2009 Nissan GT-R Reviews

It's about 7pm on a Sunday night, it's well after dark and his family is heading for home, but the youngster refuses to be distracted. He is on a mission."Dad, that car is sick. Can you please, please take a photo of me with it," he pleads, snatching the camera from his mother. He is going nowhere and they cave in as quickly as a politician with his pants down.Less than an hour later, it happens again. The only difference this time is that it's a couple of 20-somethings who are drawn to the GT-R like footballers to a pub."Man, that thing is awesome. Is it as good as they say? Nah, course it is," says one, dressed to impress in his best thongs and a pair of board shorts.The next morning it's our garbo who can barely drag himself and his noisy truck away, then a rubber-necked bloke wobbles past on his motorcycle as he swivels for a perv, and even the delivery man on his way to the shops with an urgent load of parcels cannot resist a quick detour.They just cannot get enough of the GT-R.A couple of schoolboys wave and laugh as the Nissan rolls by. Godzilla has made their day, and probably their week. They will be telling all their friends about their close encounter with Japan's newest supercar, and probably scoring plenty of points.So, where is this going?About now I should be shifting gears and telling you in detail about all the reasons why this diverse group of people are right to be won over by the all-new GT-R. Things like the car's power and torque and acceleration and top speed and that very special something which turns a very small group of cars from transport modules into a motoring dream machine.But if that's what you want you will not be finding it here. Because I'm not a fan.Yes, the GT-R is massively quick and very good value from $148,800, but something is missing. And it's not just important, it is vital.For me, the GT-R has no heart. No soul. Nothing that makes it truly and utterly memorable.It's a fast car for the Gen-Y computer generation, not people who really love driving.Driving the GT-R is like working a computer. You input your destination and desired speed, then relax and let the hardware and software crunch the numbers to get the result. It's all zeroes and ones.I don't absolutely hate the GT-R but I'm not in love with it. It does not make me smile.There is grudging respect, but I have to ask why it is so stupidly heavy — more than 1800 kilos — and complex. It's great to load a car with technology, as BMW has just done with its new 7 Series, but not at the cost of all the other complications and weight gain.I can think of more than just a few cars which are more involving and rewarding than the GT-R.And before we get too much further, I'm not just talking about the $447,500 Porsche 911 GT2 that so many people compare with the GT-R.None of my choices is particularly cheap - unless you count an original 1989 Mazda MX-5 - but there is still good value and more enjoyment in a Lotus Elise from $69,990 or a Porsche Cayman from $122,200.Look away if you don't want to be totally deflated, but I would even pick a Mercedes-Benz ahead of the GT-R. The C63 AMG is not just any old Benz, of course, but the car's sledgehammer V8 performance and its driving challenge - it always feels as if it would like rear up and kill you - as well as a useable back seat and real class means I would rather put down $146,271 for a silver star than spend the extra $2500 for the GT-R.I'm also expecting the new Nissan 370Z to jump in front of the GT-R when I drive it in a few weeks. It's trimmer and tauter, and the body is much more curvy and attractive. It won't be as flat-out fast, but it will be easier to tap and more fun at regular road speeds.Still, there is no denying that the Nissan GT-R is a dream machine.It has a stealth-fighter look that is very 21st century and its twin- turbo V6 engine makes 353kW and 588Nm to feed to its high-tech all-wheel drive system. There are driver controls for the settings on the engine, suspension, transmission and the six-speed manu-matic gearbox which take it right up to race pace.Posters of the car are going up on bedroom and garage walls around the world in the same sort of places where the Ferrari Enzo and Lamborghini Murcielago and the V8 Supercars of Lowndes, Skaife, Whincup, Brock and the boys usual take prime position. It's that sort of car.It has also starred in Top Gear television, where Jeremy Clarkson cricked his neck hustling one around Fuji Speedway in Japan, and