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The new Nissan GT-R has smashed the production car lap record at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that a production version of the GT-R driven by Tochio Suzuki posted a lap time of 7min 29secs during testing last week, nine seconds quicker than the previous test.

Ghosn confirmed that the time means the GT-R, a base-spec Japanese car running with revised chassis settings, has delivered on one of its original design objectives: to be the “fastest production s...Read the full article

Very fast indeed. No discussion there. But why? Good that Nissan makes it obvious this is a prestige project. Surely it will sell more cars. However, I suspect this car is very dull in daily traffic once one gets used to the massive forbidden performance. Too fast and efficient for its own good...

Please Nissan, give us something inbetween a Panda 100HP and a GT-R. A 1000kg RWD coupe that, with some goodwill seats 4. Loud, light, willing and revvy engine, tight manual gearbox, great handling and fantastic fun even when doing 60mph... and affordable (as the GT-R is in its class). Take that for a challenge! I am waiting...

 

Pointless!

Yet another manufacturer playing shower room games, with mine is better than yours.

I suspect if it were an Aston that set the record the reaction would be much different. What’s wrong with manufacturers trying to one up each other when the customer is the benefit of the competition? Give credit where credit is due, it is a remarkable achievement.  Nissan already sells the affordable 350Z as well so what’s the problem? Do we really need another fence straddling Impreza or Lancer; more cars that try to be all things to all people….IMHO, NO!

But, is it really EYE CANDY FOR THE BOYS?

Honestly, Who cares??

How many owners of the GT-R are:

A) going to take it to the 'ring?

B) have the ability to lap in those times...

Frankly I couldn't really care less about how fast my car laps the 'ring. I care more about being able to use it in real world conditions, being reliable, well built and not requiring me to own my own an oil field!!, 

The likes of Porsche, AM and Nissan seem obessed with who can lap the 'ring fastest!!

It's just an ego exercise by the manufacturers, same as the obsession with horsepower ...' Our M series has 500bhp, well our AMG has 514, well or RS has 570+bhp....'

I'm not one of these people that thinks we should be all driving around in Prius's, but how about making performance cars for the real world not 500bhp, 2 tonne monsters that in this day and age you'd do well to utilise 20% of the time on the road...

Make cars that are light weight, use innovative technologies to produce power from smaller more efficent engines rather than larger and larger capacities and cylinders...

P.S My power rant is aimed at the German manufacturers thst seem intent on this horsepower war rather than the GT-R..

Even allowing for GT-R's talented chassis and gearbox, I find it hard to figure out that a car weighing a hefty 1740kg and with "only" 473 bhp, can be this fast! How is it that this thing is faster than many other cars with far superior power to weight ratios?

The only explanation I can think of is that Nissan is not being totally honest with GT-R's quoted engine power of 473 bhp. Has anyone verfied GT-R's engine power on test bed?

 

I am surprised at the cynicism. The fact that they take a car round a known circuit allows a benchmark between this car and other cars. That's all. On that basis, this car looks like sensational value. It is a classic already and I haven't even seen one on the road yet.

James Read:

I am surprised at the cynicism. The fact that they take a car round a known circuit allows a benchmark between this car and other cars. That's all. On that basis, this car looks like sensational value. It is a classic already and I haven't even seen one on the road yet.

This has become a regular occurance now and not just in Autocar, but other car magazine websites too. Almost every time an article is posted about a fast/powerful car, you get the assorted "who cares", "it's pointless", "it's wasteful","it's a penis extenstion", "it's hedious", "it's an enviorment destroyer", "it eats babies on toast for breakfast", "it killed bambie", "it's single handedly responsible for genocide" etc etc etc, reactions. 

Ok, I went slightly overboard there, but you get the idea.

I can see both sides of the coin on this one. First off, its quite amazing how well balanced and quick the new Nissan is but in the real world it doesn't do you much good. I feel the same about the EVO and the STI, they just don't perfrom as daily driver cars. On the other hand those who are lucky enough to own the new Nissan probably won't be driving just the Nissan. As a weekend warrior the new GT-R makes sense, but in my mind its not a daily driver hence the 7:29 at the ring.

 

I am bemused by some of the comments on this blog. I am wondering, how many of you have driven enough cars to know what makes a great car...etc etc etc.

 I am one of the luckier people to have owned and driven a fair amount of supercars over the last 15 years (I've just sold my 997 GT3 RS last month) to know that my 1 month old GT-R is the most composed/best built/best handling/easiest to drive around town supercar that I have ever owned. I am simply gobbsmacked by all the gadets and toy included in the price!! It even has a HDD that can store upto 3,000 songs!!!

For what's it's worth, I am on the waiting list for the V-Spec GT-R..........

 

 

Overdrive:

This has become a regular occurance now and not just in Autocar, but other car magazine websites too. Almost every time an article is posted about a fast/powerful car, you get the assorted "who cares", "it's pointless", "it's wasteful","it's a penis extenstion", "it's hedious", "it's an enviorment destroyer", "it eats babies on toast for breakfast", "it killed bambie", "it's single handedly responsible for genocide" etc etc etc, reactions. 

Ok, I went slightly overboard there, but you get the idea.

I soooo agree with that. Its pathetic. People are so negative. Glass is not half empty, its empty and the world's milk is gone, all gone. Woe is me. The world is a bad, bad place and we're all such bad guardians of it. Opus Dei levels of guilt and pessimism.