Forget the GT-R saloon and meet what you get when you combine a 35 with a R35 front end: A StaGT-R at the Nagoya Auto Trend show. Its not the first time Nissan GT-Rs to have been converted in Japan but it’s certainly the first time I’ve seen a conversion of a new Nissan GT-R.

Here is a very nice Honda S2000 with what looks like 18" rota GTR's. Enjoy

A new automatic version of Subaru’s Impreza WRX STI has been announced in Japan.Launching what could become the ultimate tool for carving-up the SUV brigade on the school run, Subaru has made sure its new Impreza WRX A-Line model comes with all the necessary go-faster trimmings.

There’s Prodrive-developed SPORTSHIFT, a paddle shift feature allowing manual operation without requiring the driver to release the steering wheel, as well as DBC – or Downshift Blipping Control. The latter does what it says on the label, as the auto tranny’s ECU interacts with the engine management system to increase engine revs instantly to the required level.

Apparently the paddle shift can also be used ‘temporarily’ without setting the main selection lever to manual, presumably allowing the driver to take maximum advantage of sudden openings in the Tokyo traffic. Other than a new paint colour – satin white pearl, pictured – the new A-Line model is also offered with 8-way electric front seats.

The WRX A-Line shares the same 2.5 litre turbocharged Boxer engine as the manually-shifted STI, as well as the rest of its running gear. That means you still get 300PS at 6200rpm and 350Nm of torque, grip to die for and whopping 17ins-front and 16-ins rear stoppers. Oh, and a practical hatchback with plenty of space for all the kids’ football gear.

It’s confirmed: Nissan is making a return to FIA GT racing. The news came from Nissan Motors Australia Managing Director and CEO Dan Thompson at the press day of the 2009 Melbourne Motor Show.

Nissan will submit the R35 Nissan GT-R into the FIA GT 2010 Championship series while British company Gigawave MotorSports will be teaming up with NISMO on an non-championship entry to check, test and develop the racing GT-R.

The specs on race-ready GT-R haven’t been officially revealed, but there’s a possibility that NISMO will drop the twin-turbo’d V6 in favor of the 4.5-liter VK45D8 V8. Output is estimated to be between 540-590 hp and 450-500 lb-ft of torque, with a curb weight as low as 3,000 pounds.

Here is a sweet Honda Civic EG with a Type R K20 Engine. Its also fitted with ITB's (indiviual throttle bodies), the thing must sound absolutly amazing! I wish my EP3 had some ;)

A nice little Datsun 240z fitted with a Toyota 2JZ engine. It looks quite standard from the outside but its mightily quick, it manages 144mph in 9.2 seconds!

Japanese tuners HKS and Power Enterprises have revealed rival takes on the art of extracting maximum performance from Nissan’s latest GT-R.

First up is the street-legal GT570 package from HKS, one of Japan’s longer-established tuner firms with a history of GT-R tweakery running back to the 1989 R32 model.

The GT570 Sport Package is a development of an existing GT570 Racing Package designed originally for the track, which includes a new exhaust system, reprogrammed ECU, upgraded plumbing for the turbo and intercooler, a sequential blow-off valve kit, reinforced actuators and new spark plugs. Designed to boost output to 570PS at around 6,600rpm, the Racing Package is not road legal as it fails to meet emissions standards. Hence the arrival of the GT570 Sport Package, which adds a new high-flow stainless steel catalytic converter and upgraded wastegate actuators to bring tailpipe emissions within accepted limits. Parts will be available from HKS stockists later this year for both 2009 and 2010 model GT-Rs..

Meanwhile Power Enterprises has taken a more radical approach to ‘ultimate’ GT-R performance, launching its awesome Quad-Charged version at the recent Tokyo tuning show.

The company claims up to 600hp from the conversion, which basically adds a pair of Rotrex C30-94 superchargers to the existing twin IHI turbocharger installation, as well as high-flow fuel injectors and a massaged ECU.

The two engine-driven compressors are designed to pack greater low-end grunt into the GT-R’s delivery before the turbos get up to speed, apparently for ‘maximum attack’ circuit time trials. Good work!

Well whaddya know. Randy Rodriguez, one of the key designers of the Nissan 370Z, is an S30 fan at heart, according to this Canadian Press article. He’s owned 10 of them, in fact, and currently drives 1977 280Z that he restored himself. He says that his sketches were heavily influenced by the 240Z and the new GT-R. You might take issue with his statement that the 240Z and 350Z were the best Zs, but it’s good to know there such die-hard Datsun enthusiasts  working at Nissan.

This would make a nice daily driver, but perhaps not on a rainy day, considering it’s on race slicks

The forthcoming Nissan 200SX replacement is the first major casualty of Carlos Ghosn's dramatic cutbacks, a company source has confirmed.

Nissan has been developing plans for a new, compact, rear-wheel-drive sportscar for some years. The Silvia project has been most visible as the Foria (Tokyo 2005) and Urge (Detroit 2006) concepts, but work has been continuing behind the scenes.

Monday's announcement of severe financial difficulties at the company, including a £612m third-quarter loss, also brought news of cutbacks to future model programmes, but it had been assumed until now that the 200SX was safe.

Ghosn wishes to concentrate all the company's development efforts on small and medium-sized cars. This will include an electric Prius rival, due to make its debut next year.