A Brilliant Car from Nissan!!
Fast and, yes, quite furious. Performance comes no easier, yet it’s possible to be left a little cold by the GT-R at first. It doesn’t feel special to sit in, and it’s hard, harsh, loud and clinical in the way it goes about things. On a 20-minute test drive it may not worm its way into a potential buyer’s affections.
Partly that’s because of the efficiency and effortlessness of its performance. It goes at the dry-weather pace of a 430 Scuderia or 911 GT2 with nonchalant ease, its engine is as smooth at 6000rpm as it is at 2000 and its gearbox shifts with totally undramatic efficiency. The longer you spend with the GT-R, the more you uncover new movements in its dynamic repertoire and the more visceral, thrilling and alive with feedback and response it seems. There are hidden depths to its brutish, frill-free performance. The longer you have it, the more you want it.
In 473bhp grey-imported form the GT-R caused quite a stir; it demolished pretty much every challenge we laid before it last year, including being crowned the winner of our annual Best Driver’s Car shootout last autumn.
The official, 478bhp UK-spec car we’re testing is the range-topping Black Edition, which has a list price of £59,395 and for which no options are offered (the entry-level 3.8 V6 costs £56,795). This means it’s better value for money than cars that are seemingly as fast, and it can outperform cars of a similar price. Seems too good to be true.
You may think that the GT-R is a triumph of function over form, but while it has been designed largely by need, there is more to the exterior styling of the GT-R than you would initially credit. Certainly there’s no mistaking it for something else and, because this is the first GT-R not based on a mass-market vehicle (hence the absence of the Skyline tag), it has been designed with more freedom than previous GT-Rs. Hiroshi Hasegawa, Nissan’s chief product designer, says “it is clearly not an Italian, German or American car” and that “it’s very mechanical, almost like an animated robot”, and is “obviously made from metal”, thanks to its big shoulders and hefty muscularity. Those features help place this wide car and contribute to an excellent drag coefficient of 0.27.
Also continued from previous versions is the mechanical concept; the R35 is a front-engined, four-wheel-drive supercar. But the technology employed leaves previous GT-Rs – and most other supercars – trailing. Its body structure consists of carbonfibre, aluminium and steel (although the kerb weight is a bloated 1775kg), while the 100bhp-per-litre twin-turbo V6 engine is new, sits well back in the chassis and drives all four wheels via a dual-clutch automated gearbox.
As technological showcases go it’s quite a feat and is matched only by the array of electronics on board. But don’t misunderstand us: driving the GT-R is a visceral experience governed by mechanics and physics, not merely electronics. The GT-R is still a supercar and it’ll still slide.
One thing its electronics will know is if you’ve been in trouble. They log how much power you’ve used, how much g you’ve pulled and even whether you’ve switched off stability control. Japanese models even use GPS to disable their speed limiter on race tracks.
First the numbers: 0-60mph in 3.8sec, 0-100mph in 8.5sec and 0-150mph in 20.3sec. Given the GT-R’s less than stellar power-to-weight ratio of 275bhp per tonne, such figures are mind-blowing.
The GT-R is also an easy car in which to go incredibly fast. This is partly due to the traction advantages of all-wheel drive and the GT-R’s clever differentials, and partly to the dual-clutch gearbox. One of the three dashboard-mounted toggle switches alters the gearbox mode from Snow to R, changing the shift speed and pattern, while sliding the gear lever or pulling on the wonderful fixed paddles switches the ’box from automatic to manual.
Manual (in which the GT-R will not kick down) and R (which lets the engine run to the limiter) offers the best control, but in give and take conditions the automatic mode works a treat. In R mode its ability to judge and deliver jerk-free downchanges is exceptional
The brakes are beyond criticism, providing a reassuring ability to shed speed, despite the GT-R’s weight, needing just 40.9m to stop from 70mph. Almost more impressive is the excellent pedal feel and response.
You only have to look at the GT-R’s lap time around our dry handling circuit – only just shy of the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and Porsche 911 GT2, despite its inferior power-to-weight ratio – to realise that it has one or two tricks in its handling bag. Traction is just one. But what gives the GT-R its staggering pace is remarkable stiffness, not just in the suspension set-up but the shell construction. Over bumpy roads the ride is reasonably busy. But on a smoother, the GT-R can use this rigidity to generate incredible lateral grip.
Although the GT-R excels on almost all road surfaces and conditions, it is more at home on wider roads and through sweeping corners. The steering takes a little getting used to; at 2.6 turns lock to lock it is quick and relatively lightly weighted, but it is exceptionally accurate and communicative.
The bewildering array of screens and data readouts on the centre console could only come from Japan, as, too, could the choice of metal-look plastic trim on the fascia and doors. Nissan hasn’t pandered to European conventions, and the GT-R’s cabin is all the better for it.
Its front seats are spectacularly good, and although one of our testers suffered mild back ache after driving a considerable distance, it wasn’t a common complaint and is as likely to be induced by the ride as by the seats. The driving position itself is easily electrically adjusted, while the wheel – brilliantly sized and sculpted – adjusts amply for reach and rake.
This is a four-seater, but even Nissan admits the rear seats are best for kids, and when that happens you know you’re in for a squeeze. Head room is at a premium and rear leg room almost disappears if the driver’s seat is set comfortably for anyone over 6ft tall. The boot is big enough for two sets of golf clubs but the access hatch is small.
For the performance, this is a remarkably affordable supercar and it comes with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty. However, it does need servicing every 6000 miles and it won’t provide you with Micra-sized bills. Residual values will fall less quickly, and from a lower price, than supercars of comparable performance and shouldn’t be too far out of kilter with similar-priced coupés.
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