NISMO has released a Club Sports package for the Nissan GT-R which consists of shocks, springs, wheels, a new undertray, and other weight reduction measures.

The NISMO GT-R shocks and spring combination consists of 18.5kg/mm front springs and 9.6kg/mm rear springs paired with Bilstein Damptronic adjustable dampers.

The wheels included in the pack are Rays forged aluminium wheels in 20×9.5 +45mm offset size at the front and 20×10.5 +25mm offset size at the rear, wrapped with Bridgestone RE070R run-flat tyres in 225/40ZR20 and 285/35ZR20 sizes respectively. There are no upgrades to the brake system in the pack so NISMO must have found them more than adequate for a “Club Sports” car.

The use of lightweight materials in the NISMO exhaust system drops 5kg from the overall weight. The included undertray that reduces drag is made from carbon fiber, and so are the seat backs of the leather bucket seats included in the package. These NISMO seats retain the car’s side airbags but removes electronic adjustment. The seats shave 6kg off the overall weight.

The kit is rather pricey at ¥5,460,000 or nearly RM175,000. This means a NISMO GT-R Club Sports could cost you over RM900,000 in total. Truly a big boy’s toy.

Click here to read the rest of Nissan GT-R NISMO Club Sport Package

Subaru’s new 2.0 liter boxer turbodiesel engine has been slotted into the Impreza hatchback and the Forester SUV. Both cars will be displayed at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, with the engine mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

The turbodiesel engine is tuned to produce 147 PS in the Forester and 150 PS in the Impreza, both at 3,600rpm. Peak torque for both states of tune is rated at 350Nm at a low 1,800rpm. This should allow Subaru to make headway in the European markets as they’re all diesel-crazy over there.

Puspakom has set up a “Premier Service Unit” for those who simply do not have the time to waste a whole day at Puspakom to get their cars inspected for purpose of ownership transfer. Just let Puspakom know 3 days in advance and a team will come to your house and perform the inspection for a fee of RM130 which consists of a RM100 service fee and RM30 inspection fee.

The teams (2 in Klang Valley, 1 in Johor and 1 in Penang) are equipped to perform chassis and engine number inspection, cut-and-join inspection, tinted glass test and emissions tests. If there are no problems and the vehicle passes the tests, a certificate will be issued on the spot. Ownership can then be transfered at the JPJ within 14 days.

If implemented properly this will be a great convenience and I’m sure most people would rather pay Puspakom RM100 for the convenience of it done at their own place rather than “runners” to get the car inspected.

For more info call Puspakom toll-free at 1800886927 or 03-20527474.

BMW’s M Division head Ludwig Willisch said last Friday that the BMW Concept CS (shown above) would make it into production, and although no naming convention has been defined yet, almost everyone expects the new car to carry the nameplate of the gorgeous BMW 8-Series from the 90s. The M Division will be handling the project but like the 8-Series, there will likely be no M version.

The old 8-Series had a “spiritual M car” in the form of the 850CSi which had an engine built by the division with an S engine code complete with M badges in the engine bay, but no M badges on the rear or in the name.

Looking at BMW’s current and future engine ranges, you can expect a new 850i with the new 4.4 liter twin turbocharged V8 and an 860i with a V12, complete with ZF’s new 8-speed automatic.

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UMW Toyota Motor has unveiled a front three quarter view of the upcoming Toyota Innova facelift on its website. The IMV vehicle is built on the same chassis as the Toyota Hilux and comes with a single engine - a 2.0 liter longitudinally mounted 1TR-FE driving the rear wheels with 136 PS at 5,600rpm and 182Nm of torque at 4,000rpm.

Three models will be available for the facelift: the 2.0G automatic estimated to cost RM110,000, the 2.0E automatic estimated to be priced at RM102,000 and the 2.0E manual which is estimated to go for RM97,000.

The 2.0G model has chrome trim on the front grile as well as an Optitron meter panel, CD and MP3 player with 6 speakers, dual SRS airbags at the front, and fabric seats (leather optional). For the E models you lose the passenger airbag and the Optitron meter panel.

