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I have driven a GT-R for one lap around a major US race track, ( yes, only one! ) and yet I still can't remember if its the car that I HATE to love,.. or the car that I LOVE to hate! .. Either way, it is certainly an amazing machine.
I have driven a GT-R for one lap around a major US race track, ( yes, only one! ) and yet I still can't remember if its the car that I HATE to love,.. or the car that I LOVE to hate! .. Either way, it is certainly an amazing machine.
One lap's not enough, but did it change you view of your R8?
Either this GT-R is for real, or Nissan has got one heck of a global conspiracy going on...
I still don't get the basic physics of it. Anyway, mine will be here in about 8-10 weeks and I will bore you all to death with Traqmate data after I get it on track.
Actually no. I have had every chance to sell the R8 at good profit and then buy a new, all black GT-R with money left over. But to tell the truth, I would rather either do the MTM HP increase in the R8, or get my Turbo Porsche CS back from TPC RACING, and then happily take on GT-R. Maybe I'll win; maybe not. But once these cars are about the same in power to weight, I'll be very happy to take my chances. No dis intended. The GT-R is a great, new landmark car, that wants to redefine power to weight ratios, and almost everything else! And the extra space for longer road trips, almost swayed me! But these smaller, mid-engine wonder cars, are just too much fun to drive! My best wishes to you and your great GT-R.
R8 with MTM Supercharger- 3400 LBS/ 556 HP = 6.11 TPC turbo Porsche CS- 3000 LBS/485 HP= 6.18
Nissan GT-R twin turbo- 3814 LBS/480 HP = 7.94
It's really quite amazing to think that there can be three such wonderful, hi quality, day drive/track cars available for under $150,000. And two of them for less than $100,000!
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Either this GT-R is for real, or Nissan has got one heck of a global conspiracy going on...
I still don't get the basic physics of it.
-Chris
I agree. I don't get it either how a car with that much mass and appearingly high center of gravity, compared to many of its supercars rivals, can get around a track that quick with less than 500 HP and even less torque.
On the same topic...
One early test I recall had the GT-R running low 11's in the quarter mile with blistering track times, then another more recent article tests a GT-R that struggles to get mid 12's in the quarter mile, and with more mortal track times.
There can't be that much variation from one GT-R to another.
I've heard the speculation that the early press cars may have had Spec-V tuned motors. Besides that, there are many speculators that say this highly tuned machine will suffer over the long term from a maintenance standpoint (time will tell).
In any case, it is an amazing car.
However, given its supercar competition, don't you think they could have made it look better?
That is probably my biggest gripe about the GT-R.
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2006 Cayman S
Carrera White/Black
2007 Audi A4 Avant
S-Line, Titanium, Blk/Blk.
2007 Accord EX-L
Blk/Blk, Springs, Tint
I still think it's ugly, but it is growing on me. When I got my M5, I similarly thought it was ugly, but now like it.
My best explanation of performance (apart from under-rated power) is just that they started with a clean sheet of paper and an unlimited budget. Every bit of the car is just a little bit newer/better/more efficient than the competition.
In contrast to the Cayman, R8, etc., I don't suspect the left much "on the table" for tuners. There are no other Nissan models in the price/perfomance range to protect (contrast R8 & Lambo, Cayman & 911...).
The V-Spec will shed some weight and up the boost a bit maybe, but I think this is just a refreshing example of a manufacturer releasing the best car they could make.
Oh, and Bodhii: if $150K is your budget and weight/power is your objective, can I humbly suggest you throw a 997TT+EVOMS 700 in there? 3600/700 = 5.14.
All this means it that the Corvette ZR1 will do the lap in around 1:19.5. Chevy will refine and redefine that car just for bragging rights, but it will be a handfull to drive.
The GT-R can "defy" the laws of physics due to the technology in the car, it is really beyond what Porsche offers at anywhere in the same zip code as that price. Similar with the new M3, just looking at the weight of the car alone will not do it justice.
