Next Nissan GT-R to be "fastest super sports car in the world"

Nissan design boss Alfonso Albaisa has confirmed the next-generation Nissan GT-R will be the "fastest super sports car in the world" when it's finally introduced in around 2021.

Confirming that a new Nissan GT-R is in the early phase of design and engineering, Albaisa told Brit mag Autocar that, internally, engineers are yet to decide how much electrification the Japanese supercar will come with, but that it was 'likely' to have a hybrid power.

Talking at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the car-maker's design boss was supposed to be there to launch the limited-run $1.4 million-plus GT-R50 by Italdesign but, despite the presence of the new special-edition, was happy to talk about the R35 GT-R replacement.

Interestingly, Albaisa was keen to stress the next GT-R would not take any design cues from the GT-R50.

Nissan's design chief said that the future GT-R would retain a visual identity that's unique among cars of its kind and that he was keen to keep the 'brick'-like stature of the current car.

Despite the design process being well under way, Albaisa says the final styling of the GT-R is far from approved because serious work can't begin until key decisions have been made.

Chief among them are decisions by engineers who have yet to finalise the powertrain, which has a knock-on effect on the next Nissan supercar's all-new architecture.

“The challenge is on the engineer, to be honest,” he said. “We will do our jobs when the time comes to make the car something really special. But we’re not even close to that yet.”

That last statement might be surprising for GT-R fans hoping a new car will arrive in the near future, especially since the current car first went on sale back in late 2007.

It's thought that even if an engineering package was decided this year the extensive development time needed to hone the Japanese supercar would mean an on-sale date of 2021, at the earliest.

Whenever it arrives, electrification is almost a dead cert if Nissan is to achieve its aim of producing enough power to make the new GT-R the world's fastest super sports car while meeting emission requirements, although the design boss was careful to leave the door open for a traditional combustion engine powering the GT-R.

“Whether we go to a lot of electrification or none at all, we can achieve a lot power-wise,” Nissan's design boss said. “But we are definitely making a new ‘platform’ and our goal is clear: GT-R has to be the quickest car of its kind. It has to ‘own’ the track. And it has to play the advanced technology game; but that doesn’t mean it has to be electric.”

Helping inspire the next-gen GT-R will no doubt be the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 hybrid powertrain the Nissan created -- but didn't use -- for its stillborn LMP1 GT-R race car that was set to compete in the 2016 World Endurance Championship before the car-maker pulled the plug on the campaign.

It's been reported that, despite downsizing from the 3.8-litre capacity of the current GT-R, the hybrid V6 in road form would have plenty of potential to deliver levels of power far beyond the 441kW/652Nm generated by the latest 2017 Nissan GT-R NISMO.

When drawn on how the GT-R is shaping up looks-wise, Albaisa says his aim was to create the "hottest super sports car in the world" and that the next car would remain a "beast" and share the 11-yea- old car's "visual mass, its presence and its audacity".

“It [the GT-R] doesn’t care what every other supercar in the world is doing; it simply says: ‘I'm a GT-R, I’m a brick, catch me.’ It’s the world’s fastest brick, really. And when I review sketches for the new car, I say that a lot: “Less wing, more brick'.”