That's astonishingly quick for a $70k car.

I'd like to see someone else than Nissan take it around the track though, you know?

Still, even if its just as fast as the 997TT and these numbers are overstated, thats still QUITE an accomplishment.

Way to go Nissan. Now I can afford a playboy car and a serious track car for the price of a 997TT, the playboy car will be infinitely sexier (although also probably a Porsche) and the track car the GT-R.

GT-R or Mustang? What do you prefer?

"GT-R or Mustang? What do you prefer?" - R3TNIAP

Is that a trick question?

They're both ugly, have similar power output, weight and will be price gouged well above MSRP, but the GT-R uses technology to have performance numbers that beat $250k exotics, while the Mustang GT500 can barely match a (non-Zo6) Z51-equipped $50k Corvette.

That is a crazy fast time. I am sure we will now hear a bunch of complaints and get some flaming from Vette fans. The facts are that the Vette is a very nice car, but this car offers AWD for those of us who see things like snow, it can seat 4, it has a nicer interior than the Vette, Honestly it's really not in the same class of car, the Vette is a purists sports car, the GT-R is more of a GT car. The only reason they get compared is that they are both really fast and the GT-R and the Z06 have very similar price tags. Having said all that i would take the GT-R simply because I am 29 not 19, my tastes have matured and I would take the more practical more comfortable car over the sexier looking car these days. I just wish the GT-R was about 25K cheaper so I could actually afford one. Oh and that someone other than Nissan built the GT-R seeing as I currently own a Nissan that I bought new, which has been into the shop so many times in 3 years of ownership that I lost count, I think the number is currently around 18, even the fact that I got a lemon wouldn't deter me if their customer care had not lied to me, promised me things they never delivered on, and then told me if I thought my car was a Lemon I was more than welcome to sue them, they keep a great staff of lawyers for such things and they would be more than happy to see me in court.

@Travis

Is that a premptive vette-bashing?

:::::::::::::

This car is jigga-fast. I'm a fan of fast cars from every country, and could care less about my heritage or an automaker's pedigre. I like vettes a lot, but this thing is ridiculous fast and much much easier to drive (I'm assuming with all the electronics and 4wd). It'd be my choice. 7:30 is flying. I'd like to ride along for a lap that fast.

For the people who don't realize how fast this is, look up the Rings lap times for production cars on Wikipedia.

For instance, the GT-R is even quicker around the Ring than the $440,000 Porsche Carrera GT.

Wow, that is crazy fast. I wonder if a V-Spec version will be released?

Very quick. I look forward to seeing the Corvette team, who were also working under wet conditions, try to best this new time.

RE: GT-R vs Corvette. Both sound like excellent cars, they are both quick, and cost the same, so comparisons are natural. While neither is low tech, the Corvette is taking a more straight forward route to speed, while the GT-R is more gizmodic.

I like them both, and relish the available variety.

"but this car offers AWD for those of us who see things like snow, it can seat 4,"

I've read some dumb stuff on here before but are you kidding me??? SNOW??? Someone please slap your mom for having you.

Yeah it can seat 4, 2 adults and 2 midgets. Pardon me, two midgets without legs.

That time is crazy fast even if they're not running the standard course like they did last year (they ran a loop that was a couple hundred meters shorter than everyone else runs). Even adding those meters back in is only going to add a second or two... amazing times for a car on street tires.

As far as wanting to see someone besides Nissan run the car... most manufacturers only post their own times, so in that respect the playing field is level... they ALL have talented drivers.

I think the only conclusion to be drawn is that power is being significantly underrated on that car.

Yes, I've read some rumors online that in Japan it's putting down more than 480hp at the WHEELS on a dyno.

I don't know if it was an AWD dyno (which really saps power, up to 30%) or if it was only tested RWD (10-20% loss), but it's probably making at least 520-530hp minimum at the crank IMO.

Boy, I love this car...

There are rumours of an Infiniti G38-R, a four door GT-R, Now that would be my dream car.

Thanks Nissan, for building this car.

Do we really need a news posting about an improvement of 9 sec?

@ John Kimble

In racing, 9 seconds is an eternity.

"@Totenglocke:

@ John Kimble

In racing, 9 seconds is an eternity."

@ Noya: thx for the wikipedia tip.

Not to mention on a single lap (although pretty long)...

Formula 1 teams spend extra millions to gain milliseconds.

Thought: could the Ring times become a performance benchmark as important as to be listed next to HP numbers and 0-60 times? I think it should. It definitely says a lot more

Fast yes. Is it "available to anyone, anytime, and anywhere", no!

Sorry to rain on their parade but a $70K car isn't exactly available to everyone anytime. I pull in about $75K a year and would have a hard time stretching for that car, and according to the IRS I'm rich....... I'd say they made this level of performance availalble to some most of the time.

