2009 Nissan GT-R - Americas Best Handling Car Comparison - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

We test the 2009 Nissan GT-R for Americas Best Handling Car comparison competition.

Transcript

00:00 And now for something completely different.

00:06 From Japan comes Nissan's mighty GT-R.

00:09 Twin turbo engine in front, transaxle in back driving all four wheels, monstrous grip, monstrous

00:14 power.

00:15 This thing really promises to tear up the track.

00:16 Let's go see how it does at Laguna Seca.

00:23 Okay, Randy, you've just had a chance to drive Godzilla, the 2009 Nissan GT-R.

00:46 What did you think?

00:47 Sweet!

00:48 Tell you what, that GT-R is comfortable on the racetrack, gotta say.

00:54 It's got a lot of power, it is racy in that it has minimal body roll, but still good control.

01:01 I mean, I just really enjoyed the car.

01:03 I was able to break the rear end loose if I really wanted to, and when it went, it really

01:08 went.

01:09 But steering is quick ratio and very quick responding.

01:15 I mean, I could catch the car easily.

01:16 In fact, I did a big drift, a Scandinavian fling we call it, for your photo trans photographers

01:22 up at the corkscrew on that last lap.

01:24 I really had a great time in the car.

01:26 It's a beastly car.

01:28 It's more like you're wrestling than you are dancing.

01:31 And I don't mean that in a bad way.

01:33 It's a very visceral car to drive.

01:37 The brakes were really solid.

01:39 I think that Dunlop's on the car a special model because they have a ton of grip.

01:45 Really a good tire.

01:47 And the brakes are strong enough to keep up with the tire.

01:50 The handling was predominantly understeer, but it could be provoked on entry into a kind

01:55 of a snap oversteer, which was actually kind of fun, but not predictable in the way that

02:01 R8 was on corner entry, or I might say even the Mini or the Mitsubishi Evo, all of which

02:07 had a kind of a sweet drift on the way in.

02:10 This car, it's a little bit more violent when it does break loose.

02:14 Now, of course, on this one we had all the traction systems shut off.

02:18 There is a race mode where the traction control will step in, and you drove a couple of laps

02:23 like that as well.

02:24 Compare those two different modes, if you would.

02:26 Yes, race mode or the R mode, it's really not a race mode because there's still a lot

02:31 of stability control working, and I think that the R mode is a wonderful thing to have

02:37 for your average guy.

02:38 He could drive this car awfully fast and not get in too much trouble.

02:42 Now, for me as a race car driver on a racetrack, I found it very frustrating because it would

02:47 pull back the power.

02:48 I mean, I'd have my foot on the floor and not be getting full power, and it would prevent

02:53 the car from sliding, and sliding is like the most fun thing you can do with a car.

02:58 So it's obviously something that is a safety feature, and before you turn that off, you

03:04 better have your skip barber car control down.

03:07 That's all I got to say.

03:08 And if you do, the GTR is extremely rewarding and a powerful, enjoyable car that's comfortable

03:15 on a racetrack.

03:16 There's a lot of race car in the GTR, whereas the R8 handles well in a much more refined

03:22 way.

03:23 It's silky.

03:24 It's more like a muscular dancer, whereas this is more like wrestling.

03:28 You know, you got him by the neck, and you're trying to throw it on the carpet.

03:32 Excellent.

03:33 Thank you, Randy.

03:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]

2009 Nissan GT-R - Americas Best Handling Car Comparison

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