The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Nissan joins forces to create ultimate GT-R
DESIGN house Italdesign and the Nissan GT-R turn 50 this year so the two companies have teamed up to celebrate. The result? A oneoff concept car named the Nissan GT-R50. The GT-R50 is based on the standard GT-R in Nismo form but every element has been transformed by Italdesign or by Nissan’s design centres. No original exterior panel remains – even the roofline has been lowered by 54mm. The GT-R50 is also longer and wider than the GT-R.
The circular tail lights that now sit proud of the rear fascia. A gaping grille and slim booster strength and forces of acceleration and braking.
The new Swift Sport has lost a lot of weight and at just under one tonne is much less of a burden on the 1.4-litre Boosterjet engine that also features in the Vitara S. It has a power output of 140ps sending the drive to its front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox.
Changing gear presented me with no real issues but despite being positive there was a slightly woolly feel about the transactions and going into reverse gear is awkward.
The Swift Sport is no slouch, it moves off at a decent rate of knots but neither is it blisteringly fast. There appears to be no attempt to introduce interesting exhaust notes that shout out: “Hey, look at me!” The drive, however, is best described as uncomplicated, especially once some of the electronic corrective interventionist systems, such as lane departure warning have been switched off. This makes a drive on backroads much more pleasant.
The suspension set-up is not harsh and its 17-inch wheels made for a decently smooth ride quality although on some rougher textured road surfaces the noise ingress was
high. I was less keen on the steering: it felt heavy and often lacked feel although my wife after having a shot disagreed with me.
There is a huge amount of equipment with the Swift Sport. At no extra cost it comes with touchscreen infotainment system that includes Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and MirrorLink, climate control, camera and radar systems and a whole bundle of the usual and expected features.
The new model has evolved with a much more refined and sophisticated passenger cabin. It’s hardly a cheetah but because of this it’s easier for younger drivers to get behind the wheel. Finance and PCP deals are also attractive in the early days after launch. LED headlights make the front distinctive, while a gunmetal and gold colour scheme finishes off the exterior look.
The interior is swathed in carbon fibre and Alcantara, once again with gold accents.
Under the skin, the GT-R50 sees upgrades just as extensive as the styling ones. The hand-built 3.8-litre V6 engine has been given race-spec turbochargers and a larger intercooler system, plus upgraded exhaust and intake systems. This helps give the car an incredible 118bhp boost over standard
– it now produces 710bhp and 780Nm of torque, over 592bhp previously.