Nissan GT-R Advice

Is the Nissan GT-R Japan’s greatest-ever production grand touring sports coupe?Some might say it is the world’s greatest, with an incredible dedication to performance and driving pleasure that is the pure essence of the now-defunct brand that started the lineage with the Skyline GT-R some half a century ago.Nowadays, the Skyline name does not exist in many markets outside of Japan, and it is a very separate entity to the R35 GT-R that debuted at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.A mid-mounted front-engined all-wheel-drive two-door four-seater coupe sitting on a unique platform developed from an earlier architecture that debuted in the V35 Skyline all the way back in 2001, the aluminium-intensive GT-R may be entering its teen years, but it has steadily been improved and updated since launching on the world market as an MY2009 model.Powered by a hand-built 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine known as the VR38DETT, and driving all four wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission, it initially belted out 358kW of power and 583Nm of torque, but that figure grew steadily over the years in the standard production models, to 362kW/588Nm in 2010, 395kW/607Nm in 2012, 406kW/628Nm in 2013 and 421kW/633Nm from 2017.These are standard international figures. In 2021, the Australian-market Premium and Track grades are officially rated at 419kW/632Nm, with maximum power coming in at 6800rpm, while the Nismo flagship delivers 441kW/652Nm.So, how fast is the GT-R? Very.Back in 2007, Nissan said it can manage an impressive 315km/h, with a 0-100km/h time of 3.2 seconds in a launch control mode, which necessitates turning off the traction and stability controls known as Vehicle Dynamic Control in Nissan-speak.Later GT-Rs feature an "R-Mode Start" to help achieve that 3.2s start more easily, consistently and safely, while in 2017 that 0-100km/h figure dropped down to a startling 2.7s, with an independent test managing to coax 328km/h out of the car.That latter figure, by the way, is for all GT-Rs, including the Nismo version. In contrast, the 2020 Porsche 992 911 Turbo S coupe manages the same time and just 2km/h more in the top-speed stakes, employing a 478kW/800Nm 3.7-litre flat-six twin-turbo engine, so the Nissan’s still well in the game.The Nissan GT-R's quarter-mile (0-402m) times are also impressive, ranging from a variant-dependent 10.8 seconds to 11.5s, according to independent testing.Finally, there is an R35 GT-R swansong on the horizon, before its long-anticipated R35 successor comes on stream sometime around 2023 or after.Dubbed the ‘Final’ and due in 2022, it is expected to boast a heady 530kW of power, according to some reports.

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