Now that we've shed some light on the subject, we've made your tire shopping decisions easier by highlighting five of today's most popular R-compounds chosen by road racers like you. And what better way to make you look at these tires than throwing in new SS girl Italia LaRagione. Enjoy!

The wait is over! While previous versions of Gran Turismo took Sony years to develop and release to the public, we've been lucky enough to get the inside scoop that GT6 will be on sale this holiday season!

In the 1950s, in America, cars were all about jet-age this and rocket-power that. In the '60s, in Japan, Nissan borrowed that motif and adapted it for the times, calling its new Bluebird model "Supersonic"; the 510 Bluebird launched across Japan, in magazines and on TV alike, in the fall of '67 with images of Concorde (and only images, as the actual Concorde didn't fly till the spring of '69) and ideas about swift comfort put firmly in the Japanese car buyer's head. Faster-than-sound capabilities strained credulity —the hottest version, the triple-carb 1800SSS, was good for 115 horsepower; not even its designer (see sidebar) considered believing it. But then, no one really believed that those two-and-a-half-ton American tanks of the '50s were actually jet-powered, either; it was all about image. And the Bluebird had image in spades. Supersonic!

There's something about old school Nissan body styles that really tickles the fancy of almost every person who sees one. That might sound like a strange blanket statement, but it's true. Every single time I go out to shoot a Z car or a 510, people will stop and ask what kind of car it is, or other times they will say "I used to have one of those", "my aunt had one of those cars when I was a kid", or something along those lines. These random conversations happen literally every time I shoot a car of this vintage, but with this particular Nissan, they went a little differently.

I admit the closest I've been to Tennessee is a '90s Arrested Development song and a bad pickup line. The Volunteer State isn't exactly a quick drive or flight from California, plus I haven't had many reasons to make the journey. But look what we have here… Feast your eyes on this breathtaking V8-powered 240SX from none other than…Yup, you guessed it, Tennessee!

Kyoto is Japan's culture capital. Spared from damage during the second World War, it's home to many ancient shrines and temples, from the main ones located in the city's center, all the way to the smaller buildings nestled up in the surrounding green hills. As fascinating as this may sound, the reason I found myself standing in front of Ikkyu-ji has absolutely nothing to do with Zen Buddhism, and in fact, couldn't be any less related to Japanese culture, history and religion. In this case, I'm about to see Satomi Nakawatase's S14, one of the most unique Silvias in all of Japan.

If we could travel back in time to about 2006, the automotive world would be a very different place. Although many great cars existed, there was a gap that needed to be filled. A gap in the North American market, that is. There is a car that today is a staple of performance, a car that all sports cars and many super cars are compared against, and this car wasn't even available to US customers for over 40 years. In case you haven't picked up on it, I'm talking about the Nissan Skyline GT-R, known now in the latest generation as simply the GT-R.

You want to care about tires, but tires will always be, let's just say, not the most thrilling topic in the world. And confusing. It's almost as if the tire makers want you out of the loop. If they didn't, sidewall nomenclature would be easier to decipher, treadwear ratings would make sense, and a tire that uses the word "super" in its name would almost always be better than one that doesn't. Despite all of that, tires are the biggest contributor to your car not handling like something that's navigated with oars, so paying attention to them suddenly seems like a good idea. Make that a great idea.

By now, you’ve seen us highlight parts time and time again for the more popular Nissan engines, such as the SR20DET (or KA), but we know there are just as many enthusiasts out there who require more power out of their 350Z, 370Z, G35 or G37—that’s where this guide comes in handy. Here are some of the best engine hard parts you can find, as well as forced induction kits that’ll seriously launch your VQ35DE or VQ37DE where you’d like it to go. Remember that most Nissan parts will also fit Infiniti platforms but it’s best to double-check with the manufacturer.

From as far back as I can remember, going to the LA Auto Show is something I always looked forward to. My dad would take pictures of me sitting in all the high-end exotics and place the prints in an album with little handwritten notes that read "Someday..."—and, well, look at where I am today. I still don't own that Porsche yet, but that doesn't stop me from going in on press days so that I can go make ‘vroom-vroom' noises while my staff looks at me in disbelief while shaking their heads. Hey, at least I've kept that old flame from dying out...

