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The ImportJap.com blog is for Japanese, import and tuner car enthusiasts, discussing new import car news, reviews, technology and technical information, rants, and the import tuner car lifestyle. Updated several times weekly.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'import news'
Porsche accuses Nissan of cheating on the ‘Ring
Porsche is claiming, after internally testing the Nissan GTR on the ‘Ring, that the car could not come within 25 seconds of April’s acclaimed time of 7 mins 29s. Product Chief August Achleitner for the 911 team claims ‘“T...
Hideki Tanabe, founder of Amuse, passes away
The Japanese tuning scene lost a father and founder on Saturday with Hideki Tanabe of Amuse (Amuse Power-House) fame passing away. A master of the Japanese tuning scene, Tanabe will be sorely missed by fans and drivers across the world, and will be r...
Mitsubishi accidently releases 2009 Mitsubishi Colt photos
As speculated previously, the mystery Mitsubishi teaser images are actually of the upcoming 2009 Mitsubishi Colt. The new Colt shares styling cues clearly poached from the new Lancer. Both the front and rear of the Colt have been extensively ove...
Suzuki Kizashi 3 Unveiled in New York
Suzuki has piqued interest ever since the unveiling of the Kizashi concept back in 2007. After all, it’s not often we see a large car concept from the carmaker, known for it’s rally and motorbike heritage and a history of compact (and ver...
Nissan GT-R Will Be At Melbourne
Today Nissan Australia announced that the new Nissan GT-R will make its Australian debut, with the JDM model on display at this years Melbourne Motor Show. No information on the Australian spec GT-R, or any variants of the GT-R, is available at this ...
Toyota to Revive Celica GT-4?
Rumors have been flying about a new performance oriented Toyota sports car hitting the performance scene for a considerable time now, from an AE86 revival to a new Supra, but perhaps no one expected news that these shadowy rumors would coalesce into ...
Nissan R35 GT-R Can Be Imported to Australia!
According to Prestige Motorsport, the new R35 GT-R can now be imported legally under SEVS! However, compliance is as far as 12 months away (2009), and prices are expected to exceed AU$100,000 for the new Nissan supercar. Regardless, this is a big fis...
Nissan R35 GT-R Spotted in WA!
The awesome photographers over at CarAdvice have captured the second GT-R to land in Australia, belonging to an unknown (and well-to-do) enthusiast. Rumoured to cost around AU $150,000 (A very hefty premium even on the US $69K price-tag for the GT-R ...
Details: 2008 Mitsubishi Ralliart Lancer
It turns out that Mitsubishi Europe has quietly released details on the Ralliart Lancer. Mitsubishi doesn’t state whether the Ralliart will be based on the 4door Lancer or the upcoming 5door hatch, however Carscoop states the USDM Ralliart will be...
2008 Honda Inspire Lands Dec 21, 2007 in Japan
Just in time for Christmas, Honda’s dropped the all new, 5th generation Inspire. The new Inspire features styling cues seen on the new USDM Accord, and a V6 3.5-liter i-VTEC engine featuring a Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) system. The VC...
Be the First to Import a GT-R to Australia!
Australian? Want the GT-R before it arrives here in 2010? Who doesn’t. Looks like J-Spec have just the thing. There’s a catch though, this sexy black demon is Race Import only (You’ll need a Level 3 CAMS license) for obvious rea...
Nissan GT-R Coming to Targa Tasmania
We thought that Nissan was in the ‘considering’ stage where Targa Tasmania was concerned, something that they notoriously never get past. Apparently, we’re wrong according to the JDM car lovers over a JPCN. Nissan is actually bringi...
The New Nissan Silvia?
Well we’re back after an unexpected departure time, in time no less for news of a new Silvia. Will Nissan deliver a coupe, with huge tuning potential to the masses? Apparently yes. There’s a wait, with both the CEO of Nissan Carlos Ghosn ...
Nissan GT-R GT500!
We keep hearing about the GT-R’s return to racing, but now the covers are off. Nihoncar have just posted fantastic pics of the new GT-R GT500 in a return to championship racing at Suzuka! Check it out right now! [Source: Nihoncar via Nissan]...
Video: Nissan GT-R Does Nurburgring in 7:38!
