Nissan GT-R – tribute
Any respectful Car Blog must have a post about the Nissan GT-R. The car became a legend long before it was released. Considering that I shouldn’t write about supercars – as You can read in About section of this site, I have to make an exception. Well, maybe it’s not even an exception – as we are talking about Nissan here.
Nissan GT-R
I sure remember the classic cars and their stories. About Ferraris designed in one week. About Jaguar body model, which was damaged a little on the way to the factory, and produced full scale with the damage considered as designed on purpose. This was the car industry few decades back.
And now? Now the times are different.
The accountants, marketing specialists, safety specialists plan each life stage of a new car – from the concept, prototype to the market. Each car is tested by million agencies and government companies, if the brakes are sharp enough, if the safety is ok, if the emissions are ok, if the color doesn’t discriminate other colors… It takes years and is pretty boring…
But Nissan did it somehow like the old days. I actually don’t know any other modern car with more “story” behind “making of” than this one has.
And talking about Nissan…
Have You checked recently what cars Nissan had to offer? And what do You think? It seems like this producer lost his way somewhere. When I check their offer in EU… it’s terrible. City Micra, Crossovers Quashkai, Murano, some 4x4s… Nothing worth hanging an eye on… In US it’s better but still doesn’t look too promising, because… which car would You find as a Flag ship? Cube, Altima… Frontier? Yeah, right… When I say Nissan, I see “grey”. Nothing. Their premières just disappear between other makes.
And here we come to my point of interest: sport cars, coupĂŠs… We had 350Z model (now 370Z), which was a success… of some kind, but the reviews were pretty both ways. The looks were ok, but… it was powered by some Renault V-6. Was noisy and driving experience wasn’t pleasant. Well, it doesn’t have to be pleasant, if it returns a killer sharpness and sporty control, but this one didn’t… The car didn’t collect a wide community of fans and tuners, it didn’t lead among the competition.
In some terms I would compare Nissan to Toyota (what for sure doesn’t work in favour of Nissan from where I stand 
) . But at least they had a coupe on sale. Both producers had a history of sports cars (Toyota – Celica and Supra, Nissan – SkyLine). SkyLine was an amazing peace of computerized car technology. If was so easily modified, that today each driver in New Zealand has 2 of them: one for work, and the other 1000 HP version… for fun. And like Supra, Skyline was withdrawn from production (in 2002 – R34 spec). And we had quite a few years of boredom…
But then they came up with new GT-R
I heard about the Nissan GT-R project on TV in 2008. Saw some pictures, heard some numbers that were pretty impressive (not something You would expect from Nissan). But until the car wasn’t tested on track – what can You say? Few months later, while switching TV channels I bumped on some Discovery program about Nissan GT-R. How good this car has to be, if they decided to make a special document about it? Is it the same Nissan I write about above, that have made this supercar?
Supercar definition by Nissan (source GTRNissan.com):
- A car that can break eight-minute barrier for a lap time at a Nrburgring Circuit in Germany
- A car that can be run continuously at 300 km/h (186 miles/h) or more at the autobahn.
- A car with power-weight ratio of less than 4.0 kg.
- A car with performance like this, such as might almost be described as the stuff of fantasy, a car that represents the dreams and aspirations of so many
And they did it…
How good is the car?
The previous Skyline was extraordinary. But Nissan didn’t really want to base on it and started from a scrap. Small team under the leadership of Kazutoshi Mizuno, the chief vehicle engineer, closed themselves in some super secret factory and worked on this physics law bending handmade piece of technology on wheels.
And what more: Japanese don’t like the idea of taking stuff not developed in their home country. They dropped their pride and collected the best possible solutions from all over the world and put them in GT-R. You will find Brembo brakes there. Chassis was initially developed by Lotus. Of course the computers that are in control of all the gathered equipment were from the only place they could be: Japan.
Some more trivia:
- They maintained the chassis code naming – new GT-R is marked R35 to mark the Skyline heritage.
- They not only reached the 8 minute barrier at Nrburgring, but they beat it by 31 seconds!
- Car tires are filled with Nitrogen, because compressed air contracts too much.
- Every double clutch gear box is matched exclusively to the hand made engine of the car.
Nissan GT-R 2009
The looks: well the car isn’t too pretty, it doesn’t scream like Lambo with some radioactive colour and super smooth geometric design. Everything that You see in GT-R body was put there for a reason: aerodynamics. And of course, as everything in this car, it’s top of the class (0.27).
During the testing, they matched it with Porsche 911 Turbo (on the Nrburgring). And guess what – twice as expensive legendary Porsche supercar, in few words: lost the competition. It was said to be more difficult to drive and a little slower on track. Nissan is better composed, balanced and more comfortable at the same time. And it’s a 4 seater with a trunk!
The GT-R is just too good
And Nissan knows it. They are so sure of the car, that You will never see any commercial or ad of it. It doesn’t need promotion. If You want to buy one, You have to wait in the line for at least 6 months.
I read numerous reviews of this car and tried to count: how many of the drivers claimed that it was the best thing they’ve driven. And the result was: all of them – maybe not always directly, but You just could feel it between the lines. I’ve never met such a unanimous opinions reading car press.
There were some other supercar premières at the same time, but none of the cars didn’t leave such an impression (remember Audi R8?). None of them didn’t get that number of awards. I could mumble about GT-R’s greatness forever. As a car fan, regardless of Your taste, of what You drive: You have to admit that it’s amazing! Nissan did a great job and they have what I call technology flagship out of this planet! Is there anyone who can beat them now?
Jeremy’s neck
Here’s what the car did to Jeremy Clarkson (Top Gear) when driving on Fuji Circuit
Some technical data:
Model Nissan GT-R
Engine 3799cc, six cylinders, twin-turbo
Power 473bhp @ 6400rpm, 4×4
Torque 430 lb ft @ 3200rpm
Transmission Six-speed automated manual
Fuel CO2 23.2mpg (combined cycle) n/a
Acceleration 0-60mph: 3.5sec
Top speed 193mph
More structured and technical info: Wikipedia
Photo: www.gadzooki.com
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