More 2012 Nissan GT-R Up Close Pictures

We had a chance to check out a pre-production 2012 Nissan GT-R again up close, prior to the release here in the US. It was sporting the cold weather package Dunlop tires, no center caps, and was in a bit of a need of a wash.  Very normal for what you will see for a development car.

New wheels, and new vents in rear lower trim are visible from this shot

390 mm brake rotors

2012 Nissan GT-R : First Impressions

MC from NAGTROC posted up a number of the first impressions from this weeks testing at Buttonwillow Raceway with the 2012 Nissan GT-R.  Automobile Magazine, Car and Driver, Motor Trend, and Road and Track all have posted up first impressions. Below are a few quotes and pictures from each.

Automobile Magazine said

New forged-aluminum ten-spoke Rays wheels knock 6.6 pounds off the car’s weight and are stiffer than the outgoing wheels. (Optional six-spoke wheels are another 3.5 pounds lighter still.)

 The Black Edition wheels are lighter than the new 10 spoke wheels.

With unchanged IHI turbos, the engine feels the same, just stronger. Higher maximum boost pressure (up from 10.8 psi to 13 psi) and better breathing (thanks to larger turbo inlets and less restrictive exhaust and catalytic converters)

13 psi still leaves a lot on the table for upgrades.  With a Cobb AccessPORT on a 2009-2011 GT-R, on 91 octane fuel, owners and tuners have found they can run to to about 18 psi peak.

At a press event earlier this year, Nissan achieved one run in which the 2012 GT-R accelerated to 60 mph in 2.886 seconds. On cold pavement with less grip, we watched as a Nissan test driver did repeated launches. He wasn’t able to get under 3 seconds—achieving 3.0 seconds twice, 3.1 twice, and 3.4 several times. These are times without a foot of rollout, as Automobile Magazine publishes, so you’ll likely see even faster times in magazines that use twelve inches of rollout.

 One foot of roll out will drop the 0-60 times down into the 2's.

Continual development of shocks and springs had brought the 2011 to acceptable levels of understeer (earlier cars were far more understeer-prone, requiring substantially more power to help rotate the rear end), but the 2012 model suffers from no such handling demerits. Like all cars, you can induce understeer if you try, but the new GT-R’s setup is far more neutral, allowing the computer-controlled all-wheel-drive system even better flexibility in keeping the GT-R pointed where the driver wants it.

Source: Automobile Magazine 

2012 Nissan GT-R vs 2011 Nissan GT-R Drag Race

The place looks familiar. Buttonwillow Racetrack, just outside of Buttonwillow, California.

Here is a video from Inside Line of a 2012 (Blue) GT-R vs a 2011 (Red) GT-R. The 2012 did 0-60 in 3.0 seconds, the 2011 did 3.5 seconds.

One more video, this time LC4 start up close.



Source: NAGTROC and Inside Line

Front Lip, Side Skirts, and Canards for Nissan GTR

The STILLEN Urethane Lip Spoiler adds 2" of length to the OEM fascia, and installs directly onto the vehicle over the factory piece. This lip spoiler is designed to hold additional air onto the nose, with flares on the side corners producing a canard effect for extra control.

Another major benefit of the front lip spoiler is the durability. Constructed out of high-quality polyurethane, this front spoiler is nearly indestructible and carries a limited lifetime warranty. This means it can stand up to the hazards of the race track or the drive around town with 100% driver/owner confidence.

The urethane parts come in a flat black finish that can be installed as delivered,or you can chose to have your body shop paint them body color, or the factory KAE lower body color. Check out a few photos of the parts installed.

 

Canards and Front lip as delivered finish

STILLEN front lip spoiler

Continuing the aerodynamic stabilization of the GT-R, STILLEN has developed new side skirts with a 2 inch ledge built in to apply more downforce to the car.  This design comes from the testing performed on the legendary NISSAN 300ZX, campaigned in the IMSA sports car series at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring.  Tested in the Lockheed Martin wind tunnel, the Nissan engineers found that by enhancing the side ledge on the rocker it applied a incremental amount of downforce at higher speeds thus keeping the car planted and more stable through high speed corners.

Another major benefit of the rockers is the greatly improved appearance.  Offering a much more aggressive look and race proven engineering these rockers are sure to catch attention and compliments.  Just like all STILLEN body work these are constructed out of durable polyurethane, ready for paint, and offer a limited lifetime warranty.  Perfect for daily driving or track days and utilize the factory skirt mounting points to ensure a perfect fit and finish.

As delivered side skirts

Front lip spoiler and side skirts

Red color matched front lip and side skirts

Color matched side skirts

Color matched Front Lip Spoiler and side skirts

 

KAE matched side skirts

Australian GT-R. Polished front lip

This front lip spoiler is polished.

