Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

[DoggieHowser]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Nissan GT-R First Drive - First Drives - Carmagazine.co.uk

Nissan GT-R First Drive

Posted: 2:19pm, 30 November 2007

Nissan GT-R. Finally, the full-blown road test…

Yes, after all the hype, the teaser images, the passenger rides and interviews, we’ve finally been let loose in the Nissan GT-R, one of the most anticipated drives of the year.

And my word, it’s been worth the six-year wait. This is one of the finest, most engaging and desirable cars we have driven in ages, a car with a seemingly endless range of ground-covering abilities that elevates it way beyond the common Nissan badge. It’s automotive heaven…

The GT-R is really that good?

Yes. It’s really that good. Nissan took us out to its test track in Sendai, a small student town a couple of hours north of Tokyo on the Bullet Train. The circuit is only 2.5 miles long, but it crams an amazing number of different corners – fast, slow, off-camber and sweaty-palm kinks – into a short stretch of tarmac. A Nürburgring-lite, if you like.

There we hooked up with Kazutoshi Mizuno, former head of Nissan’s sports car racing programme, who warned us about the intricacies of the Sendai circuit and then lobbed us the GT-R’s keys for ten fast-as-you-dare laps.

Please, please tell me it turned you into a driving god…

One with winged heels! The GT-R is ferociously quick, sucking in the horizon with the kind of pace that makes you radically recalibrate your speed-distance-time triangle. The 3.8-litre bi-turbo engine is a new V6, not related to the fine one used in the 350Z. It’s an amazingly tractable engine, pulling from way down low in the rev band, then energised by the twin IHI turbochargers all the way, uninterrupted, to the 7000rpm redline.

From launch to 62mph takes just 3.6 seconds. Top speed is a supercar-rivalling 193mph. The gearchange is lightening quick and clean, and those big Brembo brakes are quite brilliant. They stop you like a giant hand firmly pulling you backwards to safety. Mizuno says they’re the best brakes on any production car and Japanese homologation tests say the same. On our experience, we'd be inclined to agree.

Straightline speed is one thing, cornering is another...

Don't worry, the GT-R has the polished dynamics to use all that power, all that turbo-enhanced performance all the time. Sure, the steering isn’t as sharp or as delicate as a 911’s – the GT-R is 350kg heavier, remember – but it’s linear and the GT-R’s blunt nose instantly changes direction, no questions asked.

It doesn't understeer, it simply hunkers down and goes where you want it. It’s a car that drives square on its feet rather than always on its toes. Less poetic, perhaps, than its European rivals. But, in this case, faster. And so easy to exploit.

It is, says Mizuno, the fastest production car in the world around the Nürburgring – according to Nissan, only the bespoke (and out of production) Porsche Carrera GT can lap the daunting German circuit quicker. That’s real-world pace, irrespective of road or weather conditions. 4 of 8

So it’s a real hardcore machine?

Oh it’s quick alright – quick enough to make Porsche’s 911 Turbo feel unexciting – but the GT-R’s real appeal is its adaptability. Punt it hard, really hard on a track and the GT-R responds, delivering searing pace, formidable control, a fine and perfectly judged balance and a wonderfully high level of feedback.

But if you want to drive it across town in rush-hour traffic or halfway across a continent, you simply slot into Drive, settle back into the thickly padded and generously bolstered seats, switch the suspension setting to soft and the GT-R is so easy and effortless, you might just as well be in a Maxima. A very brisk Maxima.

And that’s core to the Nissan’s magic appeal – its ability to deliver two distinctly different driving characteristics, where the qualities of one don’t compromise the other.

How does it achieve this duality?

With just three switches, housed just above the gearlever, at the bottom of the centre of the dash. The left one adjusts the transmission and you choose ‘R’ mode for faster gearshifts. The middle switch adjusts the dampers. Again, you choose R for the sportiest chassis set-up. Those Bilsteins are now on maximum sports setting.

Finally turn the VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control – controlling stability and traction controls) switch to R. Which means it’s turned off. Ring up three Rs and you're ready to Race. Flick them back to their default settings and you have a comfy cruiser.

There’s even a brake-assist function for hills, to avoid rolling backwards unintentionally on those awkward hill starts.

Not that it looks like a cruiser…

True, the GT-R’s lines are bold, brutal and intimidating, but its hides a surprisingly roomy and well packaged cabin. There is none of the styling poetry of a Porsche or, even more, a Ferrari, but the Nissan is bank-vault solidly built and - apart from the PlayStation graphics on the ‘multi function meter’ (myriad info read-outs include turbo boost and front/rear torque split, plus steering angle and even a g meter) - it’s coupé conventional.
7 of 8

Verdict

Quite simply, the new GT-R is the world’s most multi-faceted supercar. There is no fast car so easy to steer, none so forgiving, no car that has more armoury in its quest to go fast and keep you out of trouble.

