I'm a diehard Porsche TT guy, but it is amazing what Nissan has done with six cylinders and AWD...quote from latest Motor Trend... "Not only did it reach 60 mph in 2.7 seconds in Nissan's testing, but it made the sprint through the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds, a full 0.4 seconds faster than the 2012 model we tested in February, using 100 RON octane gas (96 octane using the U.S.' AKI ratings)." Unbelievable bang for the buck!

Europe had better wake up...they can only rest on pedigree and history for so long.

 

Nissan and corvette are not doing anything different than any of the other super car makers. But what is new is we are seeing more makers than ever starting to play the game of “one up man ship”; and there is an increasing market for such makers to play such a game. Now cars like the STI's and EVO's best even the super cars from less than a decade ago and it is all within a 20yr olds budget. I think their new motto should be "Sell it to the masses and kick the super cars asses"

The only thing this new breed of ultra-fast yet cheap car does not have is the name on the badge that people used to covet, but in saying that the name on the once illustrious badge is now not so illustrious.

I grew up with posters of exotic cars on my wall that were being driven by guys wearing expensive suits and shoes; they were only sold to guys with high paying jobs.

Now kids have pictures of assembly line cars on their walls that are being driven by people like Ken Block; he is likely wearing some Goofy duck billed baseball cap that is put on crooked and covering his shaggy hair; his jeans are likely hanging down past the crack of his *** with his underwear hiked up. That is all topped off with a really great pair of boarding sneakers or alternative lifestyle shoes such as DC.

Yes the times are a changing.
And I inserted an image just to prove my point. I googled KB and this was the first image that came up.

 

Those are some amazing stats for the 2013 GT-R for sure! There was a thread a few weeks ago that turned into a GT-R vs Z06 and the focus was on the track and lap times. My track car is a Z06 so I fell on that side, but it really got me thinking what a great car the GT-R would be for a DD that would still have room to get your stuff to the mountain, road trips ect. year round. Kids should look up to Ken Block, what a success story of what hard work can do!

 

YOU MAD? Sounds like you aren't happy with younger generations being able to obtain things you dreamed about as a child. Haters in the building. New GTR is going to be totally badass

 

Ken BLock deserves and has earned everything he has. He and Damon Way built DC shoes from the ground up and ran it for years before recently selling it to Quicksilver for $ XXX,XXX,XXX paid alot of salaries and commissions to workers and sells people and professional athletes and providing them with the terrain they need to do what they do.

 

Well in some ways you are right yet in many ways I do not think so, I am sure he worked at what he has done with companies like DC shoes. But in my reality he quickly sold out when the work became work to just have fun.

Now there is nothing wrong with that; but would I want my Kids to envy his party boy rock star lifestyle that that whole genre of sports seems to portray.
I will say that there are some that work at the industry, but by in large there are a great deal of people involved in those activities that are there only for the shenanigans that seem to go with it.
Ken Block is a great entertainer, he has never been a great racer in any discipline, that status is reserved for few people, they are usually the ones who have a great single minded focus and the drive to see their goal through.

But even on that note who do you look up to, I dare say not to any sports start or Hollywood star. à Insert Tiger Woods as an example, he seemed so good for a while then look at how that star exploded.
I am good friends with Travis Pastrana, he is a lot like Ken Block, dabble with this, dabble with that, do a little of this, do a little of that. That whole culture is about entertainment to the vast majority of the participants, so few of the people involved with the lifestyle will ever do any more then take part in the after show activities that exact a toll on there well being.

But that is just my 2 cents on the matter.

Now back to the original topic.

The bone stock Nissan and Corvette really are competition to the 1/4 million to 1 milllion dollar plus supercars.



Ahhh well you would have to know me to be able to make that statement; and if you did you would know it is not true. I grew up around fast cars, cool bikes and cool airplanes. My father raced cars and flew jets that most people in their life only dream about. I myself have continued in that path.
What he (my father) was not was a party boy, nor am I. I used to be a top level XC racer and pro football player. Since the age of about 4 all I wanted to do was race bikes. Now in my older years (I am 40) I am obsessed with high level aerobatic airplanes. I have ridden bikes and flown airplanes on every continent on this planet.
I would hazard to state that what I spend on Avgas and gas for my bikes and cars every year would be enough to buy whatever car it is you drive outright every single year.

