There’s no denying just how excellent a platform the Nissan GT-R is. It appears that the head of advanced planning at Infiniti, Francois Bancon, shares the same sentiments about the GT-R. “It’s too good a platform to use only on one model,” he told CAR magazine.

Infiniti is definitely planning a supercar, according to Bancon, with three or four proposals being considered, one of which is based on the 542-hp GT-R platform. But using the GT-R isn’t so cut and dry for a luxury brand like Infiniti. Even if it does wish to achieve supercar status, the brand still has a reputation of luxurious comfort to live up to.

“Our Infiniti model would have to be softer than the GT-R and that’s extremely difficult to do. You can’t easily tweak the GT-R to deliver the sophisticated, more refined performance we would need on an Infiniti. We have three or four proposals we are looking at right now. Once we have launched the new smaller Infiniti (coming in 2015), the time would be right to have a flagship,” Bancon said in the interview.

This report comes at a rather interesting time, since Infiniti recently announced its Emerg-E plug-in hybrid which will sport a mid-engine powertrain configuration (throwing out the possible use of the GT-R’s platform) and is supposed to be their new flagship performance vehicle. We suppose that the GT-R-based supercar could just be way down the road on Infiniti’s roadmap, but either way… we hope more exciting things are on the horizon from the Japanese automaker.

GALLERY: Infiniti Essence Concept

[Source: CAR]

If you’re a fan of car porn (and really, who isn’t), you have to feast your eyes on the new showcase video for the Nissan GT-R.

Brought to you by motor sports film company Clash Production, this flashy video will keep you mesmerized for 2:12… which turns out, is not nearly long enough. Shot against the backdrop of Dubai, we’re treated to the beauty and art that the Nissan GT-R can inspire.

Watch the video after the jump – it’s just over 2 minutes long. But be warned… this video is so cool you may feel the urge to light up a cigarette after it’s done.

[Source: Youtube Via Crank and Piston]

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Nissan Motorsports International (NISMO) has made the release of the GT3-spec GT-R official, pricing it at around $388,000 based on today’s conversion rates.

A joint project between NISMO and JR Motorsports (JRM), the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 packs a 3.8L V6, twin-turbo powerplant that is seen in the factory production model, but pumps out 523-hp. It may sound odd that it has slightly less horsepower than the factory 2013 GT-R with 545-hp, but it’s probably been tuned to GT3 regulations.

What you do get, however, is a GT-R packed with fully adjustable suspension, a gutted-out interior with a full roll cage, extra cooling ducts and an aggressive aero package. Power on the GT3 GT-R will be delivered through a six-speed, semi-automatic paddle-shift system. Those ordering the race-ready GT-R will receive support from NISMO if you’re in Japan, Asia, North or South America and Oceania, while JRM will support Europe, Russia and the Middle East.

Love Nissan GT-Rs? Then you most certainly would love the Tokyo Auto Salon. Featuring the latest tuning trends and most amazing race cars, much of the content on the show floor was GT-R related this year – although to be honest, the show is GT-R heavy every year.

On display were plenty of modified GT-Rs from tuners like Kansai Service, JUN and even Tommy Kaira. And let’s not forget the race car content, with the outrageous Kondo Advan GT-R GT500 race car, as well as the Motul Autech GT-R (above), which won five of the eight races in Japan’s Super GT series last year.

Check out all the GT-R hardware from this year’s TAS below:

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Nissan Europe and JRM Racing will be campaigning this fantastic looking GT-R NISMO GT3 at the upcoming Dubai 24 Hours race. As an official entry for Nissan Europe, the GT-R will be driven by four of Nissan’s championship drivers in 2011.

Almost a dream team if you will, the four drivers campaigning this race car in Dubai are Michael Krumm from Germany, Alex Buncombe from UK, Tom Kimber-Smith from UK and Franck Mailleux from France. Krumm was the FIA GT1 World Champion driving a GT-R GT1 race car last year, while Buncombe was the Blancpain Endurace Series GT4 champion while running a Nissan 370Z. Kimber-Smith took victory at the Le Mans Series and is the LMP2 champion while Mailleux had success at the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and is the LMP2 champion.

Over the last six months, JRM has been rigorously testing and developing the GT-R NISMO GT3 race car, which is powered by a 3.8L twin-turbo V6 with 500-hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. Transmission in the GT-R is a Hewland six-speed sequential. It’ll be racing on lightweight 18-inch Rays center-locked, aluminum forged wheels and sports a set of vicious Brembo brakes. The majority of the body components are constructed from carbon composite and plenty of aerodynamic tweaks were done.

