Nissan's GT-R Spanks Porsche 911 Turbo & Corvette Z06 !!

[cribbj]

That's the headline for the feature story in the May Road & Track that just arrived. It's a good, detailed feature story, that makes the GT-R seem larger than life.

R&T apparently won (paid for??) the rights to do the first comparison testing of the USDM GT-R against its best known competition.

All the test drivers raved about how easy it was to turn fast track times with it, regardless of skill level, due to its adaptive suspension and automatic torque biasing.

In comparing its track times and handling to some of the fastest cars on the planet, even the Enzo was mentioned.

As R&T typically prefers fast European cars, and rarely produces a gushy review of a Japanese car, they must have literally been blown away by the GT-R to say some of the things they did.

And interestingly, the car is actually cheaper than the 'vette, and of course, far cheaper than the Porsche.

If you don't subscribe, it's worth dropping a few $$ at the magazine rack for this issue.

 

[JustenGT8]

It does appear to be an awesome bit of kit, straight off the facory floor too. An easy 200kg to be shed for the enthusiast so expect to hear more incredible performance stats.

BTW a back to back was done with the early 3 GTR models and the new one slaughtered them...really really slaughtered them and these have been considered the 'benchmark' jap performance car since they came out.

It appears Nissan really have pulled a rabbit out of the hat with this one.

Looks tough too which is a big plus

 

[cribbj]

I think Nissan have really knocked it on the head with this one. The performance is incredible, and all the styling is clean and flows well, except for that front end, which really detracts from the whole car, and it's ugly enough that it would stop me from buying one. I'm probably not the only one who thinks this, so perhaps Steve Millen, or others, are going to step up to the plate and sort it out with some aftermarket bodywork.

If you only had to look at it from the left or right 3/4 view, this would be an awesome looking car, but then when you see the front, there's no mistaking that it's a ricemobile, albeit a super ricemobile. No way would the Germans or Italians allow something as ugly as that front end to be worn on their cars.

 

[jibbby]

Well if it can beat out 911 turbo and a Z06 it must be a monster... I don't like the looks of it either though, John...

I wonder what the purchase price of the new Nissan GT-4 is?

 

[JustenGT8]

It's not pretty but neither is a sledge hammer...tough i reckon, as in Veyron tough.

 

[Zuffen]

You need to bear in mind this is a loss leader for Nissan just as a Prius is for Toyota.

Says something about the image the two car companies are looking for.

I think I would still take the 911 as first choice with the GTR next.

Never been a Godzilla person but I will say the newere 911's are prety average as well.

And I agree it is a killer piece of kit.

 

[JBrady]

Awesome car. Not pretty. Nissan rates this thing at 473hp but dyno testing is already suggesting more is being made. Lapping the "ring" at 7:38:54 is quite an accomplishment (averaging around 95mph) beating the Porsche 911 Turbo at 7:40 and the Corvette Z06. That said I do not know the level of car prep is done for each of the above efforts. Is there a specified tire requirement or other considerations for this type of competition?

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/25/video-nissan-gt-r-laps-the-nurburgring-in-7-38/

Turbo engines are fairly easy to increase power and a factory effort could easily be tempted. Now their is a NEW record from Nissan with its performance version of this performance star the GT-R V-Spec said to have at least 70hp more, carbon fiber bodywork, ceramic brakes (several hundred pounds lighter) that did the "ring" in 7:25 which is 3 seconds faster than the outrageous Porsche GT.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/07/spy-shots-nissan-gt-r-spec-v/

It will also be interesting to see what the other manufacturers come up with as new competition. The new Corvette ZR1 with 650 supercharged horsepower and better looks may make for a great challenge from both sides of the ocean.

Here is the GTR next to the current Z06

 

[jibbby]

Man that car is ugly, soooo sorrrrrry...:006:

The body cuts and curves look simply nasty and that boring looking front black grill has to go...Rims are nothing special either.. It may perform with the best but looks like the worst rendering the car a wash to own... I would take the 911 and Z06 over this Nissan all day long.. I think the Nissan 350z's even look better..

Apparently, I am not the only one that feels this way...What a shame...How could Nissan do that? Nissan really should not have gotten away from the NSX body designs of the past....

 

[gte]

I can't wait until Toyota lays the smack down with something competitive, as Nissan has now called them out

WOOHOO!

 

[cribbj]

This is similar to the view that initially sold me on the car when R&T did a sneak peak. I even told the wife she could expect one of these in the garage when they arrived to the US:

But once I saw this view of it, it completely killed my interest in owning one.

 

[StiCk3]

the new nissan is a spectacular piece of technology, but with all the gizmos and gadgets on it, it kind of takes away the "natural" feel of a sports car that i really enjoy. R35 is not on my list of "cars i need before i die." I really don't want a computer telling me how i should drive my car, i want to learn it myself. Thats why i want an R32 instead....old, lightest of the GT-Rs and something about the way it looks just grabs me. Thats just me, but maybe ill outgrow it someday...im still only a kid

 

[JustenGT8]

A quick update on this weapon....it's started appearing in road rallys (Targa's) here in Oz and is slaughtering all....factor in that the WA win was with a young, pretty much no name driver. He beat well credentialed veterans in big buck supercars backed by mega sponored teams which speaks volumes for how good this car is in the real world.

It won't be long before this is the Targa car of choice and i wonder what rules and regs will shortly follow to curtail it's inevitable dominance?