New Gtr Breaks Covers

[FPV TRANNY]

Im gunna get one of these in black but it will be the wifes car Fukin LCT suxs thou.Still well worth the $150k

[blue_xr6_turbo]

Being a new member, I've just come from a modified r33 gts-t to an xr6 t. My R33 might not have had it in a straight line but through the bends (fully adjustable bilstein suspension and yokohama sdrive tyres) it had a few xr6t around a track. Very happy with my xr6t though, but yeah, would gladly drop the cash if I had it for the new gtr. God what a car.

[FPV TRANNY]

Imagine how the beast would go with some induction,exhaust and ecu mods.Bye bye modified XR6T/F6

I still love my turbo fords but this thing is friggin awesome

[senna_T]

I tell you what guys, I am soooo excited about being in Japan for the Tokyo Auto Salon, as I'm likely to see one of these beasts in the flesh, and hopefully Top Secret or HKS have gotten hold of one by then

[ZAP]

From Carsales

International Launch

Sendai, Japan

What we liked

>> On-track performance -- in every aspect

>> 'Manga muscle' road presence

>> Value for money in supercar crowd

Not so much

>> Gearbox crunchy and clunky at low speed

>> Suspension not suited to Australian roads

>> Forget the 2+2 tag

Overall rating: 4.0/5.0

Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.5/5.0 (on the road)

Price, Packaging and Practicality: 4.0/5.0

Safety: 3.5/5.0

Behind the wheel: 4.5/5.0

X-factor: 4.5/5.0

About our ratings

OVERVIEW

It's been spied upon and scooped; forumed and blogged ad infinitum. It's been ogled six-deep at one of the world's top motor shows and raced already -- at least in the hands of PlayStation and Need for Speed video gamers. There's little doubt the car of the moment, and probably the car of 2007, is Nissan's all-new GT-R.

Unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, the GT-R was an instant hit. While other cars held the crowd's attention for an hour or two, the Nissan's attraction never faltered from the minute it was unveiled to the show's closing days two weeks later.

Now going on sale in Japan this week, Nissan already has 2900 domestic orders for the car. Such is the impact of the car in markets like the Middle East, even royal families have anted up to order it by the dozen -- literally.

And little wonder there's a manic 'buzz' around this car. Perhaps Japan's most iconic performance nameplate, fans have waited six years to experience the GT-R in its finished form.

First displayed at the Tokyo show in 2001 in a concept that still wore the Skyline name, the production GT-R (now no 'Skyline') is very recognizably related. Indeed the finished item has hardly changed from the GT-R Proto that wowed the Tokyo crowd in 2005 -- fast car fans worldwide have had their appetites whet for some time.

Now it's on the road at last, launched to the world's media last week in a combined track and road program in Japan's far north. Centred on the tight twisty and hilly Highland Raceway near Sendai, the GT-R launch was limited to just 75 international media -- around half the size of a 'normal' international launch. This statistic as much as any other factor is an indicator of the 'halo' status of the car.

The GT-R has since been unofficially crowned as Japan's first supercar. Honda may argue the point (NSX, launched in 1990, is generally considered to get the nod), but the GT-R's raw stats are no less impressive for the fact: a whopping 353kW, 588Nm, a 0-100km/h time measured by MOTOR's David Morley at launch in less than perfect conditions at 4.0sec dead (Nissan claims 3.6sec) and a top speed of around 300km/h.

And GT-R is not only the most explosive road car the brand has ever launched, it is also the most exclusive. Just 1000 will be built each month once Nissan's production line is up to full speed. As the car is launched, production has ramped up to close to 700 cars per month -- all initially going to the domestic Japanese market.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT

Aussies won't see official GT-R imports until early 2009, according to Nissan Australia. As such there's no local pricing or specification to be had. The official line is that GT-R will sell for around $150,000 when it gets to Oz.

In Japan, the GT-R starts at Yen7,770,000. There's a GT-R Black which is the midrange offer with the flagship model, the GT-R Premium topping out at Yen8,347,500. Local taxes add around Yen1.0m to the listed prices.