 These canards accentuate the STILLEN GT-R Front Lip Spoiler for a more aggressive appearance. The aerodynamic advantages are applied with the Canards adding downforce to the front of the car.

STILLEN Canards and Front Lip Spoiler

Source: STILLEN

Nismolism 2011 : Cal State Fullerton

Nismolism 2011 is trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest Nissan/Infiniti gathering in the world.  The event is going to be held February 20, 2011 at Cal State Fullerton from 10 am to 3 pm in Lot A. 

View Larger Map


Source: NAGTROC

Father of the Nissan Skyline Dies at 81

If you are reading this blog, you are probably familiar with the Nissan Skyline. You may not know all the history of the car, you may not know it as any more than the car on the video game. Dr. Sakurai was known as the Father of the Skyline in Japan. Behind every car, there is a person or people, a driving force that contributes to its existence. Below is a posting from the GT-R.co.uk forum.

Dr Shinichiro SAKURAI - known as "Skyline no Chichi" ( 'Father Of The Skyline' ) in Japan - passed away aged 81 years. Cause of death was given as heart failure.

Dr SAKURAI joined what became the Prince Motor Co. ( itself formed from the ashes of the Nakajima and Tachikawa aircraft companies, through Fuji Sangyo and Fuji Precision Machine ) in 1952, and was the chief project manager on the ALSID-1 model, the first Skyline.

Dr SAKURAI was deeply involved with race related activities at Prince, especially in record breaking and sports car racing, and headed the team which gained notoriety for taking on - and hounding - a Porsche 904 GTS with a gaggle of hot-rodded S54 Skylines in the 1964 Japan GP. Even though the 'fox' got away that time, SAKURAI resolved to build cars that could take it on again, and win.

When Prince was forcibly merged with Nissan in 1966, SAKURAI's team at Murayama kept some degree of autonomy and continued with their race-related activities. The first truly new Skyline model to be launched after the merger with Nissan was the C10 'Hakosuka', with Dr SAKURAI and his team making sure that a special homologation model - the PGC10 'Skyline GT-R', its S20 twin cam engine derived from the DNA of the Prince GR8 race unit - was produced, and went racing. The 'Skyline GT-R' legend had been born.....

Working under Dr SAKURAI at that time were many of the people who would go on to work on the later generations of GT-R. One of these was a young Shurei ITOH, chassis designer on the C10 Skyline and later Project Chief on the R32 Skyline GT-R. Kozo WATANABE - Chief Designer on the R33 GT-R project - was another SAKURAI protege.

Dr SAKURAI went on to become head of Nissan's offshoot AUTECH, and was inducted into the Japanese Auto Industry Hall of Fame several years ago. He was always happy to give interviews, and appeared in many Japanese publications over the years. However he never overshadowed his team members, and was held in high regard by many who worked with him - especially his engineers and race drivers. He will be missed.

Source: GTR.CO.UK and Japanese Nostalgic Car

2012 Nissan GT-R : Dealer Cheat Sheet

Ever take a test? Ever make up a cheat sheet, or a study sheet with some of the more important points that you should study?

Here is a "For dealer use only" cheat sheet on the 2012 Nissan GT-R, laying out some of the changes from the 2009-2011 Nissan GT-R to the 2012 car. Check them out, as someone posted on the NAGTROC forum, Quiz your salesman.

Source: NAGTROC

Switzer P800 GT-R on the Dyno : Back to Back Pulls

Switzer Performance in Ohio has been tuning the Nissan GT-R for several years now with their performance upgrade packages. Their mid range P800 kit has been popular for GTR owners that do everything from drive on the street to drive on the track. In the dyno chart below two runs were performed within 10 minutes of each other. At the wheels on a Mustang dyno, the P800 put 668 whp and 593 ft/lb and 674 whp and 591 ft/lb. The torque peak came in around 4000 rpms.  A stock car puts down a little less than 400 whp on a Mustang dyno, so an extra 280 whp is something that will really open your eyes.

800 HP PUMP GAS PKG

Godzilla lives up to its name with a Switzer P800 kit installed. These cars are ready and able to chase down anything on the road, from exotic Italian supercars to the fastest streetbikes around, the Switzer P800 GTR Nissan is the ultimate pump-gas performer - yet remains smooth enough to drive every day.

• SWITZER FUEL INJECTOR KIT • ELECTRONIC BOOST CONTROLLER • SWITZER MONSTER INTERCOOLER KIT • SWITZER UPGRADED TURBOCHARGERS (req's good cores) • HIGH-PRESSURE WASTEGATE ACTUATORS • SWITZER P800 CALIBRATION FOR COBB AP • SWITZER MAF / INTAKE AND FILTER ASSEMBLY • SWITZER HIGH-FLOW TURBO INTAKES FOR SWITZER MAF • SWITZER OFF-ROAD TEST PIPES • SWITZER FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADE

18490 USD

Source: Switzer Blog

285's In The Front : Going Square with the GT-R

STILLEN front lip

A GT-R owner, and track junkie, just posted some pictures of his R35 GT-R with a couple of upgrades. In addition to the STILLEN front lip spoiler and side skirts, he added a tow hook, and 285 mm wide tires to match the width of the rear tires.

