Enter the Rumormill: Nissan GT-R may compete in Grand Am series
The Nissan GT-R GT500 race car from Japan's Super GT series.
A brief blurb over at GT Channel revealed a rumor we hope would come true. According to the site's sources, Nissan may be considering campaigning a GT-R in the U.S.-based Grand Am series. If it were to come to fruition, we'd expect the GT-R to be mixing it up in the GT Class with Porsche GT3s, BMW M3s, Corvettes and Ferraris. With a slightly detuned engine (power is limited to 450 hp) and a serious diet, we think a GT-R campaign could up the ante on what is arguable one of the most exciting motorsports events around.
[Source: GT Channel]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tele 6:38PM (12/01/2007)
Grand Am is ridiculously boring...they'd be better off jumping into the GT1 class of American LeMans and trying to unseat the Corvettes.
Reply
Franz 6:47PM (12/01/2007)
Now that is a race I'd love to watch. It wouldn't matter who won... I bet it'd be close.
nissanfreak87 9:25PM (12/01/2007)
agreed, somebody's gotta give the Corvettes a run for their money, and the GT-R would be just the car.
Mark 11:39PM (12/02/2007)
other than the weight, they would be a good match. Corvette +2. Just my opinion.
Smeagle 12:11AM (12/03/2007)
I'm not entirely sure there would be a huge weight difference between the two. Yes the GTR is AWD but I think a lot of the weight difference of the road cars is due to other unnecessary components. If they did compete in the ALMS GT1 category I would hope that they would retain the AWD system as that would make the GTR and Corvette strong in different areas and make for a lot of passing. There’s a category that runs in Australia which has Evo’s and STi’s against SS commodores and XR8s. Very interesting to watch but nowhere near the speeds of GT1.
HotRodzNKustoms 6:48PM (12/01/2007)
This GT500 is RWD right?
Being a GT1 Corvette fan i would like to see the Vettes have some competition without being choked back with air restricter and weight penalties. I am always a fan of cars being able to parade around their mechanical prowess and challenging the driver to it pointed in the right direction.
Reply
Temple 8:51AM (12/02/2007)
SuperGT rules for GT500 allow the car to be either RWD or AWD. However, a car can only be AWD if the original stock version of the car is AWD as well, also while the exterior shell and panels can be modified the chassis must remain untouched from the stock vehicle. Due to strict weight penalties most AWD SuperGT entrants were converted to RWD. But oddly enough the Calsonic Impreza starting from the 2006 season is fielding a fully AWD Impreza.
This GT-R GT500 racer however is likely based on the Nismos Fairlady Z GT500, and they are only fielding two test cars in the 2008 season, hence it'll be likley be RWD.
why not the LS2/LS7? 6:53PM (12/01/2007)
That'd be alright by me. I'd really rather see it in GT1 of ALMS though.
The C6.R could smoke all those cars (including Vettes) in Grand Am Cup GT and of course the Koni Challenge too.
Reply
r8 7:08PM (12/01/2007)
Grand-AM is actually the best sports car racing in North America. They'll never enter GT1 in ALMS as their debut, not because the corvettes are too strong, there are no competitors there.
Porsches, Pontiac, Mazda are serious competitors in the GT class.
why not the LS2/LS7? 9:43PM (12/01/2007)
I agree. Grand Am is great. I also love the Koni Challenge and lament that it didn't get good coverage last year.
But I'd love to see Nissan go against the factory teams in ALMS. Besides, ALMS GT1 needs competitors, while Grand Am Rolex's GT class is doing just fine.
shaofei 10:10PM (12/01/2007)
I think this car was built for the JGTC, I have no idea how JGTC cars are different from Grand AM, they seem to have the same horsepower rating and stuff. So my view is that if they enter ALMS they would need to bulilt a brand new race car from the ground up. that's a lot of R&D money there. I think the corvette team is just freaking ridiculously fast, their lap time is definitly in the top spots if you view the history of ALMS GT1 class lap times.
Reply
Temple 9:00AM (12/02/2007)
JGTC is now SuperGT. Most SuperGT cars are compatible with FIA GT regulations expect a few quirks (Le Mans/ALMS uses FIA classification). Currently any vehicle certified to enter a FIA-sanctioned event can enter SuperGT as long as the hp is restricted to the class the car is entered. This is why you see a bunch of Porsche GT2/3 and Maserati MC12 GT cars in Super GT. Starting 2009 Super GT cars are set to become closer to FIA rules when regulation changes. The GT-R cars being raced are Super GT GT500 class cars, they are only testing two GT-Rs next year, the rest of the Nismo vehicles will still use the old Fairlady Z/350Z GT500 cars. Likely these GT-R cars are preparing itself for the 2009 Super GT season and FIA GT-classification.
Nick 10:58PM (12/01/2007)
Considering Corvette has already pulled out of GT1 for next season, there's no reason for Nissan to make a debut in that class as there's absolutely no competition whatsoever. A move down to the GT2 class would be nice to see though, as that's where the Corvettes are going (though not the same ones as we saw this year, obviously), and there's already a lot of solid competition in that class, including Ferraris and Porsches.
