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The Nissan GT-R is known as Godzilla in the car enthusiast crowd. We all know Godzilla to be the iconic Japanese monster from the movies. Is Nissan’s new GT-R a monster of iconic proportions? Nissan’s GT-R which replaces the R-34 Skyline, at first glance isn’t as handsome a car as the R-34. However, the more you look at the GT-R the more you start to like it then eventually love it. The closer you look you can see there was plenty of time spent on perfecting the aerodynamics of the GT-R. In very German school of the thought of form follows function the GT-R was designed. The GT-R’s whole exterior design was made to increase down force, which translates to more grip in corners and on straight sections of road or racetrack. The four round taillights which have been a staple of Skyline’s are intact on the GT-R. Thank you Nissan it would have been hard to imagine a GT-R without these.
The replacement for the Skyline R-34 has been highly anticipated and this time the U.S. is getting a version for our market. No longer do we have to buy one from Japan have it shipped over and modified for the U.S. only to have the MVA tell us it’s still not legal for U.S. roadways. What is it about this sports car from the Far East that gets people so excited?
For starters let’s look at the numbers. The GT-R’s 3.8L twin turbo V-6 engine produces a healthy 480 hp at 6400 rpm and 430 lb-ft of torque. These are definitely numbers to write home about. All this power drives the sophisticated all wheel drive system. How do these numbers translate when the rubber meets the road? The GT-R gets to sixty in just 3.2 seconds when using launch control. The quarter mile flashes by in 11.5 seconds at 120 mph. Performance numbers like these are in Porsche 911 GT2 and Ferrari F430 territory for approximately $53K and $110 less respectively.
The GT-R’s transmission is a six-speed paddle shift a la Formula 1 twin clutch rear transaxle unit. It has three settings via a dash switch. Those are race for faster shifting, normal for regular manual shifts and fully automatic. The fully automatic mode comes in handy for those city gridlock situations.
Next to the transmission switch is a switch that controls the vehicle’s damping settings. The system has two settings. One which turns the GT-R into hard flat cornering track machine that’s why it’s aptly named race mode. The other is comfort which is softer for more mundane commutes like to the grocery store.
The last button in this trio of buttons on the center console is to turn the vehicle dynamic control system on or off. Keep it on if you are a novice sports car driver so it can intervene and keep you on the blacktop if you get too adventurous. For more season drivers turn it off and you can enjoy control power slides and four wheeled drifts galore.
Finally the GT-R has what is referred to as a multifunction meter. I would call it a car’s guy’s dream information data center. The multifunction meter was developed Kazunori Yamauchi the creator of Gran Turismo the phenomenal racing simulator for the Playstation game consoles. The numerous technical data includes oil pressure, water temperature, current fuel consumption, and a G-force meter. Just to name a few of the read outs you can get. This kind of stuff is usually found on LCD computer monitors track side a Formula 1 racing event. Nissan truly have made it’s self a Godzilla supercar, monstrous and iconic!
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