Drive a Nissan GT-R on Your Sony PlayStation 3

Nissan's all-new super-hot GT-R super sportscar is already pretty much sold out for the 2009 model year. But you can get behind the wheel of this great drive -- on a Sony PlayStation 3.

Nissan has made an unusual marketing move, allowing the interiors of the eagerly awaited sportscar to be copied for an early version of the Gran Turismo 5 racing classic game. It's also a marketing move by Sony, which racing down the straightaway against Microsoft Xbox.

According to the advertising and marketing newsletter CMDglobal.com, news about the new game revved up up with a mix of word-of-mouth, emails to the GT and Nissan databases, updates on the Gran Turismo website, Facebook pages and online ads. Registrants raced virtual laps of a specific racetrack, in a specific car, on on their PlayStation consoles.

Here's where the game gets real --

The two fastest drivers -- er, players -- will represent Team Nissan in the 24-hour endurance race in Dubai in January 2009, after an eight-month training program.

So, you must be asking -- what about the car? The real car? Glad you asked.

The GT-R is a head-turner, with a 480-horsepower, twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 engine and an advanced 6-speed dual clutch automatic transmission. MSRP is $69,850. I much prefer the real car to the game car.

Actually, this is the latest supercar to be launched on the small screen. Last year, the equally fabulous Audi R8 made its debut in the hit movie "Iron Man".

Callaway C16 is a Street-Legal Racecar

Talk about great drives! The Callaway C16 Speedster is not for the timid.

This hand-made speedster is packed with a massive super-charged intercooled 6.2-litre 700HP (yes, 700!) engine, it begs to stretch its legs on the open road or, better yet, a closed racetrack driving day. Possible, now that those other speeders have left the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until the next Indianapolis 500 next Memorial Day weekend.

This street-legal racecar is filled with track-style, space-age technology, including carbon wheels that weigh some 40-percent less than the lightest aluminum wheels, for improved acceleration, cornering and braking. Did I mention yet that top speed is over 210MPH, and an astounding zero-to-sixty in just 3.2 seconds?

Reeves Callaway knows a thing or two about fast cars. He has built engines for Indy cars. He has designed turbo-chargers for Porsche, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. And let's not overlook the legendary C4 Callaway Twin Turbo Corvette.

Fast is an understatement. So is calling the C16 Speedster a sleek and sculptured beauty. Much like its predecessors, the 1990 Callaway Speedster and 1998 C12 Speedster, this is a visceral open air driving experience. As we said – not for the timid.

And, as J. Pierpont Morgan once said when somebody asked him about the price of his yacht, if you have to ask you can't afford it.

But you asked. It costs $305,000, but the price includes two silvery helmets for when you take this street-legal racer on the track. Don't ask its MPG rating. You really don't want to know.

Dream on.

Audi Stars in Iron Man Movie

Iron Man is the summer's blockbuster movie. The Audi R8 is the hot, sold-out great drives car of the moment.

Does Iron Man Tony Stark drive an Audi R8? Of course he does.

Audi is justly celebrating the success of the R8, which was named "best designed car of the year" at the New York Auto Show in March. It's gorgeous. And powerful.

I test drove it recently, and gotta tell you that the torque and power at the lower end of the gearbox is whoa horsey. But in upper gears, it handles like its popular kid sister, the Audi TT -- responsive, no lean on tight turns, a great drive that's also a fun drive. And a serious head-turner, too.

Back to the movie and the A-List -- the Who's Who of Hollywood was chauffered to the movie premiere at the legendary Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, in various Audi models. Time for name-dropping:

Jeff Bridges, Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau and Terence Howard arrived in an R8 -- which, BTW, has a 2-year waitlist.

Of course Robert Downey Jr. -- he's Tony Stark, Iron Man. His leading lady, Gwyneth Paltrow, arrived in an Audi A8L W12 sedan, not the sporty Audi S5 she drives in the film.

Jack Black, Leslie Bibb and Vince Vaughn were escorted in the Audi Q7 SUV.

Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, whose superpowers are the result of the highly versatile and indestructible high-tech armor he developed himself. When he is without his Iron Man suit, the technically-adept billionaire relies on the Audi R8.

There's a special Audi-Iron Man website that includes exclusive behind-the-scenes content, interviews with the cast and crew, Audi Iron Man commercials, background on use of Audi vehicles on the movie set, and more.

Audi and Iron Man -- great drive and a great movie.