is stomping through magazine comparison stories across the world. Usually as the winner.So why is it that I cannot get remotely excited about the GT-R?It's something I've been thinking about for more than a week and I have answers. And it's not just an anti-GT-R bias, because I loved the original Godzilla and I like the idea of a Japanese car that can bang the doors down at Europe's supercar fortresses.But I think the GT-R is far too heavy. And far too complex. It has silly computer displays which belong in a video game and not a car.And is ugly. And it is hard to park. And there is no satnav or parking radar — basics on any sort of $100,000-plus car.Starting the engine is about as exciting as starting the vacuum cleaner. The car promises plenty with four rocket-launcher exhaust pipes under the tail but it cranks like any old Nissan and the turbo exhaust is flat and boring.Even when you get going there is nothing much coming from the engine room. Except the chance for the doof-doof boys to go wild when they get their hands on the GT-R.The driving position is alright, but only if you fit into the curvy bucket seats. And the view over the high dash is restricted, although nothing like as bad as the black spots in the corners and tail which make reversing or lane changes a worrying job.And then we get to the dash itself, with digital readouts supplied by the people behind the Gran Turismo driving game. It's silly stuff like rear differential oil temperature, in a bank of dials which can only distract the driver. Fun, but...And the emphasis on the gadgets means the speedometer has been ignored with a dial which is far too hard to read. Better to pull up a digital readout in the centre of the dash, but then you repeat the distraction problem.The boot is very big, though.I could be the only person in the known universe who thinks the GT-R is too big and too heavy and too ugly and ... well, I could go on.People say the GT-R can crank around the Nurburgring in 7 minutes 27, and faster than a Porsche.But when were they at the Nurburgring? Do they even know how to say Nurburgring?"I know what it is and I know what it means," says Alex, a GT-R nut who drives a Lancer Evo."Besides, if you buy a car like the GT-R you should take it on the track. That's what it's for."And I have to admit the GT-R is mightily impressive on a racetrack.It thumps out of corners and the super-smart all-wheel drive system means it's always finding the best way of matching grip on the road to the correct corner of the car. The paddle-shift gearbox is easy to use and fires up and down through the gears.But don't expect the brakes to last too long . . .I've ridden with Nissan's GT-R test pilot and Nurburgring star Toshio Suzuki and he can make the car sing and slide, but a hot lap with him has nothing like the fear factor I have experienced with rally ace Walter Rohrl on a closed public road in a Porshe 911 Turbo.People are also going to say the GT-R has just won Targa Tasmania 2009, and that's a great result by petfood king Tony Quinn. But it was his 11th start and he learned the event driving a range of Porsches.This rant against the machine is not because I don't like cars, or that I've gone gone off driving fast, or that I'm not impressed by something which is great value and immensely more fun than a Nissan Tiida.Perhaps my girlfriend Ali is right about the GT-R."It's not a sports car. It's a big car that can drive fast," she says dismissively."It's a snoozy car. Ok, it can go fast, but most of the time it's just big and boofy."On the road the GT-R takes too long to make its point. By the time the turbos are spooling you will be past the posted limit.Firing it away from the lights is fun, but only a couple of times. And it's also good to drive a car that tracks around turns at silly speeds just by turning the wheel and cracking the throttle open a bit.But I still had more fun this morning driving my rusty old Subaru Brumby ute, pushing it through a couple of corners the GT-R would destroy at triple the speed without blinking. The Brumby was alive and I had to work it, and work with it, to get it to do what I wanted in the way that I wanted.What worries me most about the GT-R is that it is way over the top.Nissan has done an impressive job on the engineering front but it is too much of a good thing. Great for a racetrack, but too much for the road.It's a weapon for sure, but more of a battleship than a jet fighter.The GT-R is gone now and I don't miss it.

