How Nissan keeps the GT-R fresh
Nissan’s latest upgrades to its aged high-performance anomaly keep the arthritis at bay.
Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the R35 GT-R was but a youngling. It wowed the Neanderthals of 2007 with its obscene power, technological prowess and brute-force delivery. Twelve years on and the basic recipe is the same, and yet Nissan has been cleverly keeping the old warhorse fresh, still able to take on supercar heroes with the range-topping version breathed on by NISMO, its motorsport division. Enter the pacemaker The NISMO version’s hand-made 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 (codenamed VR38DETT) has been upgraded with turbochargers from the GT-R GT3 racer for the 2020 model year. Those turbos have one less turbine vane (10, down from 11), which not only increases response to throttle inputs but is 14.5 per cent lighter. Lose a vane and you could reduce airflow, to overcome which the vanes have been reshaped and a new back plate engineered to ensure the flow is more precisely targeted.
All of this makes the turbos quicker to respond at lower revs. While power remains the same at 592bhp, the rather boosty engine just got a little easier to manage.
The sixth element
Carbonfibre has been utilised for the NISMO’s bumpers, bonnet and roof, shaving 10.5kg, helping to lower the centre of gravity for sharper handling.
See those vents over the front wheelarches? They’ve also been lifted from the GT3 racer, as they minimise drag over the rear wing and actually increase downforce at speed by around 7kg.
If you’re the kind to leave the six-speed dual-clutch transmission in auto, the algorithms controlling the auto shift have been overhauled for the car’s R mode, holding lower gears for longer and changing down earlier for rapid corner exits.
Bending physics
Newly developed tyres from Dunlop have one less crease in the tread pattern for an 11 per cent improvement in the contact patch. Nissan also claims the new tyres increase grip by seven per cent overall. Given a 30kg overall weight saving versus previous iterations, the NISMO’s Bilstein DampTronic shock absorbers have been made 20 per cent softer in rebound and five
per cent softer in compression.
One small thing...
A 2020 NISMO is £175,000; £25k more than its predecessor. It’s that or a 911 Turbo (see page 72) and plenty of change for trackdays.
By Jake Groves