2008 Mazda Mx3 on 2040-parts.com

Consumer Electronics Show: News and Notes

Here are some more things we saw at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. -- While it came onto the market at the top end, HD Radio is now trickling down to even entry-level cars. To emphasize that, parked in the HD Radio booth at CES was a Jetta, a 2012 Focus and a Forester, all relatively affordable rides that can come with the improved radio reception of HD.

Video of Nissan GT-R’s record lap at the Nurburgring

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 02 June 2008 10:15 Remember we brought you news of the new Nissan GT-R setting a new Nurburgring record of 7min 29sec? Well now you can see the hot lap on video, courtesy of our Youtube film below. It’s not the best quality (it seems to have been filmed from a TV monitor at a Nissan event), but you can see test driver Tochio Suzuki at work in this eight-minute clip as he masters the Nordschleife’s notorious corners.

Opel Astra OPC Extreme debuts before Geneva

The Geneva motor show starts next week, which means we get to see an awesome selection of cars that will never come to our shores. On Wednesday, Opel added the Astra OPC Extreme to that category, which now includes the Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake, Volkswagen Polo and Aston Martin Vantage N430, among others. The Astra OPC Extreme is 220 pounds lighter than the already-hot OPC, thanks to the use of carbon fiber.