If you’ve been holding back you admission to the Academy because you don’t want to get stuck driving a boring car all day, then it’s time to buy yourself a ticket to the UK; South Yorkshire to be exact.
The boys in blue over at UK’s South Yorkshire Police Department there have just added a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X to their fleet, which ALREADY includes an Evo VIII and IX! The Evo X will be used specifically in their Road Crime Unit in cases involving drug dealers and car thieves.
Audi has withdrawn from ALMS 2009. Does Mazda stand a chance to repeat as the only Japanese company to win at LeMans, after a rickety 2008 Season? Will the Corvette Racing Team again dominate GT1?
The 2009 American LeMans Season kicks off March 21st at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, FL and the only way to find out the answers is to watch, or better yet, attend the races!
It’s not everyday that I’m singing the praises of the Blue Oval, but a recent announcement peaked my interest. Word is, former Dakar Rally driver Jost Capito has been named to head the American SVT and European TeamRS divisions of Ford. Although nothing is official, with Capito pulling the strings on both operations, that might pave the way for some European only vehicles to start hitting the US Streets.
Building on the success of the Impreza WRX & Lancer Evolution, who knows maybe the dark horse of the AWD Turbocharged vehicles could be a 300HP FOCUS RS.
I’ve been reluctant to talk much about the 370Z. Truth be told; I’m not in love with it, however this new S-Tune version from NISMO may be what I need to be converted.
Although power stays about the same, the new aerodynamics package gives this 370Z the little extra ‘umph’ it needs. In addition to the body kit, larger deep dish rims, stainless steel exhaust, upgraded suspension and S-Tune brake pads are also offered. If you are in the same boat I am, give the intro video at Nissan’s Website a look and get back to me.
Although we may never see this model in it’s true form stateside, it sure is something to marvel at. 
Improving on the Evolution where the engineers had left off, the new Mitsubishi Evolution FQ-400 bumps power output to 405HP and 400ft/lbs of torque. To make sure all that power in under control, new six piston front brakes have also been fitted along with new 18″ alloy rims. Additional modifications include a new front end, hood, side skirts and rear bumper.
Naught to sixty times (yes, I’ve been watching a bit of Top Gear UK) are down around 3.5 second (!!!) and this is all done with the Manual gearbox, not the SST, as the Twin Clutch is not offered on the FQ-400.
Gotta add these to the ‘ol holiday list. Sabelt started making shoes not too long ago, and they finally rolled out a design that you might not mind being seen in.
This latest model, the Aston Martin Racing DB9R, is a collaboration with Aston Martin and would compliment that DB9 or Vantage you have in the garage perfectly! If you don’t happen to have a Aston Martin in the garage, well, these are still some decent looking kicks. Yes, for €139 they are a tad on the expensive side, but at least you can be pretty sure no one else will be sporting these at the next track meet.
Last week was Drag Racing, this week it’s Gymkhana. Check out the video below for a nice dose of adrenaline (or it is Monster?) to keep your week going strong.
The new generation Mazda 3 looks to be just as fun as past 5Doors’ from Mazda, building on the success of the previous generations of the 3 and the Protege5. No word on US engines, but we can keep our fingers crossed for a Mazdaspeed version possibly sporting the 2.3L Turbo from past models.