Nissan’s official motorsports and performance division, NISMO, will enter a specially-prepped Nissan GT-R into the 15th Tokachi 24-hour race, to be held from July 20th to 21st in Hokkaido. The NISMO GT-R that will be based on the standard production car will be equipped with the newly-developed NISMO tuning parts and competition motor oil jointly developed with MOTUL. The GT-R specific NISMO tuning parts used in the race will be available as accessory options to GT-R customers this summer

Team Director Taro Kumagai said, "This is the first Nissan GT-R to race based on the standard road-car specifications. Our target is to complete the race distance, testing both the performance and reliability of the car. Following its success in Super GT, we know that GT-R fans want to see the car compete in this kind of endurance racing series.” -Continued

Team:
Entrant: NISMO
Entry Name: MOTUL NISMO Racing Team
Vehicle Name: MOTUL NISMO GT-R
Team Director: Taro KUMAGAI
Drivers: Masami KAGEYAMA, Tetsuya TANAKA, and Kazuki

Car Specification:
Base Vehicle: NISSAN GT-R (R35)
Engine: VR38DETT
Displacement: 3799 cc
Max. Power: over 480 ps/6400 rpm
Max. Torque: over 60 kgfm/3200-5200 rpm
Weight: over 1600 kg
Tyres: Bridgestone Racing POTENZA

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We’ll give GM plenty of kudos for creating a sports car that officially lapped the famous Nurburgring in a mere 7 minutes and 26.4 seconds as it puts plenty of supercars costing double its price to shame, but ultimately, its somewhat unfair to compare the Corvette ZR1 with the Nissan GT-R. True, in our article on the ZR1’s Nurburgring time we mentioned that GM’s sports car beat the Nissan GT-R (7 minutes and 29.03 seconds), but we only did it to give you a comparable example of how good the Corvette is.

However, we must put things into perspective. The 640Hp Corvette ZR1 is priced from $103,300, the 480Hp Nissan GT-R from $69,850. That’s a huge price difference -$33,450 or nearly 50% more. Practically, the GT-R should be compared with the 505Hp Corvette Z06 that starts from $72,125. Although this is not an official time, various sites (including Motortrend) have stated that the Z06 lapped the Nurburgring in 7 minutes and 42 seconds or 13 seconds more than the GT-R. -Continued

But to be totally honest, a sportscar’s Nurburgring time would be the last thing that would matter if we were in the market to buy one. Well before that we’d take into consideration a variety of factors including the emotional impact that the car has on us, the way it communicates with us on the road -maybe even on the track, and of course, the price tag. (Pic: Carscoop)

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As if being on the waiting list to receive the all-new 2009 GT-R wasn’t enough to make us jealous, Nissan has now launched the ‘Race Academy’ for GT-R pre-order customers that could lead to them obtaining a full racing licence. In particular, UK GT-R customers will be offered the opportunity to participate in Race Academy events at Silverstone or at the Nürburgring race track in Germany.

The events will take place during August and September with customers having the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with the 2009 GT-R, long before taking delivery of their own vehicle. The track day experience will include a one-on-one tuition and over 45 minutes behind the wheel of the GT-R, while there will also be the opportunity to learn how to ‘drift’ in a Nissan 350Z. -Continued

Stephane Cottin, Vice President, Marketing for Nissan in Europe, said: "All of us at Nissan who have been working on the launch of this fantastic car want to provide a customer experience for GT-R customers which reflect the passion they have for GT-R, a passion which is matched by our own. It's important to us that GT-R customers enjoy everything about the car - and these customer events will give customers the opportunity to fully enjoy the GT-R's capabilities on a track, while they await delivery of their car." -Picture: Carscoop

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Finally, we have live footage of the Nissan GT-R lapping the Nurburgring race track in Germany in 7:29.03. According to Nissan, the GT-R’s time was recorded on April 17, 2008 with the Japanese supercar’s chief test driver Tochio Suzuki behind the wheel of a base specification vehicle fitted with standard Japanese market tires. -See the video after the jump

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Even though the $70k that Nissan is asking for the all-new GT-R in the U.S. is a steal considering the car’s capabilities, how many of us have that kind of cash lying around? Well, Japanese model hobby manufacturer Tamiya has the next best thing: a 1/24 scale model of Nissan’s new supercar that will hit Japanese stores on Saturday May 24, 2008 with the rest of the world following shortly after. Prices in Japan are set at 3,990 Yen which is approximately $38.5 or €24.5. -More pics after the jump

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It took us a while to figure out what exactly the GT Academy is all about but we finally managed to make ends meet. Basically, Nissan has joined forces with the PlayStation folks to create an eight-month long pan-European competition that merges virtual and real-life racing.

