Jump to content
SAU Community

Carsales.com.au's Review On The R35 Gtr In Japan.

Busky2k

By Busky2k,
in R35 GTR

 Share

Recommended Posts

sh@un Grand Master

sh@un

Posted
Posted

the problem here is weight

as Ferni said, you can't go too far either side of optimal for the damping and have a system that works well

(ie- 'jacking' down or po-go'ing). the engineers have obviously chosen springs that have a huge rate to control the fat body, so that basicaly determines the ride characteristics. the shockies only job is to 'damp' the motion of the springs

scathing Grand Master

scathing

Posted
Posted
also - I hope to god Nissan Australia does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to suspension settings on account of MOTOR/Wheels magazine and the UK guys whining about comfort

:/

When the 350Z was released, the exact same complaints were made about its ride. So they revised the suspension for the European models, with help from Nissan UK. Guess what happened? Those suspension revisions ended up in later model 350Zs internationally, and everyone concluded the car drove better on the road since it was absorbing bumps. On road loops the Euro-spec setup was quicker and more confidence inspiring, and made the car more enjoyable to drive.

As always, the Japanese can't seem to tune suspension. They always assume "stiffer = better" when its not the case, especially not for a street car driven by ordinary people. A car with progressive handling is always quicker than something super sensitive unless you're a good driver (which most people are not).

Considering the car in question is not the V-Spec or N1, I hope they do something about the suspension if its as bad as they say. If someone complains about a track-focused car being too harsh on the road but great on the track, I'd agree that they're nuts, but if you intend on living the GT-R as a "daily drivable supercar" then I'd rather it absorb bumps and maintain constant tyre contact with the road.

skyline_man Enthusiast

skyline_man

Posted
Posted
As always, the Japanese can't seem to tune suspension. They always assume "stiffer = better" when its not the case, especially not for a street car driven by ordinary people. A car with progressive handling is always quicker than something super sensitive unless you're a good driver (which most people are not).

I thought the GTR used Bilstein suspension and was tuned by the guys at Bilstein?

Anyway, there is no way the GTR with its weight can lap the Nurg in 7:38 with softer suspension. Nissan engineers knew that and they had to compromise the softer suspension in order to get the lap time they were after.

scathing Grand Master

scathing

Posted
Posted

From what I've heard, the Nurburgring isn't exactly a modern F1 circuit in terms of smoothness. Running an ultra-stiff suspension there would probably throw you off the road unless you had balls of steel.

And yes, I do realise the current production car record for the track is owned by the , which is ultra stiff and looks like its getting airborne in places, but it also weighs about a third the weight of the GT-R.

I would hope that Nissan tuned the car to be as quick as it can be in the places where the vast majority of its customers are going to be driving it, not quick on one circuit. And, if the car really is that harsh, what's to say that if they hadn't softened it out on such an old, bumpy, circuit that they could have squeezed a better laptime with more compliant suspension that maintained better road-to-tyre contact....but they chose to harden it so it would also run a reasonable laptime on modern circuits like Fuji Raceway?

pixel8r Mentor

pixel8r

Posted
Posted

I think you'll find that the differences between japanese-tuned suspension and australian-tuned suspension has more to do with the roads in each place than the engineers.

I love the term "built for australian roads" - in other words, have the suspension as soft as you can possibly make it so as not to spill your drink every 5m when you hit a pothole or some piece of badly cracked bitumen. Our roads (at least here in SA) are bumpy and extremely crap. On a good quality flat road, my stagea is more comfortable than just about every other car i've been in. It kind of just glides along, no seasickness etc.

But give it your average adelaide road and the suspension is less than perfect :P

As far as the article is concerned. Most of the aussie car reviewers are so brainwashed into aussie cars its no wonder it only scored 3.5/5.0. They were probably just confused because they couldn't work out what model of holden it was...

skyline_man Enthusiast

skyline_man

Posted
Posted

Correct me if im wrong, but the Aussie guy that test drove the GTR was from MOTOR magazine?

