We used this downtime to get further acquainted with the GT-R's cockpit. We love the seats; they're comfortable, easily adjustable and are just snug enough to keep us locked in place. it's just too bad that the American version of the car will get wider buckets... The rest of the cabin is nice, but it feels too much like a regular Nissan. Sure, the Bose stereo sounds great, and there sure are a lot of cool buttons to play with. But this is a $70Kplus car, so we'd like to see a little more infiniti and a little less Z. Oh well, at least the paddle shifters are mounted in the proper place, by which we mean the steering column.
When traffic opened up, we started to play with the suspension settings a bit. "comfort" mode, much to our surprise, was actually very comfortable -smooth, even. Even switching the bespoke electronic Bilstein dampers to their firmer settings, the GT-R kept body roll in check without delivering a ride that was punishing in any way. Once we got to the freeway the GT-R felt even better. This car's acceleration must be experienced to be believed; it's blindingly quick, yet it gets up to and maintains speed with absolutely no drama. It's very easy to break 100 mph in the GT-R; the car is so refined, quiet and planted that you'll be approaching speeds of 150 mph before you know it. Luckily for lead foots like us, the GT-R's massive Brembo binders slow the car down quickly and efficiently.
As good as the GT-R is on the streets, it's even better on the track. After our romp on the freeway, Nissan let us drive the car around Sendai hi-Land Raceway, which turned out to be one of the more challenging tracks we've ever been on. in any other car, we likely would have run off the track and slammed right into a wall. Not the GT-R; mash the throttle and the car just goes. Turn the wheel and the car goes exactly where you point it-even if you mess up your turn-in and braking points. Brake mid-corner and the car continues to hold the line... it's really hard to upset the balance of this thing. Switching the suspension and traction aids to the "sports" or "off" modes allows one to enjoy some tail-out fun in the car. But even with the driver aids switched off, the car stays planted like a slot car. The GT-R is scary good.
Out of all the cars we've driven-and we've driven some exotic metal in our day-the GT-R is not only the easiest car to drive at speed, but the most confidence-inspiring as well. Some people may balk at the thought of paying $70,000 for a Nissan, but the GT-R delivers one of the best performance values for the buck. The extensive use of electronic controls may limit the new GT-R's ability to be tuned, but it nonetheless remains a true performance icon, and it should remain an icon in our scene. We're gonna go sell our livers so that we can buy one when it hits U.S. shores this summer.
Behind The Scenes:Nissan's GT-R FactoriesPrior to our spin in the new GT-R, Nissan invited all of us journalisttypes out to two of its main factories to see exactly how the GT-R is made. Our first stop on the GT-R tour was the Nissan Yokohama Plant. Sitting on 572,000 square meters of land, this plant is chock-full of weathered, sea-blasted, corrugated siding buildings that play home to singing robots, stamping facilities and the clean room in which the GT-R engine is built.
The process was interesting to watch, but sadly we weren't allowed in the GT-R engine clean room. We were too dirty. honest. Nissan didn't want any outside contaminants to get into the GT-R engines being built, so we had to watch the whole engine-making process from a room adjacent to the clean room. it's hard to shoot a white, sterile room through glass, but we did our best to capture the few GT-R engines we saw in various stages of build.