Ready to have some fun?

What's the best recipe for a car that makes you smile? It's very simple - engine in the front, manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive. Seriously, there's nothing better than this, even the mid-engined supercars aren't that much fun. And who would know better than Japanese?

Subaru BRZ concept

Subaru have anounced the BRZ concept - it has everything you need plus some extras like a massive rear spoiler. It will produce around 300bhp and you know it will be brilliant just by looking at it. Jeez, I love it so much. They are planning on getting it into production in the summer, I just hope it won't change a bit from the concept version... actually, they have to put gold alloys on it! Just do it, Subaru, for me, please!!!

Toyota FT-86

Do you remember all the sporty Toyotas? The almighty Supra, Cellica and my favourite Corolla AE86... Well, they have finally decided to build a new sportscar - FT-86. It's very much like the Subaru I mentioned earlier, although it's a bit less powerful (around 200bhp) and lighter. And it will be cheap - 25.000€ is a bargain of the century.

Nissan GT-R 2012

Oh, I almost forget to show you the new Nissan GT-R 2012. This is different kind of fun, it's just out of this world. It has more power than those two coupés combined and more technology on the board than a space shuttle. This year they've tweaked up the engine to produce 550bhp (that's 20 more than last year's model) and reduce the 0-100km/h time from 3 seconds to 2.8! Two point eight seconds... It's actually faster done than said. I'm just worried what the 2013 version will have under the bonnet, I guess it will spin the Earth backwards!

Japan = insane cars!

Damn, it's been a week since my last update... I really have to stop playing games all the time and get my life and blog together. I promise I'll make it up to you, so let's get to it.

Nissan Juke-R

   At first I'd like to share world's first official picture of that sick Nissan Juke-R. You either love it or hate it, it's that kind of design. I absolutely love it, but on one condition - the moment I see some footballer buy this car it's over. This is the ultimate vehicle to drive your children to school, imagine the credit they'll get when they show up buckled in those racing seats.

Infiniti FX50 Sebastian Vettel Edition

Next up there is a simmilar car although not that fast and nowhere near as crazy as the Juke-R. Sebastian Vettel just won the Formula One Championship (congrats, Seb...) and he managed doing that while secretly working on his own pimped-up Infiniti FX50. The Sebastian Vettel Edition is the fastest and most awesome Infiniti you will ever see. They've tweaked up the 5.0-liter engine to produce 420 bhp - it can do 0-100 km/h in 5.6 seconds, that's really not bad. It comes with uprated aerodynamics kit, every single piece made of carbon fiber and a speciall white matte paintjob. There's one big con though, there are nametags everywhere, if you aren't that much into Vettel, you have to cover them up, it's really not cool...

Infiniti M35h

   And we stay in Japan for the day - Infiniti now oficially makes the world's fastest production hybrid car - M35h. 3.5-liter V6 and a powerful electric engine producing 270 Newtonmeters of torque all by itself launch this car from zero to hundred in 5.5 seconds (ok, so Vettel's FX isn't the fastest one, but it's still pretty fast) and promise to travel up to 50% of the time just on electricity. Expect an average consumption of a bit over 5 l/100km. Not bad for a car that big and that fast...

Nissan Juke GT-R

At first I'd like to apologize for not updating my blog in last three weeks or so. I haven't given up, but my laptop crashed and I had to buy a new one. And I've got a big nasty car for you today.

   Nissan Europe decided that Juke, rather strange looking crossover (they should have named it Joke in the first place...), needs more power. And they have overdone it as usual. How much? A lot! They've taken almost all parts from Nissan GT-R and put it into this little car your mum would use to take you to your football session. Including the engine - twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 producing 520 horsepower. OH MY GOD!

The new insane Juke has 20 inch forged wheels, racing seats with 5-point harnesses and a rollcage instead of the back seats. It isn't as practical as the original, but its 'fast and furious'! 0-100 km/h takes less than 4 seconds and it maxes out at 270 km/h ... in a crossover! Damn.

Arrinera - Polish supercar

I've got something special for you today - Poland's first take in supercar industry. Arrinera is a Polish car maker funded by Fenix Automotive (founded by Lee Noble, former owner of Noble)... have I lost you? I'm sorry, but that's just how it is in a nutshell. Let's talk about the car, it's a RWD mid-engined two-seater made from carbon-kevlar composite. The chassis is made from steel, but it's very rigid and light as Lee Noble is a man that really knows how to make a proper car. So you can expect really good handling, the performance is also good - powered by Corvette's LS9 and supercharged for some extra oomph, now producing 650 hp. 0-100 km/h takes just 3.2 seconds and it maxes out at 340 km/h, which is quite respectable. Ok, so the figures sound good, but what about the looks? Well, if you enjoyed your meal and don't want to see it again in the bathroom, you should stop reading now.

Are you really brave enough to see it? Fine, here it goes... But remember I warned you!