Just as that old GT-R resets the standards for front-engined coupés, so the new one lifts the bar ever higher. An M3 beater? Easily. M5? Think higher. This car is faster, more high-tech, sharper, more capable. Faster than a 911 Turbo on the straight. Or on the circuit. And all for normal 911 money. Genius.

Gavin Green

 

[DoggieHowser]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Talk abt a glut of reviews! Even I am a little bloated from the info.

 

[DoggieHowser]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Nissan GT-R: Street racer - Telegraph

Last one before I start packing for my trip.. HEH I really like the "Alternatives" list. Playstation



Nissan GT-R: Street racer


Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 01/12/2007

Nissan G-TR [tech/spec]





Somewhere between computer fantasy and tyre-smoking reality, Andrew English gets to grips with the new Nissan GT-R
Aki Itoh was born in America to immigrant Japanese parents. He is a lawyer, speaks perfect Japanese and lives and works in Tokyo for a California-based law firm. He is also a big fan of the Nissan Skyline GT-R and owns a rare special-edition 1995 BCNR 33 model.

Passionate: the Nissan Skyline GT-R "The appeal is a bit hard to describe," he says. "The car was far ahead of its time when the original BNR32, first released in 1989, was designed in the late-1980s. Subsequent models addressed the weak points and the car gradually became longer and heavier, but fundamentally, across all three generations, the engine and drivetrain remained the same.
"Because it was originally designed for Group A racing, the GT-R was very fast out of the box and it's also very easy to tune.
For example, all cars were rated at 280PS [276bhp], but there are some out there running more than 1,000 horsepower. My car is estimated to pump out about 500 horsepower. Further, all of these GT-Rs have an intelligent four-wheel-drive system (ATTESSA), which means it normally drives as a rear-wheel-drive car (for the sports-car purists), but can shift almost instantaneously to 4WD when the front wheels are needed for increased grip. This means the car is extremely fast in any situation.
"That's what is great about the GT-R - ease of tunability, and the potential for incredible power and performance, even 18 years after it first went on sale here in Japan. There are so many parts out there that you can tune it to your liking (subject to your wallet's limits). Or, you could leave it alone, and it's still a very fast car. It's probably the most customisable car out there - like a bespoke suit, you can create a car that fits you perfectly.
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"I think all three models - and the new GT-R as well - are fantastic-looking cars. The R33 GT-R has aged the most gracefully, the R32 is very brutish, and the R34 has a 'robot' or 'Transformer' quality to it. For all three models, however, there is an air of menace and superiority - just by looking at the car, you know it's fast. On the expressway, when I am in the overtaking lane, 90 per cent of people pull over immediately when they see me approaching in their rear-view mirrors.
"It is also one of the best cars I have driven. The better the driver you are, the better the car responds. For a novice, the power can be frightening, but to someone who knows what they are doing, the car is an absolute blast.
"There is also the Skyline legend here in Japan - it's one of Japan's most legendary cars because of its 50-year history and its ability to run with the best from the US and Europe. The GT-R is the ultimate version of the Skyline. I think everyone I have talked to in Japan knows what a Skyline is and it definitely has one of the highest brand identities here.
"If you want to read more, I have posted my adventures with my GT-R on my blog at akasakabcnr33.livejournal.com." AE If you've got a job, a driving licence and get out of bed before midday, Nissan's Skyline GT-R is probably the most famous car you've never heard of. If, however, you live in the dark spaces between dusk and dawn, the fridge and the computer, Dave TV and Gran Turismo, then this test is going to be rather disappointing.
Because this is a real car, dudes, not the top-gun virtual racer on your Sony PlayStation.
You think I'm joking? It's been 10 years since Kazunori Yamauchi's Gran Turismo was launched. With a fifth generation due next year, this is the world's most popular driving game and the most popular PlayStation game, and there have been 56 different varieties of the Nissan Skyline available on it. Millions of PlayStation users around the world daily fill forum threads with questions about the right way to drift a GT-R, the correct stickers to have on the wings and whether a classic 1999 R34 model is better than a 2004 Nismo Z-tune R34... Those long winter nights must fly by.
