So I got ahold of the latest Road and Track and read their claims, and I'm confused, to say the least.

The car looks good on paper, and the lines aren't "bad", although it's no Porsche 911 widebody. When I dug into the "details", I found a few devils I can't seem to get my head around. The car is 3835#, according to Nissan. It also makes 480BHP. The article claims 0-60 at 3.5 seconds and an 11.7 second 1/4 mile time, but no mph listed with that. Based on their claimed rating, the car takes roughly 1HP per 7.98# to move.

Is it just me or is this fuzzy math? Are they seriously under-rating the power of the car, or serioulsy over-optomistic? Compared to a stock 2008 C6 Corvette (not the Z06), it's a huge contrast in numbers. The power to weight ratio is about 7.6#:1HP on the vette, and compared to my beast, that ratio is 5.8#:1hp.

Am I confused or is Nissan pulling something here???
Mike

 

4 wheel drive, you can't launch as hard in a vette. Besides 0-60 mile time is meaningless and 1/4 mile time is so 1999.

The real mystery is..
It lapped 7:38 on Nurburgring...someone explain that

 

Well that has been explained to me as "they didn't pick the same start and stop points", which skewed the numbers...

Mike

 

Oh-boy, another GT-R thread.


I'll put it this way, physics is physics. Nissan got some "special" tires made for the car from the already super sticky dunlop runflats.

The car cannot out brake, out acclerate or pull more g's on a skid pad than a Z06, or 997 TT. Nissan has had some shady ring tactics in the past, but I think they did run this lap. But as the video shows there was no one else in the vicinity, we all know how much Walter has complained about having to lap with other cars on track and nearly crashing.

IMO Nissan's testing procedure is superior. I think the car will be amazing for bein 3800 lbs, but once sticky's are added to RWD Corvette's and Vipers, it's curtains. The japanese have always seemed to have better AWD performance than elsewhere.

So in essence the car will be a great car, but will never amount to all the hype that proceeds it. And may be a base corvette killer on the road course only (the base 436 hp corvette will likely beat it in a straight line) and it wont beat the Z06 at anything.

As for Porsche the TT will be neck and neck on most courses, the GT3 will beat it as well. And the GT2 will own it. Then there is another model coming out that will be closer to GT2/ZR-1/ACR level and cost over 100k.

As for me, I cant wait to see one on a track.

 

Ring times are useless when you have cars in the same ballpark. Because they'll put any rumor on the list, for example the debacle about the 7:15 from the GT-R, then there is the 7:35, 7:30, 7:43, 7:50 and 8:00. Makes me sick.

Many people run the same lap distance as what the GT-R ran, I'm sure Porsche ran it becasue they run their times during manufacturer lap days, not with a track to themselves as Nissan and Chevy ran. And they are not allowed to run a full lap because people may be exiting the pits. But Chevy only used one day to set a time while Porsche and Nissan test for weeks. So who really knows.

Sport Auto is an independant tester,but their times are all over the place, they have the 996 TT essentially faster than the 997 TT because the 997 was only two seconds ahead on sport cups. They also have the Viper at 8:13 which is the worst I've seen ever.

 

friend of mine with a 350Z sent me this linky.

http://my350z.com/forum/showthread.php?t=318182

"The GT-R hasn't just moved the goalposts, it's obliterated them."

"For all-round ability, I have no doubt the Nissan is the best car I have ever driven."

"The GTR turns in beautifully, whether neutral or under brakes, and grips forever - slippery surfaces seem to bring out the best in it. Time after time I left Turner (911 Turbo) behind as my four-wheel-drive system and traction control worked better out of wet corners - it wasn't just the fact that I could get on the power earlier. It was about confidence. The Nissan really is something special, and you get the impression that while a master driver could wring every last ounce of performance out of the 911, your mother could do the same in the GT-R..........................Does the Nissan's ability reduce the driving pleasure? Not at all. You can turn all the systems off if you so choose, and it's still supremely well balanced, no doubt a delight for a racing driver on a track."

"A bellow from the engine, a rush of revs, a gigantic accelerative force on my neck, bang the GT-R into fourth. A killing gear if ever there was one."