Nissan‘s Juke-R might just be one of the greatest project cars in all of automotive history, and the monster has finally hit the track at Silverstone with a video to prove it. The GTR-powered crossover did some laps out in England for journalists and it proves that the Juke-R is a formidable piece of machinery.

Despite the rain in the footage, it’s perfectly clear that the Juke-R can hold its own and the project can be deemed as successful. The crossover’s completely capable of accelerating, braking, turning and performing the duties of any track car with ease. And while most people are still anti-Juke based on its styling, there’s no denying you wouldn’t think twice about owning this Juke-R.

Check out the video below:

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High End Performance is known around the nation for building some of the world’s top show cars while running a shop that supplies some of the rarest and highest quality parts around. But what sets them apart from the crowd is their custom, hand-crafted wide body kits that can see on many of their show cars. This matte orange Nissan GTR was spotted in the Eneos booth, and is arguably the best creation to come out of High End to date.

High End owner Ben Abutin is known for meticulously hand-crafting custom widebody kits for his customers. And we’re digging everything about this GT-R from bumper to bumper. The front bumper does a fantastic job in flowing with the GTR’s headlights, while the widebody almost looks factory. The car then headed over to DTM Autobody to gets it body sprayed a nice, bright matte orange that fits in perfectly with Eneos.

Based on the logos on the car, it looks like this GTR sports suspension from Cusco, carbon fiber accents from Seibon while the HRE Wheels are wrapped with Falken Tire rubber. We’re sure we’ll be seeing more of this GTR now that it’s made its official debut at SEMA 2011.

GALLERY: Eneos / High End Performance Nissan GTR

Outlandish engine swaps are usually a fool’s errand that cost far more time and money than most people ever expect. Of course, if you’re a major automaker with endless financial and mechanical resources behind you, you can do whatever you want.

When Nissan set out to create the Juke-R, considerations like “budget”, “space” and “access to materials” didn’t matter. Since they had a Juke, a spare Nissan GT-R and a full workship at their disposal, they were able to go buck wild. Fitting the GT-R drivetrain into the Juke required serious work far beyond the pale of even an experienced hobby mechanic, but we’ll let the video explain how it all went down.

Hit the jump to see the official video

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British Columbia Mounties have impounded 13-high end sports cars following an alleged street race in Metro Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon. Around 3:30 pm yesterday afternoon, police received reports of high-end cars racing southbound along Highway 99 in the area of George Massey tunnel.

Witnesses reported that the cars were travelling in excess of 200 km/h (120 mph), and on several occasions, the sports cars would travel side by side to block traffic, allowing their friends in front to race. Thirteen drivers were pulled over and their cars are worth a total of more than $2 million.

The vehicles involved in the race include a, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Nissan GT-R and Aston Martin. RCMP Insp. Bryon Massie said, ”The majority of them had personalized plates as well and were souped-up, so they’re fairly distinguished and the witnesses had no problem in providing us with the descriptors that were tracked back to the vehicles.”

Many of the sports cars had green “N” stickers in their rear windshields, as part of B.C’s graduated licensing system. Massie said, “The drivers of the vehicles are all in around the age of 20 years old. They’re all new drivers. The majority of them do not have their full driver’s licence status — they’re still in the ‘N’ new category.”

[Source: CBC]

Xou Vang thought he scored a sweet deal on eBay: $55,100 for a 2009 Nissan GT-R with just 36,069 miles on the clock. But Honda of San Marcos, Texas, is refusing to honor the sale, pressuring Vang to pay the full $59,000 sticker—and violating eBay’s stringent rules in the process.

As of yesterday, the GT-R is still listed on the dealership’s inventory at $62,674. While a three grand reduction off the price is impressive enough, it still isn’t what Vang is legally bound to pay. He called the dealership repeatedly, arranging a deposit and a time to pick up the car, which the dealership refused. A sales manager told Vang.

“So he kept telling me he will not sell it as he has the rights to not sell this car,” said Vang, “as eBay is not a contract and eBay has fine small prints that says dealers are exempt and they do not have to sell the vehicle. I asked him where was this and he was unable to point me to the information where he is finding this small print.”

Vang wisely contacted as many offices as he could: eBay, the Better Business Bureau, Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Texas Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Trade Commission. But he lives all the way in Anchorage, Alaska, and the idea of making the trek down south makes him feel “hopeless, since I have no one to turn to,” he said. For now, however, he’s got his comrades at My350Z Forums, and as we’ve learned time and time again from similar cases—don’t underestimate the power of the Internet.

[Source: MotorAuthority]