"With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound He pulls the spitting high tension wires down"
Truer words have never been spoken. Although written in 1977, a year in which Nissan would say to goodbye to the GT-R moniker for 12 years. The Blue Oyster Cult had a premonition. This premonition would be shared with that of many JDM fan boys and the salivating mouths of performance enthusiasts alike. Knowing and hoping that one day Nissan would bring us its wolf in sheep's clothing, or better yet a comparison that will be sure to get some people all riled up. A 911 in 350z clothing. Whatever the car may end up being we are all now well aware. That after 5 generations, over 40 years, and too many high tech gizmo's that we missed out on. The new GT-R is finally here. And we at PDXine.com got our hands on one and took it for a spin.
So to start off, I figure I will get a pet peeve of mine out of the
way. This is no longer a Skyline. So calling it a Skyline is like
calling my Volkswagen a performance car. As much as that pains me to
say, it isn't. Now that we have any awkward moments out of the way,
lets get started! When I heard that we would be getting to drive one. I
was ecstatic. Because like all of you I can do nothing but sit around
on forums all day and listen to all the performance numbers being
touted. The controversy behind its lap time around the ring and just how
damn easy it is to drive. Getting ready we got to take a walk around of
the car. It has some interesting lines that is for sure. And while it
creates a very powerful and distinct post when the light is cast upon
it. I cannot help but feel as though some of them are unnecessary. One
about halfway up the rear-quarter windows comes to mind. Now, I want to
focus on some of the neat gadgets that these cars have. Simply because
you have all already heard about how it goes 0-60 in 3.2 seconds with
launch control, has a top speed of 195mph and will cause you to step
out of the car and pray to god that he will take your soul for the
keys. Because it is all 100% true. And you don't need to hear that again. Do you?
Anyway, something to note that while walking around the car. It knew we
were there. Now if you are dumbfounded thinking that at some point I
tell you a red light arose from the grille and said to me "Hello
Micheal" well you would be partially right. Unfortunately this model did
not come with the optional K.I.T.T. package (a $4,700 option). So we touched the
Austin-Martin esque door handles, the car unlocked for us (by sensing
the key in my pocket) and let us in. Once in I was greeted by something
that even I was not expecting out of a $73,000 Nissan, a fantastic
interior. Now before I get a flood of e-mails telling me to quit being
a dash-stroker and enjoy the car for what it is, I will say that Nissan
like many other car companies have dramatically improved the materials
and build quality of their interiors in the past generation of cars or
so. But I was not expecting this. Nice soft plastics where they were
(sparingly) used and stitched leather was abundant. Wrapping the center
console and gauge cluster. As well as the inner parts of the doors. It
was a very welcoming environment. Not to mention the seats, oh the
seats! For the longest time I had told myself that if I could have a
reasonably priced OEM seat it would be those out of a Mitsubishi EVO 9.
Well those have been kicked to the curb like a troubled kid who just
turned 18 while I lovingly embrace their younger sibling. Another
interesting note which I must really congratulate Nissan on is the way
the steering column works. Unlike many cars, where the steering wheel
moves separately from the gauge cluster. In the GT-R they are tied
together. Meaning that now matter how tall or short you may be, the top
of the wheel will never get in the way of that gorgeous set of dials.
Starting the car up is like that last Christmas present that you KNOW
is a Super Nintendo. All the small little details are great, but you
are waiting for that big Nintendo shaped box behind the tree. And when
it comes, the buildup is so wonderful that there is nothing that can
knock you off your high horse. Because once you press that "on" button
the gauges sweep, the LCD display lights up with a GT-R logo, you hear
the roar of the engine and the display switches over to an array of
customizable gauges that have been designed by the creators of the Gran Tourismo series of games - Polyphony Digital. Screw it this is better
than Super Nintendo. Because even at wide open throttle, your Super
Famicom (for those JDM folks) doesn't make 480 brake horsepower. Nor
does it have a twin turbo 3.8 liter engine that will create 17.8 pounds
of boost. But who's counting?
Now the time comes to drive it.
And here is where my disappointments come into play. Yes the
transmission is a feat of engineering, yes it has two clutches, yes it
can shift faster than the fastest stick, yes it is part of why Joe the
plumber can put down a sub 8 min lap around the ring, but ultimately,
yes it is an automatic. However I cannot dwell on this one feature too
much, as it really is only a small part of the car. So we backed out,
and were off. Back to the LCD display. It in its own is pretty incredible, as it probably has more computing power than the laptop I
am writing this on right now. With 15 different gauges built into the
car monitoring your basics like Boost, Oil pressure etc. even some
obscure ones like gear positioning and acceleration maps. And I am not
joking here, the car tells you where you are in each gear, and when
your best time to go to the next one is. Not to mention the entire
computer is completely customizable, so say you don't give two twits
about your acceleration or the amount of boost you are making. But you
will be dammed if you don't have a second tachometer staring you in the
face. Well, then you are in luck.
We finally get to the freeway, to let the car breathe. And I figure if the Bugatti Veryon takes in as much air in one minute at top speed as a person does
in three days, this has to be sucking in the equivalent of what? A
camel? Hear that Nissan? You can have yourself a new tag line, "The new 10 Nissan GT-R: like a Camel". But unlike any camel I have ever
ridden (which is a whole lot of zero) this packs a punch and before we
knew it we were blasting down the freeway at 100mph. Yet the car is so
smooth, that had I just gotten into the car while it was already moving
that fast and was asked how quickly I thought that we were going I
would have guessed it to be around 70mph. It would take a corner, and
ask for more halfway through. It's simply unbelievable that a car
like this could be had at the price point that they are asking.
But all good things must come to an end. And as we pulled back into it's resting place, the car still wanted to be pushed more. And so did I, I felt as though a lifetime of driving could be done and there would still be things to talk about. However then I would be a novelist and not just a writer for a small online magazine. Although those two kids in a 240sx were looking at us like we were gods, much like the Blue Oyster Cult says:
"Helpless people on a subway train
Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them"
So in the end, I only have one question. You down with BOC? Yeah you know....wait thats not right.
