2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo: The Fastest Yet! â Ignition Ep. 118

MotorTrend

On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 So, y'all ready for this?

00:10 You have to give Nissan credit.

00:12 Despite how powerful and relentless the GT-R may be, the company always seems to find a

00:17 way to hone it further, to find more power, sharper handling, or better overall performance.

00:23 The latest example of their efforts?

00:25 The Nismo.

00:27 And it's the most aggressive GT-R we've seen yet.

00:57 Under the hood of the Nismo GT-R, it's nothing really groundbreaking, at least versus the

01:01 original groundbreakingness of the GT-R when it first appeared.

01:05 Only now we have 600 horsepower and 481 pound feet of torque.

01:10 Now, the real secret there is that Nissan has effectively shifted the power band further

01:14 to the high revs with these new turbochargers and a new ignition system that helps them

01:20 figure out the combustion right.

01:22 Key points about the GT-R is that it's a midship or a premium midship platform.

01:27 That's what Nissan calls it.

01:28 They even write it right there.

01:30 And that means the engine's roughly behind the front axle center line.

01:34 That's going to help out with weight distribution because they've mounted the transmission further

01:38 in the back.

01:39 That's something we'll look at later.

01:41 Each 3.8 liter twin turbo V6 is hand assembled by a special Nissan technician, and they get

01:46 their name proudly displayed on the very front of the engine, just like you'd expect from

01:51 AMG.

01:53 If you want to see where your money goes in the GT-R Nismo, all you have to do is put it

01:57 in the air because, man, are there a lot of beautiful carbon fibery bits and vents and

02:03 all kinds of wonderful things happening up here.

02:06 These fins here are interesting, and you might recognize it if you've ever put together a

02:09 PC and put a heat sink on because these basically work the same way.

02:14 They're there to get heat off the exhaust.

02:17 And there's another pair that we can see up at the front here.

02:20 Now, there are vents everywhere.

02:23 They're feeding the brakes.

02:24 They're feeding all kinds of coolers everywhere.

02:26 Talking about brakes, we can get to the wheels and tires.

02:30 Tires are a special Dunlop with a hilariously long name.

02:33 It's like SP Sport Max DSST 6000 or something.

02:38 Wheels in the back, 10.5 inches wide, 20 inches in diameter.

02:41 At the front, they're 10 inches wide, 20 inches diameter as well.

02:45 That's a lot of front tire up there.

02:47 That's going to help this thing turn in as aggressively as it does.

02:50 Now, interesting toys.

02:51 This titanium exhaust is the first thing you see, and it's an option at a pricey one at

02:56 that.

02:57 What I like is that they haven't bragged about it with the tailpipes.

03:00 The only way you know it's titanium is by getting it in the air and looking at it.

03:21 So, let's go.

03:38 But on the figure eight, and for the very first time, the GT-R broke into the 22-second

03:44 range, which is a territory occupied by the world's best handling, most powerful cars.

03:50 A 22.9-second lap is the fastest we've ever recorded from a GT-R, and its 1.06 lateral

03:56 G average is the highest we've ever seen.

04:21 I'll start it out and say that the GT-R Nismo is my new favorite GT-R.

04:31 This thing is absolutely insane.

04:34 It's maniacal.

04:35 It's frenetic.

04:36 It is so much fun.

04:41 Now, you may not believe that because when you look at the changes, they don't seem huge.

04:46 They don't seem substantial.

04:48 But this GT-R doesn't drive like most GT-Rs.

04:54 There's the power, of course.

04:56 This thing is making 600 horsepower, so Nissan says.

04:59 And we're getting that amount, even though we're in California, because we're using Octane

05:02 Booster.

05:04 Because when you have the option of 600 horsepower, you want to use that.

05:09 So the power and the high RPM, the high revs, is amazing.

05:15 But to me, it's not just the power.

05:18 It's the changes in the chassis.

05:20 What I love most about this car is the steering in the front end.

05:24 It feels so tight, way sharper, and way more reactive and precise than what I remember

05:30 from normal GT-Rs.

05:31 And considering how capable those normal GT-Rs are or were, you can imagine how much better

05:39 this thing is.

05:40 The drivetrain is just amazing.

05:44 When you apply power, the car steers.

05:48 So you can steer with the steering, and you have a lot of grip in the front end, so you

05:51 can get around some turns at amazing rates of speed.

05:56 But just when you're ready to feed back that power in, it turns even more.

06:02 So you start developing this driving tendency where you're accelerating maybe at the apex

06:07 of a corner, maybe slightly before, depending on the turn.

06:10 And the car just carries you right through at speeds that you never thought were capable

06:15 through that specific corner.

06:18 It's amazing.

06:21 Yeah, this is the-- GT-Rs have always been kind of like, hey, yeah, they're really cool.

06:33 But they just go about everything wrong because they sit so high, and the power's got to go

06:37 from the front to the rear and back to the front again, and they're heavy, and they've

06:41 got all this and that.

06:43 But this car makes me a believer.

06:44 This is like, all right, OK, I'm aboard the GT-R trend.

06:59 The GT-R Nismo is a super low production car, way more money than a regular GT-R, destroying

07:06 competitors on the track.

07:08 That's what the Nissan GT-R Nismo is good at.

07:14 Just more power, less understeer than some GT-Rs.

07:20 I find that as we test GT-Rs, year by year, one understeers more than the next one understeers

07:25 less.

07:26 This version is right in between.

07:29 But the all-wheel drive and this quick-shifting transmission translate that power and acceleration

07:36 so well that for the driver, you don't have a real sense of the speed, not until you look

07:44 at the lap time and see that it's the fastest car that Motor Trend has ever tested in the

07:48 streets of Willow.

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09:23 Beyond the 600 horsepower, the Nismo's upgrades

09:25 may not seem substantial on paper.

09:28 Take a look underneath, though.

09:29 Take a turn behind the wheel, and you immediately

09:32 find the effects of Nissan's continued improvements.

09:35 GT-Rs have always been a thrill, but this one

09:38 takes the experience further.

09:40 It's satisfying, and it's exhilarating to drive.

09:43 And the fact that we can't find a street car that's

09:45 faster around streets of Willow speaks to the GT-R's

09:48 utter capabilities.

09:50 Make no mistake, this is the best driving GT-R yet.

09:53 [ENGINE REVVING]

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09:57 [LAUGHING]

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10:05 It's really scary stuff.

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2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo: The Fastest Yet! â Ignition Ep. 118

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2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo: The Fastest Yet! â Ignition Ep. 118