To earn a place in GT Academy, candidates enter an online Gran Turismo 5 Prologue tournament hosted on PlayStation Network. The two finalists of the competition will win a four-month training program to earn their racing licences, followed by a real-life race driving a Nissan 350Z as part of the Nissan team at the 24H endurance race in Dubai in January 2009. The GT Academy will go live at the end of May and to enter, you must register, via your PS3s on the Playstation Network (PSN).

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British automotive site Pistonheads (which by the way, is owned by the publisher of Autocar magazine), is reporting that the GT-R that managed to lap the Nurburgring in a record breaking 7 minutes and 29 seconds was not a current, base specification production car as Nissan supports but a modified version featuring a number of tweaks that are intended for its European launch.

So what do we think about this “headline breaking story”? Even if PH's story turns out to be true, honestly now, who cares? The GT-R is one heck of a fast and superbly developed supercar. And if indeed the European and American versions are further enhanced compared to the Japanese spec model, that’s more than fine with us.

Link: Pistonheads

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Not that we weren’t expecting it, but Nissan has received over 1500 orders for the GT-R in Europe in one month’s time, meaning that the first year supply of GT-Rs in Europe is booked up. What we weren’t expecting however is that from the 1,500+ orders that were taken from the 56 nominated Nissan High Performance Dealers across Europe, a whopping 63% or 950 orders came from the UK!

In the US, the allocation for model year 2008 GT-Rs is sold out, and 60% of 2009’s allocation has already been pre-sold. Customer deliveries of Nissan’s supercar begin in the US this July.

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The producer of Sony Playstation’s iconic Gran Turismo videogame series, Kazunori Yamauchi leaves the digital world for a bit and travels all the way to Germany to take on the Nurburgring race track in real-life with Nissan’s 2009 GT-R sportscar. Click through to watch the video. –Continued

Kudos to Mike for finding this video!

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In our latest poll, we’re trying to figure out what would you do if you were lucky enough to have about $70,000 (that’s approx €45,300 with the current exchange rates) lying around your bank account. The reason why we chose the specific sum is no other than the U.S. prices of Nissan’s highly anticipated 473Hp GT-R sportscar: $69,850 (€45,200) for the GT-R and $71,900 (€46,500) for the GT-R Premium model.

For about the same amount, U.S. buyers have the choice to include in their list the 505Hp Corvette Z06 ($72,125 or €46,650) and the entry-lever 325Hp, RWD Porsche 911 Carrera ($73,500 or €47,550). Though significantly cheaper, we also consider the $56,500 (€36,550) BMW M3 with its 414Hp V8 engine as a logic alternative – plus we’re pretty sure that BMW will find a way to get another $10k out of your wallet.

Have your say in the comment section and don’t forget to vote on the poll we added on the sidebar.

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Last time we heard about the 2009 Nissan GT-R and the Nurburgring race track was last year when the Japanese carmaker announced that its 473Hp supercar managed to lap the famous “ring” in 7 min and 38 sec. But then, the course was slightly damp…

On April 16 and 17, 2008, GT-R chief test driver Tochio Suzuki took a base specification car fitted with standard Japanese market tyres back to the Nurburgring. This time the track was dry and Suzuki achieved a lap time at the notorious Nurburgring track of 7 minutes and 29 seconds which is one of the fastest times for production road cars. -Continued

“At last year’s testing, we were frustrated by the conditions at the Nürburgring, always believing that the GT-R could go under seven minutes 30 seconds,” said Kazutoshi Mizuno, Chief Vehicle Engineer for GT-R. “Below seven minutes 30 seconds, the GT-R proves it is among the fastest mass-production cars in the world. We set out to build a multi-performance supercar accessible to anyone, anytime and anywhere – I believe the GT-R has delivered that promise.”

Sales of the all-new GT-R began in Japan in December 2007. The US and Canada are set to follow in this July while Europe and other markets are expected to get the GT-R over the next 12 months.

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As anticipated, demand for Nissan’s all-new GT-R R35 in the British market is as high as anywhere else. According to the Japanese carmaker, the GT-R official order book opened for business in the UK on April 2, 2008 and within the first 48 hours, Nissan received approximately 700 customer deposits for pre-order reservations.

