Acura to Get V8 Grunt: Fukui

Honda CEO Takeo Fukui has reportedly approved the development of a V8 engine for the Japanese company's prestige brand Acura, which could quite possibly find its way into the top-o'-the-line RL (AKA Legend) luxury sedan and MDX SUV. The news confirms rumours that circulated around the Internet earlier this year, predicting a Honda V8 by 2010. Since the company was formed, Honda has resisted the urge to put a bent-eight under the bonnets of its passenger cars (Mugen Legend MAX excluded, of...

23/10/2008

AutoExe Release Sports Upgrades for Mazda 6/Atenza

While there's little hope of seeing a Mazdaspeed/MPS version of Mazda's new mid-size sedan anytime soon, Japanese aftermarket specialists AutoExe have stepped in to fill that void with their tune-up parts for the GH Atenza - known simply as the 6 in other markets.AutoExe have got a fibreglass front bumper on offer that features a number of subtle revisions to the JDM Atenza's standard front fascia. There's also redesigned rear bumper bezels designed to accomodate AutoExe's dual-tip mufflers, as...

04/08/2008

And The Award Goes To...

Curtis Merrill, for "Most Creative Use Of A Nissan Engine". Merrill's Frankenstein of a car combines components from a grand total of five, count 'em, five different automakers to create what is probably the automotive equivalent of a patchwork quilt."WTF?" I hear you say, "Wat iz dat Land Rover doin on JPCN LOLZ?". Well, let's take a look under the bonnet...There you go. For those that don't know, that's a 3-litre turbocharged VG30ET Nissan V6 from a Z31 300ZX. Merrill doesn't say if he's...

23/05/2008

A Change Is In The Air

If you've been checking out JPCN recently, you may have been left scratching your head and wondering why, oh why is the content not being updated as regularly as it used to? Well, for those that don't know it is primarily myself who runs JPCN and lately I've been rather busy with writing for car magazines, another blog and my day job. But that's no reason to neglect you, my dear reader, so there are a few changes that are going to be happening in the near future to make JPCN your one-stop-shop...

12/05/2008

Awesome Or Oddity? Honda Powered Mini

While leafing though some photos of last January's HKS 35th birthday bash, I stumbled upon this pearler of an engine/body/driven wheels conversion. What you're looking at is a BMC Mini, although given those massive fender additions I'd forgive you if you couldn't tell. In fact, if MG/Rover had decided to field a JGTC team back in the '90s, their entrant probably would have looked something like this. It's low, it's wide, and it looks dangerous, however the coolest thing about it happens to be...

30/04/2008

An Illusion To Behold: Sequential's Evo X

While perusing through the pages of one of my more favoured blogs, Auto Otaku, an article depicting Sequential's new Black Illusion aero kit for the Evo X caught my eye. While the standard Evo X looks mean, the addition of the Black Illusion kit makes the AWD sedan look positively homicidal.

As far as bodykits go, this one imparts a sense of purposefulness to the Evo X that is going to be hard to match. Its aggressive, well-vented and I'm sure Sequential will sell more than they'll be able to make. Speaking of which, 30 of the Black Illusion kits, which consists of a new front bumper, sideskirts and rear half-bumper, are on sale for a special introductory price of 199,999JPY - a real bargain. See Sequential's site for more details.


[Source: Sequential Japan]
[Images courtesy of Sequential Japan]

22/02/2008

All The Small Things: ToMoSho News Bulletin.

Okay, there's been a lot of small announcements and press events that have occurred on the first day of the Tokyo Motor Show and it'd be a bit silly to give each one their own post. So, here it is folks, the official JPCN Tokyo Motor Show news bulletin for not-so-major news.

Honda CR-Z

First cab off the rank is Honda's CR-Z concept car, likened by many to the dear departed CRX. The CR-Z was revealed at Tokyo today, and while it is still only a concept, Auto Express is saying that production is due to start in 2009. Honda has yet to issue any formal announcement about production plans for the CR-Z, so we're not going to count our chickens just yet. That being said though, the design of the CR-Z certainly looks very well developed, and a production version could be just a change of wheels and a de-funkifying of interior away.

S2000 Type S

For all intents and purposes, the S2000 Type S is merely a right hand drive version of the US's track-ready S2000 CR, albeit with a retractable soft top in place of an aluminum hard top. We've covered this one before (here, for example), so we'll spare you the details, however we will say that Honda hasn't announced a replacement for the rapidly aging S2000, and we've got doubts as to just how long Honda can get away with squeezing out mildly-improved models like the Type S. Is Honda saving all its effort for an upcoming NSX instead? Well, that's another story...

Renesis 16x

Three weeks ago we announced that Mazda would be bringing yet another "Flow" concept car to Tokyo. More interestingly though, we also reported that a majorly revamped version of Mazda's 13B-MSP motor would be accompanying it. The Renesis 16x is the first major change to Mazda's 13B rotary architecture, and features wider rotors and redesigned rotor housings to bump capacity up to 1600cc's. Mazda claims power is up 20 per cent over the current Renesis found in the RX-8, however they have yet to announce what car they're going to put it in. For now, the 16x can only be found under the bonnet of the Taiki concept.

GT-R To Appear At Tokyo Concours d'Elegance

Nissan have announced that their new GT-R will be making its first public appearance at the inaugural Tokyo Concours d'Elegance classic (or is that nostalgic) car show on Friday October 26. Nissan will be displaying the GT-R alongside a few special exhibits from its own heritage collection, such as the Michelotti Skyline Sport and the 1998 R390 GT1 road car. The show is said to feature over 40 different cars covering a 97-year timespan, so it should be a great event for any Tokyo locals to get down to. For the rest of us, lets just hope one of those locals is willing to share some pictures of the event with the rest of the world...

[Source: Honda, Auto Express, Mazda, Nissan]
[Photo courtesy of Auto Express]

24/10/2007

Anything With A Squirrel Zoo Has To Be Cool: Yokota Collection

Ahhh, the weekend. Time to relax, take a break from the frenetic pace of the working week and immerse yourself in culture. Now, what better way to enjoy a slow-paced day off than with a visit to a museum! Nope? Not interested? Well, what if I told you this museum has an awesome variety of vintage Japanese cars, an eclectic collection of kitsch J-pop memorabilia AND has a "Squirrel Garden" out the back?

Thought that'd get your attention.

The M. Yokota Collection is located in a town called Ikaho, 130km north of Tokyo, and features a superb collection of historic Japanese cars as well as a bunch of other stuff - like a teddy bear and doll gallery, a wine and chocolate museum as well as displays of toys and model cars. It really does sound like the most random special-interest museum to ever be established, but that's what makes it so cool. Where else could you find a genuine "Hakosuka" Skyline GT-R being displayed on the same premises as a squirrel zoo?

Anyway, seeing as a very small proportion of JPCN readers actually live in Japan, it's unlikely many of us will make the trip especially to see the Yokota Collection. However thanks to the magic of the Internet and Motor Trend's story on the museum, we can at least see a sample of what's on offer. Take a look, and enjoy your weekend!

[Source: Motor Trend]
[Photo courtesy of Edward Loh/Motor Trend]

01/09/2007