A crawl of the blogosphere brings this awesome video of the Nissan GT-R doing the Nurburgring in just 7:38, 2 seconds ahead of it’s 380KW German rival, the Porsche 911 Turbo. What a week it’s been for the new GT-R! What’s also cool...
Nissan GT-R is Coming to Australia!
Yes, for the first time, the Nissan GT-R will be sold directly into Australia! As confirmed on CarAdvice, Nissan Australia’s boss Shinya Hannya has said that all strings will be pulled to get the GT-R downunder before 2009 (We certainly hope so,...
Tokyo Motorshow: Nissan GT-R
The new Nissan GT-R’s finally landed at Tokyo! Here’s a run down of some final specifications: VR38VETT (3.8L Twin Turbo) dumping out 353KW (473HP, 480PS) and 588 Nm (433 lb-ft) 6 speed, Borg Warner six-plate dual-clutch transmission O...
2008 Nissan GT-R Pictures Released!
Finally, after the heartache, tears, and edge of the seat anticipation, the Nissan GT-R pictures have hit the blogosphere like nothing else. Feast your eyes on Nissan’s latest foray into the Supercar market. Sporting the all new 3.8L twin turbo...
Video: 240z Ad with John Morton
One of the greatest drivers ever, John Morton, advertises the Datsun 240z, a very potent car for it’s time....
Rumors: 2009 Acura TSX Type-S?
According to LeftLane and the Acura TSX Community, there’s some speculation as to wether Acura is going to offer the TSX in a Type-S guise. Known as the Honda Accord in other markets, the TSX is a highly polished, front-wheel-driven, mid-size s...
Video: 2008 Mitsubishi Evolution X Debut Video
‘Nuff said. Perhaps the hottest EVO ever produced by Mitsubishi: [Source: RocketPunchAutoBlog]...
New CR-X? The New Honda CR-Z Concept
It looks like we can expect a new CR-X coupe at the Tokyo Motor Show. In fact, Winding Road says we can go the unusual step of saying this car will see production! Featuring a svelte, almost Volvo-esque front, curves that seem to evolve from the old...
2008 JDM Subaru Impreza WRX STi Pics!
Finally, the 08 STi pics have been revealed by Subaru, and while we will always miss the STi of yesteryear, this new STi looks the goods. As we expected, it’s definitely more muscular and aggressive looking than the woeful base WRX. Still, the...
Mazda Releases JDM-Only “Prestige Edition” MX-5
Mazda has released a made-to-order version of the MX-5 (known as the ‘Roadster‘ in Japan) called the ‘Prestige Edition’. It’s another in a long line of special versions that we won’t see over here in Australia,...
Mitsubushi Lancer Evolution X Now Official
The new Evolution X has been made official in a new press release from Mitsubishi, with cars hitting dealers in Japan today, October 1st, 2007. Here’s a quick rundown of the juiciest features on the new Evolution X Engine New, completely red...
Suzuki to Debut “Kizashi 2.0″ at Tokyo Motor Show
The Kizashi appeared at Frankfurt not long ago, and hot on it’s heels comes the Kizashi 2, which looks to be either a crossover or soft roader. Kizashi 2.0 The car apparently drops the 2.0L 4cyl TDi expected in the Kizashi 1.0. Instead Kizas...
2002+ Caldina GT Compliance Now Available
Compliance for the 2002+ ST246W (Gen 3) Caldina Sports wagon has just become available in Australia, a few short months after the second generation became available in August this year. The ST246W runs the same 3S-GTE 2.0L 4 cylinder DOHC turbo and 4...
More 2008 Subaru WRX STi Shots Released
Subaru continues to whet enthusiast appetites with dark, moody shots of the new STi. Although not immediately clear in the pics, it seems the STi is going to be designed to stand apart from it’s WRX base with a more masculine, bulked up appeara...
Suzuki X-HEAD Concept
With a hilarious name of X-HEAD, Suzuki have busted into the freaky tank market with this strangely attractive vehicle, part of a continuing new trend in Suzuki stepping outside it’s kei-car and motorbike market. Suzuki X-HEAD. Funny name, fun...
Confirmed: New ‘AE86′ Is More Than Just A Rumour
Development has been progressing behind the scenes in the new ‘AE86′ with JDM lovers 7tune releasing some tantalizing details about Subaru and Toyota’s new ‘AE86′ collaboration, called simply the ‘Lightweight Spo...
