Nissan GT-R breaks Ring record

Nissan has tried to put to bed the controversy surrounding the GT-R’s Nurburgring lap record by having another crack. And it’s good news for the Japanese – the 2010 model year GT-R, with 478bhp and a modified launch control – beat the previous 7min 29sec time with a 7.27.56.

The car was piloted by Toshio Suzuki, a former stand-in Formula 1 driver, but Nissan still isn’t quite satisfied with the time – ‘although dry, the track surface grip was impaired by dust and sand’. That means another attempt is due in the next few days, with the Corvette ZR-1’s 7.26.40 firmly in Suzuki’s sights.

As well as a smidge extra power, the updated GT-R gets a retuned gearbox, fettled suspension, a larger fuel tank and slightly better fuel economy, although this probably wasn’t too key around the Nordschleife. Stay tuned for more updates as Nissan continues its efforts at the Ring.

Read about Nissan's monster GT-R GT1 racer right here.