsepower, AMS Performance knows how to do it. Regardless of the application, whether it’s a Mitsubishi EVO or a Nissan GT-R, AMS has set records time and time again on and off the track. And now they’ve made it easy for all their customers to achieve the same type of success.

Dubbed their Alpha line, AMS Performance is offering premium Nissan GT-R Performance Packages. Their website is currently a complete tease with a coming soon page, but it looks like they’ll have four packages available soon: Alpha 6, Alpha 9, Alpha 10 and Alpha 12. We went ahead and did some digging through their current website and found some more information on their Alpha 6 and Alpha 9 packages.

The Alpha 6 package is offered at $6,499 and takes your GT-R to a respectable 600-hp and easy 10 second time slips at the quarter mile of your choice. The fastest time they’ve achieved on this package is a 10.6 @ 130 mph on 93 octane pump gas. The kit is is actually pretty mild with a majority of exhaust parts: 90mm catless downpipes, 90mm resonated midpipes and 90mm exhaust system. On the intake side is a set of HKS Super Hybrid air filters. And of course AMS will retune the car along with a Cobb AccessPORT to dial it all in. For those worried about emissions, catalytic converters are available on their downpipes as an option. And for those that are the complete opposite, non-resonated midpipes are available as a race version.

The Alpha 6 package can also be upgraded to an Alpha 9 package, but for those with the ability to dish out the cash up front, the Alpha 9 is available for $21,999.95. And as you can guess, Alpha 9 means 900-hp on race gas and 800-hp on pump gas. That equates to possible 9 second time slips on race gas. Along with everything in the Alpha 6 package, Alpha 9 also comes with upgraded turbochargers, turbo inlet pipes, front mount intercooler, intake piping and additional fuel upgrades to handle all the extra boost.

Check out the videos after the break of an Alpha 9 GT-R running 10.1 with pump gas, and their 9 second GT-R in case you missed it earlier.

[Source: GTR Blog]

What do you get when you take an AWD Chevrolet Express Van and toss in a 5.3L Vortec V8 motor? Just another heavy gas guzzler. Now what if you tossed in a Z06 cam and a 72mm turbocharger? Now you’re talking about a 7,300 lb tank that probably pushes well over 600-hp and 600 ft-lbs of torque, if not more to all four of its wheels. Now what if you took that van to the track in Las Vegas and lined it up with a Corvette ZR1? Well the safe bet would be on the ZR1 now wouldn’t it?

Unless the owner of these two vehicles knew each other, the Corvette ZR1 driver was probably wondering what in the world this Chevrolet Express van was doing in the other lane. And apparently he slept a little too long at the light trying to figure it out, as the Van not only treed him, but took the win at the other end of the track.

Now it’s a little deceiving given that the Vette had an atrocious .800 reaction time while the van jumped with a .260. But that was enough to make up the difference despite the van running a slower 13.34 @ 99 mph. The ZR1 ultimately took over (once it actually accelerated) tripping the lights with a 13.02 @ 121 mph.

At the end of the day though, the Van would’ve taken the win at any professional drag racing event. We’re wondering if they’re back at the shop trying to fine tune this thing in a 12-second sleeper. Imagine packing 10-15 people in that van with that power!

Check out the video after the break.

[Source: Examiner]

So what exactly does the world’s fastest Nissan GT-R look like? A little bit underwhelming we have to say, but this thing is one fast machine. Ever since 2006, this R32 GT-R has been lighting up the record books running 7-second passes and taking away HKS’ title back in 2007. Based out of New Zealand, it pops up from time to time in Australia for their massive Jamboree event featuring some of the fastest import drag racers in the world.

The team’s weekend of racing was cut short, but not without laying down a solid 7.73 @ 187 mph pass. And while that’s impressive, it’s just short of the car’s best time of 7.57 at 190-mph. The Heat Treatments team said that the GT-R will be back for the November event and they look forward to making some consistent mid 7-second passes.

Even though sport compact and import drag racing isn’t as big of a craze in America as it used to be, it’s hard to not admire these 1000-hp+ cars piloting straight down the track. We’re curious how long it will take before an R35 GT-R comes around to dethrone this monster, you know it’s only a matter of time.

[Source: Speedhunters]

Check out a video from 2009 after the break.

To honor John Lingenfelter and all of the company’s valued customers, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering hosted a memorial track day at Muncie Dragway where all Lingenfelter customers were treated to a free day at the drag strip. While we’re sure all of them had a ton of fun (we’re a bit jealous we didn’t get to attend), the highlight of the event had to have been Lingenfelter’s 2010 LS9 Chevy Camaro breaking into the 9 second mark.

Now obviously since this is Lingenfelter’s own demo vehicle, it’s been overhauled inside and out. It has been built with JE Pistons and stock GM LS9 crankshaft and titanium rods. Lingenfelter’s own CNC ported LS9 cylinder heads, camshaft, intercooler assembly and more helped take the supercharged Camaro to new heights.

The details on the passes as mentioned by Tim at Lingenfelter were 88 degrees Fahrenheit and around 75% humidity. In other words, not the best or ideal situations to go taking the car down the quarter mile, but not the worst either. Their quickest pass of the day was a 9.974 at 141.64 mph and backed it up with two additional 9 second passes.

So now it’s clear that more and more of today’s vehicles are very capable of hitting 9’s down the quarter mile while maintaining a great possibility in staying a reliable daily driver.

Make sure to check out the video after the break!

[Source: Lingenfelter Forums]

With all the hype surrounding AMS’ 9-second GT-R and SP Engineering’s record-setting GT-R, we knew more Nissan GT-Rs would be coming out of the woodwork. And now there is GTC Titan’s entry all the way from the UK. Their GT-R has been modified with what they call a 750R Power Pack which netted 735-hp and 750 ft-lbs of torque on the dyno. They went off to the drag strip on Toyo Tires’ R888 and threw down multiple 10.3 passes.

While it may not be 9s, GTC’s 750R Power Pack still offers plenty of potent power and is a nice alternative for the Europeans that cannot easily get GReddy parts or a full build from AMS. At the heart of it all are GT30 ball bearing turbos with ported manifolds that lead out to GTC’s own 80mm cat-less downpipes, 90mm y-pipe and 90mm exhaust system. Other GTC proprietary parts include 80mm air MAF pipes, bar and plate intercooler, big capacity radiator and 14-plate clutch system with steel plates and shims.

They plan on returning to the track with some stickier tires to help combat wheel spin. We’d be more than willing to bet they could break the 9-second barrier with some more passes down the quarter mile.

Check out a video of the GT-R at the track after the break and hit the source for more information on GTC Titan’s parts.

GALLERY: GTC Titan Nissan Skyline GT-R

[Source: Nagtroc.org]

Mark Niver, a 60-year-old native of Phoenix, AZ, died on Sunday when his Top Alcohol dragster crashed at Pacific Raceways in suburban Seattle during the final day of the NHRA Northwest Nationals.

We at Autoguide strongly condemn street racing in principle, but even beyond that, driving on the track is like swallowing the blue pill from The Matrix. Once you’ve gotten a taste of what pushing your vehicle to the limit in a controlled environment is like, swerving through lanes and doing highway runs against your buddy just seems…well, lame.

SEMA has sponsored a new program called “Racers Against Street Racing”, a campaign designed to get people off the streets and onto the track. Best of all, the website has a nifty “Find A Track” app, that uses Google maps to show you all the tracks in your area. Based on the graphic above, it looks like there’s a track within a couple hours drive of any location in the United States. Now you have no excuse to be driving stupidly on public roads.

Hit the jump to see the official press release

[Source: SEMA]