VIDEO: It's good to be the King: Jay Leno drives the Nissan GT-R
Click above to watch Jay Leno enjoy his time with the Nissan GT-R
Autoblog is brimming with proof that Jay Leno is the luckiest car guy in the world. His legendary garage is only attainable in our wildest dreams, so when something like a Nissan finds its way (temporarily) into his stable, it deserves note.
The latest installment of Jay Leno's Garage is dedicated to the Nissan GT-R, with the late-night talk show host poring over the details and grilling Nissan's product planner, John Weiner, on what makes the GT-R special. The range of topics includes all the stats you've already memorized, Nissan's efforts to quell GT-R tuning and Leno's immeasurable joy that he can check the dipstick himself. Leno maintains that it's a vehicle he could get "emotionally involved with." We agree, so without further ado... Mr. Leno, the floor is yours.
Make the jump for the latest installment of Jay Leno's Garage.
Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Nissan GT-R
Gallery: Nissan GT-R (US-spec)
[Source: Jay Leno's Garage]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
peafunk 7:42PM (4/28/2008)
For some reason this car does nothing for me.
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John Doe 7:49PM (4/28/2008)
Must be a hater
Todd in Sonoma 8:12PM (4/28/2008)
This car does little for me, too. I must be a very vindictive person, full of animosity building up to a full rage. Hateful indeed.
EJ25RUN 8:15PM (4/28/2008)
To everyone talking down about the GTR.
Let me first say i feel the Porsche 911 is the best car ever made.
But i have to give credit where it is due and Nissan has put together a masterpiece. If it isn't your cup of tea. Fine, there are plenty of other people to enjoy that car. Your opinion really isn't gonna change that it's a fantastic car. Forget the price. It's just right!
nick werner 8:24PM (4/28/2008)
I understand people who say it does nothing for them. I respect the hell out of Nissan and the GTR but the look of it is what kills it for me.
And i respect people who love the look, to each their own, but it just isnt an attractive car in my eyes. Doesnt mean i dont adore whats under its butter-face facade.
Derek 8:26PM (4/28/2008)
He's not talking it down, just not impressed.
Of course, I agree with him so you can hate me and the black pit of evil that is my soul.
why not the LS2LS7? 8:26PM (4/28/2008)
I falls somewhere in between for me.
I lusted after the Skylines forever. But now that one is coming here, it just seems to me like it's an over-sized, over-complex, over-ugly beast.
Now, the funny thing is that it's not like this car deviates all that much from the past ones and I've never been a 2-door (w/4 seats) car guy anyway. So I have to figure it's me. I was fooling myself all along. Once the unattainable became possible, I guess I just took a good hard look and found I never really even understood what it is I wanted.
If I had a ton of money, I'd probably still have one, just to have it. But it doesn't really stir me.
CarbonBlack 10:57PM (4/28/2008)
peafunk, I agree
What kills it for me is the v6 and auto tranny
Give me I6 manual
Piecemakr 11:25PM (4/28/2008)
It's not an auto tranny....
why not the LS2LS7? 12:38AM (4/29/2008)
piecemakr:
It shifts automatically. It's difficult to describe it any other way than an auto tranny.
Perhaps you're trying to say it isn't a hydramatic (slushbox) tranny.
Dartagnan 11:47AM (4/29/2008)
This car is magnificent in every respect! I can't even begin to imagine what kind of power the V-Spec will have.
phillip 7:43PM (4/28/2008)
Corvette >>> GTR
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John Doe 7:50PM (4/28/2008)
Prove it!
PauloBecker 8:04PM (4/28/2008)
Can't we just wait until some magazine pit them against each other before making such baseless assumptions?
Calm down the fanboy inside you for just a few months, jeez.
JC 8:24PM (4/28/2008)
They did...it was up against the Corvette Z06 and 911 Turbo...it smoked them both.
TKOsoccer03 8:28PM (4/28/2008)
The Corvette and the GT-R are two different animals. The Vette is American tradition.. it's simple and as fast as anything. The GT-R uses the latest and greatest technology to put up its numbers, which is fine.
Personally, I would take a ZR1, or a Z06 for that matter, over a GT-R any day. What's the point in a supercar if you can't shift through the gears. I hate that about Ferraris and Porsches more than anything. Anybody can drive an auto fast around a track, but lets see you do it with a true manual transmission. It requires a greater level of skill and concentration, not to mention, it's a lot more fun.
The GT-R is the ultimate track car.. I don't know how Nissan did what they did, but it is an amazingly advanced piece of machinery.
John Doe 2:42AM (4/29/2008)
Z6 used to be my favorite American car, probably the only American car I would love to have. But these fanboy things really killed it. Still my favorite car, but not so much anymore. GT-R FTW.
Bryan 4:09AM (4/29/2008)
I'm a Corvette fan, but I can still appreciate this car. Jay's a big Corvette guy and he seemed to like it. From the video it seems like a whole different experience than driving a Corvette.
I'm sure that a lot of people that will buy this car likely have a Corvette in the garage as well.
Joce03 9:01PM (5/20/2008)
To PauloBecker:
evo (a British performance car magazine) tested the GT-R against four different cars. In a 0-100-0 (mph) test, it beat the Z06 by 0.1 sec. They did an objective comparison of its handling on the road, comparing it to the Audi R8. One of the comments was "... makes the R8 feel slow", amongst other very positive comments. Finally, they did timed laps where the GT-R beat a 997 GT3 (1:21.7 vs 1:22.6). Here's a link to a video of those laps: http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/planetevovideos/217626/nissan_gtr_v_porsche_gt3.html
Hope you find that interesting!
davidk 7:44PM (4/28/2008)
for some reason Jay Leno does nothing for me as a car show host. I'm glad he wont be on Top Gear
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