Ironically, in the real world, Skyline wasn't even a Nissan name. The model began life badged as a Prince, a company that was taken over by Nissan in 1966. The Skyline has always been something of a giant killer, though, beating a Porsche 904 in its second year of racing in the 1964 Japanese touring car grand prix and going on to win four consecutive Japanese touring car championships, numerous GT laurels, as well as the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
News gradually leaked out about what Nissan billed as "the world's most powerful touring car" and, thanks to individuals such as Anthony Hussey of Connolly and race preparation expert Ray Mallock importing their own cars, enthusiasts began to understand the appeal of this extraordinary machine, whose understated styling concealed sledgehammer performance and highly sophisticated four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering. Eventually, after Mallock imported a few more, Nissan UK demurred to demand and brought in 100 R34s under the Single Vehicle Approval scheme. Yet the GT-R remains a relatively rare sight on UK roads compared with the rally-bred road rockets from Subaru and Mitsubishi.
In the late 1990s, as Nissan faced financial ruin and Renault rode to the rescue with the Alliance, few imagined that the ageing R34 would be replaced under the new world order of financial austerity and management commitment ushered in by new boss Carlos "Le Cost Cutter" Ghosn. Even when he appeared at the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show with a GT-R concept, it looked like a gussied-up bagatelle to throw the enthusiasts.
The internet bubbled with conspiracy theories about why the concept would never appear, but Gran Turismo fans kept the pot boiling in anticipation, and then in 2003 we saw the production concept proper and the whole idea looked definitely on. Whether Ghosn was bounced into making the car, or whether the long gestation was a clever if devious game to motivate what remained of the Nissan workforce, we will probably never know. The influence of the gaming community is undeniable, however. Sony has recently signed a long-term collaboration deal with Nissan to co-develop cars and products and, in an extraordinary homage to Gran Turismo, the new GT-R has an instrument binnacle designed by Kazunori Yamauchi's team at Polyphony Digital, which designs the games.
If the GT-R's background is a fascinating glimpse of car-making realpolitik and a weird mix of virtuality and reality, then its shape is bang up to date and unmistakably Japanese. It's slippery, too, as its 0.27Cd drag coefficient proves. The GT-R is Japan's supercar, borrowing little from the established grandees of Germany, Italy and Britain. From its faux-cantilevered roof to its slab sides and raked cabin, the 15ft 2in GT-R has many admirers and even plagiarists. The Toyota hybrid FT-HS concept that appeared at Detroit this year is a direct crib of the roofline at least.
The twin-turbo V6 engines are built at the Yokohama plant near Tokyo, which also turns out a million donkeys a year for the Micras and Qashqais driven by the mums of Gran Turismo warriors. Fourteen specially trained craftsmen assemble 25 VR38DETT V6s per shift in a clean room in the middle of the plant; the plan is eventually to make 10,000 a year. Warranty claims on engines produced in the rest of the plant, outside the GT-R's clean room, are hardly parlous, so the precautions seem superfluous, but they do help to build the celebration of general whizziness that the GT-R is meant to engender.
It's an interesting engine, but not altogether radical. For a V6, it's a tall unit, with the front differential sitting alongside the tiny sump, which supplies oil to the dry-sump system. As with all modern engines, it is covered in valves, delivery pipes and "dressing", which is a shame as the bare cam covers and sculpted aluminium cylinder heads bear a close similarity to the famous Triumph two-litre racing engine known as "Sabrina" because of its passing resemblance to the 1950s actress's décolletage.
The bores are finished with a plasma coating, effectively welded to the surface of the aluminium. It's a race-car technology that makes a thin, lightweight and durable surface for the pistons to run in, but is expensive and time-consuming to effect. The block has a closed deck for strength, but the connecting rods are conventionally I-shaped and the pistons look quite long-skirted by the standards of the German competition. Sadly, the incredible ceramic IHI turbos have been dropped in favour of more conventional blowers. Those ceramic units were able to withstand some of the outrageous super-tuning done by some owners and Nissan admits this new 473bhp engine is not as tuneable, although this might partly be the company backing away from any warranty commitments to fire-breathing, 1,000bhp lumps that go pop. There is even a memory in the engine's software to register if a car has been tuned, and we understand these "no-tuning" electronics are a sop to the supercar-sized hole that the GT-R has driven through Japan's voluntary agreement to restrict engine power to about 280bhp. With turbos and inlet-charge coolers attached, the engine weighs 551lb (250kg).