GT-R orders open in the USA on January 1 at a price of $US69,950. A high-spec GT-R model with side airbags and premium sound, etc, will also be offered Stateside. First deliveries are expected mid-year.

Considering the above and given the (limited) volume coming Down Under, it's unlikely Nissan Australia will offer anything other than a full-spec, full-house example... At least until the V-Spec track special comes along (see news here).

Part of Nissan's global strategy to help build customer loyalty is what GT-R program head man, Kazutoshi Mizuno, describes as: "supreme after-sales care; a full-service experience". This will be achieved (in Japan) via a new network of Nissan High Performance Centers (NHPC). Here specially trained technicians will service GT-Rs using GT-R specific equipment and specially-developed lubricants and parts.

Thus a three-year free service plan is part of the GT-R purchase package in Japan. Service intervals are time-based (every 12 months), perhaps indicating Nissan's expectation that most GT-Rs will not rack up many miles.

In large scale markets outside of Japan (eg: USA and, perhaps, Germany) a network of NHPCs will likely also be established. In markets like Australia, however, the plans are less clear. Nissan says it will officially announce its local GT-R dealership/sales strategy closer to the car's early-2009 launch.

The GT-R has been built as a practical supercar, says the company; suited, the brand contends, for day-to-day use. While we'd argue the point (especially on the suspension tune -- see more below), the car is equipped at a level you'd expect from a premium grade coupe.

Multi-function data presentation system (designed in conjunction with Gran Tourismo video game creator, Polyphony), climate control, high-level BOSE stereo, electric multi-adjustable seats, lashings of leather (hand stitched on the dash), digital TV tuner and a multi-function satnav system were all presented on the Japanese market cars driven last week. That said, no export models have yet been released, and thus the fine detail of the local specification is probably six months away from being confirmed as this test is written.

MECHANICAL

What has been trumpeted are the GT-R's mechanicals. Nissan's technical tour de force, the car is a calling card for the engineering resources of the Japanese marque. The most advanced production vehicle the carmaker builds, it represents that company's 'bleeding edge'.

As such, in the lead up to the international launch of the GT-R, we took the unusual step of publishing a full stand alone tech rundown of the car's systems. Rather than go over every aspect again. You can read the articles via the following links.

GT-R Technical Features

Design here:

exterior and interior overview including equipment rundown

Mechanical Packaging here:

driveline concept and aerodynamics

Engine here:

engine overview

Transmission and all-wheel-drive system here:

dual-clutch transmission and Independent Transaxle 4WD overview

Suspension and brakes here:

full specs on suspension, bakes and more

By way of summary, the GT-R's mechanical building blocks consist of a high-tech twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 engine mounted in what is fashionably known as the 'front midships' position (Nissan defines the new platform upon which the GT-R is built as "Premium Midship"). At the other end of the car, in a unique and patented set-up, the GT-R's twin-clutch DSG-style six-speed automated gearbox, transfer case and rear differential are housed in a single assembly.

This layout is the brainchild of abovementioned GT-R chief, Mizuno. In a paradigm shift for Nissan, the ex-packaging and race-car engineer had unprecedented autonomy in developing the GT-R, answering only to Nissan (and Renault) boss, Carlos Ghosn, on all aspects of the car -- even the format of its media launch.

Mizuno, who also counts the R32 Skyline, first generation Maxima and Nissan's P10 (Primera) platform program in his CV, says he official kicked off the GT-R development program in January 2004 (Interestingly, well after the first showing of the first concept for this GT-R generation in 2000). However, he says he has been 'working' on the car since 1995, when the idea for the current layout came to him (literally) standing on the grid at the start of the Le Mans 24 Hour.

The concept of separating powerplant and gearbox is not new -- among others, Alfa did it in the 1970s (GTV), as did Porsche (928). Nissan has gained a patent for the combination of transfer case, gearbox and final drive all in one unit. It calls the concept Independent Transaxle 4WD. For the record the resulting lump of alloy is a big'un and weighs in at around 200kg -- 46kg less than the GT-R's twin turbo powerplant.

