Nissan GT-R The Beast from the East

The first time I came across the Nissan GT-R was in the Sony Play Station game series Gran Turismo (or GT), and it remained a dream car for a while – but do some dreams come true?

We recently had access to a pair of Nissan GT-Rs, and we teamed up with a group of bikers. We were in the company of a skilled, crazy, friendly and horse power-hungry posse and we blended right in.

Reflecting on the GT-R experience, I saw how influential entertainment, in particular the gaming industry, is in the motoring industry. GT has influenced a generation of driver preferences – those in Nissan GT-Rs, Subarus, Toyotas and Mitsubishis, to name a few – and carmakers have been wise enough not to ignore this influence.

The name GT means Grand Touring (Gran Turismo in Italian) and is the most hallowed classification of a car, only appearing on high end performance cars and the GT-R is one of the world’s top performers. Despite rising costs, performance cars are still the epitome of the auto industry and this may never change.

The Nissan GT-R dates back to 1969 and 1989 when Nissan produced high performance versions of the Skyline coupe known as the Skyline GT-R. The GT-R was first seen in 2001 at the Tokyo Motor Show, then again in 2005 at the same event and finally a debut of the production GT-R at the same event in 2007 as a successor to the Nissan Skyline GT-R range.

At first sight, I could see the much acclaimed Nissan Skylines of before and the Nissan Z, it’s a great sight; boxy and built for purpose. Nissan chief creative officer likened it to a giant robot, stating “the GT-R is unique because it’s not simply a copy of a European-designed sports car, it had to represent Japanese culture”.

Nissan America designed the rear three quarters while Nissan Europe did the roof line. Polyphony Digital, creators of the GT game series, were present in much of its development, having been contracted to design the multifunction display.

On the inside, it’s unmistakably a high-end luxurious car – grand indeed, it is reminiscent of the interiors of Ferrari or Aston Martin and it has sophistication hidden behind simplicity. Looking around, I saw some features that spell ‘do not mess with me’, for example the rev meter being the predominant dial, extra instrumentation, carbon fibre finishes, a red start button and the beautiful sport seats with red accents. I could also see Nissan Skylines and Zs of past which inspired it.

The interior features include an eight-inch display where you can use a rotary knob or the touch screen for selection, DAB radio, USB, Bluetooth, intelligent key, Nissan connect and an 11 speaker Bose audio with two subwoofers. Although it’s a full house car, the GT-R deliberately lacks some tech features so as not to dilute its sportier side.

At the press of a button, the GT-R rumbles to life with a glorious hum through four titanium fire breathing exhaust pipes, the sound of a 3 799 cc, 3,8-litre DHOC V6 engine with two turbo chargers commanding 419 kW power which translates to a torque of 588 Nm when the rubber meets the road.

The GT-R accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just under three seconds (this is superbike territory), and this car is so fast it has almost no competition, earning it kudos from all corners of the world. At some point during this experience, the GT-R took on a much revered super bike and beat it on a sprint; it’s a menace of a car.

A car of such prowess needs the suspension to match; it has a track ready handling, meaning you will certainly have a balanced ride thanks to a rigid body, an all wheel drive and intelligent springs on custom Bilstien damp-tronic dampers.

When it comes to safety, Nissan implores what is known as its safety shield philosophy, this focuses on three key areas: Monitor, respond, protect. To monitor entails features such as forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic and intelligent rear mirror, to name a few. Respond entails features that go into play to keep you safe, for example vehicle dynamic control and brake assist whereas protect includes features such as airbags.

Being behind the wheel of a supercar is an amazing experience, a real life fantasy, undisputedly the fastest I have experienced to date. Top Revs is set to feature the GT-R 35 variant in the near future.

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