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The AutoGuide News Blog is your source for breaking stories from the auto industry. Delivering news immediately, the AutoGuide Blog is constantly updated with the latest information, photos and video from manufacturers, auto shows, the aftermarket and professional racing.
 |  May 13, 11:59 AM

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We’d be kidding ourselves and the entire world when we say we watch videos on YouTube looking for substance or a plot. When it comes down to it, car videos are like porn for us. We don’t care about a story, we’re drooling over the action.

Vernal Equinox is a fancy 12-minute flick by French filmmaker Stephane Benini. Truth be told though, it’s not exactly 12 minutes, the last three minutes and change is a nice long credit roll reminiscent of what you’d see out of Hollywood. But nonetheless the video is entertaining for any car nut out there, especially those in love with drifting.

The video is well thought out and there’s no denying the editing and quality of filming. Each shot took quite the setup and direction to do and all of it flows nicely together. But hey, we’re no Roger Ebert over here, but we’d give it two thumbs up and well worth the watch.

[Source: Cartech Blog]

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 |  May 04, 2:10 PM

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It didn’t take long for this Formula Drift season to stir up some controversy. As we mentioned in our Formula DRIFT Long Beach Recap, the Hankook Nissan GT-R was noticeably missing from competition. We knew for a fact there was no way they would let that slide for another event, considering sitting out one event already puts the championship far out-of-reach.

Adams Motorsports Park currently holds Night Drift events every Thursday night and recently the Hankook / Dynamic Autosport team had Robbie Nishida in from Japan to test the GT-R at one of these events out in Riverside, CA. The car looks complete and fully functioning, but how well it performed we’re not sure. We’ll know after this weekend though, once the GT-R makes its drifting debut.

Interestingly, rather than the stock GT-R powerplant, the Hankook/Dynamic Autosport car is VQ35 powered, which may or may not be surprising to some. To us it’s not surprising given the huge success the VQ35 has had on many different vehicles in Formula Drift. In fact, when Rhys Millen didn’t have the Lambda Genesis motor ready, he slugged himself a VQ35 into the Genesis early on last season. One thing’s for sure, this GT-R has one of the finest drivers in the entire series in Robbie Nishida. If anyone can drive the wheels off this car, it will be him. We’ll keep our eyes out on how well he’ll do this weekend!

[Source: Adamsdrift.tk]

GALLERY: Hankook Drift Nissan GT-R

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 |  Apr 30, 5:08 PM

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Drifting is a dangerous sport, and not just for the drivers. Having photographed several drift events this author is well aware of the risks involved -  I’ve have even had a few close calls, on one occasion a friend of mine pulling me away right as the vehicle struck the K-rail. At another event the “track mats” shot up (while the vehicle was doing a burn out over them) flying right past my head. So needless to say, as safe as they try to make it for the photographers, there’s always a risk with cars going sideways.

During the recent SSS Gecko Cup drifting event in Warsaw, Poland a camera man became collateral damage when an Nissan S13 went flinging sideways a little too quickly. The car slammed into the safety rail (which wasn’t the concrete K-rails we’re used to) which in turn knocked into the camera man. Clearly the camera man takes a nice fall and apparently he was unconscious for a few seconds, thought it doesn’t seem so. But hey, he lives to shoot another day and that’s all that matters!

Make sure to check out the video after the break, it makes you think twice how closely you stand next to the action!

[Source: Tampa Sports Car Examiner]

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 |  Nov 05, 1:36 PM

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To our surprise, the number of Nissan GT-Rs at this year’s SEMA Show is much lower than expected, with the Camaro being the obviously dominant vehicle. One of the nicest GT-Rs on display is the Black Bison model from Japanese tuner WALD.

We found the car over at the Jonari booth, the company that distributes WALD (along with other brands like Rinspeed and even Mansory) in North America. The pristine white GT-R features the full WALD aero kit including side skirts, rear fender arches, a new front bumper with carbon fiber accents, a carbon rear wing and a carbon diffuser. Also included in the build are a set of 22-inch WALD P13F wheels with Yokohama Advan tires, WALD lowering springs and a full titanium exhaust from Arqray Japan.

GALLERY: WALD Black Bison GT-R

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 |  Aug 31, 8:39 AM

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With the Targa Newfoundland just two weeks away, Stillen has unleashed its race-ready Nissan GT-R upon the internet.

Prior to the race Stillen took its 620hp monster to the El Toro Marine base for a little performance test organized by Road & Track and the results are more than impressive. The tests revealed a 0-60 mph time of just 2.9 seconds, with a 1/4 mile time of 11 seconds flat at 127.9 mph! Don’t believe us? Watch the video below.

Along with a host of performance adders, like a Turbosmart boost controller and a Stillen exhaust setup, the Stillen GT-R also received a set of AP Racing brakes, Eibach springs and several other Stillen suspension bits. Stillen even set about manufacturing a polyurethane body kit and then contracted Password JDM for a long list of carbon fiber panels. Those panels, along with a stripped-out interior, mean the Stilen GT-R weighs significantly less than stock.

We’ll be sure to keep an eye on Steve Millen’s progress at the Targa Newfoundland, which runs from September 12th to 19th.

GALLERY: Stillen  Nissan GT-R

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[Source: Stillen]

Full stats on the Stilen Nissan GT-R after the jump:

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 |  May 18, 12:00 PM

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Thieves have made off with that oh so sexy Nissan GT-R from the most recent Fast & Furious film. The car was being stored, along with several other vehicles, at a facility in Sun Valley, Los Angeles. The thieves were no doubt aware that the vehicle was inside the facility when they broke through the metal door and drove off with the car, paying no attention to the other vehicles inside. The thieves did, however, damage both a Porsche Boxster and a classic Studebaker in the process.

While looking like every SpoCom fan’s wet dream, the blue R34 GT-R is actually a GT-S model that was transformed by pro driver Chris Milano over two years. Fast & Furious lead Paul Walker drove the car in the movie.

The car is estimated to be worth roughly $75,000 (” More than you can afford pal”), however, it was not insured as it was only being used for promotional purposes.

There is no word on if the police have any leads on who stole the car, but we think they should check the garage of Nicolas Cage,  Mr. Gone in 60 Seconds himself. Either that, or it’s currently being chopped up and sold to other Skyline owners as “overnight parts from Japan.”

[Source: Edmunds.com]