GT-R track special close

The news comes right from the horse's mouth, the 'father' of the new GT-R, program chief, Kazutoshi Mizuno. Mizuno, on hand for the GT-R's launch in Japan last Friday (Nov 30), says a track-oriented GT-R V-Spec will be on sale in late 2008.

"We want to have it available within 12 months," Mizuno told the Carsales Network. "It is an important part of the on-going GT-R story."

In Mizuno's own words, the V-Spec will be a "Spartan" model.

"The GT-R was developed with a practical frame of mind. The V-Spec is for circuit only, but it will be homologated for the international market. That is my hope," Mizuno said.

"The power will not change much; that is not needed for better lap times. But the car will be tuned to the racetrack with more [chassis/suspension] stiffness."

According to the GT-R boss, the car will be strictly a two-seater (the 'basic' GT-R is 2+2). Like Porsche's GT and RS 911 variants, Nissan will probably offer the option of race seats and roll cage. It will also be significantly more expensive than the standard GT-R.

"The GT-R is sold from Y7.7m in Japan. The V-Spec will be maybe Y5.0m more expensive," Mizuno-san revealed.

With the GT-R projected to sell for around $150,000 when it arrives Down Under in 2009, such a premium would place the V-Spec at closer to the $250,000 mark. Porsche's GT3 currently lists at $253,200 in oz.

But that's if Nissan Australia can secure production allocation for the special. According to Mizuno, as few as 20 V-Spec may be built each month.

"Certainly not more than 30 [units per month]," he said.

Mizuno revealed further track testing was due to take place on the V-Spec at Sendai straight after the GT-R press launch.

"We are still working on the settings," Mizuno said, also revealing the GT-R development team only signed off the final suspension settings for the production GT-R in September.

"We're working on stability -- this will yield faster lap times," Mizuno said referring specifically to the current supercar benchmark track, Nurburgring.

Mizuno also revealed the V-Spec would likely eschew the GT-R's high-tech Bilstein electronically-adjustable dampers.

"V-Spec is optimised for the track. It doesn't need to have adjustments for the road."

The V-Spec GT-R will also open up the opportunity for Nissan and GT-R to return to Le Mans, with 2010 the target date.

Mizuno told the Carsales Network his lips were "zipped" on any plans regarding an outing at the classic French endurance event, but revealed it was on the grid at the 1995 event that he first envisaged the technical 'blueprint' for the current car.

According to Sproule, Nissan is considering its motorsport options for GT-R. The car will enter the Japanese Super GT championship in 2008, however, with international racing authorities looking to align the production-based GT1 rules, the marketing chief concedes the timing could be right for 'Godzilla' to return to the world stage and take on the likes of Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette and Ferrari on their 'home' ground.