#NissanGtr

New rumors on the next-generation Nissan GT-R have surfaced.

A decade ago, it would be considered sacrilegious for a sports car to be a hybrid, but now electrified powertrains are all the rage.

Ever since it burst onto the scene in 2008, the Nissan GT-R has been a force to be reckoned with.

This week, AutoGuide readers were glued to our 2014 Jaguar XK-R convertible review, while Nissan GT-R fans continued to check out more on the 2015 model along with the new GT-R NISMO from the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. Lastly, the Porsche Macan from the LA Auto Show is ranking high amongst new car shoppers.

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After auctioning off the first gold Nissan GT-R for $193,000 with the proceeds benefitting Usain Bolt’s charity, the Japanese automaker has handed the keys to a brand new 2014 Nissan GT-R for Mr. Bolt to enjoy himself.

TopSpeed Motorsports and Leh Keen has set a new Nissan GT-R lap record and NASA TTR record at Road Atlanta with a lap time of 1:23.8.

If there’s anything the Japanese enjoy more than cars, it’s video games and anime. For decades Japanese video game developers have been considered the best in the world with their creative story lines and video game development.

Rumors regarding the next-generation Nissan GT-R started surfacing late last month, perhaps hinting that there wouldn’t be a successor to the popular sports car. The GT-R’s chief engineer debunked those rumors though, and it appears that the automaker is planning for the next GT-R to debut in 2018.

What’s in a name? Out in Japan, the name ‘Fairlady’ goes a long way back in a storied sports car history; it belonged to the Datsun Fairlady which eventually became the Z models of today.

Nissan is out to prove a point on just how formidable the Club Track Edition GT-R is. This year, the Japanese automaker will bring a production version of the Club Track Edition GT-R to compete in the 24 hours at Nürburgring endurance race. 

Nissan said that competing in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with a factory model GT-R will allow them to collect data to help improve the GT-R over the next five years. We’re sure that’s part of the reason, the other is clearly to prove how great the GT-R is in factory form.

Now skeptics will probably say it’s not a production model vehicle if Nissan so much as swaps its tires, but so long as they don’t touch the powerplant, suspension, or brakes with any modifications – it’s factory in our eyes. But no doubt Nissan is looking to play a little bit in the Europeans’ backyard, potentially trumping modified Porsches, BMWs, and Mercedes-Benz’s in a GT-R model that rolls off the dealership showroom floor.

Watch the video below of the Nissan team readying the GT-R for the race.

With the advent of hybrids and electric vehicles, many skeptics thought the age of high-performance sports car would die out. Reality couldn’t be any more different, as America has more than 70 cars on sale today that make 500-hp or more.

The number of vehicles pushing out 500-hp or more has nearly doubled in the last five years. What is more remarkable is more than a decade ago, there were just two vehicles in the club: the Ferrari 575M and the Lamborghini Murcielago. Now Ferrari alone has four models pushing out over 500-hp.

The ability to pump out so much horsepower has been aided by the leaps and bounds that engineering and technology has made over the last decade. Automakers are now able to equip their vehicles with smaller, more fuel efficient engines, which thanks to forced induction, can reliably crank out plenty of peak horsepower.

[Source:  Autoweek]

Recently,  Nissan and NISMO announced its 2012 global motorsports program along with a video highlighting the joint companies past years of success.

For the 2012 season, the Japanese automaker will make their presence known worldwide in racing, competing in both the GT300 and GT500 classes in Super GT, in the European Le Mans Series, continue their support for the GT Academy program and endorse several series in North America including the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

Four GT-Rs in total will compete in the Super GT GT500 class, fielded by MOLA, NISMO, Team Impul, and Kondo Racing. But more interesting is the GT-R competing in the GT300 class, where vehicles are limited to just 300-hp and will be fielding the likes of the Toyota Prius, Honda CR-Z, and Subaru BR-Z this year. And while the GT500 GT-R is powered by a V8, the GT300 GT-R will be more like the road vehicle but restricted down to 300-hp.

In America, Nissan will have their 370Z competing in the GS Class of the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series; while the Altima Coupe will be seen in the ST Class. In the Pirelli World Challenge, a GT-R will be driven by Mike Skeen in the GT Class, while Rick Bushey, Greg Shaffer, and Brian Kleeman will be competing in the GTS Class behind the wheel of a 370Z.

We will also see the Nissan Titan and the Nissan Frontier competing in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series and the Off-Road Championship Series.

And as we mentioned previously, the GT-R will be competing in the Australian V8 Supercars Championship.

Watch the promotional video on the upcoming Nissan Motorsports season after the break.

Nissan Middle East is offering a special edition VVIP GT-R at an extravagant $266,000 (Dh977,000) price. That means this GT-R is more than double the normal MSRP, and with it you get some gaudy options including 24-karat gold trim.

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: