Click the above image for more live shots of the Nissan GT-R
A press event has never been so well attended, or dangerously overcrowded. But we got to the front in time to watch in car footage of a GT-R lapping the Nurburgring in 7:38.5, then out came Carlos to claim that his new baby is the best that Nissan has ever produced – and we're inclined to agree. Unsurprisingly the show car is silver, and, well looks pretty much like it did in the spy shots, but the shock was that Mr. Ghosn committed to Nissan fielding GT-Rs in next year's Super GT Championship.Could this be the start of another R32-like Godzilla race track domination?
Deliveries start in next month, and to the rest of the world by the end of 2008. Check out the gallery, we'll have tech specs up soon.
The car above is indeed the same Tommykaira R that graced the pages of Sport Compact Car a couple of years back, and if you want it, it's yours for $93,000. The owner has listed Tommykaira R #357 on eBay. It's one of 400 total R33 Skyline GT-R-badged Tommykaira Rs, which were sold as complete vehicles through Tommykaira. This one doesn't sport the optional widebody kit that was available (and widely purchased, according to Sport Compact Car), making it even more of a rarity. It's fully federalized and recently laid down 401 AWHP at a dyno session. This Tommykaira Skyline is is the only one of its kind in the US, and it's a complete street banshee. There isn't one of us here at Autoblog who doesn't wish he had an extra $93K lying around. You can view the auction listing here, and if you'd like to read the original Sport Compact Car piece, click here. (The owner reprinted the SCC article in the eBay listing to use as a vehicle description). If we had this car, we'd never have to play Gran Turismo again.
Happy Saturday, kids. In lieu of your usual cartoons, we've got more GT-R video. This time, it's some extensive Nürburgring lapping and street footage. The car's coming along nicely, sounding strong and looking stable and agile at speed. Our appetites are sufficiently whetted. Fortunately, Nissan's bringing it out relatively soon. Still, the Tokyo Motor Show seems so far away. Tell ya what, just drop one at the AB HQ in the OC, ASAP.
Full Streetfire video after the jump.
[Sources: Brenda Priddy, Global Motor Spies, Streetfire]
Have we overdone the GT-R coverage yet? We didn't think so, either. This is a pretty hotly anticipated player in the sports/GT segment and we can't get enough of it. After discovering a new GT-R on California's freeways recently, the spy photogs decided to give chase and ended up driving all the way to Sonoma. The Nissan team was apparently headed to Infineon Raceway at Sear's Point to dial in the new super Skyline for final production tire and wheel specs. The Edmund's team reports that the turbo all-wheel-drive Nissan was unofficially clocked as running within tenths of a second of the 997 Turbo Porsche the group had brought along for comparison. Turbo performance at Carrera prices? Sounds good to us. Plenty of pics and even some video available by following the read link.
What more really needs to be said about today's RR of the Day? Although not the first Skyline, the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R was the pinnacle of Japanese performance in its day and, in certain circles, the most desirable of all the GT-Rs ever produced. The rigid, lightweight coupe, coupled with the legendary 2.6-liter twin turbo inline-six (RB26DETT) and mated to the ATTESA-ETS all-wheel-drive system, allowed Nissan to dominate Group A racing in Japan. It's the dream vehicle of countless enthusiasts, and Mike Hutch of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is the lucky owner of this exemplary 1990 model.
Make the jump for more information, a couple pics, a listing of the mods and instructions on how to submit your own vehicle to become our Reader Ride of the Day. And next week, our themed RR of the Day will be back and we're looking for beaters. If you've got a decrepit ride that still manages to get your from point A to point B, we want to see it. Rusted, busted or smoking, submit it by following the directions after the jump.
Apparently there was more to what Carlos Ghosn had to say at the opening of the Atsugi complex yesterday than what we covered just a little while ago. Besides telling us about Nissan's desire for expanded capacity more than for additional companions, Ghosn also mentioned that their new GT-R will be built at the Tochigi assembly plant...and "its unique, highly specialized, high-performance engine will be built at our Yokohama engine plant."
