Nissan, together with Autech Japan and NIMSO have announced that they will be displaying a total of nine models equipped with the latest custom and after-market parts at Japan's equivalent of the U.S. SEMA Show and Europe's Essen Motor Show in Germany, the Tokyo Auto Salon to be held from January 15-17, 2010 at the Makuhari Messe.

Nissan's range of standard road cars stylized with the latest factory aero body-kits will include the Roox Highway Urban Selection and the 2010 Skyline Coupe and Sedan facelift equipped with the Japanese firm's new Sporty Package.

Autech Japan will show its Rider Series comprising of the Nissan Serena, Cube and Note cars.

Last but certainly not least, NISMO plans to exhibit the Xanavi GT-R race car, the Fairlady Z Version NISMO (370Z) and the 2010 GT-R model with the Club Sport Package and the newly developed "NISMO Data Logger Kit", which it says, makes it possible for the driver to download their driving data via USB and view it on a computer.

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AC Schnitzer, the well-known BMW tuning house, has earned the bragging rights for having the world's fastest street-legal diesel car. The German firm's BMW 335d-based ACS3 3.5d Coupe reached a top speed of 288.7 km/h or 180 mph at the 13 kilometer-long Nardo test track in southern Italy breaking the previous record set in 2006 by an additional 8.7 km/h.
The tuner did not release technical details on the specific model, but we assume that it features the standard 310HP upgrade to the twin-turbocharged straight-six diesel engine.


Together with the record breaking ACS3 3.5d Coupe, AC Schnitzer also tested the ACS4 3.5 turbo, which is based on the BMW Z4 sDrive 35i, at Nardo [...]

While not as insanely extreme as the Citroen 2CV - Ferrari F355 hybrid that we showed you back in May, this special creation from French custom car and motorcycle builder Lazareth is one helluva creation. Evidently inspired by the competition Renault Megane Trophy and the Clio V6 Renault Sport, the Twingo Trophy is one of those cars that you'd be tempted to take for a spin even though it doesn't make much sense.

The French tuner took a base first-generation Twingo mini and turned it into a track-racer by throwing out the puny, front-mounted stock engine and installing a Range-Rover-sourced 3.5-liter V8 with 180 horsepower behind the front seats [...]

Up until now, we had only seen renderings of German tuning firm 9ff's custom made Porsche Panamera, but a Youtube user has uploaded a short video of what is believed to be a factory test car fitted with 22-inch alloys and a sport exhaust system. We don't know if the model seen here also features one of the three available performance kits that 9ff has announced for the Panamera Turbo and which boost the V8's output to 550PS / 760Nm, 600HP / 800Nm and to 650HP / 850Nm respectively, but it sure sounds promising...

Together with the engine kits, alloy wheel options and a special suspension module, 9ff's offerings for the Porsche sports saloon will also include a full bodykit with a newly designed front bumper and hood, side skirts and a rear diffuser plus an array of interior upgrades such as special leather treatments and decorative trims.

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Together with the supercharged S5 Sportback, the stunning R8 Spyder, the A3 1.2 TSI, the A4 3.0 TDI and the futuristic e-Tron Electric sports car concept, Audi also showcased a blindingly shiny R8 5.2 FSI V10 coupe in a chrome finish - you know, of the same sort that we make fun of when we see parked outside ritzy hotels in Dubai... There's nothing official on the car by Audi but we gather that it will probably provide the inspiration for a custom made job.


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Never satisfied with the factory Jaguars, German tuner Arden has introduced its take on the revised 2010 Jaguar XKR Convertible. Arden starts by hiking the performance of the new 5.0-liter supercharged V8 that gains 30 horsepower and 50 Nm of torque for a total output of 540 horsepower and 675 Nm (498 lb-ft) [...]

Following up on our previous story with the first photographs of the Mugen Honda Civic Type R hatchback, we now bring you an official promotional video of the special edition hatchback that's inspired from the JDM Civic Mugen RR sedan. In spite of the fact that in the two-and-half minute long film, Mugen describes the model as a 'UK Spec' edition, in the press release, Honda's dedicated tuning arm makes word of Euro-wide availability [...]

Chrome-painting was never our cup of tea but when it comes to style /fashion /design etc, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. This particular creation is the work of a Russian tuning firm called Dereiter Racing - and yes, we did notice the American flag waving outside the shop [...]

Canadian tuner MWDesign has released a few more photos of its BMW M3 Coupe Darth Maul, but as much as we like the dark-theme project car, we must admit that in our book, Chantel Elloway scored more points in the "styling department" than the bimmer.



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Even the most recent BMW M3 with its 420HP V8 engine can't escape from the tuning claws of G-Power. However, if you've been following the latest news from the German tuning firm, you will probably be surprised with the somewhat modest upgrades that G-Power has incorporated into the M3 Coupe Tornado [...]

The Germans are a sensible race of people who make great cars, but in a moment of folly comes this video of an Audi R8 MTM and ABT R8 challenge. Among the calm chat about the differing performance of both cars, comes plenty of revving and rumbling from the engines [...]

Honda's S2000 may be reaching the end of its life this year, but we're pretty sure that the rev-happy roadster will continue to draw our attention in the future with proposals such as this modified version that cranks out a jaw-dropping 701 wheel-horsepower. Built by T1 Race Development, the S2000's stock 4-cylinder engine benefits from a Borg Warner S372R turbocharger, a T1 race manifold and 1,000 cc Bosch Injectors [...]

Slathering a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG in a goldish-chrome finish is one way of telling the world that a- you do have a lot of spending money, and b- your taste buds are as dead as a dodo bird. Of course, it does not take a rocket scientist to guess the origin of this one-of-a-kind Merc – and yes, it’s Dubai, the world’s capitol of bling-bling [...]

The press days of the 2008 Essen Motor Show are long gone but Europe's largest tuning show is still open to the public until 7 December, 2008. However, even if you don't manage to make it to Germany, we've got the next best thing for you in the form of a video that includes many of the automotive attractions of the show [...]

 
Nissan might have been successful in keeping the all-new 2009 370Z under cover until the release of the first official photos earlier this week, but its in-house performance division NISMO (abbreviated from Nissan Motorsport) didn't manage to do the same. From our experience, this leaked photo of a NISMO accessorized 370Z (called Fairlady Z in Japan) looks like it's the real deal [...]