Times have changed, from barely anything at the RM100k mark in the MPV market a few years ago to a decent selection consisting of the APV, Avanza, Innova and Grand Livina. The local boys will join the race soon with the Proton MPV and Perodua MPV.

Everyone seems to want to get their hands on the C63 AMG’s powerplant and American-based tuner Renntech is one of them, boosting the C63 AMG’s power output up higher than Brabus did with their B63 S’s 530hp figure. The Renntech kit consists of an updated ECU, stainless-steel headers and a performance exhaust system which brings peak power up to 548hp and torque up to 691Nm. Outside of the engine bay, you get a height-adjustable suspension (you can set different heights for the suspension automatically at different speeds, the controls are 100% digital, and the same kit also works for any Mercedes-Benz car with ABC or Airmatic air suspension) and better brakes.

Look for a hi-res gallery after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Renntech tunes the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

The ultimate Brabus C-Class is of course the matte black monster that is the Brabus Bullit Black Arrow, (and its silver Brabus Bullit cousin) which shoe-horns a 6.3 liter twin turbocharged V12 into its engine bay, but for someone who already has the top of the C63 AMG line from Mercedes-Benz themselves and prefers to work on the 6.2 liter normally aspirated V8 instead, Brabus has the Brabus B63 S Performance Kit.

The tune-up kit consists of a free-flow performance catalyst, sports air filters, and an ECU tuning kit to boost the engine’s power output by 73 horses from 457hp to 530hp. Peak torque is also upped by 50Nm to a massive 650Nm now, which gives it a torque to displacement ratio that exceeds 100Nm per liter. A total of 0.4 seconds is shaved off the 0 to 100km/h sprint time, which now clocks in at 4.1 seconds.

So… “budget Bullit” anyone? Look for more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Brabus B63 S based on Mercedes C63 AMG

The new Hyundai Elantra was launched some time ago and it has the distinction of being one of the few 2.0 liter C-segment sedans priced under RM100,000 which is sure to attract a few customers in this increasingly price sensitive market. We have just finished testing this Korean car. Here is what we found out.

Read Harvinder Singh Sidhu’s review after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai Elantra X20 2.0 CVVT Test Drive Review

The facelifted Toyota Hilux has been unveiled in the UK and it looks like the same one as was unveiled on our UMW Toyota Motor webpage a few weeks ago.

The exterior features minor cosmetic changes such as new bumpers and grille while the interior gets slight design changes with the switchgear for better ergonomics. The only technical change is an updated suspension setup with new double-row roller-type rear axle bearings, new bushes and a better valve structure on the front shocks, and some changes with the 3.0 liter D-4D Double Cab model which we do not get here.

The 3.0 liter unit is now mated to a 5-speed automatic and gets a 17Nm boost in torque up to 360Nm from 1,400rpm to 3,400rpm thanks to a swirl control system to optimize the air-fuel mixture at low engine speeds.

Look after the jump for photos and a video of the facelifted Hilux.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Toyota Hilux facelift unveiled in the UK

Toyota seems to have put out a very minor facelift of the Toyota Belta out in Japan. The Belta was originally launched end-2005 and right now is about the time for its mid-life facelift. The Japanese Belta is also known as the Toyota Vios in other markets such as ours, or the Toyota Yaris Sedan.

It looks like there are no changes at all to the styling on the outside except for a small grille change on the front to a mesh grille?

The 1.0 liter version is powered by the 1KR-FE DOHC engine putting out 71 PS at 6,000rpm and 94Nm of torque at 3,600rpm, while the 1.3 liter 2WD version is powered by the 2SZ-FE DOHC engine producing 87 PS at 6,000rpm and 118Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. The 1.3 liter 4WD version uses the 2NZ-FE DOHC engine with 87 PS and 120Nm of torque.

Look for more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Belta/Vios/Yaris Sedan facelifted in Japan