When it comes to BMWs, one car we can all agree on is the E30 M3. It may not be the fastest or newest Bimmer, but the original M3 is a timeless classic that's rooted deep in racing and designed to perform around a track. While there are plenty of feature-worthy E30 M3 examples around the world from full racecars to show-queens, we found we could relate most to Greg Strube's project.

Yeonji

We have a confession to make... At last year's SEMA Show, we debuted our Project Garage FR-S without a key ingredient—boost! Because the FR-S and its FA20 boxer engine were so new, most tuners were still working out the kinks on forced induction kits. With time against us, our Rocket Bunny-equipped Scion showed up to the Las Vegas Convention Center without a major power adder and the hood closed. But with the big show out of the way and more time to work with, we finally finished what we set out to do—install the HKS GT Supercharger Kit.

Nothing seems to stir up my emotions quite like a Toyota. My pop's first car when he came to the U.S. from the Philippines was a 1984 Toyota SR5 Corolla Coupe. During my high school years, it seemed like I was the only one rolling in a 1985 Corolla GT-S hatch while everybody else was posing in Honda Civics. And now that I'm living in the tuning mecca of Southern California, I was drawn like a fly to a bug zapper to the 18th Annual All Toyotafest put on by the Toyota Owner's and Restorer's Club (TORC).

Let's face it: the Subaru BRZ (and its Scion FR-S sibling) is somewhat underpowered, but pure speed is not what this car is all about. The BRZ is a rear-drive coupe designed more for sublime drifting, or charging hard around an autocross track. Its mission is as an affordable, fun-to-drive sports car, and wasn't designed with straight line, drag-race times in mind.

You’re not alone if you always thought driving a Kia wasn’t worth your time. We don’t blame ya! For years, their line-up has been on the boring side, but when Kia Motors dropped by our office with the keys to the new Optima SX Limited, our shit-talking stopped.

2013 Lexus IS F

Model: Cina Luks

There are plenty of things that get better with time. Like pizza the morning after instead of fresh out of the oven. A bottle of fine wine, or your favorite pair of jeans. And of course, cars. I don't know about you, but I love vintage Japanese cars and the nostalgia you feel by being near them, so much so that I drove up to Norcal from L.A. just to check out the Shokuji J-Tin car show, a celebration of Japanese cars of yesteryear.

At its 7th Annual Mazda Motorsports Media lunch, John Doonan, Director of Mazda Motorsports, and Eric Pril, Vice President of the Sports Car Club of America, proudly announced that Mazda has become the Official Car of SCCA through 2015. In addition, Mazda showed off its new diesel-powered Mazda6 GX race car, which just scored its first victory at the Grand-Am GX race at Road Atlanta - the first win for a diesel-powered car in the series. A similar car finished third.

The 10th season of Formula Drift got officially underway last weekend at the streets of Long Beach, and once again the popular drifting event was a sellout. Because let's face it, there's nothing more exciting than high horsepower cars sliding inches away from a wall with a cloud of smoke trailing behind.

Our Garage FR-S project might look finished, but we have so much more to go. Stay tuned!

Hyundai proves that SEMA Show cars are not strictly posers as it has approved the RE:MIX Veloster for full production. The special edition production Veloster features an aggressive exterior appearance with a unique body kit and gunmetal-finish alloy wheels, while the interior is enhanced with a premium audio system. This Veloster is a turn-key production vehicle with a lifestyle-focused look and feel. In addition to the exclusive "Sprint Gray," a simplified color palate of five additional Veloster colors will be available: Century White, 26.2 Yellow, Marathon Blue, Ultra Black and Boston Red. The RE:MIX Lab is a national tour celebrating creativity in music, art, fashion, technology, gaming, culture and design. Central to the message of innovation are customized one-off Hyundai vehicles representing the ultimate in style, design and performance. With custom audio, distinctive materials and custom-made components throughout, each RE:MIX vehicle speaks to individual creativity, passion and connectivity. Building on the popularity of these vehicles on tour, Hyundai is offering a new production model, the Veloster RE:MIX, to Hyundai dealerships before the winter holidays. The Veloster RE:MIX will be priced at $19,900 for manual transmission and $21,150 for dual clutch transmission versions.