I saw this post seeking for “apprentice bloggers” for this auto blog. Seeing as how I already spend a sizeable portion of my day reading/drooling about/over cars I think I’ll give it a shot and I thought I’d write an actual post about cars, mostly to prove to myself that I could write a proper “serious” post for a change.
Deciding what the subject would be was much easier than you’d expect. If there is one car that everyone’s talking about lately it’s the GT-R the latest incarnation of my favorite car of all time. Well except any Porsche that is. Too much hype isn’t usually a good thing but this car totally deserves it.
I’ll start off with a little history lesson because, as we all know, everybody loves history. The first use of the GT-R moniker was in the 1969 Nissan Skyline and later in the 1972 model but most people (read: car nuts) remember the GT-R R32 introduced in 1989.
Nissan needed Group A racing car so they developed the GT-R. The GT-R went into what was intended to be a limited 5000 vehicles production necessary for racing homologation. However big sales and great reviews convinced Nissan to make an unlimited number of GT-R’s and went on to sell over 40.000 R32’s.
Being that it was initially developed solely for racing you’d expect it to have done well on the track. It did more than well, it crushed all competition years in a row winning 29 races from 29 starts in the JTCC and 50 races from 50 starts in the N1 Super Taikyuto. It got to the point where turbo awd cars were banned in the Australian Touring Car circuit so that the GT-R would not be eligible.
The car was a real revolution when it came out because of its wide use of electronics, in true Japanese fashion. The computers made the GT-R faster than the lighter, more powerful and a lot more expensive Porsche’s and Ferrari’s of it’s day.
Racing dominance along with astounding real world performance earned the GT-R the nickname Godzilla.
In 1995 Nissan launched the R33 model with mostly cosmetic changes and minor mechanical modifications but then again why mess with perfection. In 1999 the R34 was introduced and was produced until 2002.
The GT-R was also a big hit in the tuner circles where it gained legendary status thanks to the incredible RB26DETT engine present, with few modifications, in the R32, R33 and R34 GT-R. The engine was very reliable allowing for big power gains through engine tuning, many teams going over 1000 bhp. What was really incredible though is the fact that the chassis was built capable of handling all that extra power. To this day the GT-R remains a tuning favorite.
The GT-R came back in 2007 ditching the Skyline name but still having a common platform with the R35 Nissan Skyline. It was launched in Japan at the end of 2007 and will be available in the U.S. in June and Europe in late 2008.
Everyone is talking about the new GT-R and the general consensus is that it’s a truly astonishing car. Again Nissan has performed automotive magic since the new GT-R is significantly faster than the 911 Turbo and the Corvette Z06 its main competitors although it’s heavier and less powerful than both, and almost half as cheap as the 911 Turbo roughly $130,000 vs. $70,000. More technology than the Space Shuttle help it do that and the numbers are impressive: 3.3 s 0-100 km/h from a 473 bhp 3.8L V6. Key to having an acceleration that equals that of the Ferrari Enzo in a car that weighs 1740 kg is the 6 speed dual clutch semi-automatic gearbox and also the launch control system. The launch control requires the transmission and the suspension to be set to the “R” setting and stability control to be off. Put one foot on the break one on the gas and the engine shoots up to 4400 rpm then dumps the clutch when you lift the brake and then your body is squashed in the seat. Apart from being faster than its competitors it’s also a lot more practical with more rear seat space than Porsche and a full size boot. While its looks may not be everyone’s taste it has a drag coefficient of only 0.27.
The GT-R demonstrated its abilities recently by setting a 7.29 m time at the Nurburgring in stock tires beating some of the fastest production cars ever built like the $500,000 Porsche Carrera GT.
But Nissan isn’t done yet as there is a rumored V Spec version coming out next year which is lighter and more powerful in the 550-600 bhp area. While the upcoming 638 bhp Corvette ZR1
may prove a challenge to the GT-R it’s doubtful it will beat the V Spec.
The R35 GT-R is truly a legend in the making and it will be interesting to see how will Porsche and other manufacturers will respond. Porsche in particular should be motivated seeing that it lost the crown, perhaps for the first time in history, in the sports-coupe sector, a sector it created with the original 911 decades ago.