When the 193-MPH Nissan GT-R set a lap time of 7:38 last year at the 'Ring, besting cars like the Porsche GT3, Lamborghini Murcielago, and Mercedes SLR, the Nissan team was disappointed. There were two damp corners on the track, and everyone was quite sure that the car, piloted by official test driver Tochio Suzuki, could go faster.
Now it has. With a completely dry track, the base model Godzilla-san wearing stock Japanese-market tires shaved 9 seconds off its previous best time, posting a lap time of 7:29. On that same lap, it leapfrogged the Porsche GT2, Koenigsegg, and SLR 722 GT. Now it's flashing its headlights at the Carrera GT and Pagani Zonda F Clubsport, both about one second up the road. So if the standard model on stock tires does 7:29, and the more powerful, lighter GT-R V-Spec has already been casually clocked at 7:25 -- betting on what the GT-R's ultimate best lap time will be begins now... And did we say it can all be yours for $70,000? Damn. Check out Nissan's official presser after the jump and our First Drive of the 2009 Nissan GT-R by clicking here.
[Source: Nissan]
PRESS RELEASE
GT-R ACHIEVES UNDER 7:30 AT NÜRBURGRING
- GT-R among the fastest ever production road cars at the 'Ring' -
Nissan today announced that its GT-R supercar achieved a lap time at the infamous Nürburgring in Germany of seven minutes and 29 seconds. Recorded on April 16 and 17, the GT-R used was a base specification car and fitted with the standard Japanese market tyres. Driven by GT-R chief test driver Tochio Suzuki, this latest lap time beats the previous fastest time for the GT-R by nine seconds.
The previous best lap time for GT-R of 7:38, also driven by Suzuki, was one of the fastest laps achieved by a production car despite conditions being slightly damp on two corners.
"At last year's testing, we were frustrated by the conditions at the Nürburgring, always believing that the GT-R could go under seven minutes 30 seconds," said Kazutoshi Mizuno, Chief Vehicle Engineer for GT-R. "Below seven minutes 30 seconds, the GT-R proves it is among the fastest mass-production cars in the world. We set out to build a multi-performance supercar accessible to anyone, anytime and anywhere – I believe the GT-R has delivered that promise."
Deliveries of the all-new GT-R began in Japan in December 2007. Sales in the US and Canada start in July and extend to Europe and other markets over the next 12 months.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
John R @ May 1st 2008 11:03AM
!!!!!!!!
That is insane. Nissan has changed the game.
Pluton @ May 1st 2008 11:14AM
My wife would love this car. It is Perfect for Black Friday!
Scott @ May 1st 2008 12:03PM
The road car Nurburgring chart:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordschleife_fastest_lap_times#Miscellaneous_lap_times_of_road_cars
Dondonel @ May 1st 2008 12:21PM
Comparing just the best lap time is nonsense. Each time posted for a specific car should be followed by the total numbers of laps that particular car ran the Ring. Only this way you can say whether or not a particular car (GT-R for instance) is faster than the other cars. I'm sure that there are many cars in production that can lap the Ring faster than GT-R, given that they run the same number of laps as GT-R.
jon benson @ May 1st 2008 12:23PM
The tyres used make a HUGE difference on laptime in a track that is as long as the Nordschleife.
Interesting write up of the rubber used here: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Nissan-GT-R-Tyres.htm
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 1st 2008 12:32PM
Wow, the treadwear rating on those tires is a joke.
I had Pirelli P-Zeroes on my car, they are ultra-high perf and the treadwear rating on them was twice what these are.
Hmm. I wonder if this car will chew up tires like the early NSXes did.
tankd0g @ May 1st 2008 12:44PM
And so the whining continues. Stock tires, best lap, just like everyone else on the board did it. DEAL WITH IT.
John R @ May 1st 2008 12:47PM
"whining" is a good word...
Dondonel @ May 1st 2008 12:56PM
@ why not LS2LS7?
Sure they wear quickly, these two tires are badly disguised soft R compounds. These tires alone cut the time by 10-20 seconds at the Ring.
Ligor @ May 1st 2008 12:59PM
i want one now even more
NIssan has changed the game big time
can't wait fort the ZR1 to post it's times
it's time Porsche stopped raping everyone on $$ and started paying attention to it's competition a lot closer
i love it
Proud Japanese @ May 1st 2008 1:09PM
It's funny how all the corvette fanboys are downplaying the GTR's achievement because when the Z06 first posted its ring time they were claiming it was the second coming! And now they are using the same arguments that they had to defend the Z06 against, to attack the GTR.
Just admit it that the GTR is faster. No shame in losing out to a better car.
