Under the skin of the Nissan GT-R

We have seen the photos and videos illustrating the striking design of the GT-R – but in true Japanese style – it is what lies beneath the surface that is even more impressive.

Its huge 473bhp and 433lb/ft of pulling power is just enough to put the Porsche 911 Turbo in the shade – no coincidence as Nissan always had this car in their sights as the one to beat. 

Acceleration is awesome, 0-60mph is possible in just 3.5 seconds, and a top speed of 192mph blows many supercars into the weeds.

The engine is a 3.8-litre V6 with twin turbochargers pushing large quantities of cold air into its cylinders.

This is not a simple development of the Nissan 350Z’s V6 but an exclusive new engine for the GT-R which is inspired by engines used in the Japanese GT racing series.

In keeping with GT-R tradition, power is sent to all four wheels, and the amount each wheel receives is constantly adjusted by the onboard computer.
 
The GT-R has a unique way of sending power all four wheels. The engine sends power through a prop shaft to the gearbox, which sits over the rear axle. The gearbox then distributes power to the rear wheels and also back to the front wheels via a second prop shaft.

This layout of heavy parts of the car creates a great balance, with mechanical components not just sited in the front of the car. The engine also sits far back in the engine bay for this reason.

There is no manual gearbox, shifting is taken care of via wheel mounted paddles, and the speed of the shift has three settings depending on the level of aggression required by the driver.

Similarly the traction control and adjustable suspension can be adjusted through three settings for cruising, fast driving and track driving.

The car’s central display screen provides a myriad of information about exactly how the car is performing. G-force, acceleration, lap times – it’s all there, and to make sure it looked great too Nissan called upon Kazunori Yamauchi – the creator of computer game series Gran Turismo - to design it.

After spending many hours in Nissan’s wind tunnel, the shape of the GT-R has been honed to make it extremely aerodynamic and stable at high speed with a low drag coefficient of 0.27cd.

The GT-R has been a long time in the making, but it seems that the wait was worth it. For the money it will cost (around £60,000) the level of speed and technology is surely untouchable.

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