GTR News

A senior Nissan executive says one of the company's biggest battles is to maintain interest in its flagship GT-R supercar. Here's how they plan to keep you salivating in 2011

Luxury edition of hardcore Nissan spied testing. The beast has been tamed or has it. These are the first shots of the SpecM edition of Nissans GT-R.

This event is held on a closed section of Highway 341 that would normally be opened to the public.  Originally started in the early 70’s this event was pioneered by the local Ferrari clubs.  The event ran until 2002 before being shut down.  2010 marks the re-organization of the event and the new promoter Spectre 341’s involvement.  The course is 5.2 miles long with plenty of high speed long turns and narrow switchbacks.  In barely over 5 miles the event travels 1,200+ feet in elevation!!!  The current record up the hill is three minutes and 10 seconds.  Held be the president of Spectre Performance and his highly modified F40 Ferrari.  Steve Millen and Team STILLEN hope to break that record and perhaps dip under the three minute mark!

To prepare for the event the Team headed out to Spring Mountain Raceway to do a little track testing.  Spring Mountain is a good test area for this event because Highway 341 offers pretty flat, high speed turns, and a few tight twisty areas as well, very similar to a track like Spring Mountain.  The main priorities at Spring Mountain were tire testing, suspension development, and increased boost pressure.  Further development back at the shop consisted of installing GReddy Intercoolers, GReddy Hard Pipes, and a GReddy Cold Air Intake.

This weekend the Nissan GT-R from STILLEN will be competing in the Spectre 341 hillclimb in Virginia City, Nevada. This is the first annual event sponsored by Spectre, but it has been raced in the past by Ferrari clubs.

The course is 5.2 miles long, and the record time is 3:10 by a modified Ferrari F40 in 2002.   The STILLEN GT-R hopes to go quicker than 3 minutes.

Source: STILLEN blog

Inside Line and Autoblog are showing pictures of the 2012 Nissan GT-R at Nurburgring.  The 2012 car has some improvements that we have posted about in the last few days. A power increase, aero changes, are just a few of the improvements.  The old Nurburgring time was 7:26.7.

The two cars are sporting camouflage, and speculation is running on exactly what is under those covers. 

Brake ducts in the lower lip. SpecV R35 on factory wheels and tires.

Source: Inside Line, Autoblog Via NAGTROC

 

The Motor Report had a chance to sit down and talk with Kazutoshi Mizuno at the launch of the MY2010 Nissan GT-R in Australia.   There have been rumors about the R36 GT-R being a hybrid, but nothing has come from anyone as far up the chain as Mizuno.

“I’ve not decided what type of technology I would use,” Mizuno said to TMR.

“Diesel, hybrid, electric motor or another kind of system? It’s not been decided.”

Read more: Nissan GT-R Hybrid, EV A Possibility: Mizuno | Reviews | Prices | Australian specifications http://www.themotorreport.com.au/50472/r35-nissan-gt-r-could-go-hybrid-or-electric#ixzz0rJrWZFWy

The GT-R’s all wheel drive layout, could allow for a fairly easy integration into a mild hybrid. An electric motor could be attached to the transmission to provide drive during low speed conditions. In wheel electric motors could be added to the front wheels.  Mizuno said that it could take as few as two years to bring a hybrid powertrain to the GT-R. The Infiniti Essence concept showed some ideas for a hybrid high end car.

Mizuno also mentioned that the Nissan GT-R will get some updates in October of this year. We have posted some information on the changes in this post. These modifications are for the 2011 Japan, 2012 MY US R35, and include power upgrades to over 500 hp, aero, suspension, brake, cooling system tweaks .

Source: The Motor Report

GT-R Blog managed to find specifications and video of the new endurance race car version of the Nissan GT-R testing in Japan.

The Super Taikyu car will debut at Fuji Speedway June 26-27, for a test race by Nismo.  The specifications don’t really release too much information, over 485 ps, over 60kgm torque.  20 x 10.5 wheels all around with 290/710/20 slicks. The weight is listed as OVER 1480 kg, or OVER 3262 lbs, a fairly ambiguous way to describe a figure.

Source: GT-R Blog

If you own a Nissan GT-R and do not want to put holes in your front end or fascia in order to mount your front license plate, then this kit was developed specifically for you!

Mounting the plate using the factory bracket requires more than a few simple holes. In fact, major surgery is required, which is nearly impossible to reverse without replacement of the entire bumper assembly. Save yourself the headache and install the STILLEN GT-R Front License Plate Bracket. Uses the pre-existing hole for the factory tow bracket.

Source: NAGTROC

 

Brian Lock takes the track record in Modified AWD in the COBB Tuning GT-R at Autobahn Country Club in Redline time Attack Round 5. In between thunderstorms Brian set a fast time of 1:28.1.

The Cobb Tuning Nissan GT-R took another win in the Modified AWD class during theRedline Time Attack at Autobahn Country Club.