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 1st 2008 1:15PM
The tire ratings may be low, but unless they're significantly lying about how long they last, they're still a lot longer lasting than R compound tires.
I'm sure these tires help, but I expect it still is on a torrid pace without them.
Franz @ May 1st 2008 1:23PM
Thanks why not the LS2LS7?. Something we can agree on. No DOT legal radial street tire will ever hold a candle to true R compound tires. The Rs will definitely have the edge in grip but their longevity is ridiculous in everyday driving.
Franz @ May 1st 2008 1:43PM
@ Dondonel:
10-20 seconds? Be very careful when quoting numbers my friend. Don't you think you're exaggerating a little bit there Mr. Tire expert? Especially when the treadwear rating on the Bridgestones is 140 and on the Dunlops it's 280. The article that Jon Benson posted a link to above says these tires should give about a 1-2 second advantage on a regular track but 10-20 seconds on the 'Ring is a stretch.
Plus, remember that the US spec GT-R on the Dunlops whooped the 911 Turbo at Buttonwillow by over 5 seconds. The 911 was wearing Michelin PS2s I believe, and the treadwear rating on those is 220... less than the Dunlops. If you wanna talk about cheater tires, the Pilot Sport Cups on the new GT2 have a treadwear rating of just 80. By your logic, it should be about 20-30 seconds faster around the Nurburgring than a standard GT-R.
RJ @ May 1st 2008 2:09PM
Be careful with treadwear ratings, they're arbitrary at best.
Take the Falken RT-615 for example, a very soft and grippy tire, boderline street tire, but wears a rting of 200 just so it can get into certain classes. Many agree it's a 100 at best, probably more like 80.
In the end, the GTR is amazing and using good tires is no excuse for the others. So listen up GM, if you're serious about posting fast track numbers, put proper performance tires on the cars and not crappy Eagle F1s.
Personally, I want to see what the Viper ACR can do at the Ring. It has very good tires, and is tuned with performance only in mind.
Dondonel @ May 1st 2008 2:23PM
@ Franz
Yes, it is not an R compound, but close to it. That article from tire reviews said that this tire should provide 1-2 seconds on a standard length track, but Nurburgring has more than 14 miles. So that amounts to about 10 seconds at the Ring. And yes, GT2 uses cheater tires as well.
Anyway the tires and the enormous number of runs at the Ring are the real cause for these exceptional times. GT-R is a very good sports car, with excellent performance for the dollar, but there are many other faster cars.
naggs @ May 1st 2008 3:22PM
a 480 hp car that weighs 3800 lbs is not faster than an equlivant 500 hp car that weighs 3200 lbs. nothing changed there.
a 550 hp car that weighs 3800 lbs with r compound tires is faster than a the 500 hp - 3200 lbs car with ultra high performance tires. no surprise there.
nissan did not violate any laws of physics or change any game. all they did is put r comp tires on a very fast car. z51 vette, gt3 911 ect would all be faster with comparable tires.
gtr owners will be in for a shock when they realize the bang for the buck they expected just isn't there when they have to replace their first set of tires after 10 hot laps or 2000 miles of street use. anyone who is actually using this car as it is meant to be used, will be spending as much on tires as they are on the car payment.
Franz @ May 1st 2008 3:38PM
@ Naggs:
Quit bitching and exaggerating already. If you can't figure out that a good power to rate ratio alone doesn't necessarily make a car faster than a lower powered competitor, you should be commenting on something other than cars. What about power delivery, lateral acceleration and traction, Einstein?
Also, about your 10 hot lap/2000 mile theory: Inside Line put over over 2000 miles on their loaner GT-R. That included trips to the racetrack, drag strip, dry lake bed plus regular commuting miles and high speed runs. By their own admission (and seen in the various videos) the used the launch control 14 times and even managed a bit of tail out action on the road course. (Not to mention donuts and drifting on a dry lakebed) Not once did they report excessive tire wear, and at a glance there seems to be plenty of tread left on their tires.
But of course, Nissan must've paid them to write good things about the GT-R...
naggs @ May 1st 2008 4:32PM
what about power delivery, traction and lateral g?
since the gtr motor is more powerful than the other cars it gets compared to, the fact that some of those cars have better power delivery is negated. as for traction and lateral gs, those are largely determined by tires and therefore covered in my first post.
nissan deserves credit for pushing the limit on tires used for a production performance vehicle.
and yes, tires are worth upwards of 20 sec around the N'ring.
Franz @ May 1st 2008 4:51PM
Naggs, the only thing your first post did was make you look like an idiot. Both the GT2 and GT3 wear much stickier rubber than the GT-R. And, even the regular 911 TT and Corvette Z06 wear stickier rubber than the USDM GT-R. My God man, at least do some research before you come here making an ass of yourself.