UK fine model car maker Amalgam has finally released the photos of their completed 1/8th scale Nissan GT-R model. Amalgam are recognized as the premiere model maker and supplier of models to high end luxury car manufacturers and racing teams globally.
At 1/8th scale this model is around 22 inches or 58 cm in length and weighs 5kg. It’s huge by any standard and is the most phenomenally well detailed model you’ll ever see.
Take a look at these photos (and the others at the link below). You can see everything has been recreated from the texture of the brake rotors, the reflections in the tail lamps, the stitching on the seats and accurate labels on the dashboard buttons.
These models are now available via Zele International in Japan for 398,000 yen a piece. For those wanting a model of their own GT-R, a custom version of the Amalgam GT-R model is available and starts at a price of 498,000 yen.
It’s been a full year, almost exactly to the day, since we last had an update on the Zele Performance Type-1 FZ-Titanium muffler for the R35 Nissan GT-R. Zele have this week finally announced the release of the exhaust which is targetted specifically to those chasing maximum performance and weight saving while expecting the absolute best quality fit and finish.
The Type-1 FZ-Titanium exhaust is a single side exit exhaust which saves weight and allows the user to install transmission or differential coolers in the vacant area opposite. It’s fully manufactured in Japan from titanium for durability and lightness and tips the scales at just 6.5 kgs (vs. 17kgs of the OE item).
The main pipe diameter is 89.1mm which splits into two 120mm exit tubes via a pair of resonators. If you guessed this exhaust might be a signifant upgrade in the sound department, you guessed right and you can check out the sound in the video we shot @ Zele headquarters in Yokohama earlier in the year.
The price for the exhaust is 348,000 yen in Japan.
Next up is the Zele FZ-Titanium front pipes. These high flow cat fitted front pipes keep your car street legal and emissions friendly while improving exhaust flow. They weigh less than half the standard front pipes as well at 5.2kgs (vs. 13.3kgs for the stock ones).
These front pipes go for 248,000 yen in Japan.
Hit up the links below to get more information and find your nearest Zele Performance dealer. Zele will also be attending SEMA 2009 this year in Las Vegas from 3rd – 6th of November. Visit them at their booth.
Arios have been tweaking the look on a customer’s R35 GT-R recently. They have had a full carbon fibre Zele Performance aero kit installed which is made up of the front lip, side skirts and rear underspoiler. They liked the look of the WALD rear over-fenders (from the WALD SportsLine aero kit) though and decided to integrate the looks. Overall I feel this is quite a successful combination. Once they add some ultra-wide wheels at the rear to properly fill up the guards it should look even better.
For now it’s a one off custom made set of over-fenders but I dare say it would not be hard for any competent body shop to emulate this if you were into that sort of thing.
It’s not all news about performance parts and motor racing here, sometimes there is drama in the GT-R scene. While much of it goes on behind closed doors and in non public forums, this allegation caught my eye.
When Zele International had completed and debuted their world renowned Nissan GT-R aero parts back in January 2008, they had a mission to make the parts available globally. To do so, they signed up with a range of well known, well established businesses in a dealership model. So now, we can enjoy some very well known, local faces, who can get us our favourite Zele Performance parts all backed by Zele’s after sales service. All good so far.
It seems, according to Zele’s most recent website update, that one such dealership in the UK may have abused their dealership status to import Zele Products at a very low cost for “promotional” purposes, have them copied, modified slightly and then sold as their own product. Photos of the “new” parts fitted to one of the dealers own cars were taken at a local event and then published on a local UK forum. From the photographs its easy to see a resemblance.
The sad part about this is the company in question is generally thought to be a well respected business. Most certainly not a fly-by night web site. Copying parts is the cheap option these days and when no R&D is necessary your margins are higher. It’s really up to the buying public to vote with their money and choose to buy genuine items.
You can read the whole announcement by following the link below and the parts in question in the photos attached.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have Fuji Speedway in your backyard? Spend the weekends on a picnic blanket down by the circuit looking out on the Fuji Mountain vista. Ah memories…
Anyway where were we? Zele have been out to Fuji Speedway with the Complete Edition and in between bursts of view admiring and suspension adjusting have managed to set a 1:50.08 lap time. They’re personally not 100% pleased with the time but it is quite quick.