Awesome: the new GT-R is a fantastic beast to play with on a track - on real roads, however, particularly British ones, you could learn to hate it GT-Rs were originally built at Nissan's Murayama factory in Tokyo, which was closed (by Ghosn) in 2001. The new model is built at Nissan's front-engine, rear-drive plant at Tochigi some 60 miles (and three hours of rush-hour driving) north of the capital. Every minute and 50 seconds, a Nissan Infiniti, President, Maxima, Skyline or GT-R rolls off the end of the production line (the new GT-R has dropped the Skyline badge). Although the GT-R is a more complicated car than the others, Nissan has cleverly packed any time-consuming complexity into sub-assemblies, so it can be built largely by machine. The only additional work required is an accurate alignment of the rear suspension and front tracking and a longer and more brutal post-production test route to burnish and bed in the many friction linings in the six-speed semi-automatic transmission, which is the size of a small horse, weighs 265lb (120kg) and sits in unit with the rear axle. "We call these tests the 'red doughnuts'," says immensely proud set-up engineer Kazuo Shishikura ("the Shishi stand for lion"). "Our 10 set-up guys have special skills and very strong necks to cope with the acceleration." After two days in Japan spent sitting on coaches and visiting transmission plants, we were more than happy to arrive at the Sendai race circuit where the car was set up. Nissan is claiming a lap time around the old Nürburgring circuit in Germany (in less than ideal conditions) of 7min 38sec; a Porsche 911 Turbo is capable of about 7min 40sec, so there's no doubting the GT-R's performance credentials.
Driving on an unfamiliar and horribly bendy circuit while wearing outsized fireproof overalls and a helmet several sizes too big is hardly the best introduction to the latest rocket car, but hey, you've got to, haven't you?
There's just time to notice that the cabin doesn't match the exterior's radical lines but seems well made, that the front seats hug you closer than a lover's embrace and have plenty of adjustment, that there's more than enough head-room and that the facia isn't the garish computer-game horror we had been led to believe; then the light turns green and we're off.
Jumping Jehosaphat, this car is quick. With an industrial humming roar from under the bonnet, it sprints away from the line allowing barely a couple of seconds before you need to flip the right-hand gearchange paddle to change up. The change is simply fantastic: fast, but with none of the semi-automatic brutality of rival machines. You do lose the fixed-position paddles behind the steering wheel when turning into a corner, but with a bit of practice you learn to extend a pinkie, tea-with-the-vicar style, to flip in a new ratio if you've got some lock on.
The steering feels slightly inert but meaty as you turn in on the brakes to a horrible series of downhill bends. The GT-R grips well, but at 1.7 tonnes (1,740kg) there's plenty of work for the tyres to do; eventually it starts to slide at one end or the other and then it reveals its party trick. Too fast, barely in control, you stamp on the loud pedal and deep inside that huge transmission, computers send signals to close and open clutches to apportion torque to the wheel that will do the least harm and pull the car straight. It's a bizarre feeling, knowing the car is saving you from your worst excesses, but pretty soon you learn to exploit it.
"You must try to push the throttle before you get to the apex of the corner, so you can see the system working," implored Kazutoshi Mizuno, chief vehicle engineer and "Mr GT-R", before we drove. It takes a lot of blind faith to stand on it half-way through a corner when the car is already sliding perilously close to a hungry-looking wall, but I glued my courage to the sticking spot on a couple of occasions and the GT-R did exactly as Mizunosan predicted. The transmission poured torque into the turning front wheels, held the slide and gradually straightened up the slithering beast, hurling it out of the bend and up the road with minimal countersteering input from its sweating driver.
Of course there's understeer, but you need to go looking for it with a big net and a gun. You feel it most turning into downhill bends, when the car's weight makes its presence felt, but on flatter corners the GT-R responds well to the helm, a bit antiseptically, perhaps, but fast and sure. The Brembo brakes are good too, although they did feel rather "leant on" after four laps, with much-increased pedal travel. For the track, the GT-R could do with a fruitier exhaust note and perhaps the slightly more benign Dunlop tyres rather than the twitchy Bridgestones.
So then it was out on to Japanese roads, which are rigidly speed-enforced. Just as well, really, for within two miles it was clear that the GT-R rides like a trolley jack and follows road seams and lorry-tyre indentations like a bloodhound. At one point the steering was so heavily into an invisible rut I thought we'd developed a flat, until reminded that we were riding on run-flat tyres and there was a tyre-pressure warning indicator on the dashboard in any case.
Even with the adjustable Bilstein dampers in their comfort setting, road seams, expansion joints and drain covers reverberated through the bodyshell like someone was shooting at us. Get into the groove, drive with enthusiasm and the Nissan is almost ethereally rewarding, but clattering along a British B-road you could probably learn to hate it. Driven hard on some UK roads, it would be in the air for much of the time. Even a Porsche 911 GT3 rides better.
All supercar transmissions have their foibles and on the road the Nissan's is no exception. The twin-clutch unit grates and moans at low speeds and while you can shift on the fly or engage reverse while gently rolling forward, it doesn't like it much and lets you know. But again, once moving at speed, the 'box is a delight.
There's a fair bit of road noise from the tyres and from the rear of the car. The shell feels so stiff it's almost like a carbon-fibre monocoque (actually it's steel, aluminium-alloy and carbon fibre), which is great for handling, not so good for comfort given the harshness of the suspension.
So it's a truly great track car but a highly compromised road car. The GT-R will also be expensive, at least in the UK, where the proposed windscreen sticker will almost double the £31,000 Japanese price. Nissan is thinking of setting up barriers to stop anyone who plans to import Japanese models personally.
It's also suggesting that UK sales figures could eventually be as high as 800 per year. As a sales proposition, "911 performance at Jaguar money" could make some sense, but not without a lot of work to mitigate the on-road harshness. As it stands, the GT-R will appeal to previous owners and track-day aficionados but, for the rest of us, the only gran turismo this car suits is on a computer screen.
Nissan G-TR [tech/spec]