The set up also features twin full-length carbon composite driveshafts and looks enormously complex, if robust.

Mizuno-san says it promises to deliver benefits in terms of better weight distribution -- not only in the static state, but when the car is being driven (see our piece on mechanical packaging via the link hereabouts). Given the transaxle's size and the difficulty of packaging it in, say, a four-door configuration, we note that future applications will likely be limited to coupes and coupe-like vehicles.

PACKAGING

The GT-R is also an untraditional supercar, in terms of packaging. With its front engine, relatively upright and conventional two-door fastback layout, it's more super coupe -- especially when compared to the rear and mid-engined Europeans it's built to take on.

Almost 4.7m long (4655mm), 1895mm wide and 1370mm high, the GT-R dwarfs Porsche's 911 and 911 Turbo. It's over 200mm longer, at least 70mm taller and 40mm-plus wider than the German pairing. The Nissan's 2780mm wheelbase is more than 400mm rangier.

Its footprint is broader too, with front and rear tracks of 1590 and 1600mm around 100mm wider at the pointy end, and up to 52mm broader at the rear depending on the Porsche model.

The Nissan also lords it over the Audi R8, Ferrari F430 and Lamborghini Gallardo in terms of overall length and height -- though the mid-engined cars tend to be a touch wider and the wheelbase discrepancy isn't quite so glaring.

Weighing in a claimed 1740kg (kerb weight), it's no lightweight either. Consider Audi claims 1560kg for the all-wheel-drive R8, with the Fezza and Lambo (also all-wheel-drive) both around the mid-1400s. Comparing GVM (gross vehicle mass), the GT-R's 1960kg is 10kg up on Porsche's claim for the Turbo (2+2), but still a whopping 280kg heavier than the two-seat 911 GT3. Ouch!

For the amount of landscape the GT-R occupies, you'd expect decent accommodation. The end result, however, is a mixed report card. Though sold as a 2+2, the GT-R has only token rear seat accommodation.

This tester is under average height (and not just for his weight!) and with the seat adjusted to a comfortable driving position there wasn't even room for a briefcase twixt front squab and rear cushion. Sure, you may be able to get an adult behind a shortish front passenger but that makes the car a 2+1 at best. Further there's no provision to fold down the rear seats to (at least) make use of the space for oddment storage, 911 style.

Up front there's plenty of adjustment for the drivers seat via a neat one-touch control. Nissan has featured separate locking cams for the steering column's rake and reach, leading some testers to miss the fact both orientations are adjustable.

Nissan's claim that the relocation of the gearbox and AWD equipment to the rear of the car frees up space in the front footwell is valid, but room at the driver knee line is 'pinched' by the wide 'cascading' centre stack and console. At least as a passenger you can use this to brace yourself -- there were no grabrails on the cars we drove and overall the standard seats lack support for serious sporting driving.

The claim of practicality is borne out by the GT-R's generous boot -- with one qualification. With no need to provide room for a spare (the GT-R uses runflat tyres), the compartment is deep and wide, but the opening is significantly smaller than the floor area.

Nissan reckons two golf bags will fit... If you can afford a GT-R, you can probably afford to buy a new driver every time you play. Buggered if we could work out how you'd get something that long into the boot!

No complaints about the styling of the GT-R. Though we were underwhelmed at Tokyo show, on the move the car's Manga muscle lines are convincing. We like!

By the way, for those already tiring of the multi-layer 'Ultimate Metal Silver' hero colour chosen for GT-R, never fear... At launch buyers can choose from six colours including black, a pearl white (the new black for performance cars, ask BMW and Audi), two metallic greys and a muscular deep red. We'll take the white one, thanks…

SAFETY

Nissan does not claim specific crash ratings for the GT-R. Like Porsche, Ferrari and other supersport makers' models, don't expect this car to pop up in NCAP or ANCAP test results anytime soon.

