Nissan GT-R: Behind the wheel of the new GT-R
Richard Meaden on driving a prototype at the ring
It’s been six long months since the roller-shutter doors of an anonymous, unmarked workshop at the Nürburgring opened to reveal a prototype of one of the most eagerly awaited cars in recent memory. Keeping a secret has never been so tough.
Rewind to April 30, and we arrive to find that Nissan’s rented workshop is situated within a stone’s throw of the Nordschleife’s main straight. Sadly we’re not going to have the opportunity to tilt at Nissan’s yet-to-be-set GT-R lap time of 7min 38.54sec – or even its durability-testing pace of 7min 55sec – but we are going to be let loose on the modern GP circuit for a handful of unaccompanied laps.
First impressions are of a broad-shouldered car that’s aggressively taut and has an exceptionally rigid structure. It feels quite big too, although you’re immediately confident of the GT-R’s instant response and ability to keep its not inconsiderable bulk in check.
The engine owes nothing to the old Skyline GT-R motor in hardware terms, but it shares its expressive character and distinctive vocals. You hear the turbos spool-up boost with a smooth, turbine-like whine, then cough and gurgle heartily when you back-off. You feel them working too: a rapid swell of force-fed torque that builds with real urgency and insistence. And this twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 likes revs, feeling keener and quicker-witted than the legendary 2.6-litre straight-six.
It’s also good to be free of the old car’s stupid 276bhp limit, for it allows the standard GT-R to feel more honest – and a lot more potent – without having to resort to aftermarket tuning. While that must sound like treason to Skyline diehards, it’ll surely win the brave new GT-R a whole heap of conquest buyers who expect the manufacturer and not a tuning company to release a car’s full potential.
The twin-clutch transmission is punchy, positive and smooth, even in the most aggressive shift mode. It doesn’t come close to the kind of synaptic shift speeds managed by Ferrari’s F430 Scuderia, but by less extreme standards it’s super-quick and uncannily seamless. Downshifts are equally clinical.
Stopping power is provided by 380mm discs all-round, with six-pot front and four-pot rear monobloc Brembo callipers. With over 1700kg to slow, they feel like they’re working pretty hard. Indeed a German journalist, clearly hell-bent on upholding his nation’s honour, went out with the express intention of melting them. He succeeded where the rest of us failed, but then he was, somewhat appropriately, called Bernd.
The steering has a substantial weight – a classic GT-R characteristic – but the chassis feels grippier, pointier and more intuitive than the old all-wheel drive, all-wheel-steer Skylines. It’s extremely stable, with a nose-led balance – exactly what you’d expect from a car set-up to deliver on the Nordschleife, if not as playful as you’d like on the Nürburgring’s GP track with its inviting corners and huge run-offs When pushed hard the chassis feels hugely capable and easily exploitable. You still sense that the car is doing an awful lot of work for you, it’s just that it now goes about its business in a more conventional manner. However, there’s no doubt it’s a car to make everyone drive like a hero, which is what the (Skyline) GT-R has always been about.
How does it feel on the road? Sorry, but that’s a secret we’ll be keeping for another month…