"Were in R (mode) now, and weve hit 100mph in about 10 heartbeats. No official performance figure exists for that increment, but expect an 8 second 0-100ph time. Its fast, alrite - 60mph comes up in 3.5 seconds, the standing quarter in 11.7 seconds and it goes onto 197mph."

"The GT-R is all aggression on the outside. To my eye, it is a phenomal-looking machine, distinct from everything else. Very japanese and very hard."

"Driving these two cars back to back, its not long before you realise that the Nissan makes the Porsche seem old-fashioned. The GT-R is truly extraordinary."

"For all round ability, i have no doubt the Nissan is the best car i have ever driven. Its a solid car you can rely on when the going gets tricky."

 

I am sure we will be seeing a lot of them here in Irvine and in OC. Let the racing begin.

 

Agreed.

The comparisons here run it against the turbo, yet unless I'm wrong, isn't it projected with a street price sub $80k? Wouldn't that make the Carrera 4 series more of a target? (At least from a potential buyer perspective?)

If that's the case, I wouldn't see it as much of a contest from the performance standpoint. Of course, from the panache standpoint, it's a totally different discussion.

JM

 

That car is BAD A! I am getting one for sure. Read this test http://pistonheads.com/roadtests/doc.asp?c=47&i=17295

 

Well, every other GT-R ever made in the past was severely under-rated by Nissan in terms of factory horsepower, so I wouldn't put it past them for this car to actually have 520hp or so. Porsche seems to be in the under-rating game as well. Either way, looks like a great car, I just wish that it came in 400 pounds lighter...

 

Hmmm Did you guys catch this?

"Tech note; the twin turbos are no longer ceramic so the R35 GTR can no longer be tuned with relative ease to deliver massively more horsepower than standard. In fact, Nissan has written an anti-modification program into the ECU software to prevent the GTR from being tuned. They are even talking about de-validating the warranty on cars they know have been tampered with, although for sure someone, somewhere will find a way to tune their car. What’s not known, however, is how much more the new bottom end can take. The rumour is circa 600bhp, possibly less. "

Interesting....

Either way I'd love to have one though...

Check out this video... http://youtube.com/watch?v=dsbfE4RDVgY&feature=related some cool stuff in there.... and of course running on the Nurburgring http://youtube.com/watch?v=0TMXr2ReNhk&feature=related

 

Now who wudda thunk? What a novel idea for a manufacturer to consider.

Be interesting to see how the car lives up to the hype...

A

 

Well misprint or not (cuz no way in hell can it really trap 149mph in the quarter!!) heres the quote from MT as tested by Kazutoshi Mizuno (GT-R chief product specialist and chief engineer):

"Mizuno's numbers are impressive: 3.5 seconds to 60mph (in 100-degree weather, no less), 11.7 seconds to the quarter mile at a trap speed of 149.1mph. He says the GT-R will tear up the skidpad to the tune of .99g - even on 20-inch run flats - and stop from 60mph in only 111.5 feet. Top speed is targeted at 192.6mph though it will be governed to 186mph."

Also - as far as the Nurburgring's lap times..... it got 5th all time... here's the other notables:

1st: Porsche Carrera GT 7min 28 sec
2nd: Porsche 997 GT2 7 min 32 sec
3rd: Pagani Zonda F 7 min 33 sec
4th: Koenigsegg CCR 7 min 34 sec

5th: Nissan GT-R 7 min 35 sec

7th: Mercedes SLR 7min 40 sec
Porsche 997 Turbo 7 min 40 sec

9th: Corvette Z06 7 min 42 sec
Porsche 996 GT2 7 min 42 sec


Those are some numbers to chew on............... US magazines testing it next month - stay tuned!

 

Its the real deal.

I ordered one ! Just couldnt say no at that price.

Will post pics once I get it in.

 

I saw the same thing:

"Tech note; the twin turbos are no longer ceramic so the R35 GTR can no longer be tuned with relative ease to deliver massively more horsepower than standard. In fact, Nissan has written an anti-modification program into the ECU software to prevent the GTR from being tuned. They are even talking about de-validating the warranty on cars they know have been tampered with, although for sure someone, somewhere will find a way to tune their car. "