The GT-R's front crash structure is a complex mix of a carbon-composite front module, aluminium front chassis components (including large diecast sections) and a high and ultra-high strength steel centre 'barrel'. The maker says the car exceeds all the relevant crash standards by a significant margin in its virtual testing.

Aussie spec cars will almost certainly come with a full aeration of airbags, including the side curtain bags that will be optional in some Japanese and US market models.

In terms of active safety, the most important component sets (given the GT-R's prodigious performance) are the brakes and the stability/traction control infrastructure.

The former are by Brembo (see the Suspension and Brakes section of our tech rundown) and truly are racecar-spec -- right down to the Monobloc one-piece multi-piston calipers. You will be trying very hard, and probably beating Nissan's test drivers' laptimes of a brake-eating circuit like Sendai, if you can manage to induce any problems.

The antilock calibration is especially good -- even in circuit use.

So too, the VDC-R (Vehicle Dynamic Control-R)... Integrated and interfacing with the 'smarts' that control the all-wheel-drive system, when switched to R mode VDC-R gives the driver an amazing amount of latitude to play the ratbag on the track. All the time with the knowledge that there's a safety net there... Somewhere...

And Nissan hasn't forgotten those on foot. The company says the bonnet, bumper, front fenders and cowl have all been designed to help mitigate injury to pedestrians (more here). Measures include a 'pop-up' bonnet -- according to Nissan: "when front bumper sensors detect an impact with a pedestrian, a control unit activates a pyrotechnic activator that raises the rear edge of the hood, helping to reduce the impact on the pedestrian's head."

Which ever side of the runflat tyre fence you stand, there's little doubt this technology also adds to the overall efficacy of the total safety package. Anybody who has seen BMW's high-speed blowout demo video will know what we're talking about.

COMPETITORS

The main competitors for the GT-R are the Porsche 911, the Porsche 911 and, err... The Porsche 911. At almost every opportunity, in every measure, Nissan compares the GT-R to the Germanic icon in its various forms.

The GT-R significantly outguns the standard 911 in terms of horsepower and it takes the $327,000 all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo to match the Nissan's 353kW. In fact, the Porsche time-machine claims the same kW as the GT-R output but produces better than 620Nm of torque.

Performance is comparable on paper, though those who have driven both are still giving the German car the nod. It'll take a direct comparison on the same ground, at the same time, to settle that argument.

No DSG gearbox on offer from Zuffenhausen though -- you'll have to opt for the five-speed Tiptronic auto (another $8K) if you have a lazy left leg.

In marketing terms, much will be made by Nissan of the price difference. Porsche, one guesses, will talk about heritage... Or perhaps ignore the GT-R's existence altogether.

At $150K the Nissan enjoys a similar six-figure price advantage against other 'supercars' with which it's calculated it will hold its own. Audi's 309kW/430Nm R8 kicks off at $259,900, the Ferrari F430 (360kW/465Nm) currently lists at $389,000 and the 367kW/510Nm Lamborghini Gallardo starts at a touch under $400K.

In pricing terms GT-R will likely line-up against the new 309kW BMW M3 and two hi-po sedans set to arrive Down Under later in 2008 -- Mercedes-Benz's C63 AMG and Lexus' 5.0-litre V8 IS-F. As good as the BMW is (and the Benz and Lexus promise to be) they won't see which way a well-driven GT-R went!

ON THE ROAD and TRACK

Take a challenging hillside track with significant elevation changes, a number of complex corner combinations, almost zero run-off and straights long enough to see around 200km/h... Now add a sharp, 350kW-plus turbo car; and you have? The potential for things to go pear-shaped quickly!

With such a combination you'd forgive a manufacturer for imposing speed limits, installing chicanes or perhaps even limiting the test 'drive' to a place in the passenger seat -- all have happened in the past. It's a measure of Nissan's confidence in the GT-R, however, that none of the above took place. Indeed, save for the fact that our time on the track was relatively limited (around eight laps all up) it was 'go your hardest, lads'!

Nissan also include an on-road test loop of around 80km for the GT-R, turning the Sendai soiree into a most un-Japanese of launch programs.

But where to start?