285 tires on stock wheels and STILLEN side skirts

Why would you go with the rear sized 285 tires on the front of a GT-R? Ever hear the phrase wider is better? When we are talking about a car that carries 53 % of its weight on the front wheels, and it has a 255 mm wide tire, generally owners complain of understeer at the track, and tire wear at the front, going wider will help to alleviate a few of those complaints. A stock GT-R does well on a road course, a few of the correct mods can make it even faster. Going with a 285 tire on the front also allows you to rotate the tires to even out the tire wear. The wheels are different sizes and offsets front to rear, but the tires can be dismounted and moved. The 2009-2011 Owners manuals discouraged this, but it is now allowed if inspected in the 2012 Owners manuals.

285 tires on stock 9.5" wide front wheels

The STILLEN front lip will give the owner a little more downforce at the front, and as a bonus, covers up some damage from GT-R $1500 OEM lip vs parking block. The STILLEN front lip is made from urethane, and is flexible enough to take some abuse.

The 2012 Speedventures Time Attack schedule

Feb 13 SOWS direction TBA
Mar 13 BW 13cw
May 14 SMMP TBA
Jun 21 BW 13cw
Aug 14 Auto Club ROVAL
Sep 25 BW 13cw
Oct 9 WSIR
Nov 20 Auto Club ROVAL

Source : NAGTROC

Gran Turismo 5 : R35 GT-R SpecV : The Real Car

Nissan and Polyphony Digital/Gran Turismo have an intertwined relationship on the R35 GT-R.  The Nissan Skyline GT-R, and the Nissan GT-R have been featured prominently in the Gran Turismo series, and contribute to the world wide fan base in places where the cars were never even originally available. Polphony Digital designed the MFD(multi function display) that shows engine parameters in the R35 GT-R.  7tune posted these pictures of the real car that was used as the basis of the toy R35 GT-R given away in some of the collectors editions of Gran Turismo 5.

This car was on display at an endurance race of top Japanese tuners at Fuji Speedway.  We will be looking for some footage of the six hour race, as about 10% of the seventy cars competing were R35 GT-Rs’.  Head over to 7tune for more photos and coverage from Tokyo Auto Salon.

9.5 @ 145 mph Nissan GT-R from the Middle East : JUN 4.0 Liter

This orange GT-R sports a Jun 4.0 liter stroker engine, and SP Engineering upgraded GReddy turbos to push it to a mid nine second quarter mile pass.


They are headed back to the strip with it tomorrow, to try and improve on their times.

Run 1 : 9.8 @ 236 Km/h , 60 Ft of 1.65
Run 2 : 9.58 @ 239.7 Km/h, 60 Ft of 1.62

The car is still undergoing tuning and we hope to pull of a better time tomorrow with some minor tweaks and a bit more boost. We believe that we could achieve low 9s once we sort out the minor misfire/hesitation in 3rd gear. 

On the dyno this orange R35 GT-R made over 900 horsepower to the rear wheels. They disconnected the front driveshaft to allow the car to be tested on a 2 wheel Dynojet.



Source: NAGTROC

More 2012 Nissan GT-R Information : Launch Control

Two new things from the guys over at the NAGTROC forums.  The first is the 2012 US Owners Manual.  One member stumbled across it on Nissans site. 
It is available here : 2012 Nissan Owners Manual
One interesting part from the manual - Launch Control, and its even listed in the manual this time. LC4. 4,000 rpms. Expect some 0-60 times in the high 2 second range. LC4 can only be used 4 times consecutively to protect the transmission and clutches.

R MODE START FUNCTION
This function enables the driver to start acceleration from a stop by selecting R mode with the
VDC and transmission setup switch. The engine output will be maintained at approximately 4,000
rpm. When using the R mode or the R mode start function, always use proper seating position and follow the safety instructions in Section 1 of this manual
HOW TO USE R MODE START FUNCTION
position. M& or A& 1. Move the shift lever to the
2. Select the R mode with the transmission “VDC, transmission and setup switch. (suspension setup switches” page 5-24)
3. Select the R mode with the VDC setup switch.
4. Depress the brake pedal firmly with your left foot and keep depressing the brake pedal.
5. Depress the accelerator pedal quickly to the floor with your right foot while the brake
pedal is depressed. The engine speed will increase to approximately 4,000 rpm and
will be maintained.
6. Within 3 seconds after depressing the accelerator pedal, release the brake pedal.

