2009 Nissan GT-R, 2009 Nissan 370Z - Sibling Uprising

In the Nissan family lineage, the Fairlady Z moniker has always taken a backseat to its bigger brother; the Skyline GT-R. Though it has its place in automotive history, the Fairlady has always stood in the shadow of the Skyline. Even the S13/14 chassis has shined brighter than the Z in the last couple of decades, so much so that during the mid '90s, it was removed from Nissan's US line-up altogether, due to poor sales. It was supposed to be the bigger, more powerful, more high-end of the two and it just couldn't hang. Instead of being the bigger brother to the Silvia, it ended up being more like the awkward cousin. While the S13/14s have gone on to have a cult-like following in the drift world, the Z has remained in the shadows. The Fairlady remained in the line-up overseas throughout its tenure in limbo in America, but all the while the Z32-bodied Fairladys continued as the role of the black sheep of the Nissan family. It wasn't until the debut of the Z33 chassis that the respectability of the Fairlady Z returned. The Z33 became quite popular worldwide but then Nissan decided to one-up itself and introduced the "smaller, lighter, faster" Z34 370Z. With a bigger motor and better styling than the 350Z, would it finally have its moment in the spotlight over its bigger brother, the GT-R? Today, we take a look at the two side-by-side with a R35 GT-R and Z34 370Z, both prepped by Seibon, and we ask ourselves: is there anyway the 370Z is comparable or even nearly in the same league as the GT-R?

Seibon Nissan GT-R The Skyline GT-R simply put, is amazing. It always has been. Since the first one was unveiled in 1969, the GT-R has been the epitome of Japanese automobiles. In 1989, the GT-R returned in the form of a R32 Skyline and was deemed "Godzilla" because it struck fear in the hearts of all other Japanese car manufacturers. The current Nissan GT-R, despite all the online bickering is for all intents and purposes, the modern day Skyline GT-R. Though Nissan decided to ultimately separate the GT-R model from the Skyline name, the R35 will always be known the world over as the next generation "Godzilla".

Concerns arose when GT-Rs made their debuts worldwide because they were thought to be untouchable modification-wise. Previous generation GT-Rs were tuning marvels. They were open to modification and you could squeeze gobs of power out of them with little effort. Nissan however, felt that the R35 they produced was perfect the way it was and didn't want anyone to mess with it. They even put restrictions on where you could mash on the gas and put a restrictive speed governor in that Japanese GT-R owners couldn't get away from unless they were at a Nissan-approved race track. Early on, the R35's ECU was thought to be untune-able. It was however, only a matter of time before someone got a hold of one and worked around all of Nissan's little kinks. Tuning companies saw it as a challenge and it wasn't long before they figured it out. Cobb Tuning was one of the first to unravel the mystery of the GT-R brain. They even brought a JDM R35 over a year before its U.S. release just to get an early start on it. Their Accessport technology opened the floodgates for modification of the VR38DETT engine. Any GT-R owner who possessed an Accessport would be given the ability to maximize the power gains from their bolt-on enhancements.