Stillen begins work on rally-ready Nissan GT-R
Rallying runs in the DNA of both the Millen family and Nissan. Rod Millen is one of the most successful North American rally drivers of all time, and although brother Steve is best known for his road racing exploits, he, too, has participated in off-road racing. Nissan once sold cars under the Datsun brand, and long before the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi EVO, the Datsun 510 was one of the stalwarts of rallying. Since Steve Millen's driving career ended, he has focused his efforts on modifying street cars, particularly Nissans through his company Stillen.Stillen is now working on a new project that brings all of this heritage together: a rally prepped Nissan GT-R. In this case it's a road rally, specifically the Targa Newfoundland which will run from Sept. 12-19. Millen's team is following the usual practices, including chopping weight out of the car, squeezing more power out of the engine, beefing up the brakes and retuning the suspension. Perhaps best of all, Stillen has a blog where curious fans can follow the development and testing process over the next several months.
[Source: Stillen]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Concerned Citizen 11:46AM (2/25/2009)
Hope they figure out how to beef up the tranny!
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Gator 12:01PM (2/25/2009)
They'll most likely swap it out for a semi-automatic.
Oh, and I hope "Stillen" isn't a fusion of his first and last name...
Rich 12:17PM (2/25/2009)
Sadly, it is (although the word you're looking for is "portmanteau").
BigMcLargeHuge 12:38PM (2/25/2009)
You need a new hobby. The transmission joke is old and quite unfounded in this case.
The GT-R has won two tarmac rallys in Australia. The Targa West and
the Rally Tasmania.
http://www.gtrblog.com/index.php/2008/09/07/quit-targa-west-steven-jones-in-nissan-g
http://www.gtrblog.com/index.php/2009/02/15/rally-tasmania-2009-nissan-gt-r-victorio?blog=4
The tranny is plenty robust for this type of racing.
Mr_Pie 11:52AM (2/25/2009)
i think itll be a bit too heavy for rallying
this kind of power reminds me of them old group b cars
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GenesisDriven 12:06PM (2/25/2009)
The weight is definitely going to be an issue, but like STi's and Evo's they're going to get a lot of weight reduction before the car will see a race. The AWD system on the GT-R is going to be awesome.
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http://www.genesisdriven.com
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steve 12:07PM (2/25/2009)
a 4000 lbs rally car, what a joke
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Ligor 12:13PM (2/25/2009)
grow up
did you even bother to read the article?
they'll remove anythink not needed and get it down in weight
i'll bet it gets below 3200lbs
Franz 12:40PM (2/25/2009)
You've obviously never heard of the Targa Newfoundland. All sorts of cars compete every year.
hashiryu 4:54PM (2/25/2009)
It better get below 3200lbs, you know how light rally cars are?
skeeler 12:28PM (2/25/2009)
This build looks very interesting.
Those of you who are interested in Targa Newfoundland build diaries might also enjoy Keith Tanner's build of a Miata---a very different car---for the Targa 2008. He used parts from numerous different years of the first 2 generations of the car. Development of the car for other events and---I hope---Targa 2009 is continuing. The build diary can be reached through the Targa Miata's home page here:
http://targamiata.com/
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Sean Morris 12:29PM (2/25/2009)
Its not rally in the sense of WRC. Its mixed tarmac and road rally. Different kind of event.
An R35 GT-R just won Targa Tasmania with Tony Quinn at the helm. http://www.2009gtr.com/2009/02/tony-quinn-in-nissan-gt-r-wins-rally.html
Beating Jim Richards in a Porsche 911 GT2.
An R35 also came in 5th place at the same rally.
An R35 GT-R also won the Quit Targa West rally in September of last year. http://www.2009gtr.com/2008/09/nissan-gt-r-takes-overall-victory-at.html
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Jrejre 12:41PM (2/25/2009)
Um. . . are they planning on using it for tornado chasing?
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BigMcLargeHuge 1:15PM (2/25/2009)
It is an eerie picture.
Dick 11:17AM (2/26/2009)
I'll be looking for this one come september, unfortunetly Targa Newfoundland is one of the only real racing events in newfoundland. We don't even have a road course on the island! :(
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Mehdi Cheddadi 2:11PM (2/25/2009)
NICO + STILLEN = AWESOME
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John Burns 2:30PM (2/25/2009)
There goes the current Pikes Peak record :)
Stillen has been doing this to Nissans longer than many of you have been alive.
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CarbonBlack 3:14PM (2/25/2009)
That would be so sick!
Let the GTR loose on the EVO and STI !
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Josh@STILLEN 3:30PM (2/25/2009)
Steve has done well in previous tarmac rallys, including Targa New Zealand, with the 700hp RWD Ford GT (also not a typical rally car) which has been featured here several times. In-car video here: http://user.streetfire.net/video/NADAGuides-STILLEN-Ford_282401.htm
Steve is excited to bring this AWD platform out, should make for a good event. We'll of course go to town with as much video as we can.
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Concerned Citizen 3:44PM (2/25/2009)
Sorry, my hobby isn't reading every part of the internet for GTR info. Winning a race is great but that car may be getting a rebuild between every race (or may not, who knows). Stop sounding like such a fan-boy.
The wins and the car are impressive (and so was my Z, but it still chewed up its first transmission as well, as have many others) and I'd like some evidence that problem is solved.
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