As i can recall, guys at MOTOR magazine have always been biased towards the GTR's - they don't like GTR's. There was one time, they tested the R34 with other cars and complained that it's handling around the track was more annoying than revolutional. Thats because they didn't know that a GTR is meant to be driven hard to bring out the best in it. They were driving it around the track like pussies.

However, WHEELS magazine have always loved GTR's. They were the ones that gave it the nickname 'Godzilla'. Anyway, i remembered an article where they tested an R34 N1 against a Monaro GTS or somethin and they said that the GTR was "the best car they've ever driven - no kidding".

hrd-hr30 Grand Master

hrd-hr30

Posted
Posted
Man these guys dont know how to drive pfft 4.0 wait till people own this car and get familiar with it easy mid 3s and mid to low 11s...

umm, with launch control and DSG what does the driver actually have to do to but hold the right pedal down???

ras1983 Experienced

ras1983

Posted
Posted
umm, with launch control and DSG what does the driver actually have to do to but hold the right pedal down???

They were testing in slightly damp conditions. Hence there could be a couple of tenths that can be cut from the 0-100kmh time and the 0-400m (also mentioning they hit the 180kmh limiter before they reached the end of the 400m and they still managed a 12.1).

hrd-hr30 Grand Master

hrd-hr30

Posted
Posted
a) GT-R has launch control and b) it works! Using it to good effect on the complex's deserted dragstrip, in the failing light at the end of the Sendai session, MOTOR's David Morley punched out an even 4.0sec for the 0-100km/h sprint and 12.1sec for the standing 400m.

While in 'normal' conditions the 4.0sec will be hard to trim...

nothing about it being damp when they did it. If it was damp I doubt they'd say it would be hard to beat in normal conditions. so my point about knowing how to drive, or getting familiar with the car helping accelleration times significantly still stands.

ras1983 Experienced

ras1983

Posted
Posted
nothing about it being damp when they did it. If it was damp I doubt they'd say it would be hard to beat in normal conditions. so my point about knowing how to drive, or getting familiar with the car helping accelleration times significantly still stands.

It seems you're right. did they mention what revs the launch control takes off? is it a clutch frying redline launch?

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • suko
      J50 clock date suddenly reset to January 1

      By suko · Posted

      Well, I can recommend the partial AV system translation CD I ordered from Car Audio Workshop in NZ. Whilst it didn't address the date issue, it has conveniently translated on-screen menu items into English, and now allows the GPS-received time to be offset in hours rather than minutes, so I can display Eastern Australian time accurately ( and bump it by another hour when daylight savings starts ).
    • GTSBoy
      Baron's R34 GT-R build thread - car in Japan for 5 years -_-

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      Yuh, if it's 45°C outside, my car is driving in it.
    • soviet_merlin
      Baron's R34 GT-R build thread - car in Japan for 5 years -_-

      By soviet_merlin · Posted

      I'd be curious to hear more. Otherwise, have you driven a modern x-trail? I wonder how it compares. Here in Australia they are/were popular for rentals and fleet vehicles. I have been in some and my impression was they are bad. But, this may have been very different in the 2000s at a good trim level. Twenty years is plenty of time to make the model worse. I do very much agree with the 2 silver cars in the garage approach. But, not driving because it's too hot would not leave a lot of time in the year for many Australians. I don't think you need to worry too much unless the car has actual issues with overheating. 
    • BaronOBeefdip
      Baron's R34 GT-R build thread - car in Japan for 5 years -_-

