Despite having no involvement with the GT-R road car development programme, Nismo will offer tuning options when the GT-R hits the market, and by the end of 2008 we can expect to see complete cars with more power and revised suspension, along the lines of the 350Z S-Tune and the fire-breathing, Ferrari-eating R34 GT-R Z-Tune. Simultaneously Nismo will be working on the competition version of the GT-R for Japanese GT racing.

Nismo employs around 200 people in Japan, but recently a small team of eight has moved over to Nissan Europe in Paris to begin to push the brand in the rest of the world. It's a small division that's used to developing racing cars with huge budgets (which explains why the S-Tune 350Z costs around ΂£50K), but Nissan is keen to build Nismo into a kind of M-Division or AMG.

It already sells packages for the Micra, 350Z, R34 GT-R and even the X-Trail in Japan, but the products are not easily homologated for the UK and Europe. The next generation of its work will be. Expect to see a Nismo-developed GT-R at evo Car of the Year 2008.