Price/availability: Expected to be about £56,000-£60,000. On UK sale March 2009.
Engine/transmission: 3,799cc, 60-degree V6 twin-turbocharged petrol; 473bhp at 6,400rpm, 433lb ft of torque at 3,200rpm. Six-speed twin-clutch semi-automatic transaxle, with paddle shift; electronically adjustable four-wheel drive with front/rear varying torque split.
Performance: top speed 192.6mph, 0-60mph in 3.4sec, Combined average fuel consumption on Japanese cycle 34.45mpg (tank capacity 15.6 gallons), CO2 emissions N/A.
We like: It's faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo, understated but different, and it flatters the driver.
We don't like: It's heavy, it rides like a trolley jack, it will cost about 60 grand and only very small people will fit in the back seats.
Alternatives: Alfa Romeo 159 JTS V6 Q4, from £29,550. Audi RS4 quattro, from £51,825. Audi R8, from £76,825. BMW M3, from £50,625. Corvette Z06, from £62,695. Jaguar XKR, from £76,097. Lexus IS-F, on sale late next year, high £40,000s. Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, from £52,000. Mitsubishi Evo X, due March 2008, from £30,000. Porsche 911 3.8S, from £67,860. Subaru WRX STI, from £30,000. Vauxhall VXR8, from £35,105. Sony PlayStation 3 and Gran Turismo 4, about £350.

 

[timechaser]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Doggie - I officially hate you now.

Bonkers...

 

[Mockngbrd]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Buy Liao La!
*rummages for 4D & toto coupons*

 

[BorisRS]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Still sounds more 911 turbo than GT3 to me.

Don't get me wrong. That in itself is not a bad thing. And given the fact that the current 911 turbo is such a refined machine (for me a real lost the plot car), this more brutal, quicker car deserves to replace the 911 turbo as the fast, brutal GT.

Just think that with the weight and obvious suspension harshness of the GTR, the 911 GT3 is still the car I would chose as a daily driver, occassional Sunday Malaysian B road/Track toy.

But then again, that is chosing between the cars without any consideration for the economics of the equation. For new GT3 money, I could have this GTR and with 230k in change, nearly a new Boxster as well.

:yikess:

Am I the only person here who thinks that the parallel importers are selling the car here too cheap? Again not a bad thing but then again if they were to raise prices to the mid $300k range, I suspect sales would not be dented in any significant way. In the UK, at the expected 55k sterling range, this makes the car 10% more expensive than the new M3 which is being sold by performance for approx $370k. Or in Porsche terms, 997 C2 coupe money. Again a $380k car (base price, zero options) from SA.

 

[DoggieHowser]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

words: Eddie Alterman

Um, this car is fast? But you've probably gathered that from the various op-eds, manifestos, and presumptions written here already about the GT-R. What you couldn't have known is that the 2009 Nissan GT-R — coming to a dealership near you in June for the low, low starting price of $69,850 — is fast in a way you don't expect. It isn't just astoundingly powerful and stable in a straight line, or electrically quick around a racetrack. It's fast where other cars fear to tread. Indeed, the GT-R might just be the new twisty-road king, the quickest way to get from point A to point B over the most challenging asphalt imaginable, even in biblical weather. After driving the GT-R, you may feel the urge to sell your 911 Turbo or your Corvette Z06, followed by an equally strong urge to kneel before it like a Japanese schoolboy.

For while the GT-R is the most powerful street car to ever come out of Japan, its numbers only tell part of the story. Granted, it's a great part: 473 hp, 434 lb-ft, 0-62 in 3.5 seconds, 193-mph top speed, Nordschleife time of 7:38 on a partially wet track. More important is that the GT-R is so preternaturally composed and planted and exciting and heroic that you get out of this huge snorting ox of a car thinking, "Am I really that good?" and then, inevitably, "Alas, I am awesome."

I drove the car on the Sendai Hi-Line racetrack an hour north of Tokyo — a track Nissan used as the car's home-development course — and also on the broken, mountainous roads around it. But before I start adding to my own roadgoing mythology here, there is the not insignificant matter of explaining the GT-R's interior and mechanical packages.