$70k is far more affordable than most other cars of comparable performance. In all likelihood I'll see several in my small town over the next couple years - though I'm unlikely to be one of them even though I'd like to be.

Kudos to nissan, good to hear. Maybe in 10 years when I can afford one of these used I'll pick one up.

the one flaw is the limited avalibility of this car there are only 14 employees from nissan devoted to the manufacturing of this car.

and what a car it is, 2+2 with AWD and a huge trunk that can pull 7:30 on the ring ? ok thats the best balance of practicality and performance we will see for a while.

this is an exciting time to be alive.

Sandmanwn

Thats cute, yeah there is this white stuff that falls out of the sky, I know they don't have it down south where it's always warm and your family tree doesn't branch. But it can be a problem up here in the north. Anyways when it falls out of the sky high performance FR cars magically fly off the road and get all smashed up. And before you open your mouth with some garbage rhetoric about how no one that can afford a car like a Vette would drive it in the snow I have over the years seen hundreds of wrecks in the snow and if I were to guess I have seen at least 15~20 smashed Vette's, the problem with being an affordable "supercar" is that there will always be people who can only afford one car that has to be a daily driver reaching up to buy it. I am in the same boat I can afford exactly one car in my life. And I want something fast, I could spend possibly as much as 45K on a car, and have yet to find something that perfectly meets my needs, but I can tell you where I live it would be as retarded as you are to buy a high performance FR machine.

@ travis
thats funny your going to drive your 500hp super car in the snow because its trick diff will keep you safe disregarding the laws of physics and tires not designed for the snow. Plus those gtrs are going for really cheap only 40k over msrp with that value you can buy one in 20 years. Ive seen plenty of evos and stis smashed in the snow because the best diff in the world isnt going to save an idiot behind the wheel.

I can't afford a GT-R right now I am looking at the Evo as my next car if they do the sportback version. Possibly even a Ralliart, I have thought about the WRX, The G37, It seems like Suzuki may have a slick AWD car coming out, My next car is about a year away and I am still undecided as to what I want 70+ is out of my price range, though still close enough to tantalize me. And I have been driving though snow since I was 15, hasn't caused me to wreck yet, and I have driven FF FR, 4x4 and AWD in the snow in the past. I know exactly what AWD will do for me and I consider it a must have on my next car.

"ok thats the best balance of practicality and performance we will see for a while."

I remember you complaining about "morons" that use 500+ hp cars for shopping and other practical purposes...and yet this gaz guzzler gets your praise for its practicality why? ahhh its the "america" right??

you are a moron sir...

"this is an exciting time to be alive."

Why? You can afford one?

Hmm, that IS damn fast, but I still would rather have a R-34 V-spec thou.

Agree that the R34 was the best looking GT-R ever.

My son works for nissan and was the top technician in Canada two years ago at the nistec competions.He says there is nothing out there pound for pound that can touch this car,I would like to see how it would do against the 1000 hp Bugatti veron

Travis
If you can't afford these cars, don't assume to tell us how they will perform in snow. Regardless of AWD or not, at 400+ HP its worthless on snow. Wonder how those racing tires are going to do up there in that snowy abyss. Any argument otherwise shows how much of a dim whit you are.

You can talk all that mess from a safe distance all you want... You have an open invitation to come down to the dirty dirty and try running that pie hole on that fat face of yours any time you want.

You don't run performance tires in the winter. Modern cars with traction and stability control do a LOT better on snow and ice and are a lot more forgiving than they used to be.

Take that GTR, drop on a set of undersized Blizzaks or better yet - studded tires, and you'll have a very competent winter driver, if that's what you want to do with it.

The Vette would also be drivable in the winter with proper tire selection, but it will suffer from the same disadvantages relative to the GTR that every RWD car suffers relative to AWD cars. I don't drive my RWD sports car in the winter, it's just not worth it - it's not much fun and it IS more risky.

AWD cars on the other hand can be a total blast to drive in the winter if they're well balanced. I wouldn't winter daily drive a GTR because I'd not want it rusting to crap in 10 years, but I would definitely drive it for fun in the winter.

Yeah cause everyone keeps a set of low profile studded tires just in case of a blizzard. It works for Subarus because they have the clearance to do so. It doesn't work for a pavement skipping sports car.

Even at that the most basic point you missed is that, at these price ranges, the people who would buying these cars would never drive these vehicles in snow. They'll be taking the Land Rover out of the garage.

@Sandmanwn

Low profile? Just buy a set of smaller sized steel wheels and mount some good winters on them and this car will be fine in the snow. Everybody who runs winter tires has them mounted on a different set of rims, who wants to wreck their alloys in the snow...

I HAVE low profile snow tires for my Subaru. Sure you've got to dig harder to find them but they're out there. The biggest problem is finding rims that clear the brakes but even that's not TOO hard. There are 225 through 255 sized Blizzak's in 18 and 19" sizes that would fit both the Vette and GTR with properly backspaced rims. You ALWAYS want to go narrower for winter tires since wide tires will just load up with snow. If you're someplace that doesn't salt then studded tires make sense because you're going to be on ice most of the winter... otherwise standard snow tires will work well.

