Autoblog

Cobb Tuning has re-engineered its AccessPort control unit for the new R35 Nissan GT-R. For those of you lucky enough to own a GT-R and not content with its performance out of the box, the $995 AccessPort will reflash the ECU to any one of six different tuning levels.

There are three levels each for Stage 1 and Stage 2. Stage 1 can get you up to 63 additional ponies and 70 lb.-ft. of additional twist, while Stage 2 can boost the numbers by 70 and 90 respectively. The AccessPort can also save your stock ECU data and reflash it when you decide you're finished with all that extra gumption. According to a GT-R owner who tried it out, you can be blowing past all those regular GT-Rs in less than an hour.

And that's not all: you can store multiple engine mapping programs, remove trouble codes, install reduced-power valet and economy modes, and update maps over the Internet. It seems like a ridiculously easy proposition for making your supercar that much more super. So if you got one of those GT-Rs that are a little low on horses, this could be just the ticket.

[Source: Bespoke Ventures]

Click above for more high-res pics of the Genesis DUB-ified

Who says you need to wait for Hyundai's Genesis Coupe to get your tuning freak on? Not the rims and system folks over at DUB, who took two Genesis (Geneses?) and kitted one out like, well, KITT, and the other kind of like a Stormtrooper from Star Wars. For an interior we can't exactly describe as attractive, the white one's not that bad -- certainly not as bad as it could have been. Still, following Wesley Snipes' advice from Passenger 57, we're going to bet on black. Check out the gallery of hi-res images below. Thanks for the tip, Hyundaifan!


[Source: Bobaedream via Hyundai Blog]

From the Mustang to the Viper and Veyron, Hennessey Performance has spread its abilities across the performance car spectrum. And with hi-po vehicles like the IS F, ZR1, and GT-R on their way to buyers' garages, John Hennessey says he is working on packages to make all of those cars even higher-po.

The IS F looks to be the first in line, with the experiment subject arriving at Hennessey's shop next week. The car will be a test bed for "headers, exhaust and air induction systems first. Then maybe a blower." He's also got his eye on the baddest boy Corvette ZR1, for which his website advertises "700+ HP coming soon!" The physics-defying GT-R is in the crosshairs as well, and if he can make it better than it already is, that would be among the best testaments for his services.

Coming down just a notch -- but still up there -- the Cadillac CTS-V and Camaro will get their chances for glory as well. While all of this sounds great, what we really hope is that none of this extra work causes Hennessey not to give us the Venom. That's the package we are truly dying to see.

[Source: Inside Line]

It's been made abundantly clear that Toyota is taking this year's SEMA show seriously, particularly since it's the featured marque at the event. But in addition to debuting the new Corolla and Matrix, along with releasing a number of factory-approved Lexus performance parts, it's tasked nine separate tuners with kicking the luxury brand's offerings up a notch, or three.

While most of the aftermarket firms won't unveil their creations until November, Blitz and BRS Autodesign have already released some teasers of what we'll see when we head down to Vegas. The BRS SC430 is pictured above and the Blitz'd GS430 is shown at right. Little information is available about either model at the company's respective websites, but we've included a full listing of what Lexus will offer up in the City of Sin after the jump.

[Sources: SEMA, The Passionate Pursuit]

Tuners just can't get enough of the 997 Turbo, with a list so far including SpeedART, TechArt, Edo, Rinspeed, and 9ff. That latter tuner even rings three bells by winning the HP competition, the top speed run, and being a convertible. The Swiss modifier fiddles with the ECU, swaps out the stock turbos for its own units, installs a high-flow exhaust, new air filter, and a strengthened clutch. Sportech also adds hi-po brakes with 6-pot calipers, a sports suspension, and a new front spoiler and rear wing -- and some hot wheels. Then it tunes the entire thing in four stages: from a 530-hp Stage 1 package to a 580-hp Stage 4 time-bender that digs holes in the road with 564-lb-ft of torque. Top speed is 210 mph. We never complain about anyone who adds to the already fantastic 997 Turbo, but in such a crowded and nandrolone-infused field, this latest entrant could sound, well, excuse us for saying so, but... tame.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Here it is, folks, this is what you get for the tuner who has everything. Introducing the "Pimp My Heart," a system that uses sensors in the steering wheel to gauge your heart beat as you drive and subsequently pump said heart beat through your car's audio system for the ultimate beats. Using his Heart Beat Bass Booster, inventor Takehito Etani offers up "Pimp My Heart" for the "ultimate unity between car and driver."

The concept takes a look at bass thumping, its role as a marker of territory and "psychological armor," and asks some questions. What if the bass sounds are the driver's real-time heart beat instead of beats of music? Does our relationship with the vehicle/driver and the pedestrian change?

Sounds very academic, eh? While we wonder if dear Takehito has too much time on his hands over there at Carnegie Mellon, it's kind of a cool trick for the car that has everything -- it takes bass thumpin' to a whole new level.

[Source: Works by Takehito Etani via Fresh Creation]

Veteran tuners know that the best sport compacts are built from base models, not range toppers. That's because base models are blank canvases ready to accept new wheel and tire combos, body kits, head units, seats, paint and every other mod in a tuner's arsenal. Scion apparently understands the tuner and is releasing a Spec Package for the tC in 2007. The 2007 tC Spec Package is a bare bones tC that starts at $15,000 for a manual and $15,800 for an automatic. It's got steel 16-inch wheels and comes in four basic primer colors – Super White, Flint Mica, Black Sand Pearl and Classic Silver Metallic. It retains the tC's fixed glass panorama roof yet has unique upholstery and a urethane steering wheel. Considering a standard tC starts at $16,400, the new Spec Package prove popular with the public at large and not just tuners looking for a blank slate when it arrives at dealerships next month.

[Note: 2007 Scion tC shown, pics of the Spec Package have not been released by Toyota/Scion yet]

[Source: Toyota]