The GT-R's cabin is a relatively somber workplace, especially compared with the pachinko parlor that was the previous, RHD-only, R34 GT-R. Oh, this first global GT-R still has a multi-data display/nav screen atop the dash, only now it doesn't have the air of your college roommate's 100-band Kenwood equalizer whose primary function was to look cool at night. This screen, developed in conjunction with Polyphony Digital, Inc., the graphic artists behind the Gran Turismo series, is classy and subdued, all blacks, reds, whites, and greys. It displays an amazing amount of information succinctly, including g forces, brake pressure, and more. Underneath the screen is the HVAC and optional Bose radio, which is their best automotive application so far. Bose mounted some speakers directly to various die-cast aluminum panels in the structure, and the resulting sound quality is piercingly clear, with very concrete stereo separation.

Beneath that head unit are three flat aluminum three-position toggle switches, which control (from right to left): shift speed, damper stiffness, and VDC stability control. All switches operate with a satisfying click, and all three have "R" modes. On the left-side toggle, R represents the fastest of the three shift speeds, resulting in 0.2-second, no-nonsense cog swaps from the 6-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The damper switch, when put in R, applies a fixed force to the Bilstein shocks, which operate as continuously variable units in the other two (Comfort and Sport) modes. I found R mode to be the best of the three, with Comfort, a sop to American ride preferences, a distant second — in R, there is no loss of primary ride quality (which is just this side of harsh), even as the secondary ride control tightens up dramatically. Also, unlike Porsche's PASM system that uses these same adjustable Bilsteins, here the fixed damping rate means that the control feel through the chassis isn't constantly changing depending on your angle of attack, which can be downright spooky in a car as powerful as the 911 Turbo. The VDC switch has default On, full Off, and an R mode that allows far more slip angle than the default mode. VDC intervenes by changing timing first, then reducing throttle inputs.

Speaking of throttle, the aluminum-and-rubber-covered pedals are well placed for left-foot braking. A short, clunky shift knob sits in front of the de rigueur red start/stop button. The rest of the cabin is trimmed either in supple black or grey leather, with body-hugging, thigh-supporting seats. A manually adjustable, smallish steering wheel has redundant entertainment/cruise controls, and there are fixed paddle-shift blades behind it.

Those paddles control an all-wheel-drive transaxle. The unit is long and low, right in line with the rear wheel centers. It comprises a center differential, the 6-speed dual-multiplate-clutch unit, and a rear differential with mechanical limited slip. A steel take-off from the center differential runs back up to the open-diff'd front axle, whose half-shafts pass through the oil pan, keeping the center of gravity low. The main driveshaft is made of carbon fiber for strength and to minimize rotational mass. With this set-up, there is some driveline lash under brutal applications of power, but shifts are crisp (triple-cone BorgWarner synchros, throttle blip on downshifts) and fast (0.2 sec) and the differential only sends power up front when it needs to — normal torque split is 0/100 front/rear. Just as it ought to be.

Separating the engine and gearbox is essential to the GT-R's balance and overall light-footed character. Because, as anyone who has read the spec sheet knows, this thing is heavier than a dozen pre-op Al Rokers. In the briefing room before the drive, GT-R chief engineer, Mizuno-san, produced a flotilla of slides justifying why Nissan chose to create the all-new PM (premium-midship) platform specifically for this car, rather than hyperextend the Nissan Z's FM (front-midship) platform. It wasn't in pursuit of 50:50 weight distribution. He said, and I'm paraphrasing his Janglish here, "50:50 weight distribution might seem impressive, but that's measured in a static state. When inertial forces come into play, the car's loads shift and the tires' contact patches change. What you want is a weight distribution that anticipates and mitigates those forces. And the transaxle layout helps to minimize load shifts, splitting the mass over two axles." Which is an elaborate way of saying that weight distribution is 53/47.

The engine up front is Nissan's new VR38DETT (3.8-liter Dual overhead cam Electronic injection Turbo Turbo) V6. It gets a big boost in displacement from the R34's 2.6-liter twin-turbo straight six, and also an extra whomping of power. Officially, the R34 held timidly to Japanese output limit of 280PS while unofficially producing something north of 400 hp. This engine trades the straight six's smoothness for V6-y eagerness, even if the character of the turbos is linear, with very little lag. Boost rolls in around 3000 rpm and keeps mounting. Max torque of 434 lingers for 2000 rpm beyond that, and peak power hits at 6400. The IHI turbos are small, and integrated right into the exhaust manifold. (Since the GT-R is on the Japanese government's villain-list, Nissan has had to perform all sorts of backflips to make the car seem less diabolical. That means you can't slap on bigger turbos, there's no official launch control, and you can't mess with the ECU or even change wheels without voiding the warranty.) Still, there's plenty to get excited about underhood: The 38DETT has plasma bore linings, which save a lot of weight relative to other low-friction liner options, and independent and symmetrical intake and exhaust systems for higher output and faster engine response.

It's all wrapped in a body structure that makes liberal use of die-cast aluminum, adding flex-free lightness to the doors, roof, and rear bulkhead. There's also a bit of carbon fiber in there, the coolest piece of which is the radiator support that connects to the flat, downforce-producing underbody.

