Latest article from John Mellor Autonews - for those who are interested.....
<<<<NISSAN’S new-generation GT-R might still
be offi cially more than a year away from hitting
Australian shores, but after becoming one of
just 75 lucky testers to attend the global launch
in Japan this week, GoAuto can unequivocally
say it will be worth the wait.
Aimed squarely at the upper echelons of
the automotive globe’s fi nest performance
coupes like Porsche’s benchmark-setting 911
Turbo, but expected to cost less than half the
price at about $150,000, the new GT-R follows
a hallowed tradition best remembered for the
giant-killing racer dubbed Godzilla.
The last (Skyline) GT-R was sold here in
2003 in R34 guise and, outside Japan, was also
only made offi cially available in the UK. All
that changes with the redesigned R35 GT-R,
which was announced as a global model from
the outset by Nissan-Renault chief Carlos
Ghosn when he fi rst presented the GT-R Proto
concept at the 2001 Tokyo motor show.
More than six years later, Nissan has
released a worthy successor that stays true to
the original’s turbocharged/all-wheel drive
formula, yet, in outright performance terms at
least, is competitive with the fi nest supercars
from Germany and Italy.
At the heart of the four-seater two-door GT-R
lies an all-new 3.8-litre DOHC V6 brandishing a
pair of conventional turbochargers that provide
up to a modest 0.75 bar (or just over 10psi) of
boost. According to offi cial fi gures, the highly
oversquare VR38DETT-codenamed TTV6
matches the 911T for peak power, with 353kW
on tap from a similarly relaxed 6400rpm. It falls
32Nm short in terms of maximum torque, which
is quoted at 588Nm from a slightly peakier
3200rpm, but is maintained for a usefully wide
2000rpm rev-range to 5200rpm.
On the road, the result is nothing short of
scintillating. No, despite a 200cc displacement
advantage, the Nissan engine doesn’t match
the off-idle response of the fl agship Porsche
engine, which employs NASA-type variablegeometry
turbo technology and is regarded as
the world’s most fl exible six-cylinder engine.
Meaningful power delivery doesn’t arrive until
about 2000rpm, which is barely noticeable until
full-throttle inputs in taller gears are demanded
from it, but from there it’s only a short gap before
full turbo boost is on hand, from about 2800rpm.
Beyond 3000rpm the force-fed V6 really gets
angry, delivering a seamless and surprisingly
linear wave of satisfyingly mad, seat-compressing
torque, accompanied by a smooth, refi ned engine
note that reeks of single-minded effi ciency both
inside and outside the cabin.
The GT-R doesn’t exhibit the spine-tinglingly
menacing exhaust note of the higher-tech
German fl at six, but offers a unique, attentiongrabbing
bark that signals its formidable intent
just as convincingly.
Where the GT-R engine really shines is in
the mid-range, where there’s a neck-straining
wall of acceleration available in any gear,
from any speed. Plant your right clog and
there’s virtually no lag before a ferocious
surge of violent acceleration explodes into life,
spinning the tacho needle clockwise as fast as
windscreen wipers in a tropical downpour.
Nissan claims 911T-beating 0-100km/h
acceleration of 3.6 seconds and a 300km/h
top speed, and an impromptu performance test
at the launch by fellow Australian journalists
revealed that by employing the BMW M3-
style launch control function, the GT-R is
easily capable of sub-four-second 0-100km/h
passes, which fi rmly stamps it as one of the
world’s quickest road vehicles.
Thus, the new GT-R should be comfortably
capable of eye-wateringly quick 11-second
quarter-mile sprints.
Never mind the standard 20-inch alloys with
massive 255/40-section front and 285/35 rear
rubber, or the signifi cantly longer (2780mm)
wheelbase and wider (1590/1600mm front/rear)
wheel tracks that give it a bigger footprint than
Porche’s fi nest conveyance.
And never mind the specially-developed,
electro-magnetic clutch-operated AWD system
that comprises a weight-distributing rear
transaxle and sends a maximum of 50 per cent
of torque to the front wheels only when the
rear-end loses grip. The GT-R V6 makes power
oversteer there for the taking.
On the tight, twisting and technical 4.1km
Sendai Highland Raceway, which played a
central role in the GT-R’s development and
provided our fi rst taste of Japan’s most signifi cant
supercar since Honda’s ground-breaking NSX
in 1989, the GT-R felt untouchable.
Sitting fl at, stable and fully composed in
all of the mountainous circuit’s double and
even triple-apex turns, the GT-R carried
outrageously quick corner speeds with the
confi dence-inspiring agility and precision of a
highly developed super-coupe.
