Just How Fast Is A Nissan GT-R?

The video below contains some pretty damn impressive footage. Shot from the interior of a Porsche 911 competing in Australia’s Targa Wrest Point Rally, it shows a Nissan GT-R passing the 911, over the crest of a hill. Granted, my racing days never included time in a rally car, but I’d like to think that my simple rule against passing other drivers in mid-air helped keep me (and my car) in one piece. Listen to the gravel voiced driver point out at 0:10 into the video, “here comes a GT-R”, much the same way as he’d say “here comes a tornado” or “here comes a heat seeking missile”. I’d say the video is NSFW for language, but the driver is speaking Australian so the word is spelled differently.

It’s hard to judge the speed of the Porsche, but the driver is doing a respectable job of hauling ass. It doesn’t matter, since the GT-R walks him like he was parked, all the more amazing because the Nissan was bottled up behind the Porsche for a good seven or eight seconds. The ability to pull away with that kind of velocity is damn impressive in my book, and I tip my hat to the GT-R driver for being utterly fearless. Or absolutely insane, because the line between the two is rather blurry.

Sno*Drift Update: Dave Mirra Stages Epic Comeback

Dave Mirra has learned that to be fast, first you must be patient. Victory doesn’t come on the first stage or the first lap, but defeat is possible at any time. Things didn’t look good for Mirra after a tire puncture on one of the Sno*Drift Rally’s early stages dropped him to fifth place overall. They did, however, look good for Mirra’s teammate, David Higgins, who’d worked his way into first place in the early stages. Higgins’ luck ran out late on day one, when a mechanical issue forced him to withdraw from the rally. Read more

Subaru Prepares For The Sno*Drift Rally

Subaru may have pulled out of WRC competition, but the brand is still very much active in the Rally America Championship. Travis Pastrana has moved on to NASCAR, but Dave Mirra is back for the 2011 season, joined by fellow driver David Higgins. Both will pilot Vermont Sports Car built Impreza WRX STIs for the 2011 season, which kicks off with this weekend’s Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan. The Sno*Drift event features some 130 miles of racing, over snow and ice covered roads. Nearly 33% of the event is run at night, and northern Michigan’s ever-changing winter weather usually creates some interesting challenges on the course. Rally America doesn’t allow the use of studded tires, which puts a heavy emphasis on car setup and smooth driving. Check out Mirra and Higgins shaking down their 2011 cars in the video below. Read more

Ken Block’s World Rally Ford Fiesta – Video

World icon Ken Block announced previously he would race for Ford in select rounds of this year’s World Rally and Rally America championships. Today, Monster Rally has unveiled the Ford Fiesta rally car that Block will be driving.

Here is the unveiling of Block’s Fiesta with a minute’s worth of video… Enjoy!

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Gumball 3000 Coast to Coast 2009 – Rally Across America

The Gumball 3000 is a legend in itself. Started in Europe during the year of 1999, the Gumball 3000 incorporates over 100 cars and participants in a 3000 mile long cross-country journey. Since then, the Gumball 3000 has extended beyond its overseas roots to the U.S. starting in 2002. Some of the participants this year included many well-known stars from David “The Hoff” Hasselhoff, MTV’s Dirty Sanchez and Tony Hawk to Dave Mirra, the Cuban Brothers and Bam Margera. The featured cars in the rally ranged from Bugatti Veyrons, Lamborghini’s, Porsche’s, BMW’s and lowriders to classic American muscle cars. Many of the racers documented their progress on various blogs over the internet this year from the start in Los Angeles, CA to the finish line in Miami, FL. Altogether, the Gumball 3000 is an 8-day road trip that lives up to its expectation of being stylish and adrenaline-filled adventure across America.

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