With all this in my head, I set off from the Sendai Hi-Land track in a white GT-R (probably its best color), for a two-hour blast through the northern Japanese countryside. The first thing I noticed was the ridiculously poor quality of the roads, and how well the car coped with it. The normal Sport suspension setting jostled the car around too much and got my various parts to jiggling. Firming it up to R mode, I was soon hustling this right-hand-drive GT-R through these tawny hills like they were my own private race course. The car demands to be driven hard, taunting you to exercise limited judgment around corners, and making you look like a hero when, miraculously, nothing goes wrong. It's a huge, portly machine, but it disguises its bulk with bedrock stiffness, fluid body transitions, and instantaneous reaction times. You look down at the speedometer to find you are going at least twice as fast as common sense would advise, realizing that the chassis has this remarkable ability to neutralize curvy, bumpy, off-camber terrain. And it's equally poised at extralegal highway speeds. One gripe: The car's steering is a little rubbery off center, even if it's precise under load. The brakes, however, feel firm and progressive, like a racquetball under your foot, resisting predictably all the way to the floor. And there is power everywhere, great gear-matched tsunamis of power flattening everything in the car's path.

When I got back to the circuit, I bummed a Mild Seven to calm my nerves, then suited up. Sendai is a very grippy yet technical track, with sneaky elevation changes and numerous decreasing radius corners. But with safe runoff in abundance, I snicked off the VDC. The car leapt out of the pit and bit into the first corner. Because the GT-R seemed to be urging me to, I broke hard to settle the front end and got on the power well before the turn's apex. The car loved this premature application of throttle, and let me drift luridly. It rotates from a point right behind the driver's seat — a spinning GT-R is so easy to gather up, I was driving with one hand on the wheel at one point. Then the big Brembos faded spectacularly when I shortened a braking zone, so I had to start paying attention again. The anchors cooled off quickly, thanks to the way air passes through the body, and were back at full effectiveness two turns later. Thereafter, it was lots of trailing-throttle-oversteer mayhem. The level of work required to do this was unaffiliated with the amount of partying happening out back. It simply drove like a very powerful rear-driver, and it definitely upset my preconceptions: Because the car is so big and heavy, I expected its reflexes to be dull on the track. Instead, the GT-R has this strong, nakedly mechanical feel that somehow makes it lifelike, even soulful. Unfortunately, its V6 doesn't sound the part: The engine, intake, and exhaust note stack up into an incongruous, uninspiring moan — a passing GT-R sounds like the world's fastest Shop-Vac.

After the drive, I had the depressing revelation that this Nissan is a harbinger of the End Times soon to be upon all car enthusiasts. Carmakers can't possibly pack any more performance-enhancing stuff into a more affordable or usable package. You just sense that some huge correction, in the form of CO2 restrictions, social disdain, or an alien invasion, is going to put a stop to all these great cars; it'll be the fuel crisis all over again, and we'll all be piloting spelt-powered mopeds, wearing government-mandated helmets to compound the humiliation. For now, though, we have the GT-R in the offing and a couple other relatively accessible supercars like it; baby 599s for the merely affluent. As the GT-R comes thundering across the plain, its path eventually uniting with those other national icons, the Z06 and the 911 Turbo, you have to wonder: What will be the fourth horseman of the apocalypse?

 

[Breyton]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Just read Autocar's review of the GT-R.... the part that had me cracked up was the reference to the number of 'GT-R' badges peppered all over the car, but only one 'Nissan' badge on the boot (yes, even the nose says 'GT-R')... which ended with the comment 'show it to someone who knows nothing about cars and they'd think it was manufactured by 'GT-R''.... haha!

 

[DoggieHowser]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Trust the jeddah boys to get first dibs!

I am sooo envious!

http://www.jeddahboys.com/vb/showthread.php?t=105843





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[centurion]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Singapore boyz get it not much later.... but you are poisonous. Even kai is influenced. In any case, take in a deep breath and relax. If you're waiting for one the long wait makes it so much sweeter when you get it.

 

[TripleM]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Any news bout the EVO model? Supposedly to be like the GTR RS version , ie Lightweight.

 

[DoggieHowser]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Any news bout the EVO model? Supposedly to be like the GTR RS version , ie Lightweight.

Rumour mill says 2 seater, tweaked suspension and more hardcore, less weight called V-Spec but expect a premium like GT3 or GT2 over base C2S or Turbo.

 

[R33Devil]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

To BorisRS's point

I think the "real" price for this car should be about the low 300k mark. Dealers who market them below that price, I would be shocked if OMV can go above 100k. Cost of car is abt 7.8million Yen plus insurance and frieght. It will break 8.5million yen. That cannot be below SGD100k

Boris, I got one ordered for you...

