ABDC 2017 : Nissan GT-R Review

11th

Few cars in ABDC contention have a provenance to match Nissan’s GT-R.

Tracing back to the original Skyline GT-R introduced in 1969, the six-cylinder Nissan was branded ‘Godzilla’ when the 205kW/355Nm R32 coupe came to Australia 20 years later.

With its twin-turbocharged 2.6-litre inline six-cylinder engine and all-wheel-drive, the mighty GT-R made an immediate impact on Australian motor racing, including Bathurst wins in 1991 and 1992, as well as three Group A Championship titles between 1990 and 1992. On the track, the GT-R was almost invincible and our motorsport rule makers changed the regulations to oust it.

Times have changed, and so has the GT-R. Today, Nissan’s pride is a monstrously powerful 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 two-plus-two coupe producing 419kW and 632Nm – more than twice the kilowatts and a massive 277Nm above the torque produced by the fabled R32.

It’s a way bigger car too, heavier by close to 300kg, and – rather than the more conventional centre-diff AWD arrangement used on the R32 – it employs a rear-mounted transaxle to distribute electronically-managed power via twin prop shafts to all four wheels.

The R35 series GT-R sounds spectacular, and it is, but there’s an almost-intentional mix of crudity and brutality which makes Godzilla an even more fearsome creature in 2017 than it was in 1989.

Its ability to stamp all its formidable power to the ground is almost legendary and, in a straight line, it is unquestionably the fastest car here, the only one which came close to its claimed zero to 100km/h figure in less-than-perfect conditions on the Powranna drag strip in Northern Tasmania.

We saw it reach 100km/h in precisely 3.919 seconds which, though it may not have equalled Nissan’s 2.7-second claim, demonstrated the efficacy of Nissan’s ATTESA E-TS Pro AWD system and was comfortably ahead of the next-fastest ABDC car, the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV, which recorded 4.835 seconds.

This was not the case on the short, challenging and newly-resurfaced Baskerville Raceway north of Hobart.

Here, despite its credentials, the GT-R was only fifth-fastest behind the HSV GTSR W1, Porsche Cayman S, Alfa Romeo Giulia QV and the BMW M3 Competition. Race drivers Luke Youlden and Greg Crick shared a generally-felt disappointment at the GT-R’s behaviour in conditions it is supposedly best suited to.

There was “far too much understeer” (Luke) and a shared dislike of the AWD system’s seeming uncertainty about how to best juggle the enormous power between all four wheels. The feeling, according to Luke Youlden, was that the GT-R is; “Not really a comfortable car to drive quickly and doesn’t give the driver much confidence.”

On the roads of Tasmania, where other factors such as comfort and ergonomics were more closely considered, the GT-R was seen to have a distinctly old-world feel about it with a dingy, hard to see out of cabin (although the driving position was comfortable enough) and the emanation of squeaks, buzzes and rattles from the dash.

But the big Nissan’s explosive power, its ability to hang on out of corners and its assertive brakes were impressive and, once adjusted to, the GT-R could be driven with astonishing speed on our closed-road sections – in dry conditions.

Add a bit of rain-induced slick and the GT-R’s dry weather tyres brought levels of uncertainty which were not evident in other – admittedly less banshee-like in their power delivery – all-wheel-drivers such as the Audi S5, Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG and Focus RS.

The non-racers in our group who had built a degree of confidence on dry surfaces found those feelings diminishing almost as fast as the GT-R is able to accelerate.

ABDC judge Nadine Armstrong probably put it best when she said the raucous, firm-riding coupe “Always lets you know who the boss is. There’s little or no grey area in the GT-R.”

And that’s where the muscular Nissan coupe’s main charms lie. It is, like many formidable performance cars past, present and future, a car which must be treated with respect. It is capable of delivering an awful lot in the hands of an experienced driver.

In fact ABDC judge Feann Torr noted at one stage, after some acclimatisation on wet and winding roads, he had upped the GT-R’s rating to the point where it was among his top five cars: “Learn to trust it and the rewards are many,” he concluded.

Ironically enough, the Nissan will earn you points on the street too.

ABDC judge Andrea Matthews reckons the GT-R, with its massive, uncompromising street presence underscored by its Godzilla reputation, is: “A definite crowd-pleaser around town."

But if you’re talking about something which pleases more drivers, more of the time, there are better – and less expensive – places to go.

A 10-year lifespan is almost excessive for any car, and there’s little question the fabled Nissan GT-R has been, in just about every way, overtaken not just by time, but also by a more capable, more refined and easier to live with group of competitors.

A disappointing, but seemingly inevitable fate.

2017 Nissan GT-R Premium pricing and specifications:
Price: $189,000 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.8-litre V6 turbo-petrol
Output: 419kW/632Nm
Transmission: Six-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 11.7L/100km (ADR Combined) / 26.05L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 278g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A

2017 Nissan GT-R performance figures (as tested):
0-100km/h: 3.919
0-400m: 11.236 @ 197.767
Lap time: 0:59.098