Naturally, the GT-R cannot defy gravity and
understeer sets in during over-ambitious corner
entry speeds, but so neutral is its chassis and
so muscular its performance that predictable
oversteer is the overriding GT-R experience.
BMW’s M5 and M3 pioneered the ability
to select a traction/stability control mode
that allows a satisfying degree of sideways
attitude under acceleration before electronic
intervention takes over, but in “Race” mode
the GT-R delivers an even more generous yawrate
allowance before throwing out its safety
anchors, making it almost idiot-proof.
Of course, the VDC can also be fully
switched off. As evidenced by a track session
with Nissan’s own test drivers, the GT-R is both
powerful and poised enough to be “backed”
controllably into corners under brakes and
“steered” on the throttle via ludicrously
crossed-up slide angles.
But with such crisp steering turn-in
and agile, progressive mid-corner chassis
adjustability, not to mention the stupendously
powerful yet progressive stopping power of
six-piston Brembo front brake callipers and an
extremely high VDC intervention threshold,
there’s hardly any need to disable it.
So the GT-R backs up its undeniable road
presence with handling and performance that
matches its far more expensive peers – despite
a 200kg-odd weight disadvantage over the 911
Turbo at 1740kg. But it’s not perfect.
As the lumpy road drive revealed, the GTR’s
surprising level of handling adjustability at
the track comes at the expense of a hard ride.
Though the electronically adjustable damping
system takes some of the sharp edges off highfrequency
road irregularities in “Comfort” mode
and on the whole ride quality is not exactly what
you’d describe as harsh, we think the GT-R will
be almost unbearable as a day-to-day driver on
poorly surfaced Australian roads. English testers
also expressed concern at its overly fi rm set-up
and Nissan has made it clear it intends to fi netune
the GT-R constantly over its model life.
But, given the company’s pride in its
claim the GT-R is up to fi ve seconds quicker
at Sendai than the 911 Turbo (which it says
pitches and rolls more than the GT-R), whether
that’s enough to convince them to soften off
the Bilstein-supplied shock absorbers before
the car reaches Australia remains to be seen.
We suspect much of the GT-R’s ride quality
issues are inherent in its exclusive use of run-fl at
tyre technology, which is also responsible for the
alarmingly high level of road/tyre rumble inside.
Despite being precise and super-responsive,
the GT-R’s steering also lacks the feedback
of the 911’s highly communicative tiller,
even in all-wheel drive Turbo guise. On the
mountainous northern Japan road loop its
action and weighting wasn’t nearly as light as
it felt on the track, but overall we prefer both
less power assistance and more feedback.
Purists will also lament the lack of a full
manual transmission option, as the GT-R
will come exclusively with a double-clutch
automated manual gearbox that dispenses with
a clutch pedal and is operated only by shift
paddles that are unfortunately mounted on the
steering column – not the wheel itself. Like
Ferrari and Maserati, Nissan says this avoids
confusion over which paddle shifts up and
which shifts down on twisting roads, but when
it requires you to take hands off the wheel to
shift gears with steering lock applied, it can
hardly be a better method.
The rear-mounted Borg Warner-developed
transmission may also be as smooth, refi ned
and even quicker-shifting than a conventional
auto once on the move, but it requires just as
much fi nesse as Volkswagen’s similar DSG
gearbox to get off the line smoothly and, if
anything, sounds clunkier in stop-start traffi c,
where it never failed to jarr loudly as it changed
down into second gear.
The inescapable fact, however, is that
the twin-turbo engine is a masterpiece of
automotive engineering and, because it is
mated exclusively to a foolproof clutch pedalless
transmission, easily lives up to Nissan’s
claim that the GT-R is a supercar for everybody,
everywhere in all conditions.
The fact it has enough blistering performance
to overwhelm even the exclusive rear-biased
AWD system is negated by an equally high-tech
stability control system that offers an incredible
level of driving rewards in total safety.>>>>>
I think I can post here too now..... As of yesterday.... Model of car V-Spec II, Built Oct 94 'Chassis No' code BNR32313245 Also sourced from the Iron Chef (I think i can blame Cherry Racer - they teased me with a picture of his car as one of their recent imports ;-) Short details: Silver Stock Single owner 17,300 kms (full documented service history) Grade 5A at auction Obviously still in Japan so here's the auction snap (already plastered in other part sof the forum - but just so happy right now ;-) Cheers The Baron
