German Car Zone

The new Nissan GT-R has smashed the production car lap record at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that a production version of the GT-R posted a lap time of 7min 29secs during testing last week.

Ghosn confirmed that the time means the GT-R has delivered on one of its original design objectives: to be “fastest production supercar” in the world.

“This proves that Nissan can compete against anyone,” he said.

The news gives an interesting perspective on unofficial timings of a Skyline GT-R V-Spec prototype caught testing at the Nordschleife, where observers suggested it was lapping in around 7min 25secs. This news means that the production GT-R V-spec is likely to be even quicker than those figures suggest.

Autocar - Nissan GT-R smashes ?Ring record

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Now that is one mighty quick lap time. I find it a bit difficult to believe, Nissan should disclose more information about the car used for this run, eg which type of tyres did they use, and a clear video evidence of this smoking hot lap. How did they manage to reduce 9 sec from their previous attempt, where those rumoured ''damp'' patches on the track during their 1st attempt really affect the lap time this badly?

According to Autoblog.com the car was running on stock Japanese-market tires

GT-R drops 'Ring time down to 7:29 - Autoblog

I just want to poke my head in here again and say how much I love this car. I honestly can't wait to see what the V-Spec is going to do around the N'ring.

Most who've paid attention know that. Ghosn, and Mizuno have stated that the GT-R will be constantly updated with the newest findings. So this isn't just that the US spec or the Euro spec will get those updates, Japanese customers who already own the car will be able to take their cars to the dealer and get the new harder engine mounts, etc. So, the car still isn't "tuned" it's rather a developing program.

Video of GT-R's 7:29 Lap Time

WILMINGTON, California — Anticipation has truly begun as a fleet of full production, dealer-bound 2009 Nissan GT-Rs has arrived safely at the Port of Los Angeles, just prior to the supercar's official on-sale date of July 7.

Inside Line sent an intrepid staff photographer to stalk the vast Nissan/Infiniti holding lot until he spied a group of Nissan's new 480-horsepower GT-Rs in red, silver, white and black paint.

Tim Gallagher, senior manger for corporate communications at Nissan North America confirmed that the GT-R's first-year sales volume in North America is 2,400 cars, adding, "70 percent of this has already been pre-ordered."

Annual production volume for the GT-R in North America is expected to settle in at approximately 1,500 units during the vehicle's lifecycle.

Gallagher also reaffirmed that only certified Nissan dealers will offer the GT-R, with approximately 665 dealers currently certified. An extensive dealer training program at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway recently concluded.

Four U.S. ports — Los Angeles; Elizabeth City, New Jersey; Jacksonville, Florida; and Newport News, Virginia — will receive the Tochigi, Japan-built 2009 Nissan GT-R.

Gallagher said no plans have been made yet for the 'first sale' customer.

What this means to you: For a lucky few, the wait is nearly over. For the rest, there's always next year. — Kelly Toepke, News Editor


2009 Nissan GT-R Officially Lands on U.S. Soil



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Is Nissan lying about GT-R horsepower? Pretty much.



Back in the late sixties, automakers sometimes purposely under-reported the true horsepower that their solid-lifter, over-cammed and over-carburetor'd monster V8 engines actually delivered. More recently, some manufacturers have overestimated the real power of their vehicles, which has led some to distrust factory horsepower numbers. Owners of the uber-impressive Nissan GT-R have been wondering if they've been lied to regarding real horsepower figures too. But in this case they may actually be getting more than the 480 horses that they had bargained for. In fact, after considering that the coupe is capable of hitting 123 miles per hour in the quarter mile and the fact that it weighs roughly four-thousand pounds, the New York Times Wheels blog estimates that the GT-R really makes 550-580 horsepower at the crank.

While we are certain that the rabid horsepower wars and the debate over the GT-R's true power as compared to its rivals will rage on, NYT's estimates are actually pretty much in line with what Motor Trend got after putting the Nissan supercar on the dyno, and that's a figure that really can't be argued with.


Source: Is Nissan lying about GT-R horsepower? Pretty much. - Autoblog