Click above for high-res gallery of the Japanese F1 GP

Wildcards. That's what racing fans want, isn't it? Yet so many seasons in the recent history of grand prix racing have been down to just a handful of drivers - just one or two, in many cases - contending for race victories and ultimately the championship. Last year's four-way face-off between Kimi Raikkonnen, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso put the racing world on notice. But even that free-for-all is paling by comparison to this season, with no fewer than seven drivers (Hamilton, Raikkonen, Massa, BMW's Robert Kubica, McLaren's number two Heikki Kovalainen, double world champion Fernando Alonso and even perennial back-marker Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel) taking turns on the top step of the podium, turning the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship into a heated battle the likes of which we haven't seen for a long time. This weekend's Japanese Grand Prix was no exception. And if you don't have it recorded for future enjoyment, follow the jump to read why.

Gallery: 2008 Japanese Formula One Grand Prix

Continue reading Japanese GP: Wheel to Wheel Action at Fuji [SPOILER ALERT]

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Click above for a high-res gallery of the K.07 Spyder

When the K.O7 Spyder broke cover in Geneva we were struck by its bold design (it was penned by the guy who gave us the Enzo and the Quattroporte), but seriously doubted that the track star/supercar would ever see production. Well, a limited run of 99 K.O7s will go on sale on November 1st for the princely sum of 19,500,000 Yen. Yep, that's near-as-makes-no-difference $200,000 -- an awful lot of money for very little car.

And when you consider that it's essentially a modern remake of the fenderless Lotus 340R, which itself seemed expensive back in 2000 at $70,000, you've got to wonder how many more orders Okuyama-san will be taking beyond the 24 cars pre-ordered by Tag-Heuer, who've had a hand in the project since its inception just a year ago. You may remember that the Lotus 340R never reached its performance target of 340 bhp/ton, largely because it was powered by Rover's asthmatic K-series engine. This is why three-hundred and forty 340Rs were built -- the number had to stand for something.

Similar doubts surround the final performance figures for the 750-kg (1,653-pound) K.O7. Okuyama Design say that the good ol' Toyota 2.0-liter found in the Elise and Exige will be good for "200-240bhp", but we don't see a supercharger, nor room for one. However fast it turns out to be, it's a fine looking machine and is bound to remain exclusive.

Check out the gallery of images taken at yesterday's launch deep beneath Tokyo's streets. Note there was an K.O8 electric EV in attendance, sans batteries or electric motor, but since it took Ken just a year to get the 7 from drawing board to production, who knows... we may be back in that garage again in a year's time, reporting for AutoblogGreen.

Gallery: K07 Live from Japan

Gallery: K.O. 7 and K.O. 8

Continue reading UPDATE: Greddy in U.S. still good to go

Click for a hi-res gallery of the Subaru Impreza WRC2008

We're going to play this little game again. Close your eyes and think "rally". (Not picket lines and protest signs, but tail-sliding, dirt road heroics behind the wheel of turbocharged four-wheel-drive monsters.) Now what company comes to mind? If you're a sentimentalist you might be thinking Audi or Lancia, but anybody who hasn't been living in a cave for the last decade or so (with apologies to all our cave-dwelling readers) will almost invariably think of Subaru. Never mind that its WRC team hasn't been doing that well recently: pumped up Imprezas like the WRX and STI are nearly synonymous with rallying. But now reports indicate that Subaru is considering confusing us by entering to World Touring Car Championship.

The news is sparked by a forthcoming arrangement between the WRC and the WTCC that could see them adopting a common set of rules, not unlike the more practical Super 2000 formula that has both rally and touring car series. Now we're always encouraged by news of carmakers - especially ones with such well-established motorsport pedigrees - going racing, but we can't help but wonder if Subaru's venture onto paved tracks wouldn't confuse the message and dilute its hard-earned brand identity. Conversely, the oil-ification of the WTCC could give Subaru a chance to prove its mettle with its new diesel engines. Either way, execs from Fuji Heavy and Subaru Tecnica International are expected to visit the touring car championship when it visits Japan on October 24 to scope it out.

Just because we love you, our loyal readers, ever so much, here's a gallery of studio-quality, high-resolution images of Subaru's current rally contender.

Gallery: Subaru Impreza WRC2008

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Sensing the ripe market opportunity, Nissan will start producing various light-commercial and medium-duty trucks in 2010. The targeted segment is currently dominated by Ford and GM, where the miscellaneous cabs and frames are used to produce such vehicles as dump trucks, tow trucks, and school buses. Now, Nissan wants a piece of the pie. Larry Dominique, Nissan's VP of product planning, wouldn't disclose details right now, but he did say that a handful of new products will be needed to satisfy the new commercial truck dealers - and Nissan is more than willing to oblige. Joe Castelli, the former director of Ford's commercial trucks (and now a VP of commercial trucks at Nissan), said the Japanese automaker will be pulling from their global stable of commercial components (branded Atlas and Atleon in other markets) to quickly adapt them for the U.S. market. Nissan's official commercial truck plans will be announced in January at the Detroit Auto Show, and we'll be there to judge reactions.

[Source: Automotive News, subs. req'd]

Just under a year since the concept was announced, two brand new 2009 Formula Nippon chassis, designed and built by California's Swift Engineering, have gone through shakedown trials at Fuji Speedway. Autoblog spoke to Team Toyota TOM'S Andre Lotterer, one of the first two F'pon pilots to take the radically designed machine out for a spin, to see what he thought of the exceptionally wide single seater.

First off, they seem to be pretty well put together. In an unusual turn of events for a brand new car, nothing broke or fell off during the its first outing in anger. Equally unusual, the new design is almost as quick as the Lola chassis it replaces, and with a few adjustments is destined to be even quicker. That's saying something: Andre has managed to lap Fuji in 1 minute 23 seconds in the 2008 Formula Nippon car, less than 5 seconds off Lewis Hamilton's record of 1:18.7

Although the chassis currently lacks mechanical grip, pitching the car in to crowd pleasing slides in slow corners, Andre reckons that the gigantic 6' 4" wide front wing and sculpted sidepods are generating plenty of downforce, keeping the car planted through higher-speed bends. Unfortunately, those advanced aerodynamics won't be able to prevent incidents such as F1 refugee Yuji Ide's aerobatics at Suzuka earlier this year, and super rookie Kohei Hirate's wince inducing flight into the barriers at Motegi a few weeks ago, but the Swift monocoque is even stronger than the 2008 Lola tub that saved those drivers from serious injury.