Story Filed: 10/26/2007 3:35:05 AM EST
By Perry Stern
Automaker takes the wraps off its new supercar.
Car enthusiasts may have already known about the Nissan Skyline
GT-R but its popularity really took off after starring in Sonys
Gran Turismo driving game in the late 1990s.
With all-around excellent performance and all-wheel drive, it
really was a Japanese muscle car. Many American sports car
enthusiasts have lusted over the Skyline and wished it would come
to the States. The wish has finally came true with the debut of the
all-new GT-R in Tokyo.
Based on the crush of journalists that packed into the Nissan
stand, it's not just America that's excited about the new
GT-R.
But before the GT-R was driven on stage by Nissan President and CEO
Carlos Ghosn, a video was shown on the big screen for 7:38.54. This
is how long it took to show footage of the new GT-R completing one
lap of the famed Nürburgring circuit in Germany. This is slightly
faster than the Porsche Carrera GT, placing the it squarely into
supercar territory.
And the specs and stats further reinforce the new GT-R's supercar
status. Under the long hood is a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6
engine that was specially developed for the GT-R. With 480 horses
on tap, this sleek sports car can reach 62 mph in just 3.6 seconds
on its way to a top speed approaching 200 mph.
Teamed with the potent powerplant is a new paddle-shift twin-clutch
6-speed transmission. Similar to Audi's DSG, there is a separate
clutch for gears 1,3,5 and 2,4,6, making shifts extremely
quick.
Of course, all that power is no good if the car can't handle it. We
haven't had a chance to take a test drive yet, but on paper, it
appears the GT-R can handle its power just fine.
Power is sent to the pavement via what Nissan calls the "most
advanced four-wheel drive system on a road car ever used." That's
quite a claim, but the ATTESA E-TS system does constantly vary the
torque from rear to front based on various sensors reporting speed,
lateral and transverse acceleration, steering angles, tire slip and
yaw rate. An additional sensor measures the difference between the
target yaw rate calculated from the steering angle, the actual yaw
rate detected by the yaw-rate sensor and G sensor.
The all-wheel-drive system also incorporates Nissan's Vehicle
Dynamic Control to further stabilize the car's operation. And with
any supercar, braking is almost as important as acceleration.
Capable of stopping from 62 mph in just 121 feet (37 meters), the
GT-R is shod with huge front and rear Brembo brakes with ventilated
discs and six-piston calipers in front, four piston calipers in the
rear.
Three different suspension settings are available: R (high
performance), Sports (the normal setting) and Comfort (for city
driving to absorb road bumps).
As the car was driven onto the stage, the lineage from the GT-R
Proto shown on the same stand two years ago was quite obvious.
Looking unlike anything else on the road, the GT-R has both sharp
edges and smooth curves with a wide stance and large fender flares.
With a Cd of just 0.27, the GT-R is one of the most aerodynamic
cars on the road.
On sale in Japan shortly, the GT-R comes to America next June, and
the rest of the world shortly after that. Pricing outside of Japan
has not yet been announced, but based on the price in Yen, the GT-R
could likely be priced below US$80,000. Not bad for a
supercar.
US80K? Thats dirt cheap! 