The next items are a couple of videos from Nissan in the UK, with an over view of the 2011 UK (2012 US) car.

2011 UK (2012 US) Nissan GT-R

2011 UK (2012) US Nissan GT-R

Source: NAGTROC

Sickest R34 Nissan Skyline Ever

Sick as in the head. Yes. This car is not quiet right. It was a stunt car built for the Fast and Furious 4.

Yes its VW powered. It is an R34 body, put onto a VW chassis. It ran and drove ok, a little strange.  Movies do some odd things, this is one of those odd things. 

VVIP 2012 Nissan GT-R : First Look

A forum member from the middle east had a chance to look at and drive a VVIP 2012 Nissan GT-R.  The VVIP GT-R's are special delivery GT-R's for the middle east.  They have an exclusive interior, which in the 2009 GT-R's was gold trim on the seats, for 2012, it looks like gold trim, and Egoist style seats and door trim.  Check out the photos below.

VVIP interior. White/Gold trim

Egoist style seats with gold trim.  VVIP

Source:NAGTROC

Switzer R900 GT-R : 9.88@141mph : Updated In Car Video

To The Floor.com posted a video from PBIR in Florida, from a private track rental of a Switzer tuned R900 GT-R running a 9.88@141 mph pass.  The pass was done on 20" wheels, in full street trim, and driven by sleepdoc (10.0 GT-R on stock turbos).  In this video, the R900 goes up against the Dragtimes.com 740 whp Lamborghini Gallardo twin turbo. Every video I have watched of the Gallardo, it red lights.

On the 9.88 run the Vbox recorded:

0-60 in 2.87 Seconds

0-100 in 5.13 Seconds

60-130 in 5.12 Seconds

Switzer R900 Engine compartment

Source: To The Floor.com via NAGTROC

Left Hand Drive 2012 Black Edition Nissan GT-R

It’s a blue black edition. Would that make it a bruise edition?  MC posted a couple pics from the Montreal Auto show,   A North American Deep Blue Pearl R35 GT-R with Black edition(also SpecV wheels) and interior.  Although I had some reservations on the red/black interior trim with the blue exterior, I think it is growing on me.  Head over to the forums for all the pictures.

NISMO Nissan GT-R RC Now Available

NISMO has released their racing version of the R35 GT-R known as the NISMO GT-R RC.  The car is being shown for the first time at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon from January 14th-16th. This car has been in development for several years, and some variations of the car have run in several events in Japan.

The NISSAN NISMO GT-R RC is the latest entry to the RC (Racing Competition) line of high performance, production model race cars developed and outfitted by NISMO. It's built up from the world renowned, top performance NISSAN GT-R (R35) road car. The body has been lightened, fitted for slick tires and equipped with safety equipment to ready it for competition use. During the car's development, it was entered in the 2010 SUPER TAIKYU Round 4 at Fuji, where it confirmed its high performance, reliability and durability.

The RC is made to order at a suggested retail price of 20,790,000 yen ~$250,000 USD . The only thing they say about horsepower is that it exceeds 485 ps and 60 kg/m of torque.  Typical Japanese understatement.  Considering the 2012 GT-R is 530 hp, this car should make a little more horsepower than that car.

Airjacks make tire changes easy

■[ NISSAN NISMO GT-R RC ] Specifications

Length	4,650mm
Width	1,895mm
Height	1,370mm
Wheelbase	2,780mm
Front track	1,640mm
Rear Track	1,640mm
Weight	1,520kg (3351 lbs)
Engine Model	VR38DETT DOHC V6
Cylinder	Bore 95.5 mm X Stroke 88.4 mm
Displacement	3,799 cc
Power	over 478 horsepower @ 6,400 rpm (485ps/6,400rpm)
Torque	over 588 N▪m @ 5,200 rpm (60kgm/5,200rpm)
Fuel Feed System	NISSAN EGI, electronic concentrated control fuel injection system
Front Suspension	Double Wishbone
Rear Suspension	Multi-link
Shock absorbers	Specially developed by NISMO for high performance driving (height adjustable)
Front brakes	Ventilated Disc Brake (rotor ø410 mm)
Rear Brakes	Ventilated Disc Brake (rotor ø380 mm)
Transmission	GR6 Dual Clutch Transmission
Drivetrain System	All-wheel Drive
Wheels (Fr / Rr)	specialized for 10.5J X 20 +25mm size wheels
Tires (Fr / Rr)	ADVAN 290/710 R20 slick tire, standard for all RC models

Over 478 hp, you have to love the Japanese

Where the magic happens

Ducting to the front brake rotors

Brembo Racing Calipers

Lots of carbon fiber and vents directing air