Reply
Aaron B Brown 3:58AM (12/02/2007)
When the GT-R meets the Corvette on the track, it will be just like when Arnold Schwarzenegger met Lou Ferrigno on the bodybuilding circuit, where they used to train together in the gym. Anyone who's ever seen the movie Pumping Iron knows I'm talking about. Arnold would stand over Lou while he was hitting without weights, looking down at him with a disdainful air of superiority and say "You Are Nothing!" Lou never could beat Arnold in competition and eventually retired from bodybuilding a beaten man.
I imagine it'll be much the same for the teams who are running Corvettes. Within five years the Corvette will disappear from competition altogether, fearful of the embarrassment and shame they will face at the hands of superior Japanese engineering. GM will have no choice but to pull their support, as they watch Corvette sales plummet into the toilet.
The old saying goes, "race on Sunday, sell on Monday." Well this works in reverse as well, lose on Sunday, have your cars return to the dealership on Monday, with your customers demanding a refund, furious that they've had such outdated obsolete technology foisted upon them. :-)
Nissan GTR -- "Grrrrrrrrrrr! You Are Nothing!" it says flexing its unparalleled physique.
Corvette -- "whimper whimper, mommy!" It whines, testicles receding into body, scampering away in search of the nearest garage to hide in.
Reply
PayDay- Its coming around! 7:43AM (12/02/2007)
Aaron, your mom's calling! You forgot to take your medicine again. You better hope she doesn't find out you are running your mouth again on the internet.
Get a clue Nismo fanboy. The GTR would have trouble hanging with the Vettes, just like every other make. It wouldn't be a run away victory for the GTR like a race between your P.O.S. primer grey rusty Stanza and Steven Hawking's wheelchair. In case you didn't guess, you lost the race.
why not the LS2/LS7? 12:19PM (12/02/2007)
I agree the stakes are high, about the "win on Sunday" stuff. But since both cars are highly modified from the originals, it'll turn into an old fashioned war of manipulating the equalization rules, likely one of the fiercest I've ever seen. Many foolish words will be expended by people who don't really understand equalization racing over how this means one car (meaning the version available for sale) is clearly better than the other.
Should bring a lot of publicity to both cars and to Grand Am too. I can't wait.
Mike 10:20PM (12/02/2007)
Aaron,
You truly have been spoon fed every bit of hype they've fed you and asked for more. There has been nothing proven by this car yet, even the auto journalists who have tested it are just regurgitating Nissan's claims and not making any of their own.
At what point did Japanese engineering become superior? What are the great new technologies that have come from Japan? They are perfectly capable of taking existing designs and building them, even sometimes improving upon them but historically they haven't come up with much on their own.
I just pray that the GT-Rs actually do make it to the tracks across the country both in pro racing and in amatuer clubs. That way we can actually see what they can do instead of reading claims from Nissan and fanboi delusions of grandeur like yours.
I'm taking a little pole here.
When the first race that a GT-R enters and doesn't win happens (most likely the first race of the year) will Aaron:
A. Sell his copy of Grand Turismo and his playstation?
B. Cry like a little baby at the computer in his mom's basement that he uses to spread his fanboism?
C. Head just explode from the disbelief and shock that Nissan could possibly have made the car out to be better than it is and his fanboi fantasies are shot down by reality?
Aaron B Brown 3:51AM (12/03/2007)
Mike
Why Mikey, when that happens I'll blame the driver of course. That sellout who was obviously paid off by some slimy GM, Chrysler or Ford CEO to throw the race. You do realize this is how they win most of their races and remain competitive, because they can't afford to let their cars lose and watch the sales numbers drop even further. :-)
"Okay mom, I'm coming for dinner, just let me put this paid hack for the GM motor Co. in his place, two more minutes. Yeah, I want chocolate milk to drink. Yes maaaaa' I took my medication! Did you remember to buy more cheesy poofs? "
Soon the Nissan GT-R will rule the universe, and all idolatrous heathens like yourself will bow down before him and grovel like the worms you are. :-)
MikeSS 9:08AM (12/03/2007)
Aaron B, please stop posting if you're not going to intelligent.
I think the Ferraris and Aston Martins the Corvette has been racing in GT1 are 'technological superior' then the Corvette, hell even the GTR possibly.
Can you tell me who one in those races? Yeah, the Corvette.
People paid off to lose races? C'mon, that sort of consiparcy talk makes your comments even less credible. Wait, that might be the governemtns brain control they put in my water talking.
Kiiks 10:06AM (12/03/2007)
Guys, I think Aaron is joking. Every day, people take the internet more seriously. Don't get me wrong, I love it, and I love this blog but lets not get our panties in a knot over some friendly banter shall we?
That being said, Temple has an interesting point about FIA GT1 and SuperGT500. To answer shaofei's question, the extent of chassis/frame modification and aero aids are greater in SuperGT (JGTC) which is why direct transplants (with restrictors of course) from FIA/LM/ALMS GT1 classes tend not to do very well in SuperGT.
Nissan isn't currently running a Z in the ALMS and that gives me no hope to see the GT-R compete. And of course, the competition is better in Grand AM as well as Speed GT. I think a GT2 entry to ALMS/FIA later on would be fantastic but until Speed starts airing Super GT races again, I'm not holding my breath.