The World Needs a Lighter and More Powerful Nissan GT-R

It’s been a couple years since Nissan introduced the R35 Skyline, I mean GT-R, to the United States. The 2007 GT-R was an instant hit with owners and enthusiasts. Ignore the whole transmission warranty and limited launch thing. The GT-R came spec’d with a 485 horsepower 3.8L twin-turbo V6, dubbed the VR38DETT, mated to a super sophisticated all-wheel-drive system to catapult (or is it slingshot) the roughly 3,800 pound sports coupe from a standstill to 60MPH in something like 3.2 seconds. Whatever.

Nissan is kind of a sheep in the auto industry. Like all of the other auto manufacturers who claim to produce sports cars, Nissan travels to a track on a German mountainside called the Nurburgring. Its really, really, really long with loads of hills and turns and shit like that. In 2008, Nissan made claim that the GT-R managed to lap the entire track — as in the whole damn thing — in 7 minutes and 26 seconds. This lap time defied physics. Shortly afterward, Porsche called bullshit on Nissan’s self proclaimed lap time. Porsche claimed to have tested Nissan’s GT-R with their own race drivers and were unable to come remotely close. This caused a stir in the auto industry. Outlets galore were in a buzz questioning both Nissan’s integrity and Porsche’s race drivers. Some say that the rain drops over the ‘Ring now taste of tears from Porsche’s development program. I’ve never been to Germany so I can’t confirm.

Lost my thought. Where was I? Oh, yes…

Nissan internally admitted the need to up their game so in 2010 they increased the GT-R’s output to 523 horsepower. It took less than two years before their development team realized the GT-R was still too soft and upped output to 542hp in 2012. Now the GT-R barely clocked a high two second 0-60 MPH sprint and knocked out the quarter mile in mid 11’s at 120 MPH. Modest improvement. No upgraded GT-R would be complete without a lap of the ‘Ring so Nissan flew off to Germany once again. This time when Nissan returned to Japan, they also brought disappointing news to the rest of humanity. All of the efforts to further developer the 2012 model year GT-R only resulted in an 8 second improvement. The best lap of their trip was an eternal 7 minutes and 18 seconds.

Now I may not be a rocket scientist but hear me out, Nissan. How about you guys make more use of this carbon fiber material we’ve all heard about and try to reduce some of that weight. Follow the Lotus philosophy. By my estimates, the Nissan GT-R could stand to loose about 143 pounds by replacing components made of alloy with carbon fiber and maybe even removing unnecessary bits from the car. Then I’d get rid of those crappy tires you’re currently using and mount a set of Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT tires. Turbo’s can make a gazillion horsepower with ease. It should be cake to increase horsepower to 585 and torque to about 480 with larger turbos and a revised intake and exhaust system. Nissan wouldn’t even have to over night parts from Japan. Just walk down the hall to the Nismo department and be like “Hey goof balls, why haven’t you done this?” If I was Nissan I’d then proclaim 0-60 in 2 seconds flat and a new Nurburgring lap time in 7:08 cause why the fuck not, right?

Wait a second. This just in. Nissan is unveiling a lighter and more powerful Nismo GT-R at the Tokyo Motor Show? Well, shit. Nevermind me.