GT-R tuning update: Amuse breaks 600 hp, tranny woes at MCR
With all the news surrounding the Nissan GT-R V-Spec, the progress on the Godzilla tuning front has been largely overlooked. According to a recent article in Japan's BestCar magazine, the Amuse team has broken the 600 hp mark (at the crank) with a combination of a high-flow exhaust and a tweaked ECU. There were no details on how the GT-R's computer was hacked, but Amuse was able to up the boost to 18 psi, resulting in an increase in output to 602.73 hp and 576.95 lb.-ft. of torque.
However, tuners are beginning to question how the stock gearbox will hold up under the strain of additional output. MCR, which brought out its GT-R for filming of Hot Version 93, has been exacting its own brand of punishment on its tuned GT-R and is worried how long the transmission will last. It's not clear if the tranny woes are due to the clutch plates or something else, but it's been all but confirmed that dual-clutch gearboxes have an issue with additional torque since the friction surface is much smaller than on a stock (read: single plate) clutch. MCR's best guesstimate is that the stock 'box might only be able to hold up to the additional power for 12 months before problems begin arise. Now, we're particularly interested in how Nissan is beefing up the tranny on the V-Spec to handle its rumored 600 hp.
[Sources: GTRBlog, NissanGTRProto]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mursin 6:40PM (4/28/2008)
I dont care, what people say that car is hot as hell in red... wonder how much this one is?
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Yar 6:44PM (4/28/2008)
Right, the tranny is going to be the weakest link. I'm going to hold off guessing where the breaking point will be until the V-Spec comes out, then we'll know if it has a whole new tranny unit or uses the same one as the normal GTR. If so, then there should be a small tuner buffer, if not then I suppose someones gonna have to make a T56 adapter.
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Red 6:58PM (4/28/2008)
MCR stated a few months ago the ECU and electronics were the least of their worries. I thought it was interesting to read. Turbo magazine about two issues ago.
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Franz 8:17PM (4/28/2008)
Yeah, plus MCR replaced the paddle shifters on their GT-R with ones that turn with the steering wheel. I wonder if they're having trouble with that interface as well. Maybe improbable, but definitely possible.
Red 12:01AM (4/29/2008)
The car had issues before though. It's been noted that during hard launches, the car shudders like it doesn't quite like what you're doing to it. It feels more like the axles are going to snap in half pretty easily. That area, as well as the transmission area, doesn't feel as stout as the rest of the car.
Sherief 7:01PM (4/28/2008)
What are the dyno gains compared to a stock GT-R?
I ask this because posting crank horsepower claims on a car that is generating realistically 50 to 70 bhp more than what the manufacturer estimates is useless.
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zamafir 7:04PM (4/28/2008)
wait wait... dsg has issues with extra torque past it's rated limit, this is news to me... old news that is for anyone who's tuned their dsg TT/GTI/GLI the last few years.
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montoym 8:37PM (4/28/2008)
That holds somewhat true. The DSG unit does have a torque capacity. So does every other transmission out there. If you can blow a DSG tranny rated for 250ft-lbs, you'll blow a manual tranny rated for the same.
There are numerous consumers out there with chipped and otherwise tuned VW/Audi cars that have no problems with the DSG transmission.
However, there are upgrade kits available. For instance, HPA(HGP) offers a kit to upgrade the DSG on its twin-turbo 550HP+ cars which can stand up to 5000RPM launches with no issues. The upgrade consists of upgraded clutches and a reprogrammed brain.
I'll refrain from citing the 1000HP Veyron which also uses DSG since its unit is built by Ricardo and not related to the VW/Audi units.
Frylock350 3:17PM (6/12/2008)
The GT-R's engine is pushing waaaayyyyy more torque than a turbo VW.
HotRodzNKustoms 7:06PM (4/28/2008)
There's a reason the Tremec is so popular. It might not shift like a miata but boy can they take some abuse and are relatively easy to beef up i f need be.
Now this new fangled flappy paddle stuff is going to be harder and more expensive to beef up. You can buy a beefed up Tremec for less than $3k. Guessing from my experience with exotic transmissions such as ZF's and Hewlands that the cost of a beefed up GT-R transmission would be well into the $30k range conservatively (Hewlands can cost upwards of $65k)
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nick 7:59PM (4/28/2008)
Put a T56 in it and STFU already. That stock tranny will be toast in 1 year on stock hp... This will be like the dodge neon mess just way more expensive.
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BigMcLargeHuge 12:11AM (4/29/2008)
There's no reason why the DCG can't handle the same as a manual. This situation is no different from Corvette.
The ZR1's transaxle had to be beefed up as well to handle 600hp. So it wouldn't handgrenade like a Dodge Neon mess.
Frylock350 3:18PM (6/12/2008)
Drivetrain components will always fail if you go past stock. Lingenfelter Corvettes will eat their differentials.
cowboy bob 7:23AM (4/29/2008)
AHHHhhh. Nothing ever really changes does it? Back in my day of the late fifty/early 60's all of us "hot rodders" used to say that "everything breaks at it's weakest link". We put in bigger engines, (a 'Caddy mill in a Ford), only to find that the clutch needed to go. Then the rearend, then the driveshaft. And so on. Same today 'eh?
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Sean Morris 10:48AM (4/29/2008)
Who says 12 months of track use is a short life ?
A real race car will have its transmission rebuilt/replace much more often than every 12 months. The old Getrag transmission that was run in the R34 was rebuilt every 1000 km in the endurance race cars.
The Nissan transmission price was listed at 15k. The whole assembly is a single piece,so not sure if they include the transfercase, the clutches, and the rear differential in that price.
http://www.2009gtr.com
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BigMcLargeHuge 11:55AM (4/29/2008)
Yeah, Nissan knows what they are doing at least as well as GM does.
I'd easilly have taken an R32 or R33 over a C4. And the R34 vs C5 is a tossup. Same as today with the R35 vs. C6.
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Frylock350 3:19PM (6/12/2008)
I'd take either car. If I had a choice I'd go for the C6 just because of the manual transmission, but I wouldn't complain about either of them.