And as far as winter driving for someone for whome money is no object... the GTR will be AT LEAST as good a winter car as a Land Rover unless you like driving through snow banks. It's the poor folks who stretch to own the GTR that won't want to drive it in the winter.

Sandmanwn:

In areas where snow is a given in winter you'll find that in order to combat the opinions of those such as yourself, it is often a legal requirement to have winter tyres or, at least, if you don't have them your insurance is void should you have an accident. To not have them is idiotic and your comments equally so to suggest that the same racing-spec tyres would be used in winter.

I, for example, have two sets of wheels, not just tyres, which I switch over in the appropriate seasons. This is standard here, and the tyre places will even store the set you are not using for a yearly fee and fit for free each time you change.

This car would be fully drivable in winter and, in fact, great fun at the same time.

Bahaha, are you guys really trying to prove this car is capable of traversing snow covered roads? Its not a Subaru, it doesn't have the ground clearance of a truck like the jacked up Subaru's have. You couldn't even make a fist and fit under half the undercarriage and you guys think you can loose an inch of clearance for studded low profile tires, lol. What happens when those studs dig in and your ground clearance goes to nill and you can't even flatten your hand out and stick it under this car. This cars AWD was built for wet weather driving at worst. Its meant to keep the car from hydro plaining. You guys are the worst kind of stupid.

We had a overnight snow fall about 1 month back of a good 24-30" of snow in 8 hours. The morning i went to work i saw a bran new show roomed shined Lamborghini litteraly plowing its way threw the snow down the highway. I was almost in tears, but yes there are some people who will drive a car like this in the snow.

@Sandmanwn:

mmm... sounds like someone with no snow experience, and throwing insults... very mature of you. I bet I can guess your age... lol.

In any case, I have an outback and it does have a lot of ground clearance. I've also got a Legacy GT Limited and it does not have a lot of ground clearance.

In 99.9% of winter driving conditions, the GT is the better car. The ONLY time the Outback shines is when there is a lot of snow on the road and the plows have not come through... and in those conditions there are very few cars on the road.

Studs are for ice... not for snow. Ice covered roads are common in rural areas where salt is not used, and may very well be the road surface for much of the winter. In those areas, studs make a huge difference in traction.

In heavy snow, studs do nothing - deep flexible tread patterns keep tires from loading.

lol @ Dave. sports cars in ice, snow, heavy rains... yeah man whatever you say buddy. keep up the pipe dream and delusional mind state.

Dude, I live in Japan, and GTRs have always been OK in the snow. The new one has already been driven in the snow this past winter. During the winter everybody just uses another set of wheels/ tires (you don't need to show off polished rims in the snow) and off you go. Of course all the roads in Japan are paved (virtually no off-roading available) so unless you intentionally lowered the car, you don't need to jack up just because of the snow. Since the GTR is AWD and is RWD oriented (unless the rear tires are losing grip), I would prefer a EVO or an STI if I were to race in the snow, but for everday use the GTR would be fine. People put ski racks on top GTRs and go skiing, people. That's a fact. It would be a useless car in Japan if it couldn't do that. Garage and Parking spaces are a premium here. Land is expensive. Most people live in apartments without parking space, and rent space (outside with no roof so it will get rained or snowed upon wether you drive it or not) for US$200-US$600 a month. And by law, you can't buy a car without a fixed parking space. Gas is about US$7.26 a gallon for regular. My point is, most Japanese have/can afford only one car. Japanese cars (including sports cars) have to able to do everything (meaning driving in snow/rain).

Not buying your crap argument. Its not meant for snow/ice/heavy rains. Just get over it.

It's not an argument. Just the facts. The discussion was not if the car was meant for snow/ice/heavy rains, but in your own words, the question was if the GTR is capable of traversing snow covered roads, and the answer is YES. Don't change the subject. A snowcat, a snowmobile is "meant" for snow. A commercial car is NOT.
Are there cars more capable than the GTR for snow driving? of course there are. Full-time 4x4s would be naturally better. But the GTR would definately handle better in the snow than any FR car.

=QUOTE=
Sandmanwn:
Bahaha, are you guys really trying to prove this car is capable of traversing snow covered roads?"
=UNQUOTE=

This is not the new GTR, but the one before. But you would understand what I am saying about the full time 4wd cars having the upperhand in snow. Like I said, the EVO or STI with their rally backgrounds will come out on top, IF there was snow on the ground.

Actually the original argument was snow in general but feel free to cherry pick quotes all you want. You are still full of crap.

Its not meant for inclement weather. It doesn't have the ground clearance. Its ludicrous all the BS talk about so many people have multiple rims for their hot little sports car for the next snow storm. Again get over it you are full of shit.