Such cars with the dual clutch tranny will always appeal to more people than the manual only ZR1, since your noob driver with new money can drive it at 70% capacity with little effort.
... since your noob driver with new money can drive it at 70% capacity with little effort.
As opposed to the landed gentry who buy Corvettes and immediately have the power steering removed? All modern cars lean on technology. I am certain that a real noob in a GT-R will be beaten by a Spec Miata with the proper driver any day. Take the wrong line at speed and you can't get around a corner quickly. Even in GT-R.
People who lap tracks on foot look down on folks on horseback, I suppose.
Most people don't consider owning "Jacuzzi City" off the Jersey Turnpike to be "old money", by the way.
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The service manual has a log for transmission parts replacement and serial numbers...room for 6 entries. It better be for parts only since a new transmission is supposed to cost $18,000.
As opposed to the landed gentry who buy Corvettes and immediately have the power steering removed? All modern cars lean on technology. I am certain that a real noob in a GT-R will be beaten by a Spec Miata with the proper driver any day. Take the wrong line at speed and you can't get around a corner quickly. Even in GT-R.
People who lap tracks on foot look down on folks on horseback, I suppose.
Most people don't consider owning "Jacuzzi City" off the Jersey Turnpike to be "old money", by the way.
What I meant to say was that the GT-R should be a much easier car to drive than say, a Vette, since it comes with a dual clutch tranny and is AWD. This means you can know next to nothing regarding shifting, just let the car do it, and the AWD should make it very forgiving. Take a Vette and/or Viper, and your noob driver will spin it out with perhaps the slightest mistake.
As mentioned, a noob may run it at 70%, which may not be good enough, but such a car with dual clutch and AWD will be a much easier car to handle than others, even with all that weight. Just compare the videos showing the ZR1 and GT-R at the ring, the GT-R driver looks calm and collected, but the ZR-1 driver was shifting and steering, while almost losing control a few times, as though his life depended on it. That ZR-1 video was made for one thing alone, to show that it can beat the GT-R, and nothing else.
Last edited by boobernackle; 07-21-2008 at 02:52 PM.
The service manual has a log for transmission parts replacement and serial numbers...room for 6 entries. It better be for parts only since a new transmission is supposed to cost $18,000.
Tach Miami: I hear you, but I think it's a sign of victory when the critics are left with nothing to say other than "But, it will be expensive if it breaks." We've come a long way from the skepticism of the early nay-sayers.
In all seriousness, I think the car is over-engineered for performance, but not necessarily for durability. We shall see. Rumor is that brake job will be $4K.
Actually I'm more of a "great handling" and "mid-engine" type car fanatic, long before I care anything about big power. And this kind of 450+ HP, big power on city streets, is way overkill, and often more problem than fun. ( But then I don't live in the city! )... On the track, I love having a significant power reserve when exiting a turn, so that I'm not always just pressing 100% gas pedal,... Also I like to have enough power to hold my position on the straights before I find myself stacked up tight again at the next corner with the same slower cornering big HP Corvette that I had finally managed to pass right before the frigging straight.
I do know what its about to drive smooth and clean, smooth and clean, smooth and clean. I'm on old pro alpine ski racer. This stuff is in my DNA! And I love it! I drive with the stability controls off. But also I find that I'm always pushing the pedal to the metal 100%, so much of the time. I want to understand track driving when its also TOO much pedal through out the track,.. I want to have to feel a lot more variations with how much power to use at each place along the track. I want a little more complex and delicate track driving experience. To me, that's what great handling, better cornering, bigger power, and better brakes, are all about.
Until 
) and yet I still can't remember if its the car that I HATE to love,.. or the car that I LOVE to hate! .. Either way, it is certainly an amazing machine.
All modern cars lean on technology. I am certain that a real noob in a GT-R will be beaten by a Spec Miata with the proper driver any day. Take the wrong line at speed and you can't get around a corner quickly. Even in GT-R.
We've come a long way from the skepticism of the early nay-sayers.