 

[TripleM]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Rumour mill says 2 seater, tweaked suspension and more hardcore, less weight called V-Spec but expect a premium like GT3 or GT2 over base C2S or Turbo.

That's like >100k...holymoly ...
The LW model betta be sub 1500kgs

 

[Mockngbrd]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Nissan hosts GT-R owners meet - Autoblog

Nissan hosts GT-R owners meet

Posted Dec 5th 2007 8:04PM by Merritt Johnson
Filed under: Sports/GTs, Nissan

Hit the image above for a high-res view.

While the new GT-R sat out of reach on its velvet rope guarded pedestal at the Los Angeles Auto Show, InsideLine, along with Nissan and its advertising agency Chiat/Day, hosted a gathering for Nissan enthusiasts. The gathering was intended to give devout Nissan supporters a closer look at the new R35 GT-R. Preferential treatment went to those who owned, or once owned, previous generation GT-Rs. Nissan acknowledged that without their passion for a vehicle unsupported in the U.S. market, the new model might not have ever made it to showrooms in North America. The day was all about giving something back to those who helped grow the GT-R namesake.

As soon as InsideLine and Nissan confirmed the event details, a call went out to every GT-R owner in the Southern California area. It was an opportunity not to miss, the chance to gather every GT-R together to pose with the new model. In all 17 GT-Rs showed up for the event, not to mention the two R35 GT-Rs brought in by Nissan. The models present consisted of a couple 1972 HAKOSUKA GT-Rs, the first U.S legalized R32 GT-R, SCCA Speed World Challenge GT R34 GT-R and the 2005 Ultimate Street Car Challenge winning R34 GT-R. More of the crowd arrived in other various Nissan vehicles from 240SXs and Skylines to Datsun 510s.

In addition to the coverage posted at Edmunds Inside Line check out the gallery below for our own shots, and follow the jump for more event details and video.

Gallery: Nissan GT-R Meet




1972 HAKOSUKA Nissan Skyline GT-R


First R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R legalized for the United States


R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R that raced in the SCCA Speed World Challenge GT series in 2006


R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R that won Sport Compact Car's Ultimate Street Car Challenge in 2005.

When the crowd began to form at Chiat/Day the R35 GT-Rs were nowhere in sight. To settle things down the attendees were smoothed over by free pizza, water and InsideLine key chains. It wasn't until the novelty of being surrounded by so many previous generation GT-Rs wore off before Nissan released the new Godzilla to stir things up again. One silver and one red R35 GT-R cut through the parking lot while every on-looker fumbled for their camera. The exhaust sounded like a deeper toned VQ35 that will definitely turn your head when you hear it approaching.

As the crowd inspected every inch of the new GT-Rs Nissan handed out free t-shirts. The front of the shirt featured a track map of the Nurburgring with 7:?? in its center. The back showed :38 in response to the question marks on the front side. Nissan will not let anyone forget what time they achieved on the German course.



The silver R35 GT-R was identical to the model unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The red GT-R however, had lighter grey interior. While the red exterior looked sexy paired with the black trim and gunmetal wheels, the interior coloring seemed out of place. Black is perfect for the car, but if you must park in desert heat conditions it is understandable to settle for the lighter pigment seats.



As the sunset, and the lighting changed, InsideLine snapped a few shots of the GT-R collection sans humans. Then it became time to clear things out. The R35s moved aside and in a chorus of RB26s all the others headed towards the exit. It was about that time an elderly neighbor game by to complain about the noise, it was only the noise of 17 idling GT-Rs. However, no more than 30 seconds later the USCC winning R34 GT-R took off down the street in a four-wheel burnout. Now that was some noise to complain about.

 

[BorisRS]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

"1972 HAKOSUKA Nissan Skyline GT-R"

That is a hot looking GTR! Nice!!

R33D - What colour did you order for me?

 

[R33Devil]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

O ordered a Pearl White one

with matching Lace Headrest Covers

 

[precurser]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

Who should I go to if I'm interested in the new GT-R? Garage R? Would it come only in 2009?

 

[hackzi]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

In no particular order.... Garage R, MB Motors, or any of the other PIs you see advertising them. Like someone mentioned here, the first 2 may be better bets with their "close" links to aftermarket tuners in Japan.

First deliveries here are due in Jan/Feb 08 if I'm not wrong.

Disclaimer: I have no relations with any of the above.

 

[precurser]

Re: Nissan GT-R Officially Revealed

In no particular order.... Garage R, MB Motors, or any of the other PIs you see advertising them. Like someone mentioned here, the first 2 may be better bets with their "close" links to aftermarket tuners in Japan.

First deliveries here are due in Jan/Feb 08 if I'm not wrong.

Disclaimer: I have no relations with any of the above.

Jan/Feb 2008? So early? I thought it's only scheduled to be released in 2009?