Nissan GT-R: FAQs

Off the showroom floor the Nissan GT-R NISMO is a very quick machine, accelerating from 0-100km/h in around 3.0sec and going on to a top speed of around 300km/h…

But even this pales beside what is claimed to be the fastest GT-R in the world, the 3400hp Alpha Logic GT-R drag car which is claimed to be the fastest all-wheel-drive car in the world. That car has run a standing quarter-mile pass at 6.582sec and 373.82km/h.

GT-R is the badge Prince, Datsun and then Nissan have applied to the top variant of their Skyline models since the early 1960s.

More recently, the GT-R has evolved to be a model in its own right.

The road-going range of all-wheel-drive Nissan GT-Rs including the 50th Anniversary Edition and even the ultra-limited GT-R50 tribute are all powered by versions of the hand-built 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged VR38DETT petrol V6.

Currently the top NISMO variant is rated at 448kW, with the GT-R50 around 530kW. The only V8-powered GT-Rs were Super GT and GT-1 rear-drive racing versions which were powered by a naturally aspirated V8 of up to 5.5 litres.

The Nissan GT-R earned the nickname ‘Godzilla’ after the R32 series in the early 1990s proved virtually unbeatable on the racetrack, annihilating its competitors in Japan, Australia and elsewhere.

It crushed its opponents in Group A touring car racing in Japan – winning four back-to-back All-Japan Touring Car Championships – and also stamped its authority overseas, winning the 1991 Spa 24 Hours in Belgium and Australia’s most famous race, the Bathurst 1000, that same year.

The GT-R came back to Mount Panorama in 1992 and won again, albeit in controversial circumstances that led to Australian touring car regulations being changed for the 1993 season – a move that banned the advanced, all-wheel-drive twin-turbocharged six-cylinder GT-R touring car from racing, but helped cement its reputation as a legendary sports car.

The $1.7 million Nissan GT-R50 is a limited edition of just 50 units built by Italdesign.

It shares the same twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 as the standard GT-R, but a pair of race-spec turbos, a larger intercooler and new crankshaft, pistons, conrods and exhaust system deliver an extra 90kW over the track-focused GT-R NISMO, with output exceeding 530kW and 780Nm.

There are still no performance claims for the GT-R50 but it’s suggested it will accelerate from 0-100km/h in under 2.5sec and run to a top speed exceeding 320km/h.