It almost goes without saying the GT-R's straightline performance is spectacular. Nissan has used comparatively low boost (0.75 bar) so the GT-R's VR38DETT twin-turbo V6 'rolls' into its powerband between 2000-2800rpm with surprising civility. Sure, the urgent off-idle response of the 911 Turbo isn't replicated, but once the abovementioned revs are reached, the engine transforms into a linear powerhouse with power to burn and a bombproof feel that belies its relatively modest displacement.

And overall is a much more refined powerplant than GT-Rs of old and remarkably quiet. Maybe too quiet -- some might accuse the engine of hiding its outright performance with good manners.

Were that we could say the same of the dual-clutch gearbox. From a 'normal' standing start the gearbox is jerky -- even in auto mode. Moving away from a standstill requires some finesse and there's also some histrionics if you're required to crawl along -- as we were on the test loop at roadworks.

While we're picking faults, the gearbox also provided us with some 'fingernails down the blackboard' moments when coming to a stop. Rolling up to a set of traffic lights, it clunks, grinds and crunches its way back through the lower gears. Such is the lot of DSG-style boxes, it seems.

At normal road speeds, however, there's little to complain about. Left to its own devices the gearbox does a reasonable job of approximating an auto, changing up early if the throttle openings are modest and holding gears to just short of the redline if you're in serious 'go fast' mode.

There's no option to change gears manually via the stubby centre console lever. Nissan instead chose paddles -- left for downchanges, right for up.

You can select manual or auto modes at the console but touch one of the paddles on the move and you're back into manual mode.

Unlike most DSG-style transmissions, it will not then default back to manual after a time. Mind you, it's a quasi manual in this instance -- unless you also select R mode on the three-function control panel, the transmission will upshift at redline. In contrast full manual is just that...

The gearshift paddles are mounted on the steering column -- not on the wheel as we'd prefer. Mizuno-san says this is to save confusion in tight corners with lock on where the driver may forget which paddle does which. We don't agree, and on a track like Sendai where it pays to short shift through some of the corner complexes we found we needed to take our right hand off the wheel to get to the upshift paddle.

Aside from this glitch, the gearbox is a tour de force on the racetrack. No chance of fluffing a shift -- up or down. On the way up there's barely a split second interruption to the power and when it came to braking late and hard and banging down two gears at the end of Sendai's two straights we could use all our concentration on hitting the braking mark and the next apex just so.

Turn-in under that hard braking was also quiet stunning. Whether the GT-R creator's concept of neutralizing, or at least minimizing, the affect of weight transfer works or not is a moot point -- this car hides its weight at the track. It really feels like a much smaller vehicle. At lower speeds on the road it's hard to pick that it's any different from any well sorted conventional sporty, but under extremis on the track it was marked.

That means it's a lively drive, however. Into corners, the GT-R moves around under brakes and once into the corner it responds eagerly to throttle. It will tighten its line with appropriate applications of power and on the way out it's easy to induce power oversteer. Indeed, with the VDC-R set to R mode, it's possible to induce what the clichéd might term 'lurid oversteer'...

By our estimation it'd be a bit of handful in the wet and Mizuno-san says that his team is working on tuning in "more stability" -- in part in their quest for an even faster lap time at the Nurburgring. By this we understood he wanted the car to feel more 'planted.'

Sendai's Highland Raceway has played host to GT-R since the early days of its development. Mizuno-san says the production car is already matching the best times of racing R34 Skylines at the circuit and that the difference between the new car's fastest wet and dry times is a scant six seconds. Further he claims GT-R is faster round the track in the wet than the 911 Turbo is in the dry! He's very clearly a proud father…

We drove GT-R on the track first, enjoyed its lively feel and marveled at its overall manners -- very little body roll or pitching, and sharp, crisp directional changes. Within 150m of driving the car on the road loop (indeed we hadn't even left the confines of the circuit access road), however, we knew why the car had performed so well on the track.

On the street the GT-R rides like a racecar -- not ifs or buts. The kindest thing we can say is that, as it stands, it is not well suited to Australian roads.