Paul Willcox, Managing Director Nissan Motor (GB) Limited commented: “The dealer order line lit-up on the 2 April with an unprecedented amount of orders being placed. Waiting lists are not unusual to have for a vehicle of such high performance, specification and value but there is a limit that people will be prepared to wait. In order to meet demand we are now starting to negotiate vigorously with Nissan Europe to secure further volume from our production facility in Tochigi Japan.” -Continued

Unfortunately, as the GT-R’s twin-turbocharged engine is hand built, there’s a maximum production capability of 1000 units per month. So, it all depends on how well Nissan dealers from around the world place themselves towards the mother company. In concern of Nissan UK, Wilcox says that it won’t be until late May before they’ll know if their request for more cars has been successful or not.

In the UK market, pricing for the GT-R starts from £52,900 (€66,800 or $105,000) and it is available in three trim levels: Base, Premium Edition and Black Edition. First customer deliveries for the British market are expected in March 2009.

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The latest company to jump into the list of tuners for Nissan’s new GT-R supercar is a Japanese firm called “Garage Defend”. The company’s tuning package for the GT-R consists of a carbon-fibre bodykit that includes a batmobile-styled front spoiler with side-wings, a new grille and a huge rear wing complemented by a set of black alloy wheels. Inside, the only addition is a pair of red-colored bucket seats. In terms of mechanical upgrades, Garage Defend’s tuning package for the GT-R includes a new sportier muffler and a suspension lowering kit (by 30 mm). -Image gallery after the jump









Via: Motorpasion

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We highly doubt that you’ll ever see a Nissan GT-R in this dreadful condition –or at least not in the near future that is. Nevertheless, a nice April Fools Day photoshop from Jon Sibal.

Via: Cardomain , Source: Jonsibal

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Apparently we’re not the only ones aware of the craze for the 2009 GT-R; so is Nissan that launched a new line of accessories dedicated to its brand new 480 Hp sports coupe. While Nissan offers a wide variety of accessories including various key-rings, mobile-phone straps, t-shirts, card holders and wallets, what really caught our attention – and not only because we discovered a high res picture of it, is the utterly awesome, carbon-fibre suitcase. See more images of Nissan’s GT-R collection after the jump. (Image edited by Carscoop) -Continued

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Japanese car magazine “Best Motoring” tested a 2008 Nissan GT-R R35 tuned by Amuse on the race track. From what we where able to gather, the modified GT-R features several upgrades including a engine kit that boosts the twin-turbocharged V6’s output from 480 to 582 Hp, an aero package, Recaro seats and new tires. See video after the jump. -Continued

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This isn’t the first time that we bring you bad news about a Nissan GT-R –see another incident here, and unfortunately, nor will it be the last. These pictures of the crumpled 2009 GT-R showed up on the NAGTROC forum and according to the poster, the car is registered in Malaysia. Definitely not a pretty site for car lovers like ourselves. –More pics after the jump

Via: Jalopnik , Source: Nagtroc

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The GT-R’s racing debut at the SUPER GT series in Japan this past weekend proved totally successful as Nissan saw two of its cars finish in the first and second place of the race. The XANAVI NISMO GT-R (#23), starting from the second on the grid and driven by Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer, won the first race of the 2008 Super GT series, while Michael Krumm and Masataka Yanagida brought the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (#22) home in the 2nd place ahead of the Lexus SC 430.

"Before the race we felt a bit of pressure to make a debut win for the GT-R but believed that we could win because the car was fantastic and the team had done a great job. Combination with Benoit was also very good and we proved to be the strongest pair.I'm really happy that we won the race in the GT-R's very first race," said XANAVI NISMO GT-R driver, Satoshi Motoyama. –More pics after the jump

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Nissan’s motorsport department –aka, “NISMO”, announced today that all-new GT-R coupe has been chosen to become the official safety car of the SUPER GT 2008 series, which kicks off this Sunday, March 16, 2008. A handover of the safety car will be held during the opening of the SUPER GT series (Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture) on Sunday, March 16. If you happen to be at the Suzuka Circuit, you’ll be happy to know that a series of previous GT-R racing models like the 2003 Xanavi Nismo GT-R and the 1990 Calsonic Skyline will be on display at the Grand Prix Square adjacent to the main stand.

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Autocar’s Chris Harris wiggled himself behind the wheel of three of the most desirable sports cars of the year and drove them on the race track to see which one is the “King of the Hill”. Is the Nissan GT-R as good as everyone says, or do the BMW M3 and Porsche 911 GT3 have something to say about that? Since we’re not in the habit of being party poopers, we’ll just let you check the two videos after the jump to see which car or cars… won Autocar’s comparison test. –Continued

Part 1


Part 2

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