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By
EWAN KENNEDY
2 March 2009
What an astonishing
example of high-performance 21st century automotive engineering.
Nissan has built the GT-R as a showcase for its technological
ability. This car is something very special, with superb styling
and a stunning mechanical setup. Yet, amazingly, it can be used as
a daily commuter.
This time around,
Nissan simply calls its high-performance coupe the GT-R. It has
dropped the Skyline prefix because the new model isn’t based on
that sporting model, but is an independent machine. In keeping
with the heritage, the model designation for the new car follows
directly on from the previous Skyline one. So this is the Nissan
GT-R R35 and follows on from the R34 Skyline.
Nissan describes the
latest GT-R as a supercar. And no one can argue with that
definition. It can top 300 km/h where conditions permit, has a
weight to power ratio of just 3.6 kilograms per horsepower (0.74
kilowatts). Best of all, it has been driven around the famous
Nurburgring Nordschleife ‘green hell’ in Germany in just seven
minutes and 29 seconds. The latter an extremely impressive time
for a road car.
The
driver who accomplished that incredible Nurburgring feat, Toshio
Suzuki, flew to Australia to showcase the car and to drive
selected motoring journalists around the Eastern Creek circuit.
What an experience, brutal acceleration, tenacious cornering grip
and braking that made me wish I hadn’t eaten so much bacon and
eggs for breakfast...
Best
of all, I got to do a dozen fast laps of the circuit myself. I
don’t profess to be in the same class as Suzuki san, but have a
fair bit of driving experience and was able to push the GT-R close
to its limits. At no time did I feel intimidated by this semi-race
machine. The feel through the steering and the seat of the pants
is excellent and throttle control is there for the asking. Any
owner who doesn’t take a car like this to the track at least
once a month is missing out on a great experience.
Some may consider that
a supercar should be a low-slung machine with seats for just two,
but Nissan has deliberately designed a two-plus-two coupe body,
reasoning that many buyers want a degree of day-to-day
functionality. The back seats are small and tight for legroom and
head space but are there for young children or as emergency
accommodation for adults.
If
you haven’t been reading about the GT-R on the internet for the
last 18 months then you are out of touch. Because, believe it or
not, the just-released MY09 car is even better than the MY08
you've been drooling over. And the 09 is the model Australia is
getting.
Engine power is up
slightly, from 353 kW to 357 kW, but the big news is the talk of
the torque. The twin-turbo, 3.8-litre V6 engine has a peak of 588
Newton metres. But peak’s not the right word to describe a graph
that's flat all the way from 3200 to 5200 revs. There's simply
grunt there for the asking virtually all the time in spirited
driving.
Grunt that sees the 09
GT-R R35 catapult from rest to 100 km/h in a mere 3.3 seconds.
Down from the already good 3.5 seconds of the 08 car.
Naturally, Nissan GT-R
drives all four wheels. The powertrain is incredibly complicated.
Because the desire to keep the front to rear balance as close to
50/50 as possible has led to the engineers pushing the V6 right to
the back of the engine bay. This has necessitated a rear transaxle
– the dual-clutch six-speed gearbox and differential form a
single unit between the back wheels.
So power is taken from
the engine back to the rear transaxle, which can then send some
power back to the front of the car by way of a second propeller
shaft. There, a further driveshaft runs through the engine’s dry
sump area to feed to the left-front wheels. It's not elegant, but
it works.
Nissan GT-R is
normally driven only by its rear wheels, with power and torque
being fed to the fronts as required depending on road and driving
conditions.
Retaining the coupe
body means Nissan's stylists have been able to give the R35 strong
styling cues to the previous generations. This is particularly
noticeable in the slope of the roof and the shape of the
tail-lights.
Now
it's available in Australia, with deliveries beginning on April 1.
Our country is held in high regard by Nissan and we are only the
third market to receive GT-R (after Japan and the USA). Some 150
Australians have already put their money on the line and will be
queuing up outside one of the specialist Nissan dealers who are
selling and servicing the car. Others with $155,000 to spare can
join the line, but move quickly because our depressed dollar seems
sure to bring on a hefty price rise.
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Marque Publishing Company
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