The 2015 Nissan GT-R Proves Change Can Be Both Frightening and Fun

We’ve all been there before: that place that, once you emerge from it, changes you forever. It could be that rock concert you went to when you were 13 or the first woman’s bedroom you were beckoned into. For me, that place was the cockpit of the 2015 Nissan GT-R Premium. After four days of driving it around Central Texas:

I’ve Been Ruined for Other Fast Cars

Have you ever eaten chocolate and taken a drink of soda afterward? The chocolate has such a strong, delicious flavor that you can’t taste your drink. Yeah…the GT-R has the same effect on you after you put your right foot down in it. The acceleration from its 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before or have since then. It was absolutely savage, as if the Dunlops were trying to rip the face off of the planet. It was like a robotized tiger fed a diet of cocaine and amphetamines charging after a steak. In other words: Frightening. Like those drugs, rocketing forward in the GT-R was addictive.

I Now Have No True Concept of Speed

It’s no mystery the Audi R8 V10 plus and the GT-R are wildly different cars. Their engines, their layouts, etc. They’re also different in terms of how they transform your experience of speed. The mid-engine German was so rock-solid that it made the action movie numbers on its speedo feel like C-SPAN footage. In the 545-horsepower GT-R, going from 20 to 40 mph gave me the same sensation as blasting from 60 to jail.

I Have a Better Concept of Time, Though

Sure, my internal speed gauge is shot now, but I have a better idea of how long a period of four days is. It’s too short a span of time to spend with a vehicle that gives you such a physical and mental rush.

It’s long enough to offer learning opportunities, though. During my extended weekend with the GT-R, I determined its ride was stiff whether I put the suspension into its comfort, normal, or race setting. I was also able to find out how the six-speed dual-clutch transmission always seemed to be in the right gear no matter which curve on northwest Austin’s serpentine City Park Road I was entering or exiting.

I Can See Into the Future

There was a time before the GT-R came onto the automotive scene in which people couldn’t fathom that a (relatively) affordable car could offer such staggering performance. It’s hard to imagine Nissan will be able to top this car, but, then again, no one knew this car was possible until the first one was driven. Nissan can and will go further with the next GT-R.

*My 2015 Nissan GT-R Premium review vehicle carried a total price of $106,650, which included Regal Red premium paint ($3,000), carpeted GT-R logo floor mats ($285), and destination charges ($1,595).

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Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.

In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK Forum, H-D Forums, The Mustang Source, Mustang Forums, LS1Tech, HondaTech, Jaguar Forums, YotaTech, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts. Derek also started There Will Be Cars on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

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