And on that note I think the new breed of cars like the GTR's, STI's and the like are stellar.

The only thing I do not like is the liberal society I live in. I am a 100% straight laced individual. I do not drink, smoke, gamble or even really cuss for that matter. I have no piercings, tattoos and when I speak to people I do not know I usually refer to them as either sir or Ma’am. I really go out of my way to help my friends and people in general. I have a life that is so good that it is really hard to justify considering that people actually die of hunger in this world.

 

You really have to hand it to Nissan as they continue to develop that car nearly every model year. The only people I feel a bit bad for are those who just bought last years model thinking it was the king of the hill (with factory warranty intact anyway).

 

Cars are becoming like Iphones/pads/pods....as soon as you buy one it's obsolete 3 months later.

 

You are quite right about the rate at which stuff changes. A person could drive oneself mad trying to keep up with it.
Many people that own these high performance luxury cars think they need to be faster to justify their expense. Yet how many people can use and do use the potential they already have. I know the law really frowns on it, so unless you are taking it to the track!!!!!!
And even if you are taking it to the track are you a driver that can utilize the last few 1/10th's. Even the editors of the magazine that featured the car hired a pro driver because the regular Joe's just would not cut it.
Also in some whys how do these supercar makers really keep up with companies like Nissan!
Nissan does not earn their living making exotics; they made "fast" just to say they could and in some ways they are thumbing their noses at the others.

To add insult to injury what else they have done is made them useful. So you cannot afford to have a one use only supercar; well now you can use a GTR to pick up the kids from school and still have a trunk full of groceries. Then on the weekend you can go lock horns with the guy driving a supercar.

 

Kudos to Nissan for focusing on getting power to the ground, and making the most of it. I hope others learn lessons there and step up to the plate. Technology always go forward and no car stays "fast" forever. 5s used to be fast, now its entry level for many sport/muscle cars.

Nissan focused on making a fast street car but I'd imagine it would run out of brakes and tires on the track if driven for a good length of time. A 3800lb car will stress brakes more than a 3400lb car. Still for street driving I bet the launch on the freeway on a GTR has to be a fun, if very short ride.

I'm curious as to how other manufactures will respond.

 

The one thing that has not been brought up is where the market is going as pertains to sports cars. Every car manufacturer has pushed horsepower and torque to their limit's but the real limitation in today's market is the transmission and suspension. It is no secret that the majority of sport's car enthusiasts care more about 0-60 and 1/4 mile times than the other stats. While cars like the GTR have performed well in all areas of the performance spectrum the car is largely guided by it's transmission shifting capabilities and the computer controlled suspension. The dissapointing thing for enthusiasts like myself is the 0-60 and 1/4 mile stats for the future will have nothing to do the power or driving ability as much as the transmission's ability to keep up shifting. That is why the new 997.2 TTs goes 0-60 in less than 3 seconds. So the future of automotive innovation and benchmarks will be all related to the computer's ability to steer, stop and power the car to their limits while the driver is only a passenger. In the end, I am not looking foreward to the future ofr the motorsports world. Just me though.

 

Fast but unfortunately still ugly. Sure it does grow on you but If they would make it palatable I and many here would likely buy one or 2.

 

I understand what you are getting at. It seems most people I come into contact with are obsessed with power and power only. The 1/4 drag times, the WHP and Torque. I for one could care less, I am more into the styling, lines and anesthetics of a car. That being said I love the Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche and most of the time when talking about such cars someone will mention a ZR1/EVO/STI/GTR that could out due it in the quarter mile. They will then add they could do it at 1/4 the cost of a super car. That's cool and all but you will be missing things.

It's annoying but I guess if we were all alike and had the same opinion the world would be boring. Just my 2 cents.