Is Nissan lying about GT-R horsepower? Pretty much.
Click above to view our massive gallery of the 2009 Nissan GT-R.
Back in the late sixties, automakers sometimes purposely under-reported the true horsepower that their solid-lifter, over-cammed and over-carburetor'd monster V8 engines actually delivered. More recently, some manufacturers have overestimated the real power of their vehicles, which has led some to distrust factory horsepower numbers. Owners of the uber-impressive Nissan GT-R have been wondering if they've been lied to regarding real horsepower figures too. But in this case they may actually be getting more than the 480 horses that they had bargained for. In fact, after considering that the coupe is capable of hitting 123 miles per hour in the quarter mile and the fact that it weighs roughly four-thousand pounds, the New York Times Wheels blog estimates that the GT-R really makes 550-580 horsepower at the crank.
While we are certain that the rabid horsepower wars and the debate over the GT-R's true power as compared to its rivals will rage on, NYT's estimates are actually pretty much in line with what Motor Trend got after putting the Nissan supercar on the dyno, and that's a figure that really can't be argued with. Thanks for the tip, Pete!
Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Nissan GT-R
[Source: NY Times Wheels]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
TriShield 7:48PM (6/30/2008)
Great car, wrong time.
$4.50 per gallon gas.
Nobody will buy it.
Now that we have all of that out of the way, I'll take two.
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Kwesi 7:50PM (6/30/2008)
That estimate is a huge difference (some cars come with 100 hp) well, it did make thier machine seem super impressive,..lets see nissan's respone
EbaumsWorld 7:50PM (6/30/2008)
Sold out already ....
Craig 8:59PM (6/30/2008)
This is a non issue. 480hp is the minimum hp you will get across most weather conditions. A 100 degree F day in LA will give you less power than what you will get on a 40 degree F day in NY.
psarhjinian 9:26PM (6/30/2008)
You forgot to say "It's ugly".
And if you can make a comment about how it looks like some other car, I think we'll have covered all the Autoblog clichés.
chad.dawkins 9:28PM (6/30/2008)
Yeah because people who are spending $70K on a sports car(not including mark-ups) is worried about gas prices.
why not the LS2LS7? 9:35PM (6/30/2008)
Ebaum:
Article last week said only 70% were spoken for so far.
Eric 9:39PM (6/30/2008)
I doubt the kind of person who can afford a $70,000 toy cares much about the price of gas. I'm sure it gets better MPG than my jeep.
Franz 9:52PM (6/30/2008)
You gotta be kidding me. You'd think that focus the focus would be on Chevy now with the ZR1 blitzing the Nurburgring in 7:26 but everyone is still on the GT-R's nutz. I shudder to think of what the blogs and forums will be like when the V-Spec drops. I love this car to death, but I gotta admit I'm tired of all this over analyzing and picking it to pieces just because it's fast & (relatively) cheap. Everthing's a conspiracy theory where the GT-R is concerned.
Torrent 10:33PM (6/30/2008)
All I can say is: "Shut-Up, Autoblog.
You're making me love a car I really want to hate......so just, like, Shut up.
User 11:11PM (6/30/2008)
You are all joking, right? Of course someone who pays $70,000 for a coupe still cares about gas prices. Going back to the old Cornell saying, "does a billionaire buy more detergent than a normal person?"
Any upper-middle class person can buy/lease a $70,000 vehicle.
Snutz 12:21AM (7/01/2008)
The "old Cornell saying"? Yeah, I bet you know a LOT about what the middle class can afford. For most people in the US $70k is more than what they make in a entire year. Before taxes. People that can afford this will probably be buying it as a second or third car, and won't care that it costs them an extra 20 bucks a week on gas, if that.
Joe K. 6:34AM (7/01/2008)
If they made 70k a year they could buy this car. They would be stretching it, but banks would approve the loan so long as it was for 5 years or longer. Payments cannot exceed 20% of monthly income. With 60 payments and payments equating to roughly 20 bucks a month every thousand borrowed paying for 10% up front that loan would be approved. So would it be wise? absolutely not, but could they afford it, define afford...
SOhp101 7:30AM (7/01/2008)
Uh, am I the only one that read that last line and figured out that he was joking?
TriShield 7:48PM (6/30/2008)
P.S. - $80k Nissan
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Aprime 8:49PM (6/30/2008)
You lost all the credibility you had gained when commenting regarding GM matters in a matter of seconds.
Seriously, what the f*ck man.
psarhjinian 1:45AM (7/01/2008)
It's a joke. A reasonably subtle one, as is his (TriShield's) post above it.
Judging by the comments and "Low Ranking" flags, it appears that it went over most of his responder's heads at Mach 2.
rouse42 7:50PM (6/30/2008)
hell yeah!
so whats the V-spec gonna make. 500-550 at the wheels?
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Joe 7:51PM (6/30/2008)
remember that hp numbers are peak, real acceleration is integral (over the rpm range). turbos can increase the low rpm power such that the peak is still "low" but the overall area under the hp curve is much higher than NA.
that said, I would love to see this car run through both dynos.
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azzo45 8:12PM (6/30/2008)
NT: Ring times & Road & Tracks cover story for one. Car & Driver & Motor Trend had some shoot out with the GT-R as well. The R&T article had Rod Millen doing the driving & giving his opinion along with R&T's scribes.