Despite best efforts to hold the price line on the most anticipated new car to hit the Australian market for years Nissan has added $7000 to the GT-R's bottom line before the first of the new-generation Godzillas reaches an Australian garage."Unfortunately it is an economic reality that has to be recognised," Nissan's Jeff Fisher says. "However, we are still going to hold the initially announced price for anyone who has a firm order or puts in an order before April 1 and has for a car delivered before June 1."With almost 150 pre-orders held that means that most of the first year's allocation of cars will change hands at the original $148,800 for the GT-R and $152,800 for the GT-R Premium.While the price increase is not good news for Nissan it was not unexpected in a market where the Aussie Dollar has slumped some 45 per cent again the Yen over the past six months.The good news is that even those who miss the boat and have to stump up for the new price are unlikely to be disappointed."The new Nissan GT-R is an extraordinary car," says Nissan CEO Dan Thompson. "It is a technological flagship for this company that demonstrates our passion for sports and performance cars."(It) has already joined the ranks of the world's great supercars."The new GT-R is not a direct descendant of those raw and brutal machines that first earned the Godzilla nickname. Unlike previous GT-R's, this car is not a derivative of the Skyline models, rather it sits on its own `premium midship’ platform.The genetic code is there, certainly, yet there is far more sophistication in this newcomer. From the razor sharp dual-clutch gearbox to the world-first independent rear transaxle transmission and advanced all-wheel drive the new GT-R is technology for the times.Yet there is still the numbers that say this car is an adrenalin rush waiting to happen. The difference is that it now happens at the driver's behest rather than when things get out of hand.A glance at the raw figures — a 3.8-litre bi-turbo V6 powerplant with 357kW of power and 588Nm of torque delivered flat from 3200rpm to 5200rpm, shift changes as slick as 200 milliseconds, a 0-100km/h sprint of 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 310km/h — all suggest brutality. What is unexpected is the civility of the entire package.DrivingThe cabin, while clearly a place in which some intense track work is catered for, is none-the-less generously proportioned and comfortably fettled.The deep bucket sport seats are both comfortable and supportive, the dash is clean and modern with as much information as you think you can handle on tap. The dials are placed high in the driver's eyeline for quick assimilation of the data.The clever multi-function centre display can be set to show a wide array of information from acceleration loads to G-rates and engine information but it is of more use to a passenger than a driver, who would have been better served by a heads-up display of the same information.Fired up, the engine note is rather more subdued than may be expected with a rumble rather than a bark. That is not to say it doesn't raise the hairs on your arms. Anticipation is a wonderful thing.At the Australian launch drive at Eastern Creek this week the outer limits of the GT-R were never going to be tested with chicanes and cones set up around the track.Still, there was enough leeway to clearly demonstrate that this is a car both to be enjoyed and respected. With suspension and gear settings at maximum attack and stability control on track rather than totally disabled the GT-R was a willing partner.Dual clutch, F1-style gearboxes are nothing new — most of the serious top-end sportscars have a version — but Nissan's can hold its own in most company.There are the usual three selectable modes for the transmission — snow, normal and racing — and even at their most aggressive the shifts are smooth and the ratios beautifully matched to the engine's power delivery.The Bilstein DampTronic dampers were developed specifically for the GT-R with the three settings — R for high performance, Sport for normal driving and Comfort for around town — selectable from a single switch.There is no question of the quality of the high performance setting with no impression of body roll right up to the point the rear traction starts to break away.Turn-in is sweet with the car tracking smooth and predictable with feedback excellent for an AWD car. If there is a complaint it is that teh stability control can be a touch too intrusive even when it is switched `off’.The question that hasn't been answered for Australia is how the suspension will handle our less-than-perfect roads.There was no opportunity at the Australian launch to drive the cars anywhere but on the track, however a road drive experience in Japan was less than complimentary.That was almost 18 months ago and on the original suspension package, yet the jury will remain out until we have had the chance to drive the car here in a day-to-day situation.The question mark over ride comfort is not surprising given the huge asymmetrical run-flat tyres — 285/35 R20 rear and 255/40 R20 front — the GT-R runs on.The choice of run flat tyres is against the trend of other performance manufacturers, but both the Bridgestone (Potenza RE70) and Dunlop (SP Sport) offer reassuring grip and surprising ride quality on the track. The question is whether the reworked spring and damper settings can soak up any harshness.What is not under any question is the ability of the Brembo brake package to keep pace with the most enthusiastic of drivers.The huge single block floating calipers on 380mmx34mm drilled front discs and 380mmx30mm ventilated rears don't rely on exotic materials — such as ceramics — but time after time will pull the car down from over 200km/h with reassuring certainty.Without living with the car for any length of time, there are few obvious areas of complaint. Space for the rear passengers is far from generous despite the deeply sculpted seats and the boot — fairly generous in volume — suffers from a having a small load opening.Servicing the GT-R, deliveries of which begin on April 1, will be handled by 11 dealerships designated and eqipped to service the high-tech car. The 2009 Melbourne International Motor Show... 

