Motorsport » Australian Car Advice

Nissan GT-R buyers treated to Nürburgring drive

October 22nd, 2008 11 Comments

As if buying a new GT-R wasn’t reward enough, Nissan has held a drive day for its customers at the Nürburgring to give them just a taste of what’s to come.

Under the supervision of instructors from Silverstone International, more than 1,300 future GT-R owners came to grips with the super saloon car for the first time.

Honda ethanol-powered V8 engines at Indy 300

October 22nd, 2008 4 Comments

For those of us that don’t follow Indy that closely, you can be forgiven for not realising that Honda had already introduced Ethanol-fuelled V8 indy cars in the USA at the beginning of the 2007 season, but now, they are coming to Australia.

Furthermore, it won’t just be one or two cars, the entire grid will be powered by ethanol-powered V8 engines when the cars rev up it at this weekend’s Nikon Indy 300 on the Gold Coast.

Video: Nissan GT-R by National Geographic

October 21st, 2008 8 Comments

For anyone with a spare 45 minutes, this documentary from National Geographic on the Nissan GT-R lineage is a must watch.

From its history, to its development and the record-breaking Nurburg-blitz, this video covers every detail surrounding the legendary Nissan GT-R supercar.

TRD Aurion to race at Indy

October 21st, 2008 24 Comments

Toyota will race debut the first of four TRD Aurion Aussie Racing Cars in next weekend’s Nikon Indy 300 race on the streets of Surfer’s Paradise, Queensland.

The exciting Aussie Racing Cars compete nationally at V8 Supercar events, as well as the Indy 300 and the Australian Grand Prix with Toyota is the first manufacturer to directly support entries in Aussie Racing Cars.

Toyota Australia motorsport manager Todd Connolly said Aussie Racing Cars are an exciting category that offer thrilling wheel-to-wheel racing.

“We’re really pleased to join such a competitive, popular and entertaining series,” he said. “Toyota sees it as an ideal grass-roots category for young drivers to learn and make their way up the ladder in motor sport.”

The 450kg Aussie Racing Cars have identical mechanical specification to ensure close competition and to put the emphasis on driver skill. They have a moulded body (a caricature of the vehicle on which it is based), a space-frame chassis and 1.2-litre Yamaha engine that delivers 91kW at 11,500rpm.

Todd Connolly identified two synergies with the new TRD Aurion Aussie Racing Cars and Toyota.

“Yamaha has been a Toyota technical partner for the last four decades and developed the latest Corolla dual-VVT-i-equipped engine,” he said. “CATIA, who sponsor our Formula One team and Australian rally team, provided the software to design the TRD Aurion look-alike body for the four new cars.”

The first TRD Aurion Aussie Racing Car to hit the circuit has been nominated as a “guest” car that will feature different motor sport personalities at each event. It is finished in the same livery as TRD’s 2008 Targa Tasmania class-winning TRD Aurion.

Race commentator and V8 race driver Neil Crompton will debut this car at Surfer’s Paradise, with an added exterior feature. The car will have its roof painted as a bandanna to support CanTeen’s October 31 National Bandanna Day for young people living with cancer.

Todd Connolly said he hopes the car’s appearance at the Nikon Indy 300 event would help raise awareness of CanTeen’s largest annual fund-raising day, when it aimed to sell one million bandannas. There will be a hospitality area at the circuit for CanTeen families from South-East Queensland.

Indy gets under way this Thursday with further information available at www.indy.com.au

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Mitsubishi wins eighth Australian Off-Road title

October 21st, 2008 24 Comments

Mitsubishi Pajero has finished 1-2 to again take the Production Title of the grueling Australian Off-Road Championship which finished in Goondiwindi yesterday.

It’s the eighth time in a row Mitsubishi has secured the prestigious title and is one win champions Geoff Pickering and Mark Henderson are sure to enjoy for many months to come as they recount their climb to the pinnacle of the Australian Off Road Championship in their V6 Pajero.

“We came here to Goondiwindi with the title already in the bag having wrapped that up at the previous round in Millicent”, said Pickering, “but the Championship is more than simply one round, is a season long battle around the country which starts in Western Australian at Easter each year and wraps up seven months later here in outback Queensland.”

