NISMO renting GT-R engine and transmission computers in Japan
Nissan GT-R SpecV - Click above for a high-res image gallery
Beginning June 1, NISMO will begin taking pre-orders on a new ECU and Transmission Control Module (TCM) for the standard GT-R and its SpecV sibling. According to Nissan's motorsports arm, the ECU increases maximum boost pressure by 0.1 bar (1.5 psi) to crank-up low-end torque and enhance throttle response. The TCM tweaks supposedly deliver quicker downshifts and the speed limiter on the street (i.e. when not running on a GPS-approved race track) has been raised to 320 km/h – or just one tick shy of 200 mph.But as you'd expect, there's a hitch. Aside from the sizeable buy-in (294,000 yen, or just over $3,000 US), NISMO will only rent the duo of upgraded controllers for a 24-month term. After which, you either return the ECU and TCM units or shell out an additional $329 per year to keep them on board. Both modules are covered by NISMO's warranty and deliveries begin on June 24.
Gallery: Nissan GT-R SpecV
[Source: GTRBlog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Erdman 3:17PM (5/19/2009)
Can someone explain to me what the purpose of renting them is?
At $1500 per year they're almost as expensive as my first apartment...
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ambientFLIER 4:20PM (5/19/2009)
They add boost and remove the speed limiter.
Alex 4:06PM (5/18/2009)
If you can afford the car, you can afford the toys that go with it.
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waiownsyou 4:07PM (5/18/2009)
I'd rather afford a toy than rent a toy.
Tourian 4:53PM (5/18/2009)
@Alex
I agree. Also, there's going to be a 100 posts in this thread about how stupid people think this is. Without even going into why I don't agree I'll just say this to avoid being hypocritical:
If you don't own a GT-R, you have no right to complain. So what if they are renting the parts. They don't care if a bunch of bloggers will stop dreaming about the car, or hate the car even more that they don't have the means or intentions to buy.
klitorisaurus 3:36AM (5/20/2009)
My guess is that they're only renting it so they have complete control over use and distribution... ala GM's EV-1. Thats just a theory though, not sure why else they wouldn't just sell 'em.
xmdfmk7x 12:09AM (5/21/2009)
@Tourian
Use your brain, dummy. Nissan should care about what consumers think, because this kind of crap influences any potential customer of the brand, whether they can afford to buy a GTR or not. There are plenty of us on here that read this blog who are fully capable of purchasing a new car from Nissan, and when consumers (including us "bloggers") read negative publicity like this it doesn't help the brand's image as a whole.
Do you get it now?
Kappy 4:09PM (5/18/2009)
now that's just annoying and greedy.
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audi_arena 4:50PM (5/18/2009)
How so? If you want the company to cover the outrageous warranty costs associated with this product then you should pay for it. What is your alternative in this price category anyway? I don't care how many of these fly-by-night garages claim they will cover anything that goes wrong, I have seen too many of them flat out turn thier backs on thier customers.
Jake B 6:00PM (5/18/2009)
If you don't like it, don't rent the ECU. I am sure the big complainers couldn't even afford a GT-R anyway.
Kappy 10:23PM (5/18/2009)
I would simply rather be able to buy it, and actually own everything on the car. They should offer an option to buy.
lern2read fgt 4:17PM (5/18/2009)
Yet another thing that will cause Nissan to deny your warranty claim when the transmission goes boom.
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Level 4:21PM (5/18/2009)
I think the car reached it's limits of power it can handle which makes it an under engineered car. Most performance cars usually have a nice gap of which you can still add more HP with out hitting the limits of the car.
BigMcLargeHuge 5:18PM (5/18/2009)
Level,
You are soooooo behind the times.
Stock engine and tranny, this car is hitting 700+awhp.
m 5:37PM (5/18/2009)
Level: Hitting its potential makes it under-engineered? How about properly engineered. Maybe you don't realize that the term "over-engineered" is a bad thing. If you're building a performance vehicle, then every ounce of metal in that engine had better be necessary to hold the thing together at peak power (or whatever it's highest stress condition is). If there's margin left, then you're not making enough power or your engine is too heavy.
BigMcLargeHuge 5:31PM (5/18/2009)
And actually its just the opposite of what Learn suggested.
This is away for those that can afford the GT-R to modify it under warranty.
They know people want to modify the car. They know they can't warranty modifications from tuners.
Its not the power they fear. Its the tuners' skill they cannot verify, being a wholly different organization. You could blow up a 100hp turbo car if you run it too lean. Power is not the issue. They don't know who's punching numbers into the ECU on the dyno.
So they are trying to buy off owners with quicker upshifts.
Level 4:18PM (5/18/2009)
What happens if the ECU unit gets "stolen" lol ?
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Venom 4:30PM (5/18/2009)
That's exactly what I was thinking.
Just before the end of the 24 months there are going to be a lot of "stolen" units.
Default 4:31PM (5/18/2009)
You probably have to pay 30,000 rather than 3,000
Tourian 4:56PM (5/18/2009)
Which is probably why they won't offer that in the US. Maybe the Japanese are too honorable to stel from Godzilla.