The turbocharged four-wheel drive Nissan GT-R coupe was so successful in Australian motor racing that it forced officialdom to change the rules in favour of homegrown V8s, to avert the threat that touring car racing could implode.MODEL WATCHBefore they could go racing, Nissan had to import 100 Skyline GT-Rs and sell them on the local market. That requirement was satisfied in 1991 with the one and only batch imported by Nissan.  All cars subsequently landed were so-called grey imports brought in under the Specialists and Enthusiasts Vehicles Scheme.That first model brought in by Nissan was the R32, a rather dumpy, plain-looking two-door coupe. Without the war paint of the factory race cars the R32 didn't ooze aggression - until the right foot was buried in the carpet. Then it would explode into action. A stock-standard R32 would thunder to 100km/h in less than five seconds and dismiss the standing quarter-mile sprint in about 13 seconds.It was fast thanks to its twin turbocharged 2.6-litre straight-six cylinder engine that boasted peak power of 205kW. All R32s had a five-speed manual gearbox which was packed full of quite tall gearing. That gave it good top-end performance, but could make it quite hard to get off the line smoothly and quickly.While that made it fast in a straight line, it was a sophisticated four-wheel drive system that let it corner as if on rails. Four-wheel discs with ABS provide powerful and safe stopping power while subtle four-wheel steering adds to its cornering prowess.The R32 is the lightest GT-R built; they gained weight with each new model. Nissan chose not to import the R33, leaving the way open for small-time importers to fill the niche.The R33 was more aggressive visually with more add-ons on the body in the form of a rear wing and side skirts. It was also bigger and a little more plump, but the engine had more torque, which made up for the extra weight. It was also marginally slower than its predecessor, but was still able to cut a sub 5.0-second time for the 0-100km/h sprint as well as a low-13s quarter-mile time. The five-speed manual gearbox was improved with new synchros, which made shifting smoother.With the best ride and roomiest interior, the R33 is widely regarded as the most practical GT-R for use as a daily driver, but it lacks the excitement of the R32 or R34.The R34 followed in 1999. Although it's not immediately obvious, the more aggressive-looking R34 is smaller yet is 10-20kg heavier.  The awesome twin-turbo six was reworked with new camshafts and new turbos with power pegged at 206kW at 6800rpm and torque at 392Nm at 4400rpm.IN THE SHOPBrakes and tyres are the obvious things that take a pounding on the GT-R if driven hard. Check for disc wear and cracking, as these can be quite expensive to replace. The engine is generally rugged, but needs to be well-serviced. Cam belts need to be changed at 80,000km.It's also worth doing a compression test on the engine, and listening for odd noises that might point to internal wear. Main bearings can be a problem in engines that are abused.Early R32 models are known to suffer from leaks around the windscreen and rear window. The screen can be expensive to replace because of the radio antenna.NISSAN SKYLINE GT-R * Awesome four-wheel drive * Get a compression test done on engine * Look for signs of car being thrashed * R32 best performing model * Uninspiring looks * Check brakes for wearRATING 13/20 One of the most awesome performance cars ever built, but be careful of cars that have been driven hard.