October 07, 2007 V35 Nissan GT-R

06:27pm by Cheechoo (Cars)

The GT-R is back! 500 hp Twin-Turbo V6, AWD, 7-speed Sequential Transmission. But… Nearing 4000 lbs? All some very cool stuff, except for maybe its weight. It has been speculated to give Porsche a run for its money.

It definitely has the looks – it seems to have gotten rid of the runny-mascara look of the old prototypes, even though the mask is on this one. There is certainly enough hype for this iteration of the GT-R to challenge Porsche. I guess we don’t know how cool this car can actually be until the official Nurburgring times get released, or at least some official 0-60 and skidpad numbers. The Nissan GT-R is not here yet, but the hype sure is.

October 02, 2007 Lexus IS-F

01:23pm by Cheechoo (Cars)

Toyota’s Lexus brand has been competing with the big three German luxo-sport brands for years. They are currently the highest-selling luxury brand in the US, which can probably be attested to pricing that is slightly lower than the German brands, and a better reputation for reliability. But in terms of “ooh” and “ahh”, especially in terms of performance, they’ve been quite lacking. BMW, Audi, and Mercedes have always held that marquee of being the benchmark car-to-drive if you have money. In essence, those three brands have become the mark of success.

Lexus is planning on joining them with their two sport concepts, the IS-F and LF-A. The “F” series will aim directly at BMW’s M, Audi’s RS, and Mercedes’ AMG. Much closer to production is the IS-F, a sports car made using the new IS platform.

Lexus is throwing in a 400+ horsepower and 350+ foot-pounds of torque, coupled with an 8-speed automatic or sequential transmission. A highly-tuned suspension and Brembo brakes add to the performance, and subtle aesthetics differentiate it from the base IS.

Planned for a release date in 2008, it will be interesting to see if the IS-F will be on-par with BMW’s M3 and Audi’s RS4.

My take? I hope for the best, although I wish it were a little flashier. It’s about time someone challenges the euro luxury-sport. Hopefully we’ll start seeing this gem in Grand Touring sometime in the near future, as well as on vDream.