Hi everybody, it's Maeda here.
I feel like it took a long time for me to write something for the Future Lab News again - how are you all doing these days?

You see a lot of Nissan GT-Rs, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Xs, and Subaru Impreza WRX STIs on the roads these days, don't you think?
When new car models come on the scene, you always get excited thinking about how fast they are and how well they corner, right?
When these new models come out it makes you want to get a new real car...

Even though overseas manufacturers are churning out hundreds of new sports cars these days, Japan isn't making that many at all. I really hope that Japanese manufacturers keep making new types of sports car.

Speaking of car types, it seems like lots of you would like to see some pretty old out of production cars in the Wangan games. You particularly wanted the Nissan Skyline GT-R (the "Hakosuka"), the Mazda Savanna RX-7, and the Toyota 2000GT.
Even though lots of the people who posted their comments in the opinion box were quite young, the cars they recommended were pretty old! Just goes to show, an old cool car is still a cool car!
A coolness that defies the passage of time...
It would be fun to race these out of production cars against some new models in Wangan Maxi.

If I'd had my way, I'd have put some 80s and 90s cars like the Toyota Soarer and the Nissan Leopard into Wangan Maxi, because I really wanted those cars when they first appeared. Unfortunately, some shady dealings behind the scenes at Wangan Maxi 3 headquarters meant that they weren't included in the game this time...
Some car fanatics wanted cars like the Nissan Stagea Autech 260RS.
I'm lying in wait for the day that I can sneak these cars in through the back door!

And remember, I always check your comments in the opinion box carefully, so keep on sending them in!
OK folks, see ya!

(Original article in Japanese released on 3.12.2008)