NISSAN GTR
America is ready for the Nissan GTR.
It’s the ultimate race car….that happens to be street legal. In America, that is really a big deal. For well over a decade now, boys to men (maybe even a few women) here in the states have dreamed of owning Nissan’s last series of supercars, the Skyline GTR’s. With only a few of these vehicles available in America today, via the ‘hand-me-down’ market, driving enthusiasts will have their dreams answered, and in no small way. And they won’t have to worry about ‘grey market’ complexities. This summer, Nissan will be officially importing the GTR. It will be a new multi-dimensional performance machine. It will stand up to and potentially exceed the performance and ability of cars 3 times its premium
Speed, efficiency, safety, environment and technology were all the focus with Nissan’s new GTR. Amazingly, the new GTR has a coefficient of drag of .27. This is noteworthy as it’s not the sleek design you might expect in such a supercar. In years past, the venerable Skyline GTR has been known as a “ballistic refrigerator”. The new GTR can easily claim this nickname as well!
The GTR will offer ultimate performance in virtually any driving condition. Whether you will be trailering your GTR to the race track, driving in a spirited fashion through mountain passes, or just running to the grocery market in the rain, you will not be disappointed.
The all-new Nissan GT-R uses the world’s first application of an independent transaxle 4WD system. The transaxle’s layout places the dual-clutch transmission, transfer case and final drive at the rear of the vehicle (instead of the usual front location), which enables better fore and aft weight distribution throughout the GTR. This translates to more driver comfort as well.
For the past few years, forums and car clubs all over the planet speculated whether the new engine would be an Inline-6, similar to the bulletproof RB26DETT (used in the R32, R33, and R34 GTR’s), a twin turbo charged V-6 based on the VQ block (used in the current 350Z), or maybe even a V8 configuration. The answer is NONE OF THE ABOVE. The new Nissan GTR uses a 3.8 liter twin turbo charged V6 under the code “VR38”. The Nissan GT-R meets ultra-low emission vehicle (U-LEV) standards in Japan, which should make green people very happy.
The Nissan GT-R’s new engine produces 480 brake horsepower at 6400rpm and maximum torque of 430 foot-pounds from 3200 to 5200rpm. The GTR uses a brand new GR6-type dual clutch transmission, with paddle shifting and a Borg Warner six-plate dual clutch for direct control.
There is so much more to this vehicle that one has to wonder just how Nissan was able to produce it with an asking price somewhere south of $70,000 US. As American’s get comfortable with the GTR, the next question that should come up is when will the V Spec model be introduced? All wheel drive, twin turbos, nearly 500 horsepower……..what else would you need?