As you probably know, Tokyo Auto Salon 2010 is right around the corner so if you’re attending this one it’s time to start planning your trip. We’re happy to announce on behalf of Mine’s that, around the same time, they will be holding a open shop Mine’s Meeting event where visitors from all over the world are welcome to come and check out the latest in Mine’s developments.

The event will be held at their Yokosuka workshop just about an hour out of Tokyo on the train.

Come along and check out as yet unreleased GT-R products in the flesh such as the Mine’s Dry Carbon Front Bumper and the exciting new Mine’s Complete Engine.

Ordinarily, visiting such a legendary a tuning shop around Tokyo AutoSalon time is difficult at best. Workshops are working overtime to finish cars for the show and dont have time to entertain guests. Mine’s are making special arrangements for visitors at this time as they will unfortunately not be holding a booth at TAS this year.

Still, that’s all the more reason to plan a side trip to the Mine’s workshop to checkout their R35 and previous generation GT-Rs. If you’re a Mine’s distributor, customer, or fan, you’re invited so book it in!

Speaking of Mine’s parts, check out these sneak peak photos of the Mine’s Complete Engine at it’s shakedown testing at Sodegaura Circuit in Chiba taken yesterday. Love the look but can’t wait to hear it in the flesh in January…

リンク: Mine’s R35 GT-R ウェブサイト (English)
Map: Mine’s Shop, Yokosuka, Google Map

チューニングニュース, マインズ, モーターショー

We’ve seen Mine’s President Niikura-san talk about the individual components and the concept of the Mine’s Complete VR38 engine for the Nissan GT-R before but now it’s getting closer to release. The engine is built and in the Mine’s demo car and, while it may still need tweaking before performance figures can be shown, they’re already confident enough to release their initial impressions:

Although it is not ready to be released yet and still in the process of being tested, today our president has test driven our R35 GT-R demo car with this amazing Mine’s Complete Engine [above].

He was commenting “This is absolutely an amazing VR38DETT. It feels like as many as about 500kg lighter than the stock R35 when you drive your R35 with this awesome engine installed. Very responsive, very exhilarating, and extremely enjoyable engine. It was absolutely fantastic. The moment you drive this, you’ll definitely want this remarkable engine!!”

Would you like to test drive it?

I think the answer to that last question Niikura-san is, yes. Can I book it in for tomorrow please?

ソース: Mine’s Overseas Blog
リンク: Mine’s Official Site (English)

チューニングニュース, パーツ, マインズ gt-r, gtr, mine's, mines complete engine, niikura, nissan, r35

Mine’s continue to expand their already impressive lineup of dry carbon products this week with the announcement of their anticipated full carbon door replacement for the GT-R.

Each door is specifically designed as a direct but lightweight replacement for the factory item and shaves off 6.4kg per side. This brings the weight of each door down to an amazing 3.2kg (7lbs). While the weight comes down the strength, fitment and quality does not as these are manufactured from a dry carbon honeycomb material for ultimate durability. The doors are available from Mine’s dealers now with a pricetag of 590,000 yen.

Also new from Mine’s is the Carbon Bonnet Type II for Nissan R35 GT-R. This original style hood replacement integrates a simple set of NACA ducts to funnel cool air to the tubochargers. Unique to the Mine’s Carbon Bonnet Type II, towards the rear corners of the hood, are air vents to allow hot engine bay air to circulate out keeping under hood air temps down. The hood is also fitted with a drainage point to allow rain water a way out.

The hood is not just extremely functional, it’s also lighter than the standard item as it weighs just 5.2kg (11.4 lbs). That represents a huge 6.9kg weight saving. While the hood is a perfect fit on any GT-R, Mine’s do recommend you use hood pins to prevent any issues at high speed.

It’s available with a Super Clear finish that will protect the hood for 640,000 yen. It’s also available without the clear coating if the customer intends to paint the hood themselves for a price of 570,000 yen.

リンク: Mine’s R35 GT-R ウェブサイト (English)

チューニングニュース, パーツ, マインズ carbon fibre, dry carbon, gt-r, gtr, mine's, nissan, r35

Just when you were beginning to think you’d upgraded all your intake piping, Mine’s have again shown us there’s more to it. The Mine’s Titanium Suction Pipe Kit features a pair of direct fit replacement compressor intake pipes that are as beautiful to look at as they are functional.

Line the Mine’s intake up next to the original Nissan part and you can quickly see the difference. The restrictive cast factory item is not as co-operative as it could be at high boost pressure – the result – sucky throttle response. The Mine’s items on the other hand are wide open (45mm vs. 60mm) reducing intake airflow resistance and thus increasing throttle response and horsepower. Performance gains of around 20 – 30hp are claimed.

Manufacturing quality is as per usual, top shelf. Mine’s round slice and weld each titanium section to ensure each pipe is perfectly circular right the way through. Each weld is then extensively cleaned to perfection.

The kit comes with all the hardware you need to fit including the Titanium Suction Pipes, SAMCO silicone hoses and hose clamps. The price is set at 128,000 yen, hit up your Mine’s distributor for more information and combine with Mine’s Intercooler Piping set for even better effect.

リンク: Mine’s R35 GT-R ウェブサイト (English)

チューニングニュース, パーツ, マインズ gt-r, gtr, intake, mine's, nissan, r35, titanium

Mine’s continue leading the way in terms of GT-R engine tuning with the release of their latest hardware upgrades. The Mine’s Super Camshaft Shore PRO is a full camshaft replacement for the VR38DETT designed to unleash the full potential of the engine in terms of response and power.

The Mine’s camshaft profile on the intake side is 256 degree duration with 10.2mm of lift. On the exhaust side there’s 264 degree duration with 10.5mm of lift.

Compare the Mine’s camshaft profile against the standard item which is 238 degrees / 9.56mm on the intake and 248 degrees / 9.88mm on the exhaust and you can see that the Mine’s set will clearly breath better.

These would ideally suit someone already running / considering turbo upgrades but even on the standard turbos you would see a concrete improvement once tuned. They’re full drop in replacements for both GT-R and SpecV GT-Rs.

Update: Pricing for the Mine’s Camshaft set is 138,000 yen.

Next up Mine’s have also released the final word in lightweight titanium midpipe for those who are chasing the ultimate response and power from their GT-R.

The Mine’s Titanium Straight Converter for Nissan GT-R removes the secondary catalytic converters and replaces them with two small resonators. The final weight reduction over the standard item is 9.8 kg (3.6 kg vs. 13.4 kg). The main pipe sections are 70mm into a pair of 110mm resonators. Then via dual 70mm pipes into a single 80mm collector.

Fitment is a simple bolt on affair and pricing is to be announced shortly. Again, stay tuned to the new Mine’s website for more details.

Update: Pricing for the Mine’s Titanium Straight Converter is set at 210,000 yen.

リンク: Mine’s ウェブサイト (English)

チューニングニュース, パーツ, マインズ camshaft, gt-r, gtr, head, mine's, nissan, r35, specv, tuning, turbos