Tweet
Picked up my silver GTR earlier this week.
Put about 500km on it so far.
I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical of the car's performance given all the hype, and possible "cheating" by Nissan with the press and 'Ring cars.
However, the car has met and exceeded my expectations.
It has outstanding acceleration, in part because of the very low gear ratios (especially first which is the lowest ratio of any car I have ever seen, hence maximum torque multiplication), and high and wide mid-range torque. (I have always recorded G-force in each gear for all my cars, and the GTR matches or exceeds all my other cars in the corresponding gear (to be fair, some of the other cars, such as my Z06, carry the G-force much further up the speed range, since they have numerically higher gear ratios.This would explain why the GTR is so quick up to around 100 MPH, then tails off compared to some other cars such as the Vette.
Transmission shifting on the way up is outstanding - quick and very effective - there is no perceptible break in the acceleration. It is less good on the downshifts, where it can be slow and clunky, especially into first and second gears (this is not too surprising since these twin-shaft transmissions are set up to "expect" the next gear, and generally therefore expect an upshift). There is some noise from the transmission, but once you are aware that it is normal, it is perfectly acceptable.
Handling is excellent. Best 4 wheel drive handling I have ever driven (including a Porsche TT and Lamborghini Gallardo). Not yet tried on a track, but it seems to be more neutral, with less understeer, and quicker to apportion torque to the front of the car - if you get on the gas mid-turn, you can actually feel the front "pull" the car around the turn. Good steering feel as well.
Lots of features - the Playstation screens are great and very useful.
Areas for improvement:
The ride is as harsh as reported in the magazines. If you are on a resonably smooth road, it is perfectly acceptable - it feels like a nice solid, stiff sports car. If you are on a road that is broken up for any significant distance, be prepared to lose some of your fillings!
It was reported that US cars were to get wider seats to suit the wider NA asses. I may have gotten a Japanese spec version, because the seat is very hard and pretty narrow. The seat bottom digs into the sides of my thighs and gets pretty painful after 30 minutes or so (and I do not have a particularly large ass!). Side and seat bottom bolster adjustments would have been nice especially for peformance driving. Lumbar adjustment would also be nice.
Fit and finish is quite good, and consistent with Nissan's general position in the hierarchy. Many nice touches (leather and chrome) have been added, unfortunately, like my Vette, there are also lots of pretty crappy looking surfaces. (The most obvious being the very basic background finish on the dash piece right under the big display screen. They probably could have made a very nicely finished car with minimal additional investment/cost. (However, since I bought the car for its performance, I don't care too much about this). The premium silver paint is excellent.
Outside of the car looks much better in person than in the pictures. It won't win any beauty contests, but the shape suits the "image" of the car ie. serious, manly, performance oriented.
All in all, a great car - worth the wait. A pleasure (fun) to drive, and delivers all that was promised.
I do not have posting priviliges, so no pictures for now! (But you may be able to see the pictures on http://www.nissangtrclub.com/showthread.php?t=1287
Now off to drive some more.
Put about 500km on it so far.
I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical of the car's performance given all the hype, and possible "cheating" by Nissan with the press and 'Ring cars.
However, the car has met and exceeded my expectations.
It has outstanding acceleration, in part because of the very low gear ratios (especially first which is the lowest ratio of any car I have ever seen, hence maximum torque multiplication), and high and wide mid-range torque. (I have always recorded G-force in each gear for all my cars, and the GTR matches or exceeds all my other cars in the corresponding gear (to be fair, some of the other cars, such as my Z06, carry the G-force much further up the speed range, since they have numerically higher gear ratios.This would explain why the GTR is so quick up to around 100 MPH, then tails off compared to some other cars such as the Vette.
Transmission shifting on the way up is outstanding - quick and very effective - there is no perceptible break in the acceleration. It is less good on the downshifts, where it can be slow and clunky, especially into first and second gears (this is not too surprising since these twin-shaft transmissions are set up to "expect" the next gear, and generally therefore expect an upshift). There is some noise from the transmission, but once you are aware that it is normal, it is perfectly acceptable.
Handling is excellent. Best 4 wheel drive handling I have ever driven (including a Porsche TT and Lamborghini Gallardo). Not yet tried on a track, but it seems to be more neutral, with less understeer, and quicker to apportion torque to the front of the car - if you get on the gas mid-turn, you can actually feel the front "pull" the car around the turn. Good steering feel as well.
Lots of features - the Playstation screens are great and very useful.
Areas for improvement:
The ride is as harsh as reported in the magazines. If you are on a resonably smooth road, it is perfectly acceptable - it feels like a nice solid, stiff sports car. If you are on a road that is broken up for any significant distance, be prepared to lose some of your fillings!
It was reported that US cars were to get wider seats to suit the wider NA asses. I may have gotten a Japanese spec version, because the seat is very hard and pretty narrow. The seat bottom digs into the sides of my thighs and gets pretty painful after 30 minutes or so (and I do not have a particularly large ass!). Side and seat bottom bolster adjustments would have been nice especially for peformance driving. Lumbar adjustment would also be nice.
Fit and finish is quite good, and consistent with Nissan's general position in the hierarchy. Many nice touches (leather and chrome) have been added, unfortunately, like my Vette, there are also lots of pretty crappy looking surfaces. (The most obvious being the very basic background finish on the dash piece right under the big display screen. They probably could have made a very nicely finished car with minimal additional investment/cost. (However, since I bought the car for its performance, I don't care too much about this). The premium silver paint is excellent.
Outside of the car looks much better in person than in the pictures. It won't win any beauty contests, but the shape suits the "image" of the car ie. serious, manly, performance oriented.
All in all, a great car - worth the wait. A pleasure (fun) to drive, and delivers all that was promised.
I do not have posting priviliges, so no pictures for now! (But you may be able to see the pictures on http://www.nissangtrclub.com/showthread.php?t=1287
Now off to drive some more.
Comment