Source : NAGTROC and Cobb Bloghttp://blogs.cobbtuning.com/2010/06/15/cobb-tuning-motorsports-redline-time-attack-round-5-recap/

Road and Track Magazine is reporting that the 2012 Nissan GT-R will be introduced in October of this year with 520 hp.   In the blog post, they are also reporting on the MSpec, and Cup Car GT-R.

The Cup Car is reported to have upgraded brakes, suspension, wheels, and carbon fiber panels. The price is suspected to be $120,000- $150,000 with no reports of it coming to the US.   The MSpec is supposed to be a more customizable version of the Nissan GT-R, with 30 copies being produced at a price around $210,000.

Along the same lines, GT-R blog is reporting that the Super Taikyu version of the R35 GT-R has been testing at Fuji Speedway. In the pictures, carbon fiber parts are visible, along with SpecV wheels, a good amount of negative camber, and it shows a few different variations on the hood design.  In the past, the N1 version of the Nissan GT-R was used for Super Taikyu,an endurance race series in Japan.

Nismo Omori Factory, Nova Engineering, and Nordring are working on a “Club Track” version of the R35. The club track version, has a roll cage, carbon fiber seats, and 20” slicks.

Are these two cars, all one in the same ?  Club track and Cup Car ?  Either way, it looks like neither, none of them would make it to the US.

Source : Road and Track via NAGTROC and GT-R Blog

Thanks to Wildrover at the GTR.co.UK forums, we now have UK sales figures to add to our Japanese, and US sales.

2009
Jan 0
Feb 0
Mar 2
Apr 146
May 174
June 199
Jul 170
Aug 30
Sep 124
Oct 89
Nov 73
Dec 44
Total 1051

2010
Jan 54
Feb 18
Mar 143
Apr 34
Total 265

Total 2009-2010 of 1316 cars in the UK

6380 cars  sold in Japan

3684 cars sold in the US

 

 

Source : GTR.co.UK

A Club Track Edition is being developed for the 2011 Nissan GT-R by Nismo in collaboration with Japanese racing outfitters Nova Engineering and Nordring.

After the last big 100 car GT-R meet in Japan, a few of us were wondering how many cars were sold in Japan.  Chuck from NAGTROC received the information from Shin and GT-R Magazine.

8 - October 07
14 - November 07
793 - December 07
604 - January 08
670 - February 08
951 - March 08
695 - April 08
371 - May 08
530 - June 08
532 - July 08
113 - August 08
132 - September 08
144 - October 08
93 - November 08
39 - December 08
48 - January 09
44 - February 09
151 - March 09
32 - April 09
44 - May 09
46 - June 09
59 - July 09
27 - August 09
38 - September 09
24 - October 09
10 - November 09
15 - December 09
34 - January 10
25 - February 10
49 - March 10
26 - April 10
19 - May 10
-----------------------
6,380 Total

This compares to 3,684 total sold in the US from July 2008. 

 

Source : NAGTROC

In July, the Nissan GT-R super-car starts its third year for sale in the United States. But many Americans still haven't seen one on the road.

The all-new Nissan Juke compact crossover was built mainly for European markets. It will arrive in the U.S. this fall with a new 1.6-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine.

More of those crazy Russians, at the Moscow 500 Unlimited.  In the Wet. Bugatti Veyron vs Nissan GT-R.

Nuts. Just nuts.
Source : Bespoke Ventures.
Nissan GT-R Parts Catalog

Take a ride with the mighty ApexKings.com GT-R owned by Darin as he wraps up a day of skilled driving and excitement during HPDE at RTA on May 29, 2010. A few great cars depicted are the Midnight Purple GT-R owned by Ill Payne, the Yellow (Bird) Axis Wheels GT-R owned by James and the Fontana Nissan Race GT-R driven by Mike Cronin, Jr.

Are you more hardcore than your neighbor ?  Do you need a Nissan GT-R with just a bit more, go ?  Then this GT-R from Nismo Omori Factory, Nova Engineering, and Nordring might be for you. 
What starts life as your run of the mill 485 hp , 3829 lb Nissan GT-R, becomes, well….. we don’t really know that much about the engine or weight. It has a roll cage, a Bride seat, 6 point harnesses, Rays 20 inch wheels, and Dunlop slicks. 
There should be a few cooling system upgrades that I would expect to see also, to help keep the transmission, and the engine oil in check for track days. Both those are areas that have problems for most owners that run their cars on the track.

It remains to be seen if the car will take any trips to Nurburgring, but if it did, I wonder what kind of times it would turn on some Dunlop slicks…. However, the car will only be offered for sale in Japan.
Source : Nismo via Motor Trend

IDRC is hosting a drag racing event June 12, 2010 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.   Gates open at 8 am . If you are itching to make some quarter mile passes, here is an opportunity.

Are any R35 GT-R guys headed out ?  Head over to importdrag.com for more information

I can like and respect Apple but Ive never personally been attracted to Apple products. read more

Palm Springs Nissan sold 133 vehicles in May, 99 more than in May 2009.