Honda Allegedly Cutting More Future Sport and Luxury Models, Including S2000 and RWD Acuras

British car magazine Autocar is reporting that Honda's new restructuring plan will lead to the death of more models than initially thought as the company strides to cope with slowing demand worldwide. Aside from the NSX, the Brits support that Honda has also canned the development of a range of rear-wheel drive models for the Acura range; a new V8 engine that would equip Honda's and Acura's top-of-the-line models; the convertible version of the CR-Z hybrid coupe that was previewed in concept form at last year's London Show and finally, the successor to the 10-year old Honda S2000 sports car.

It is also said in the article that Honda might also replace the North American / Australian and European / Japanese market Accords with a single model to cut down on development costs. However, that doesn't make any sense at all as Honda sells the European / Japanese-spec Accord in the States as the Acura TSX. So unless the Japanese automaker decides to drop the TSX from Acura's range, we doubt that this will happen.

Via: Autocar

Video: Twin-Supercharged Dodge Challenger SRT8 with 1000HP

So what happens when one isn't satisfied even with the 425-ponies of the range-topping Dodge Challenger SRT8's HEMI V8? Well, one solution is to bring the car to the folks over at RDP Performance. The Ohio-based tuner will add a duo of superchargers along with a nitrous boosting system and a series of other modifications to the V8 engine for a total output of 1,000 HP. According to the company, the RDP Challenger SRT8 can hit the quarter mile in 9 seconds - a whole second faster than the Bugatti Veyron... Skip the jump to find out what a 1,000 HP Challenger sounds like.

Toyota to Shut Down Japan Plants for 11 Days

For the first time since 1993 when it cut production for a day, Toyota will halt its operations at all 12 of its Japanese plants. Toyota had previously announced that it would suspend production for three days in January, but now the Japanese automaker said that it would close its factories for another 11 days over February and March as it tries to cope with constantly shrinking global demand. In Japan, Toyota announced that its December sales fell 18% compared to last year while for the whole 2008, the company saw a 7.4% decrease over 2007.

In the U.S., Toyota (including Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands) reported December sales results of 141,949, a decrease of 36.7 percent from the same period last year. In terms of year-end sales, Toyota sold 2,217,662 vehicles in the U.S., down 15.7 percent from the same period in 2007, on a daily selling rate basis.

Bentley Refreshes Continental GTC and Presents New 600HP GTC Speed

Even though the Continental GTC has only been around since 2006, Bentley thought that it was time to perform a light facelift to its luxury four-seater convertible. While they were at it, the Brits also added a range-topping Speed model bringing the GTC in line with its GT coupe sibling. The Continental GTC Speed benefits from a twin-turbocharged W12 engine producing 600-horspeower (610PS) and 750 Nm (553lb ft) of torque, and it's matted to a 6-speed automatic transmission.

This endows the GTC Speed with a top speed of 200mph (322 km/h) with the roof-up or 195 mph (312 km/h) with the top down, and a 0-60mph sprint time of 4.5 seconds (0-100 km/h in 4.8''). It also accelerates from 0-100 mph in just 10.6 seconds (0-160 km/h in 10.5'').

The GTC Speed model also gets a lowered suspension by 10 mm at the front and 15 mm at the rear with revised spring, anti-roll bar and damper settings for improved handling, a 'Dynamic' mode for the ESP system with progressive intervention and wider 20-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels wrapped around in chunky 275/35 ZR20 Pirelli PZero tires.

On the outside, the GTC Speed is visually distinguished by subtle design enhancements like blacked out radiator and lower air intake grilles feature a dark tinted matrix as standard. Larger diameter 9.5J x 20-inch, bespoke alloy wheels, wider twin-rifled exhaust tail pipes and a new boot-mounted lip spoiler.

Inside, the Speed model features diamond quilted hide seats with embroidered Bentley emblems, a knurled chrome and hide gearlever and a three-spoke multi-function steering wheel with brushed aluminum switch surround. These are complemented by drilled alloy foot-pedals and 'Speed' logos to the polished treadplates.

As for the standard car, the 2009 Continental GTC benefits from a few minor exterior enhancements that include the more upright radiator grille, the chrome headlamp bezels, a new lower bumper design with a widened air intake, the availability of two new exterior paints and a new color hide. Under-the-hood-upgrades concern the retuned Servotronic power steering, retuned suspension with new low-friction dampers for improved ride comfort and the availability of a new radar-based Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system.

2008 Dodge Sprinter Wagon 2500 144-in. WB Car

2008 Dodge Sprinter Wagon 2500 144-in. WB Car

MCR Readying Nissan 370Z for Tokyo Auto Salon

At this week's 2009 Tokyo Auto Salon that runs from January 9 to 11, Japan's Matchless Crowd Racing (MCR) will reveal a fully modded Nissan 370Z packed with accessories and performance items from various manufacturers. We don't have all the details yet, but we do know that MCR's 370Z show car will get a NISMO aero-package with a front and rear spoiler, side skirts and a rear wing, Enkei alloy wheels wrapped in Yokohama tires, uprated Endless brake system, a sport suspension and a lightweight sport exhaust system. Check out some more photos of the 370Z from MCR after the jump…

Chrysler's Plunge 53% in December, Total 2008 Sales 30% Down

They say bad things tend to come in threes, and unfortunately, that's the case with Detroit's Big Three automakers. Chrysler LLC's December sales in the U.S. were much worse than GM's 31% and Ford's 32.4% decline as the company reported sales of 89,813 units - down a staggering 53 percent from the same month in 2007. From January to December 2008, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge U.S. sales decreased 30 percent to 1,453,122 units compared with total 2007 sales of 2,076,650 units.