He didn't elaborate on the engine details, but he did let assembled media have a sneak peek at the new GT-R. Well, the logo anyway. Like our pals at Jalopnik who tipped us off to this item, we can't wait for Tokyo when the car will be unveiled.
Sure we've seen the prototype and the spy shots and even the video tease, but we really want to see the real thing. After all, this will be the first GT-R to make it Stateside. At least officially.
That was one driver's summation after a run around the track in an R34 Skyline GT-R tuned by Mine's, and with good reason. The Mine's GT-R is a complete monster whose performance shocked even the two test drivers. They were positively giddy behind the wheel, in utter disbelief at the ferocious power their right feet unleashed. This one's an aural delight, too, as the techno-symphony emitted by the car is part banshee, part racing car, part jet plane, and all awesome.
Oh, we can't wait until the next GT-R finally washes up on US shores...
During our last podcast, I expressed my disappointment to John that we hadn't received any video of the new GT-R lapping the 'Ring. Well, the spy shot Gods have blessed the offices of Inside Line with footage of the GT-R in motion and although we can't embed it in this post, you can click here for the full vid.
Two interesting tid bits are brought up in the video and accompanying text: First, the new Turbo 911 playing chase car is a clear indicator of what class of vehicle the GT-R hopes to compete and second, the shots of the GT-R accelerating from a standstill reveals that this current mule is equipped with some form of automatic tranny.
Lo and behold when I checked my inbox did I find word of spy shots of the upcoming and highly anticipated 2008 Nissan Skyline. Here they are courtesy of KGP Photography and the pocketbook of Winding Road. We've been waiting anxiously for more news on the Skyline ever since we saw the GTR-Proto concept that was debuted back in 2005 at the Tokyo Motor Show.
These shots afford us a look at a Skyline that appears to be very close to production spec with minimal shrouding over the front clip and rear. Despite the coverings, we see a two-door coupe that doesn't stray far from the GTR-Proto in appearance and, quite frankly, looks drop-dead sexy. Look at how the roofline just falls from the top of the A-pillar into a sharply kinked C-pillar. Lovely.
Unlike previous iterations of the Skyline, this coupe is not based on a sedan, but rather is bestowed its own two-door architecture that will likely pay dividends in the car's performance. We don't have much word on the Skyline's mechanicals, but Winding Road's Chris Paukert surmises a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 derived from the 350Z's powerplant putting out somewhere in teh range of 450 horsepower and 370 ft-lbs. of torque. All-wheel drive from the previous GT-R's electronic ATTESA ET-S torque-sensing system is onboard and four-wheel steering is also a possibility. Check out more photos by following the read link.
In its haste to leave Southern California, Nissan apparently forgot to check with the local salvage yard and make sure its spent prototypes were destroyed while it was moving its operations to Tennessee. Unfortunately for Nissan, some anonymous Nissan Performance Mag staffers found a banged up 2007 Infiniti G35 (we assume sedan, although it's not specifically stated) hiding out under a cover in an auto salvage yard. Normally this wouldn't be noteworthy, as the major auto mags have already reported on the production version of the 2007 Infiniti G35, and in one case already pitted it against a BMW 3-Series. However, none of the major auto mags went into great detail about the new VQ35HR motor that will be powering the G35 and, presumably, the 2008 Nissan 350Z.
John Smalberys from Nissan Performance Mag has taken information brought back by his staffers before they were accosted by a junk yard dog and written a great piece dissecting Nissan's flagship V6 from top to bottom end. We'll spare you the intricate details here, but Smalberys theorizes that because the engine is so much beefier than the VQ35DE it replaces, that Nissan is planning to turbocharge it in some application. One might expect such an engine to appear in the 2008 Z-car, either as standard equipment or as part of a high performance package. Smalberys also notes that the upcoming Skyline GT-R is expected to receive a punched-out, twin-turbo 3.7-liter variant of the G35's new 3.5-liter, and that this new engine platform could possibly be enlarged all the way up to 4.5-liters in the future. Check out Smalberys' in-depth piece at Nissan Performance Mag if you really want to know more about the nuts and bolts of Nissan's new VQ V6.
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