Nissan GT-R: Top Speed Run

What is the top speed of the Nissan GT-R? According to MotorTrend, it’s very close to 200mph…

Nissan GT-R Loses Launch Control in 2010

The GT-R, the performance king in the bang-for-the-buck department, is losing it’s launch control in the 2010 model year, and likely all subsequent models after that.  The launch control is an important feature that helps the GT-R accelerate to 60MPH in 3.5 seconds, so what could the reasoning behind Nissan’s decision?

The Warranty.  Apparently Nissan thought they could make a 480HP super car, give it lots of fancy features from the factory like launch control and then not cover the transmission when it breaks due to using the factory installed features.  Unfortunately for the consumer, this has been a real issue for a number of people.

The procedure to activate the launch control requires that you temporarily turn off the VDC (Vehicle Dynamics Control).  Nissan snuck in a warranty disclaimer which states they are not covering parts that break if it can be proved that the problem was caused by the owner turning off the VDC.  The cost to repair a broken GT-R’s transmission is $20,000, so who would be that upset anyway…

“We just don’t want to deal with the warranty nightmare anymore. It’ll make the 2009 GT-R really special. It’ll be the only R35 with launch control” said a Nissan executive.  Brilliant statement: it’s the only GT-R to have a factory-installed mechanism that breaks itself.  Come Nissan, you’re better than that.

Source: Edmunds

Nissan Releases Second Video of the GTR Lapping the ‘Ring

After Porsche accused Nissan of cheating on the ‘Ring to get an unbelievable lap time of 7:29.03, Nissan released this second video to prove that the car was entirely stock and that it had the extra 100kg of recording equipment on board. Check it out, the speed of this car is incredible!

Nissan Serves Up More Proof for Porsche & the World

Nissan wants to make sure nobody is believes Porsche’s claim against the GT-R’s time on the ‘Ring. I thought they had made themselves clear by making an official statement and sending out a press release, but nothing is better than cold, hard proof. Today Nissan released a second video of the GT-R running around the ‘Ring in 7:29 seconds and also included a photo of the tires that were used and currently on display in Sumitomo Rubber Industries in Japan. The video shows the GT-R Nissan before the actual lap, along with the 120lbs of tracking and video equipment that was used to measure and record the GT-R’s performance. The racing starts around the 4-minute mark, hit the jump to watch the whole thing.

Source: GTRBlog.com

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Nissan Motors Smacks Porsche with Another Press Statement: Learn How to Drive

Hoping to set the record straight, once and for all, Nissan issued a press release today outlining the exact details of the GT-R’s record run around the Nurburgring. Not only did they clarify that the vehicle was completely stock, but also that using one-off specialty car to run around the ‘Ring would “have no meaning” to them. In case anyone wants to see the tires that were used to run that hot lap around the Nurburgring, the full set of Dunlops SP Sport 600 DSST CTT’s are on display at Sumitomo Rubber Industries in Japan.

Nissan also thought it was a good idea to let Porsche and any other auto maker know that Nissan does offer driving lessons to help people understand the full capabilites of the GT-R. Nissan also wanted to remind everyone that to ensure maximum performance from their GT-R, they should follow all break-in procedures, service schedules and routine maintenence. Sounds like Godzilla is confident that they will win this shoving match, hit the jump to read Nissan’s full press release.

Source: AutoBlog

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Nissan Got the Memo, Says No to Cheating on the ‘Ring

The head honchos over at Nissan have responded to Porsche’s experiment with a GT-R on the Nurburgring. The official statement from Nissan is that the GT-R which ran the ‘Ring in 7:29 was running on the optional Dunlop tires, which are offered to all GT-R buyers. Furthermore, it was a standard showroom-spec GT-R which had no modifications to improve it’s power output.

So what about Porsche? Did they not opt for the better Dunlop tires? Were they running on the cheaper Bridgestone’s? Were they sandbagging and not pushing the GT-R as hard as they could? Maybe the driver they used just can’t drive as well as Nissan’s driver could.

Stay tuned, Porsche or Chevy should be chiming in soon.

Source: Drive.com.au

Porsche takes a Stand Against Nissan’s Lap Time on the ‘Ring

Ever since the Nissan GT-R ran around the Nurburgring in a blistering 7 minutes and 29 seconds, the auto industry has been ablaze. The GT-R is heavier and has less power than many of the cars it beat around the ‘Ring, but Nissan claimed it as their lap time in an official press release. Most people were shocked, many were stunned, but auto makers from around the world questioned the validity of the time, particularly Chevy. Now Porsche has done their own testing with a brand new GT-R they purchased from a US dealer.

Porsche claims their GT-R was completely stock, untouched with production tires and the fastest time Porsche could achieve was 7 minutes and 54 seconds, a full 25 seconds slower than Nissan’s claimed lap time. Porsche also ran stock 911 and GT2 models within two hours of the GT-R and got around the ‘Ring in 7:38 and 7:34, respectively.

August Achleitner, the 911 product chief at Porsche, stated “for us, it’s not clear how this time is possible. What we can imagine with this Nissan is they used other tyres.” If his guess is right, Nissan most likely used a semi-slick racing tire. Achleitner also wanted to be very clear that he was not speaking bad of the GT-R, in fact he commented that it was a very fast and consistent car, but the claimed lap time just didn’t make any sense to them.

This is a bold statement from Porsche and I for one can’t wait for Nissan’s response to it.

Source: CarsGuide

Nissan Raises Price on the GTR by $7,000

$69,850 just isn’t what it used to be. Two short months ago, that was the MSRP of the Nissan GTR, a car that offers monstrous performance for the price. But that performance:value ratio is taking a hit since Nissan has decided to raise the price of the GT-R by a little over $7,000. Effective September 5th, the new base price for the GTR is $76,840, going up to $79,090 if you want a fully loaded model. While this doesn’t completely ruin the deal, it’s not quite as sweet as it used to be. Keep in mind that the MSRP price doesn’t include tax, shipping, and other dealer markups. This price change will not affect those people who ordered their GTR before the 5th and haven’t received the car yet.

Source: WorldCarFans.com

Nismo Releases their GT-R Performance Package

Nismo has finally released their tuning package for the GT-R! It’s available for purchase in parts or as a whole package, but unfortunately you have to be a Japanese GT-R owner to buy them. Reportedly people are working on getting these parts to the states, but don’t hold your breath. Even if importers can work out a deal, the cost for the whole kit is $50,000. Even though that price includes installation by a master Nismo technician, you could almost buy another GT-R for that price…so what do you get for all that cash?

How about an all titanium cat-back exhaust system that shaves 11 pounds off the GT-R’s curb weight and a carbon fiber under body panel that gives you better aerodynamics. Not enough? There’s also a pair of Nismo racing seats: carbon fiber shells wrapped in leather that will save you another 12 lbs. per seat. Still want more? Then lets work on the suspension a bit: 20″ Rays rims wrapped up in Bridgestone’s RE070R run flats (rumored to be OE on the upcoming Spec V) along with a set of revised Bilstein dampers and rock-hard coil springs to get you through the corners even faster.

There’s no word on how much faster this will make your GT-R, but it doesn’t sound like these performance mods are worth $50,000. I still can’t wait to see what happens when a tuner gets a hold of one, throws on some bigger turbo’s and cranks up the boost! More on this Nismo package as the information becomes available.

Source: JPCN.com