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 Which one is your winner: ...Viper, Vette,
Porsche ...or the GT-R ..???
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I know you want the numbers and I would not go to waste your time. Neither
is Nissan. Its 2009 GT-R hits (100 km/h) 60mph in 3.3 seconds, quicker than
the last Dodge Viper, Corvette Z06 and Porsche 911 Turbo. Keep your foot
pinned, and after another tap on the up shift paddle it will clear the
quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds at more than 120 mph (200 km/h).
And this would not happen in my dream. It happened in Japan during a test
drive of a privately owned Nissan GT-R on an airstrip outside Tokyo. The test
car was a Japanese-spec example with 1,500 break-in kilometers on its odometer.
It's owned by Japanese journalist and packs the same hardware the U.S. car
will get: a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 that generates at least 473 horsepower
and 434 pound-feet of torque. It had the same six-speed dual-clutch automated
manual gearbox and the same adjustable dampers which, by now, you've read plenty
about.
What you likely haven't heard about is this: launch control. Despite its bold
3.5-second 0-60-mph claim, Nissan has been keeping this little bit of
technological wizardry a secret. Test a GT-R in the homeland, however, and
the need for confidentiality is quickly overwhelmed by the need for speed.
Controlling the Launch
Activating the Nissan GT-R's launch control is a matter of configuring
its transmission, dynamics control and damping adjustments properly. The
transmission and damping switches must both be set to the R mode and the
VDC must be switched off completely by holding the VDC-R button down for
a few seconds. Then it's just a matter of pinning the brake with your
left foot and wooding the throttle with your right, not unlike the technique
used to produce a tire-shredding burnout in that '85 Camaro you drove in
high school.
The result, however, is quite different. The computer holds the engine at
4,500 rpm and waits for you to lift your left foot off the brake pedal.
When you do the GT-R produces the most crushing acceleration of virtually
any production car in the world. The actual test was conducted on a fairly
low-grip surface that produced lots of rear wheelspin before the GT-R's
sophisticated all-wheel-drive system engaged the front wheels and it thundered
down the track. Its 3.3-second 0-60-mph run and 11.6 at 120.9 mph performance
make the GT-R the quickest car we've ever tested.
It's even quicker than the Porsche 911 Turbo Tiptronic, but not by much.
The German hits 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and blasts through the quarter-mile
in 11.6 at 118.5 mph. Due to their lack of all-wheel drive, the Dodge Viper
and Corvette Z06 are held back by traction limitations. Despite its 600-hp
V10, the last Viper coupe reached 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and finished the
quarter-mile 11.8 at 125.3 mph. The Corvette Z06 isn't even close. Once
impressive, its 4.1-second 0-60-mph run and 12-second quarter-mile at
121.8 mph are now well off the pace, which is why Chevy is creating the
supercharged Corvette ZR1.
In an effort to preserve its drivetrain and relations with the owner, the
launch control was activated only twice, but with a few more attempts to
calm the violent wheelspin, the numbers would likely have been even better.
Leave the launch control off and the tranny in R mode, and the car is still
sick quick. Sixty mph arrives in 4.0 seconds and the quarter-mile disappears
in 12.3 seconds at 120.6 mph. All testing was completed using manual shifting.
World-Class Braking
It requires 15-inch rotors, six-piston Brembo calipers and sticky Bridgestone
Potenza RE070R rubber to bring a 3,836-pound GT-R to rest from 60 mph in only
104 feet. That's only 1 foot longer than the Porsche 911 Turbo equipped with
the $8,800 ceramic composite brake package. It's also the same stopping
distance as the last Dodge Viper tested and 2 feet shorter than the Corvette
Z06.
Experience were telling us that the Nissan GT-R's conventional iron rotors
aren't going to endure abuse as well as the 911 Turbo's ceramic brakes, but
in a one-stop scenario like this, no reason to doubt them. With a solid,
effective and intuitive pedal, braking confidence is high. Plus, we're guessing
future versions of the GT-R will get brakes as advanced as the Porsche's.
Predictable, Accessible Handling
The makeshift test facility at the AMI Airport near Tokyo didn't allow room
for lateral acceleration testing on a skid pad. However, a standard slalom
was set up for comparison, on a less-than-ideal surface, which had unavoidable
painted lines crossing the course.
This served as an opportunity to witness the GT-R's striking at-the-limit
composure. Blasting across the bumpy painted lines between cones, you get
the sense that this is truly a special car. Its chassis remains composed and
it goes exactly where it's pointed despite the ugly surface. There's none of
the puckering that comes with driving a Vette or Viper this fast through a
slalom. Nor is there the sense that the rear-mounted engine of a 911 Turbo
is eventually going to find its way to the front.
The Nissan GT-R is versatile, with plenty of control latitude, and the
difference between the limit of grip and the limit of control is huge. It's
probably the most easily controlled car to slide sideways between the cones.
More importantly, its abilities are far more accessible for the average driver
than those of its competition.
At 72.9 mph, it's quicker here than the Z06 and 911 Turbo but can't quite
match the huge-tired Viper (74.2 mph). Still, it will be interesting to see
how these numbers compare when all three cars are tested at the same place
and time.
The Best Part
Perhaps more impressive than the Nissan GT-R's brain-cell-punishing acceleration
or its stellar handling is its price. At just from under $70,000 (expected
in US) it's within reach of the upper middle-class enthusiast who insists on
spending disproportionate amounts of his income on a car.
Plus, it will take an average driver and hurtle them into a realm of speed
they couldn't buy with a 911 Turbo. It's world-class fast and relatively cheap.
And that's a hard combination to beat.
Source: Edmund and S.SZ
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