(BroBible.com)
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
That's Not A Bad Idea
Got somewhere you need to go? Go there in an M5.
Editor's note: My preference would be in an E39 M5.
(Jalopnik.com)
Editor's note: My preference would be in an E39 M5.
(Jalopnik.com)
Health Warnings Be Damned, It's Profitability Continues To Soar
Make Smoking Safe Again
With 480,000 related deaths per year and $300 billion in medical and productivity costs, the burden of smoking is too high to handle.
Now, the FDA is lowering nicotine levels in cigarettes to non-addictive levels. And with any luck, smokers will trend towards healthier forms of smoking, like vaping.
As expected, cigarette companies were shaken by the news. Altria fell 19% (its biggest one-day drop since 1999), British American fell 11% and Philip Morris was down 3.5%.
Regulations and taxes on cigarettes are a fabric of society in the U.S, but they haven’t harmed cigarette companies as much as you’d think.
From 2001 to 2016, the overall number of cigarettes sold in the U.S. fell by 37%, while revenue rose 32% to $93.4 billion.
As everyone keeps looking for their “fix,” it looks as though the FDA has found theirs.
(BroBible.com)
With 480,000 related deaths per year and $300 billion in medical and productivity costs, the burden of smoking is too high to handle.
Now, the FDA is lowering nicotine levels in cigarettes to non-addictive levels. And with any luck, smokers will trend towards healthier forms of smoking, like vaping.
As expected, cigarette companies were shaken by the news. Altria fell 19% (its biggest one-day drop since 1999), British American fell 11% and Philip Morris was down 3.5%.
Regulations and taxes on cigarettes are a fabric of society in the U.S, but they haven’t harmed cigarette companies as much as you’d think.
From 2001 to 2016, the overall number of cigarettes sold in the U.S. fell by 37%, while revenue rose 32% to $93.4 billion.
As everyone keeps looking for their “fix,” it looks as though the FDA has found theirs.
(BroBible.com)
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
I Would For This Particular Model
Would you pay £185k for an R34 GT-R?
[T]his is no ordinary R34. It’s special twice over, being a V-Spec II Nür R-tune. What does that jumble of letters mean? Well the V-Spec II was a more focused version of the GT-R that had upgraded brakes, suspension and four-wheel drive system, and the Nür was a an even rarer limited production model featuring a stronger competition-derived engine and named after, you guessed it, the Nürburgring.
Nissan built 718 track-oriented V Spec II Nürs and a further 285 Nürs to M-specification, which used more supple suspension better suited to road use. They’re now hugely collectable and worth north of £125k.
[T]his is no ordinary R34. It’s special twice over, being a V-Spec II Nür R-tune. What does that jumble of letters mean? Well the V-Spec II was a more focused version of the GT-R that had upgraded brakes, suspension and four-wheel drive system, and the Nür was a an even rarer limited production model featuring a stronger competition-derived engine and named after, you guessed it, the Nürburgring.
Nissan built 718 track-oriented V Spec II Nürs and a further 285 Nürs to M-specification, which used more supple suspension better suited to road use. They’re now hugely collectable and worth north of £125k.
Now
the R-tune bit. Good as the R34 was out of the box, some people wanted
more and Nissan’s motorsport arm Nismo was happy to give it to them.
There were all sorts of upgrade parts available to buy individually, or
you could send your car to Nismo for one of two full conversions.
One
was the street-biased S-tune package, and the other was the R-tune.
Numbers are vague, but it’s estimated that Nismo carried out around
25-30 R-tune conversions. Nismo would convert any type of R34 GT-R, not
just Nürs, so when you consider that this particular car here is both a
Nür and an R-tune you can see why it’s so valuable.
The R-tune upgrade
included everything from suspension to aero mods. But the heart of the
conversion, which added around £27k to the cost of the car, was the R1
engine. Unlike the earlier Nismo R400's 2.8 motor, this engine retained
the stock 2.6-litre capacity but was built around the stronger N1 block
(also shared with the Nür) and featured upgraded cams and turbos.
Standard R34’s were rated at 280hp but made more like 330hp. The R1 engine put out 450.
Among R34s only the
Z-tune cars, which were bought back and upgraded by Nismo after R34
production had ended, are more desirable or expensive.
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