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2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo to pack 595 hp, lap N"urburgring in 7:08

With two major auto shows taking place this week on different sides of the globe, the amount of news being posted across the internet is reaching a fever pitch. Naturally, things happen, trigger fingers get itchy and stories get leaked, which is apparently how we came across this spate of premature pictures and information on the eagerly anticipated Nissan GT-R Nismo.
Packing 595 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque from its twin-turbocharged, 3.8-liter V6, the Nismo-fied GT-R should be a serious kick in the pants when run hard. The new power is thanks to a number of donor parts from the GT-R Nismo GT3 racecar, bits that include larger turbochargers, revised intake and exhaust systems and new ignition timing.
Thanks to the engine enhancements, and, we imagine, a few other tweaks to the chassis, brakes and aerodynamics that have yet to be published, the GT-R Nismo is said to blitz the Nürburgring in just 7:08, a mere 11 seconds slower than the $845,000 Porsche 918 Spyder. For a car that is rumored to cost well under a quarter of the price, that performance is just immense.

Man sells testicle to buy Nissan 370Z

We aren't entirely sure what's stranger about this story - that a man actually sold a vital piece of his manhood for a car, or that he did it for a Nissan 370Z. That's not to discredit the trusty Fairlady, a car we generally like, but that if we were to do what Mark Parisi did and sell one of his testicles to science, we'd be asking for a helluva lot more than $35,000.
But Parisi did just that, and announced live on CBS' The Doctors (we really can't make this up) that the sale of his nut would go towards the purchase of a Z. According to our friends Down Under (Australia, get your mind out of the gutter), $35K is the going rate for one slightly used testicle, so if you get nothing else from this story, gentlemen, know that you have $70,000 swinging between your legs.

Nissan design to show more Chinese influence

Nissan is going to be leveraging the weight of the Chinese market by selling cars influenced by the People's Republic in other markets around the globe. The influence of Chinese design is further proof of the country's importance on a global scale. Nissan isn't the only manufacturer that's looking to leverage China's burgeoning design talent, as BMW, Volkswagen, and General Motors have all set up facilities.
In fact, VW and GM have both used Chinese talent to design cars, in the Passat and Buick LaCrosse, respectively. Nissan has already tested the waters with its Beijing studios, penning the Friend-Me Concept from this year's Shanghai Auto Show. Where GM and VW used their Shanghai-based studios as more consultancies than anything else, though, Nissan is aiming to have the Beijing studio design a global car.
According to Nissan's global design head, Shiro Nakamura, that's already happening. Nakamura told Reuters that Nissan is two years from launching a Chinese-designed global model that will see sales in both North America and Europe, in addition to its home market. While Nakamura wouldn't elaborate on what the new model's styling would entail, there's a focus on what the Chinese call daqi.