‘Giant slayer’ earns its reputation

Nissan’s most powerful and refined GT-R yet

THIS is the car that many South Africans have been waiting for.It has earned a reputation as the “giant slayer” at the Jaguar Knysna Hillclimb and stole the show at this year’s Festival of Motoring at Kyalami earlier this month.

Nissan’s most powerful, yet most refined version of the Nissan GT-R to date has arrived.

The first batch of deliveries to buyers has already started.

The new, upgraded super-performance car has more power on tap at mid- and high engine speeds.

“With its first introduction in 2007, the R35 GT-R redefined the boundaries of supercar performance and handling.

“In the subsequent cars, the model has been improved and refined to the pinnacle of hand-built perfection in this, the 2017 model,” Nissan South Africa marketing and after sales director of sales, Xavier Gobille said.

So how fast and how furious and how much is it?:

3.8 V6 twin turbo hand-built engine

408kW at 6 800rpm

632Nm at 3 300 – 5800rpm

0 – 100km/h in under 3 seconds

Top speed of 315km/h

Price: R1 950 000 for the Premium Edition, and R2 050 000 for the Black Edition

The engine benefits from greater boost from the turbo chargers, which are similar to those featured in the GT-R GT3 racing car. It also receives individualised timing control on each cylinder for more power and torque.

“The Nissan GT-R engine is built by a single craftsman, called Takumi in Japanese. Apart from taking full responsibility for the final performance of each engine, in each of the five Nissans, Takumi combines his superior technical knowledge with his personal intuition to create one of the best engines in the world,” Gobille said.

“This means that Takumi may take an engine back to his bench even if the computer read-outs are perfect, simply because he did not like the vibration or sound that the engine made on the test bench.”

A key ingredient in the 2017 GT-R’s blistering 0-100 km/h run is its launch control system and an improved gearbox.

The new GT-R is available this month at Nissan High Performance Centres.

MORE POWER: The 2017 Nissan GT-R features the most comprehensive styling upgrades to date, with all features offering a performance benefit as well as a top speed of 315km/h

SOUNDS BETTER: The GT-R also features a new titanium exhaust system that has been tuned for improved performance and a more appealing mechanical sound