Filed under: Supercars, Nissan, Porsche
Porsche accuses Nissan GT-R of cheating the 'Ring
Click above for high-res gallery of the Nissan GT-R
Sour grapes or legitimate complaint? That's the question we're left pondering after reading that Porsche believes Nissan must have cheated to record its 7:29:03 lap time of the famed Nürburgring race circuit. Porsche claims that it had been suspicious of the Nissan's lap times, so it acquired a U.S.-spec GT-R for testing back-to-back with its own 911 Turbo and GT2. The result? The mighty Godzilla was toppled by the Teutonic German duo, with the GT-R posting times a good 25-seconds slower than Nissan's claim.
How can Porsche explain the discrepancy? "This wonder car with 7:29 could not have been a regular series production car. For us, it's not clear how this time is possible. What we can imagine with this Nissan is they used other tires," says August Achleitner, the man in charge of the 911 program. There is footage of the GT-R lapping the 'Ring at high speed, but it's taken from inside the car where the tires cannot be seen.
Considering the fact that Nissan saw fit to issue a press release commemorating the car's fast-lap, we doubt this is something that will be taken lightly. There's a big can 'o worms here, and Porsche's in the corner holding the opener.
Gallery: Review: 2009 Nissan GT-R
[Source: Carsguide]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 15)
tenfifteen 9:11AM (9/30/2008)
Uh-oh. Hope the server's up to snuff. You're about to get inundated.
Reply
Mark 10:45AM (9/30/2008)
Flak Jacket....check
Flame suit.....check
ZR1 reference....check
xpolarx 12:29PM (9/30/2008)
I don't want to step out of line here...I know how much empty speculation means to a lot of people here. But, you know, maybe Porsche and Nissan could meet at the 'ring -- Porsche with their cars and Nissan with its car -- and actually test their cars...together. I know it's a really odd concept, but work with me here.
Porsche brings the 911 Turbo, GT3 and GT2
Nissan brings the GTR
Mechanics from Porsche get to inspect the GTR
Mechanics from Nissan get to inspect the Turbo, GT3 and GT2
Once everyone is satisfied, each car gets 3-laps on the 'ring. Toshio Suzuki drives the Nissan and Walter Rohrl drives the Porsches.
With the best of three laps recorded for each car, they can put this stupid flame war to rest.
Now, Autoblog, you're responsible for promoting this idea through the channels of automotive journalists so we can put pressure on the manufacturers to make this a reality. Get to it!
Russell 1:34PM (9/30/2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYvLIeVIV9M
Russell 1:41PM (9/30/2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYvLIeVIV9M
meshies 2:16PM (9/30/2008)
HA! As soon as I saw '147 comments' I said to myself, "oh sh!t here we go"
Russell 3:44PM (9/30/2008)
Sorry for double post, just adding fuel to the fire.
Randy 4:24PM (9/30/2008)
I can't even think of anything to say! I just wanted to be part of the post! LOL This is big! Very Big!
Including yourself when you've got nothing to offer? - CHECK ;)
john 6:34PM (9/30/2008)
Since when did the nurburgring become an graduate degree? All I hear is boo hoo from porshe. Why don't they come up with a new chasis and a different look for all their cars instead of whining who's your daddy on the ring. Bitch slap on porshe.
Pengwin 6:50PM (9/30/2008)
GT-R is faster, porsche needs to get over it
Smeagle 7:16PM (9/30/2008)
xpolarx: I dont think Porsche would agree to that somehow.
Dave 7:52PM (9/30/2008)
Its a shame Porsche wasnt represented in C/D's VIR runs while the GTR was:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/25/car-and-driver-runs-this-years-lightning-lap-at-vir/
catgirlshyla 4:55AM (10/01/2008)
Porsche should've contested the Corvette. Better target.
jeune 10:34PM (10/07/2008)
follow up story on carsguide
http://carsguide.news.com.au/site/motoring-news/story/nissan_hits_back_at_porsche_cheat_claim/
Pete 9:11AM (9/30/2008)
Excellent! Nissan fan boys line up and start crying...fight!@
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BigMcLargeHuge 9:12AM (9/30/2008)
Shocking that Porsche would win while driving the 3 cars.
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993C4S 12:39PM (9/30/2008)
Yes, but how is this different than when Nissan did their tests against Porsche? At the time it was all Nissan drivers in the Porsches!
I think if you look back to some of the earlier comparisons it was fairly clear that the Nissan was wearing much better shoes than the Porsche. Take this one for instance:
http://993c4s.com/cars/porsche-vs/competition-makes-the-porsche-911-a-better-car/
Regardless, I'm surprised that Porsche would come out and make these statements. If anything it just provides more press for Nissan along with credibility/validation.
BigMcLargeHuge 1:17PM (9/30/2008)
Its not different. I wouldn't have believed Nissan until it was verified. And I don't believe Porsche just because they say so.
It would almost just be easier to build the production car to test-car specs than build 2 models and bribe everyone who touches it? Pay a guy to up-tune the GT-R when testers are driving it, and then de-tune it when they're done?
Barring a massive international conspiracy, I think there's a better chance that Nissan is telling the truth.
And I agree with your last statement. Not only does this show that Porsche is worried about Nissan, it shows they aren't capable of fulfilling the promise of getting a 998 Turbo around the Ring in 7:29 or less.
If Porsche wants my respect, they'll shoot for the GT-R/ZR1/ACR. Even if the Ref made a bad call, you stay in the game. Don't walk off the field a sore loser.
jcar302 9:12AM (9/30/2008)
There's always been suspicion about the tires. Maybe it wasn't just zr1/zo6 fanboy conspiracy theory.
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Franz 12:43PM (9/30/2008)
Yeah, right. And Nissan managed to get one of these ringer cars sold to the privateer who provided his JDM spec car for Insideline's first test when it put out 997 beating numbers. Or the privately owned JDM spec model that was the first GT-R in the UK, tested by both Autocar and Car Magazine -fresh off the boat with no prepping- against factory prepped 997TT and GT3 which it handily whooped ass on as well. Let's not forget the various US production spec models that were tested by Car & Driver, R&T, Motor Trend etc. that put up 997 embarrassing numbers on every track tested on. Or the UK spec model tested by Top Gear that placed 8th on the board... the nearest Porsche (Carrera GT) is in at 10th...
Sounds like Porsche is the one doing the crying.