First Drive: Nissan GT-R SpecV

[fecurtis]

A little challenge issued for the ZR-1 here...

This is no normal GT-R. It's Godzilla gone nuclear. Donning lightweight carbon-fiber body parts, no rear seats, GBP36,000-plus world-beating carbon-ceramic brakes, a high gear boost control, unique fixed Bilstein suspension, and ultra-high-performance 20-in. Rays rims and extra-grippy Bridgestone rubber, the new GT-R SpecV certainly looks a lot meaner than the stock GT-R. This coupe is without doubt the most radical roadgoing racer Japan has ever produced. Bar none.

Invited to drive the black beast at the Sendai Highland Raceway, development home of the GT-R in Japan, we rode north from Tokyo on the bullet train for two hours.

Arriving at the raceway, chief engineer Kazutoshi Mizuno greeted us with an animated konichiwa and hurried us into the briefing room for the lowdown on his baby.

Pumping out 478 hp, the SpecV's 3.8L V-6 twin turbo only gets 5 extra horses over the 2008 R35 model. While Mizuno claims the car will do 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 sec and the quarter mile in under 11.5, even with a revised VDC unit that he asks you to "leave on," he tells us his aim was not to add power but to take the car's handling to the next level. And, to tell the truth, the car feels no slower, if not marginally quicker out of the blocks with the VDC on.

To lift the thrill factor, curb weight is down by 132 lb and a new high gear boost control device has been added to broaden the car's 434 lb-ft of torque for around 80 sec (!) by 14 lb-ft to 448 lb-ft between 3500 and 5200 rpm. Flick the switch on the steering wheel and the boost control engages instantly giving you a noticeable, but not explosive, shove in the back. Another cool feature is that Mizuno has tuned the exhaust note into a beefier, raspier tune, thanks to a layer of titanium coating. It almost sounds like a race car.

"We wanted to increase the thrill factor on a racetrack," he says. That's also why he's employed what he calls "the world's best brakes" (on a roadgoing car, of course). The six-piston Brembo carbon ceramic package boasts a unique mix of carbon and ceramic "thatching" that dissipates heat and resists fade more than any current brake assembly, even a Ferrari FXX according to Mizuno.

And to transfer that excessive braking force to the tarmac, Nissan also fitted the car with upgraded 20-in. Bridgestone RE070 run-flats that boast thicker sidewalls and shoulders and a stickier tread pattern. The result is mind-blowing, once you get some heat into those carbon-ceramic rotors and pads, which are not afraid to glow bright red under the stress. Jump on the brake pedal from around 120 mph, and the SpecV pulls up like nothing we've ever driven. You almost feel as though you have to recalibrate your brain to cope with this coupe's outrageous stopping power. One source tells that over 2 g are generated under full braking from 150 mph. Totally believable. The only downside is the price. At $50,000, you need to win a lottery just to pay for a new set of brakes. Thanks to the newly fitted fixed Bilstein dampers, the car stays flatter and more stable with less nose dive, and, strangely, or maybe not so, this combination of modifications makes the car feel a lot lighter and more chuckable.

Don't expect to see this Godzilla in the U.S. any time soon. Nissan can build only 30 units a month, all to be sold in Japan for the foreseeable future. Mizuno believes the premium price tag of $167,000 won't discourage buyers. He knows it's crucial to keep the GT-R's evolution on the public consciousness and at the top of the hit lists on influential Web sites. That's why he will turn up at the Nurburgring in Germany again in April with the SpecV in an attempt to smash Nissan's own 7-min/29-sec lap time.

As we left the track, Mizuno hinted that the least his new charger would do is to better the Corvette ZR1's 7-min/26-sec lap. "That's not hard," he said. "Be ready for a quick time." We are Mizuno-san, you betcha.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...ive/index.html

[astonv12]

sweet but 50,000 bux to replace brakes!?

[fecurtis]

All carbon cermic brakes cost that much.

Under normal driving conditions, you'll most likely never need to replace them for the life of the vehicle. Only extremely heavy track driving on a consistent basis would wear them out.

[keff108]

$50,000 brake job.

[escobar929]

wow, sickness

[eljoker]

so basicly stiffer suspension, 100 lbs removed and 5 hp increase in the middle of the powerband makes for an 11 sec car and possibly faster than a zr1 on the Berg.

thats pretty good, now imagaine if they actually tried and added an extra 100hp just by upping up the PSI then it be a real monster.

[Joaquin03]

They improved in all the areas necessary to improve 'Ring times, methinks...

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by eljoker

so basicly stiffer suspension, 100 lbs removed and 5 hp increase in the middle of the powerband makes for an 11 sec car and possibly faster than a zr1 on the Berg.

thats pretty good, now imagaine if they actually tried and added an extra 100hp just by upping up the PSI then it be a real monster.

I think they avoided adding any more substantial power because of the tranny.

An extra $80k+ for that? No thanks. I'll still take a ZR1 and save some cash.

At that price I'd just take a R8 5.3 V10 and call anyone who spent the cash in America (assuming they're ever sold here) for a SpecV mentally retarded.

[eljoker]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

I think they avoided adding any more substantial power because of the tranny.

An extra $80k+ for that? No thanks. I'll still take a ZR1 and save some cash.

for the price of coarse not, but just simple modifications imporved a car very well so to say just from the reading, means the base GTR isnt far from reaching that same point with aftermarket support

[Bigd2k6]

doesn't meineke have specials for like $69 per axle on brakes?

[astonv12]

Originally Posted by Bigd2k6

doesn't meineke have specials for like $69 per axle on brakes?

put economy drum brakes on gtr specv for maximum roflmao

[Bigd2k6]

Originally Posted by astonv12

put economy drum brakes on gtr specv for maximum roflmao

good enough for George Foreman, good enough for my SpecV.

[O HELLA OEM]

$50k for a brake job..
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nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

[Greatwars]

Originally Posted by Bigd2k6

doesn't meineke have specials for like $69 per axle on brakes?

[ttrank]

Sick @ss car and good upgrades but I expected too see more.