I noticed over on AutoBlog that a video of the 2009 Nissan GT-R at the Nurburgring. (click here for the video)

It looks like the current Mule (the car shown) has some sort of Automatic transmision, is it Nissans version of the VAG DSG/S-Tronic?

Also the chase car is a 911Turbo, so is that showing what market Nissan are aiming for?

Anyhow watch the video, it looks like the GT-R project is coming along nicely.

More information from Audi on where they will build the R8, with pictures.

Autoblog have a lineup of pictures of the R8 being put together on the new, 28,000,000 euro production line they have built at Neckarsulm. The Neckarsulm plant also celebtrates it’s 100th year of production.

Pop along to the AutoBlog article for some more pictures.

Yup the Audi R8, the supercar I am dying to see in the flesh, has got an official launch date and price.

The Lambo derived supercar will go on sale for about £70,000 (104,000 euros) but will only be available initially with the 430BHP FSI-V8.

Later in the car’s life (2008) there will be the Lambo derived V10 with around 500BHP, and rumor has it a soft top variant will be around sometime in 2009.

Hell, it’s a good looking car, and as it’s an Audi it will go, and sound fantastic, plus it won’t fall apart like some Italian supercar’s.

Thanks to RoadAndTrack for the rendering of the soft top.

Well mostly anyhow. I’m not going to go through the spec’s of the Alfa showcar, the 8C Competizione because AutoBlog has done that already.

However I will say it has to be one of the prettiest cars to come out since the Aston DB9 (or V8 Vantage, although that was not traditionally pretty). Talking of which, it has a faint hint of the Aston’s at the rear end.

Anyhow, here’s some pictures, more over at AutoBlog. But I will say it’s the sort of thing a Petrol heads wet dreams are made of.

Lotus have announced the Exige-S.

The new car has the same 2Ltr Toyota lump under the bonnet, however the kick is that there is now a Root Supercharger bolted on the top.

The SC will give the new car 230Bhp, and 0-60 of 4.1 seconds and top out around 150mph. You can tell the difference from the obvious bonnet scooping for the extra air to the intercooler.

Price is around £30,000 and there is a waiting list for them already.

Cheers to AutoBlog for the heads up.

Skoda have shown pictures of their 5th car’s direction at Paris this week.

The Joyster is a 3 door, 4 seater hatch, and is probably in the same vane as the Seat Alhambra mini MPV.

Some of the design elements have come across from the roomster, things like the wrap around window because of the blacked out A Pillars.

The car’s interior has been designed to be family centric, with entertainment and media from a central console, and also easily arangeable and changeable interiors.

Let’s hope this comes across to the real car when and if it get’s launched.

Ulrich Bez says he is looking to buy Aston Martin "as rapidly as possible". So it looks like the current MD for the brand could keep it for himself.

The brand is again profitable, and has the DB9 Vanquish coming along shortly. That and the tie up with the Bond series of movies could mean that the Marque could cost Ulrich a few quid.

But after all, it might be in Fords interest to do it this way. If they do it would be likely that the Ford group would stay on as technical support, with parts and platform sharing continuing with the other Ford Marques. However if Ford sell Jaguar as well, who would share the Aston platforms?

Gizmodo have a great video of the Lexus LS460 L doing it’s very clever self parking.

It works using the sensor’s front and rear to detect the space and work out the angles.

Pop along to Gizmodo for the full write up.

The final road going version of the new Civic Type R will be unveiled soon at the Paris Motor Show soon. To celebrate it's 'coming out' the Honda guys have set up www.redh.co.uk.

The Red H site is so named because of the badge that the Type R's and F1 cars wear.

There is an application that will bring you desktop news about the car, and the launch.

It's been a topic of discussion on the Skoda forums for a while, Why have Skoda not released a soft roader?

Well now they are, it's called the Skoda Octavia Scout. It's based on the same underpinnings as the Octavia saloon (Golf MKV), and uses Skoda's 4×4 system.

The whole design has something familiar about it, yes there is some Octavia in there, but there is some of the Audi Allroad, and if you look at the rear end, there is some of the Porsche Cayenne (the only good looking bit of that car in my opinion).

For the most part though, it looks like it should, a chunked up Octavia. It will get the 2.0TDi and the 2.0FSi lumps (so 140 and 150BHP, but the diesel will be the engine of choice due to it's torque).

All in all I think a decent entry into the market. I wonder how it will fair against the new Freelander?