Nissan GT-R review, test drive

What is it?

For its legion of fans all over the world it’s the latest incarnation of ‘Godzilla’ – a four-wheeled monster that spits fire through its four exhausts and gobbles supercars for breakfast. It’s also seen as the David of the car world capable of slaying Goliaths such as Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari. All this has given it cult status amongst a tribe of enthusiasts who value a car’s brains and brawn more than its badge. But In India, its primary task is to spin a halo around the struggling Nissan brand and to tell you that the same company, which makes the Micras and the Sunnys, can also produce something sensational like the Nissan GT-R.

And to drive home that statement the GT-R was made the star of the Nissan stand at the Delhi Auto Expo last February. But, that was the older car. Headed to a Nissan dealer only in Delhi (there will be just one GT-R outlet in the country to start with) this September, will be the revamped 2017 version.

After nine years, you would have expected an all-new model, but instead Nissan has given the ‘R35’ generation a massive facelift with an upgrade to every bit of the car, both inside and out. Making references to the older GT-R, since it was never launched here, may not put the new car in perspective, but if you’ve seen any of the of grey market cars or the handful of officially imported
GT-Rs you’ll notice that the new car’s signature V-Motion grille is now wider and looks more aggressive. The bigger air intakes allow for better engine cooling but also increase drag, which has been compensated for by making the rest of the characteristically chiselled design more slippery.  There’s a new bumper and a more pronounced chin spoiler, which add to the GT-R’s arresting looks. The wider side sills and the large diffuser under the rear bumper are functional tweaks to improve airflow.

There are a raft of changes under the skin as well. The body is now stiffer, especially around the A- and C-pillars. The suspension too has been beefed up with a recalibrated suspension and stiffer mounting points. Unfortunately, there haven’t been any weight savings and the GT-R weighs a substantial 1,752kg. To move that mass, you need a potent engine and here the GT-R’s proven twin-turbo 3.8 V6 with a bump up in power to 570hp seems right for the job. But we have to say we were disappointed by the nominal 20hp power and 6Nm torque increase, especially in a car that’s traditionally thrived on being modded to insane horsepower figures. However, Nissan says it not about how much power but how the power is produced that makes the difference, and to make all those horses even more accessible, the engine gets a completely remapped ECU, new ignition and exhaust systems and higher boost pressure. The GT-R retains the six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. The packaging constraints of the rear-mounted, transaxle transmission has left no space for Nissan engineers to squeeze in an extra gear.