Master blaster
throttle response is more instant. Details like this matter to GT-R fans. And there’s more. The GT-R Nismo has been on a diet and lost 27kg.
Some of that is thanks to new carbon fibre bumpers and wings, more is lost thanks to a roof panel that’s 4kg lighter and a bonnet that has shed two kilos. Oh, and ceramic brakes – which save 16.2kg – have been fitted for the first time. Sexy stuff.
Because the car is lighter (it still weighs a lardy 1,703kg, mind) Nissan has been able to fit softer springs and dial back the damper settings.
You’re about to nod off ? Quickly, you need to know that the Dunlop tyres have one less groove which puts an extra 11% of rubber onto the road.
All of which is not that easy to detect while driving the GT-R Nismo in everyday conditions.
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with GT-Rs. They’re not really my sort of car – too heavy, too big, too crammed with technology.
The GT-R has monster computer power that controls its four-wheeldrive system and the differentials and clutches that dish out the torque to each of the four wheels.
However, on a track I love the GT-R.
The Nurburgring, Silverstone, Castle Combe, Brands Hatch and Goodwood are all circuits at which the ballistic missile has put a smile on my face that’s lasted for weeks.
It flatters your driving, this car, especially on a slippery track that has made Porsche drivers stop for a cup of nerve-calming coffee.
Nissan might have fitted softer springs to the Nismo but you’d never know. There’s a Comfort setting but I think it’s just for show because the big Nissan is never anything but an intense experience. The faster you go the better it gets, especially as the
Dunlop tyres warm up. Trouble is, getting heat into tyres isn’t easy on a public road in winter.
The Nissan GT-R, and particularly this Nismo version, doesn’t really have any rivals. It’s not as svelte and pure as a Ferrari 488 GTB, or as compact as a Porsche 911 Turbo S, or as light as either. Can you compare a Nissan with these exotics? Well you can when the Nissan costs £180,095.
This is why it will only appeal to GT-R cult members. Those who can afford the Nismo should think about buying one because this may well be the last generation of an iconic car.