NISSAN GT-R NISMO
Godzilla returns to The Mountain guns blazing
FORREST’S Elbow. Bathurst. Not a place you’d normally associate with a moment of crystal-clear realisation, and yet, as the GT-R Nismo launches from the downhill lefthander, its traction-control light blinking with epileptic urgency at the top of fourth gear, 200km/h already on the dial, that’s exactly what happens. My mind drowns out the fighter-jet roar of the twinturbo V6, the slight tugging on the wheel as the semi-slick Dunlops scrabble for traction, and instead zeroes in on the battle-scarred piece of cement to my right.
“Huh,” I think. “That’s where Jim Richards aquaplaned into the wall in his R32 GT-R in 1992…” Reality returns with a rush and seconds later I’m resisting the urge to lift as the car goes light over the crest on Conrod at 280km/h, yet the moment isn’t lost.
Richards’ crash during that rain-soaked race, and his resulting controversial victory alongside teammate Mark Skaife, is at the core of the Skyline GT-R’S legend in Australia.
And now, 25 years later, Godzilla has returned to The Mountain. And what a return it is.
In the hierarchy of GT-R, this Nismo version is the biggest, baddest and fastest of the lot. It’s also the most expensive. Nismo will only build around 200 a year, 20 or so of which will make their way to Australia for the princely sum of $299,000. In the GT-R pecking order, that’s a whopping $101,000 more that the already rabid GT-R Premium, and $72,000 more than the GT-R Track Edition, which shares the Nismo’s bonded chassis (for an eight percent improvement in rigidity), stiffer suspension componentry and semi-slick rubber (255/40R20 up front, 285/35R20 out back). So what exactly are you getting for the extra coin? Well there’s more grunt, for a start. Nismo versions use the same 3.8-litre twin-turbo VR38DETT V6 as other GT-RS, but score larger turbochargers from Nissan’s GT3 racing car, for a power hike of 22kw/20nm. Total outputs now read 441kw/652nm.
There’s also a more resolved aero package – headlined by that monster carbonfibre rear wing – which Nissan says provides an extra 100kg of downforce at 300km/h.
The suspension has been overhauled too, and is even more focused than the Track Edition.