Arrinera supercar

I'm sorry, but this is just Lambo design, they even stole the door mechanism. And you think this is the only thing they've borrowed? Oh hell no, headlamps look like the ones on Noble, engine cover is based on Porsche Carrera GT and orange leather interior? I'm sorry, but that was only cool in Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder in grey metallic paint, it's just disgusting in this car. Let's get to the rear end:

...and from the back

Just how many times has the designer seen Transformers? You think the taillights are cool? Nope, this was taken from Nissan Pulsar, the vents look like Lamborghini Reventon's and the tailpipe? It's inappropriate - you've got a V8 under the bonnet, let it breathe! And there's a bonus - from the side it looks like a DeLorean DMC-12. That's just it, I think they've crossed a big line here. I'm off to empty my stomach...

GT-R madness!

I was just browsing Nissan 200sx car owners forum (if you still don't know I own one myself) and came across some really interesting ad - a chance to drive my dream car Nissan GT-R for an amazing price of 40€. My mind was completely blown, I ordered one ride in a blink of an eye. I just hope this works out, it has to! I am so psyched right now I can't even write :D

   Let's calm down and let me give you some figures on GT-R. Nissan have built this car specifically to beat the almighty Porsche 911 Turbo round the Nürburgring and they have succeeded. It's got a twin-turbocharged V6 (VR38DETT for you Nissan fans) producing 478 hp and 588 torques. Don't expect some oldschool driving, this is a computer on four wheels but in a good way. Four wheel drive, launch control, control unit that checks just the right amount of torque goes to each wheel 100 times per second, flappy paddle gearbox and much more. But the thing I love the most about GT-R is it's looks, you really don't expect this car to do 0-100 km/h in 3.5 second and thus completely humiliating you on the lights! I will definitely write a post about GT-R's history some time in the future, once I taste the sweetness of the cherry on Nissan's cake of motoring excellence.

Nissan GT-R

IAA Frankfurt 2011

It's that time of the year again - one of the biggest car shows takes place in Frankfurt am Mein (Germany). The 64th IAA (International Automobil-Ausstellung) starts tommorow September 13 and ends 12 days later - September 25. There are 90 new cars/concepts, let me introduce the most important ones.

   Aston Martin will show their street racer - V12 Zagato, an amazing piece of Italian design (tribute to the original Zagato from 60's) powered by the 380 kW V12 engine from Vantage. I want one so bad!

Aston Martin V12 Zagato

Ferrari have cut the roof off their 458 Italia - resulting in a hardtop convertible supercar called Spider. They really did their best, it's only 50 kilos heavier than the standart 458 and it takes 14 seconds to put the roof up. But they still haven't convinced me their design is better than Lamborghini's...

Ferrari 458 Spider: Italia

Mercedes-Benz did the same thing as Ferrari, took their SLS AMG and made it a Roadster. It has the same performance as the original SLS, it's 40 kilos heavier and the softtop folds in 11 seconds. Well done, Merc! And they ditched the silly "gullwing" door, well done indeed!

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster and Coupé

And finally the new Porsche 911, 991 generation. I personally am not a big fan of current Porsche design, but I have to admit they did a pretty good job this time. Let's see who wins the epic battle Turbo vs. Nissan GT-R this year!

Porsche 911 (991)

I recommend you to visit the IAA, it's one hell of a show! Or if you are less lucky just stay tuned, I'll review some more cars later.

Tuning failure

Today I visited a local tuning show to test my car in an 1/8 mile drag race. As I am not very skilled, my times weren't that good, the best one was 10.09... But it was enough to beat some Honda Civics, Integras and VW GTis. But I really wanted to push it below 10 sec. So there I was, the fourth run - great start, no wheelspin, ideal gearchanges, everything was looking good. But then i noticed a big cloud of smoke coming from my exhaust. I stopped and some dude ran towards my with a fire extinguisher, I told him it's definitely not on fire. The look on his face - disappointment. Later I discovered that the head gasket was blown and the smoke was actually water streaming onto the pistons and evaporating rapidly. A friend of mine towed me back home, what a shame! I'll keep this one brief, because I'm really pissed right now...

Here are some photos:

My car on the start

And some crazy wheelie in a Fiat 500

Roadtrip

Yesterday me and my mate went for an epic roadtrip throughout the country (just kidding, it was like 120km). I've got a Nissan 200sx and he's got Skoda Octavia, which is on of the most common cars in Czech Republic. My car got some sporty tuning, so the suspension is quite hard and the ride isn't that comfortable, especially on local roads. But it's fast! :D

   We decided to go for a swim in a nearby dam and visit a famous hill climb track called Ecce Homo. As we climbed the hill like pros, we stumbled upon a race that was going on there as well. We had to turn around and come back later. Time to go for a swim, it took us an hour or so to find a place suitable for swimming, but in the end we found the best one. Nothing better than a swim in some cold water on these summer days! Anyway, we chilled there for entire afternoon and then went back.

I decided to have another go on that hill climb, but from the opposite direction. Here's some footage:

 

Sorry for slightly bad camera angle, I used the redneck style camera - taped my phone to the rearview mirror :D And it somehow looks very slow, but trust me when you're sitting there, it's pretty damn fast! It was my second attempt on that track, so I really didn't know the corners, but I tried to go as fast as my car and brain let me. And cooked the brakes doing so, the last few corners I had literally no brakes at all! :D

I hope you enjoy the footage, although it might have been much better. Rev up!