They think with a set of fresh rubber and a clear lap they can push for mid 1:4x’s. I’m sure the car has that in it and can’t wait till they go back which should be soon. We’ll see then if it has what it takes to be the quickest tuner GT-R at FSW.
The Zele Complete Edition is one amazing car, but with a 18.9 million yen price tag many of the exclusive dry carbon parts were out of reach for the regular GT-R enthusiast. Zele were initially restricting the sale of these exclusive dry carbon parts to the complete edition but now they’ve decided not to refuse perfectly good business if it presents itself.
Zele Performance will now sell select parts from the complete edition separately from the entire Zele Complete Edition package. The following parts have pricing for individual sale so far:
Want to get your hands on these in the USA? GT-RR and GTMotoring are both Zele dealers you can turn to to get these parts and anything else Zele have in their catalogue.
First seen at SEMA in the US, Volk has recently released a new addition to their wheel lineup. The Volk Racing G2 or TE37 G2. Following this they have now added a new offset to the lineup to debut at Tokyo AutoSalon 2009. The new GT-R fitment changes the front to 20″x10″ +30mm offset while the rear moves to a 20″x11″ +25mm offset.
Zele International have a set of these for demoing at Tokyo AutoSalon in the flat black colour that everyone seemed to love at SEMA. We snapped a few shots of them while recently on site at Zele for a pre-TAS visit.
Rays Wheels will have quite a substantial sized booth at Tokyo AutoSalon as usual. They’re located in Hall 1 this year so stop by to check these out in the flesh.
We are well and truly in the lead up to the biggest Japanese tuner show of the year, Tokyo AutoSalon, now. Today we paid a pre-TAS visit to one of my favourite workshops, Zele International.
Zele have two workshops not far from Tokyo. The first is at Atsugi while the main showroom is situated in Yokohama. We went to their Yokohama workshop to meet with Zele’s President, Satoshi Kamata-san to discuss their AutoSalon plans and plans for the sale of the new Zele Complete Edition package which is making it’s public debut in Japan at the show on Friday.
As already revealed, just eight Zele Complete Edition cars will be built. They are available to anyone worldwide with the caveat that you ship your GT-R to the Zele Yokohama workshop for the work to be carried out.
While we were there we got to check out both the Type-1 and Type-2 FZ-Titanium exhaust systems. The Type-1 was installed on the Zele Complete Edition demo car. The video below is what the FZ-Titan Type-1 exhaust sounds like on the FZ-ROM ECU Type-3 (550ps) tuned GT-R.
The FZ-Titan Type-2 exhaust is also an option on the Zele Complete Edition package. This more conventional looking quad outlet exhaust is of the best quality possible. We took a set of detailed photos for those undecided on which exhaust to go for on their GT-R.
Last but not least we got some exclusive photos of the last optional item on the Zele Complete Edition package not yet seen by the public. We will be posting those in the next 24hrs so stick around to find out what it is.
For those interested in meeting up with the NAGTROC and GTRBlog teams, we’ll be holding a meetup at TAS on Friday the 9th of January from 3:00pm – 3:30pm at the Zele International booth (#215) at Tokyo AutoSalon 2009.
We’ve now received final specs and details on the much anticipated Zele International Complete edition. We’ve also got our hands on photos of the first prototype based upon the famous Zele International custom orange Nissan GT-R.
The Zele Complete Edition package features the following improvements on the R35 GT-R:
The Package includes a one year 20,000 km warranty and is available worldwide. The Zele Complete Edition can be ordered in US Specification, European Specification or Japan specifications (LHD and RHD) vehicles. Only 8 Zele Complete Editions will be made.
As for the price, this will be announced Friday morning at Tokyo AutoSalon 2009, 9th January 2009! Expect it to go for more than the GT-R Spec-V however. Zele International are located in booth #215 so drop in and say “Hi!”, English speaking staff will most likely be around much of the day to answer your questions.
As always stay tuned for more and check the photo gallery after the jump of the Zele Complete Edition Prototype!
