CarZi

For the 2nd year in a row Lexus is planning to enter it’s Lexus LF-A prototype 2 seater supercar in the 24 hour Nurburgring Endurance Race (Officially called the 37th ADAC Zurich 24h-Race 2009) during May 21-24, 2009. Naturally this contender is race equipped with roll cage and special crash/fire friendly gas tank as well as a GT size race wing and other aerodynamic tweaks that you can see from these photos. For those of you new to Gazoo Racing, they are the experts responsible for running the Lexus teams in Japan’s SUPER GT series of races.

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Furthering Harish’s post on the Toyota Scion iQ (Pictures & Details), a short video has hit the web for our viewing pleasure. Keep in mind that this iQ that you see was built by Five Axis for the New York Auto show and is not what the stock version will look like. This car is already sold on the Japanese market and there were 4 Modified Toyota iQ’s at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Salon.

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The Smartcart is the little city run-about and is currently very popular in Europe. The Americans are warming up to the Smart ForTwo Coupe and Smart ForTwo Cabriolet and during these recent economic times, more and more people are looking for smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient modes of transportation.

This Toyota Scion iQ is powered by a 1.3L 4 cylinder VVT-i engine, Five Axis custom stainless exhaust, 18 inch custom wheels with nickel finish prototyped by MetalFX, Yokohama S drive tires, TEIN Super Street coil over suspension, Five Axis wide body conversion kit and custom accented headlights and taillights.

Toyota believes it has a contender with it’s recently launched Scion iQ in the USA. Toyota will be selling the iQ through its Scion brand in North America. You can check out Anthony’s Tokyo Auto Salon exclusive pictures of 4 different modified iQ’s HERE: Toyota iQ as they have been on the Japanese market since October 2008.

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Japanese tuner Wald International has just released their modified version of the new Lexus RX 350. Their new tuning package includes some aesthetic upgrades such as a new front clip, new side skirts, rear spoilers, rear bumper and diffuser and a 4 pipe exhaust system and Wald forged wheels. Checkout some of their recent tuning packages which I was able to see up close at this years Tokyo Auto Salon, which included the WALD Nissan GT-R Photos, WALD Mercedes CL Photos and WALD Lexus IS F Photos.

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Well it’s already that time of the year here in Toronto, Ontario, all the tuners are anxious to switch off their winter tires and replace them with the low profiles and hit the streets to flash their latest modifications. Performance World is this years first custom car and truck show and takes place next weekend March 13, 14, 15, 2009 at the International Center – 6900 Airport Rd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Don’t forget to checkout my coverage from last year: Performance World Girls Part 1, Performance World Girls Part 2, Performance World Girls Part 3.

Check back here next weekend for the pictures!

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Here is a 701hp Honda S2000 tuned and built by T1 Race Development. Car has stock motor, transmission, and rear end. Bullseye Power S372R turbo, dual 44mm TiAl wastegate, T1 1000 cc saturated fuel injectors, T1 Race 4″ side exit downpipe.

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In October 2008 we covered some photos which came across our desks of a Verde Ithaca Modified Nissan GT-R with a matte finish from Singapore rumored to be simply a vinyl cover job. Yesterday I found these pictures of what could be another Verde Ithaca Nissan GT-R. From what I can tell this one appears to be painted and not vinyl wrapped. The similarities include: RHD, both have the same LED aftermarket fog lamps. Differences, this one appears to be painted (checkout the headlight lip vs the vinyl wrapped one) it also has Verde Ithaca painted calipers and rear wing, different wheels and different side skirts. What do you think Josh?

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In addition to the cool Lamborghini Murcielago ATV 4×4 I saw at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2009 (REVIEW) (PICTURES), I also saw this interesting and slick looking Ferrari Suzuzi 1300 Hayabusa Trike! The information sheet is included below, but my Japanese reading skills are a little rusty!

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Well the Tokyo Auto Salon 2009 has come and gone and it completely blew my expectations of the show and trip out of the water. It was 100% worth the 12 hour flight In addition to the 6000+ photos I took (I will be adding a daily dose on MadWhips) of more than 500 rediculously awesome modified cars, I also had the pleasure of meeting some awesome people in the industry!

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