Pickering and Henderson didn’t have it all their own way as the year progressed with several Mitsubishis featuring high on the results board. In particular young gun Clayton Chapman shone through as the driver most likely to challenge Pickering in the years ahead. Driving his Mitsubishi Triton, the fellow Queenslander took the fight right up to Pickering as the season marched on but his weekend in Goondiwindi amounted to little when he retired during the second section on Sunday.

In another surprise result, the production 4×4 class at the Goondiwindi 400, the final stage of the championship, was actually won by Michael and Linda Topfer in their short wheel base Pajero V6 after Pickering suffered rare mechanical troubles on the first section.

“The entry was strong here at Goondiwindi, with 10 cars entered in the 4×4 classes, one of the best we had seen all year”, said Pickering. “We started in a good position after the prologue but the first section on Saturday left us with a lot of work to do for the remaining 280km we had ahead of us on Sunday. Around 20km into the first lap we damaged the rear differential which left us with only front wheel drive, then a little further on we had puncture and stopped to change it. From then on, we were playing catch up all weekend!”

Starting from the back of the field for section two on Sunday, Pickering and Henderson carved up the contenders, passing 18 cars on the first lap of 70km through the rough dusty ‘melon hole’ terrain. As crews dropped by the wayside, Pickering concentrated on the task at hand that had brought him all eight titles and worked away at maintaining consistency, improving their time with every lap. With the title already secure, a strong outright place was their objective making up 43 places along the way.

“That’s the hardest work I’ve had to do on the Championship for a long time,” remarked Pickering at the finish. “Our Mitsubishi Pajero has brought us home once again. Passing all those cars along the way in the choking dust is a just reward for our effort and a proud moment for all the team. It’s been a wonderful season, Mark has scored his first Championship with the team and his navigation has been faultless all year. Team Technician, Bernard Grant has given us the very best car to do the job. Our Pajero is again top of the tracks for 2008.”

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KTM X-Bow wins inaugural race

October 17th, 2008 3 Comments

In its inaugural race championship outing, successful motorbike manufacturer KTM has officially sealed the deal in taking out spots 1, 2 and 3 in the sports light category of the GT4 European Cup with its first road car, the blistering X-Bow.

In a class usually dominated by Lotuses and Donkervoorts, the X-Bow came up trumps and was often finishing ahead of ’senior’ GT4 Aston Martins, Ford Mustangs and BMW Z4Ms.

2009 Nissan GT-R review

October 16th, 2008 34 Comments

2009 Nissan GT-R review & road test

Model Tested:

2009 Nissan R35 GT-R - Black Edition from $152,990

Options:

None fitted

Everything. Power, Braking, Handling, Quality, Comfort, the lot

Rear seats a bit cramped

CarAdvice Rating:

- Review by Karl Peskett - Photography by Tom Jakovljevic

It’s 5:30pm on a Friday afternoon and I get a call on my mobile.

“Hey Karl, what are you up to?”

“Oh, anything and everything,” was my reply.

“It’s Friday afternoon, mate, you can’t pull that one on me.” Steve Jones is a perceptive young man.

“I was just talking about life in general mate. It’s been pretty busy, lately”, I said. Little did I know, it was about to get even busier.

“Aren’t we all”, said Jones. Continuing with barely a pause for thought, he lets go of the big one. “So, I hear you’d like to drive a GT-R.”

Hat Trick for Ford at Bathurst

October 13th, 2008 72 Comments

It was three in a row for Ford and a case of history repeating itself for Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes who come from fifth on the grid to take out this year’s Bathurst 1000.

The result recalled memories of Lowndes’ friend and mentor the late Peter Brock taking triple victories in the ’70s and ’80s, but was said to me even more impressive in this era of tougher more competitive racing.

Mazda MPS3 at Tasmanian tarmac challenge

October 6th, 2008 29 Comments

Watch the Mazda3 MPS as it secures a worthy victory in the showroom class at this year’s Tasmanian tarmac challenge.

Driven by 20-year-old rally star Brendan Reeves and his co-driving sister Rhianon Smyth, the MPS3 finished eighth outright, secured a convincing showroom win and a top ten finish after two intense days of racing.

Mazda Showroom win at Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge

October 6th, 2008 4 Comments

Mazda Australia has secured a convincing showroom win and a top ten finish at the Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge.

Finishing eighth outright, and first in the front-wheel-drive category, the 190kW Mazda3 MPS driven by 20 year old Brendan Reeves overcome an extremely wet second day - and a minor electricl fault (which cost the team 58 seconds) - to secure the impressive result.