Response to bumps is sharp and noisy and the overall ride is hard most of the time and 'jiggly' at best. And choosing the comfort mode on the Bilstein electronically-adjustable dampers did little to improve the situation. Tyre roar was also pronounced -- the noisest part of the car on the road in fact.

This was on Japan's well-tended bitumen. On a road like Bucket's Way, north of the Hunter Valley, Melbourne's Reefton Spur or a Tassie Targa stage this car would be a handful. Around Sydney's poorly tended suburban streets it'd be a backbreaker.

Mizuno says his team only locked away the current settings for the GT-R in September. With similar feedback reportedly coming from the UK contingent, let's hope there's some revision of the settings before the car makes it to Oz. As a package, the GT-R deserves better.

At least the steering felt better at the lower pace of the road. A touch dead straight ahead and bordering on too light on the track, on the road the weighting felt close to right. We'd probably argue for more feel in both environments, but given the front end needs to cope with feeding upwards of 170kW and 280Nm to the ground at times it's a pretty fair effort.

For their stellar performance at the track, the brakes were also marvelously linear and predictable on the road. Nissan claims that the cars we tested at Sendai were fitted with standard brake pads and had already coped with two days of abuse. As there were none of the telltale squealing that race pads tend to exhibit, we have no reason to doubt the claim.

Taller drivers among the test group found the GT-R's cabin a touch tight, but bare in mind they were wearing helmets. The reception on the flush-fitting twin-action Aston-style door handles were mixed, though we noted nobody had trouble getting into the car when their drive session was called.

One thing we should praise is the latent streetability of the car. Suspension aside (once again let's hope there's a rethink on 'Comfort' settings), the GT-R is quite traffic friendly. The A-pillars are much slimmer than a cooking-model Commodore's for instance and while rear three-quarter vision is restricted it's no worse than a 'normal' coupe. Out the back window there's little if any obstruction via the rear wing and the car would be easy to park in normal confines.

Even the ride height seems practical. We tackle a couple of gutters and came away without a scrape.

Few GT-R buyers are interested in fuel figures but via the multifunction display we can attest that in normal extra-urban driving the car will return figures around 14-16L/100km. Open the taps and... Well, you can't make 500hp with a thimble full of fuel.

The stats most will be really interested in are 0-100km/h and quarter mile times, however

Thanks to our colleagues at MOTOR magazine we can confirm that a) GT-R has launch control and b) it works! Using it to good effect on the complex's deserted dragstrip, in the failing light at the end of the Sendai session, MOTOR's David Morley punched out an even 4.0sec for the 0-100km/h sprint and 12.1sec for the standing 400m.

While in 'normal' conditions the 4.0sec will be hard to trim, the 400m time has a bit to go... You see, 'our' street GT-R was a Japanese model and ran into an artificial speed limited 'wall' at around 180km/h. With this happening well before we reached the 400m mark, there's no doubt there's an 11sec quarter in this beauty.

[loopism]

11 sec quarters once the speed-cut is out of the picture ... awesome!

[FPV TRANNY]

Some great info Zap.Cheers for that.

[Dagabond]

From todays cars guide in the Herald Sun the sales are outstripping production 10 to one, in less than 2 months of sales in Japan they've got deposit payed customers well above 2300 vehicles exceding the monthly 200-car production run by a factor of 11.... and they are yet to hit the US market or even world market....

[senna_T]

I was reading a thread on SAU, a couple of ex-pats who live in japan went to the Tsukuba Super Lap event, Mines already have an R35 and it is producing around 800ps.

Apparently there are a couple of them running around with more power already - I can't wait until I'm there in Jan

[jsmith]

Well, this time I did see a skyline, not the Infiniti thing.

Spotted this on the way home last night. This one is Badged as the 350GT but still pretty f#@king quick.

Sorry for the pretty crappy photo's, mobile only at the time.

Then realized later I had the digital camera in the car as well

AND Zap, You will be happy to hear that these things look a SH!T load better in the flesh than photos.

Near pure porn on wheels.