      By BaronOBeefdip · Posted

      Back again. I returned to Japan in Jul/Aug to spend time with the car on my birthday and remind myself what all the sacrifice and compromise is for. It happened to line up with the monthly morning meet in Okutama, which I have been wanting to go to for a long time. It's a unique event at a unique spot with really rare, interesting, and quirky cars. It's where all the oldheads and OGs gather. The nighttime scene at DKF certainly has its place and should be experienced if you're into cars, but there's too much bad attention and negativity around it now. IMO the better time is Sunday morning at DKF or Okutama; it's more chill and relaxed. I'm glad I was finally able to go, but not sure it's worth the drive from all the way from Nagoya immediately the day before, unless I was already staying in Tokyo for the days right before the meet, because you have to wake up quite early to make it in time. Funnily enough though I didn't drive the car all that much this trip because it was just too damn hot. While there were zero issues and running temps were nominal and the A/C was strong, RBs already run crazy hot as it is. Sure, it took it all like a champ but something about driving these cars in the ridiculous heat/humidity bothers me and makes me feel like I'm asking too much of it. I'm just me being weird and treating the car like a living thing with feelings; I'm mechanically sympathetic to a fault. Instead I was mainly driving something else around - a KX4(silver) 2001 X-Trail GT, that I acquired in May. There's a few different flavors to choose from with Xs, but visually it's the Nissan version of the Honda CR-V. Mechanically it's a whole different story as this, being the top-trim GT, has an SR20VET mated to a four-speed auto and full-time AWD! It was a very affordable buy in exceptional condition inside and out, with very low mileage...only 48k kms. Most likely it was owned by an older person who kept it garaged and well-maintained, so I'm really happy with how it all worked out. It literally needs zero attention at the moment, albeit except for some minor visual touch-ups. I wanted something quirky, interesting, and practical and for sure it handily delivers on all three of those aspects. I was immediately able to utilize the cargo and passenger capacity to its full extent. It's a lot of fun to drive and is quite punchy through 1st and 2nd. It's very unassuming -in the twisty bits it's a lot more composed than one would think at a glance- and it'll be even better once I get better tires on it(yes, it's an SUV but still a little boat-y for my liking). So...now I have two golden-era Nissans in silver. One sports car and one that does everything else; the perfect two-car solution I think👍 The rest of the trip...I was able to turn my stressed brain off and enjoy it, although I didn't quite get to do as much as I thought. I did some interesting things, met some interesting people, and happened into some interesting situations however, that's all for another post though only if people really want to know. Project-wise, I went back to Mine's again to discuss more plans and am hoping to wrap that up real soon; keep watching this space if that interests you. Additionally, while working in the tormenting sweatbox that is the warehouse, I was able to organize most of the myriad of parts that my friend is storing for me along with the cars, and the 34 has a nice little spot carved out for it: And since it can get so stupid hot in there, that made it all the more easy -after I was standing there looking at the car and said 'f**k it'- to finally remove all the damn gauges that have mostly been an eyesore all this time. Huzzah. The heat basically makes the adhesive backing on the gauge mounts more pliable to work with, so it was far less stressful getting this done. I didn't fully clean it up or chase the wiring though; that will happen once I have the car in closer possession. Another major reason to remove all that stuff is to give people less reasons to get in my car and steal s**t while it's being exported/imported when/if the time comes, which leads us to my next point... ...and that is even though it's time in Japan is technically almost up since it's a November car and the X would be coming in March, I'm still not entirely sure where my life and career is headed; I don't really know what the future looks like and where I'm going to end up. I feel there's a great deal of uncertainty with me and as a result of that, it feels like I'm at a crossroads moreso now than any point in my life thus far and there are some choices I need to make. Yes, I've had some years to consider things and prepare myself, however too much has happened in that time to maintain confidence and everything feels so up in the air; tenuous one might say. Simply put, there's just too much nonsense going on right now from multiple vectors. Admittedly, I'm struggling to stay in the game and keep my eyes on the prize. So much so in fact, that very recently I came the closest I ever have before to calling it quits outright; selling everything and moving on and not looking back. The astute among you will pick up on key subtext within this paragraph. In the meantime I've still managed to slowly acquire some final bits for the car, but it feels nice knowing there's not much left to get and I'm almost across that finish line; I have almost everything I'll ever want for my interpretation and expression on what it is I think an R34 should be. 'til later.
    • Bwagz
      Engine model

      By Bwagz · Posted

      Thanks for that, hadn’t used my brain enough to think about that. 
×
×
  • Create New...