Nissan unveiled it’s Nissan GT-R PROTO yesterday at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show. This model will be the concept where the next Nissan Skyline R35 GT-R will be based on.

It’s more of a design concept than a full-blown concept car though. No engine specifications or other tidbits about the new car have been revealed so far.
At first glance it looks much like the original Nissan Skyline GT-R R35 Concept unveiled at the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show.

Nissan’s designer team led by Shiro Nakamura have created a sleek looking mean machine. The body design flows pretty well, looks very aerodynamic. Of course, you have the trademark Skyline round taillamps at the back.

The 2009 Nissan Skyline GT-R is a legend before it even enters production.

Born from a long line of Skyline GT-Rs dating back to 1969, this latest version — “R36″ to the hard-core — promises to pack more turbocharged power, more all-wheel-drive technology and more sheer speed than any Japanese car ever to come to America.
Editorial Coverage

For six years the 2009 Nissan Skyline GT-R has been the subject of intense rumors and frenzied speculation. Frequent sightings of GT-R test mules help fuel the excitement. We’ve caught GT-R prototypes on the streets of L.A. and the Nürburgring test track in Germany. Nissan’s engineers also made a trip to a couple California racetracks, bringing the GT-R to both Laguna Seca and Sears Point.

Why is this car followed so closely? Because the Skyline GT-R R36 is expected to be the ne plus ultra of Japanese performance machinery; and after 30 years of waiting, it’s finally America’s turn to officially take part in all the fun.

The Allure of Forbidden Fruit
The original Nissan Skyline GT-R
might have hit the street in 1969, but it wasn’t until 1990 that the GT-R legend would be solidified. That was the year the Skyline GT-R was introduced to an utterly stunned Japanese market. It was the first of three twin-turbocharged, all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering Skylines (R32, R33 and R34) and it’s the generation upon which the Skyline GT-R legend rests.

Though the R34 left production after the 2003 model year, it was so beloved that Nissan’s Nismo division actually bought 20 used Skyline GT-R R34 V-Spec models during 2005 and completely rebuilt them into what is currently considered the greatest GT-R of them all — the $170,000, 500-horsepower Skyline GT-R Z-Tune.

Although Nissan never imported the Skyline GT-R to the United States, the supercar still found its way into America’s automotive consciousness. In fact, buying one in the U.S. became relatively easy. By the dawn of the 21st century, several hundred had been imported.

So prominent had the Nissan Skyline GT-R become that in 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious, the film’s hero drove and raced one through the streets of Miami. And the actor Paul Walker, who played the role, bought his own and modified it.

America’s GT-R
At the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan showed the GT-R Concept as the prospective successor to the R34. By early 2005, modified G35 coupes with Infiniti badges, oversize wheels and tires, big rear wings, hood scoops and bodywork protrusions big enough to hide exotic exhaust systems in back or intercoolers up front were spied at the Nürburgring.

These weren’t just tuner cars, but full-fledged prototypes of the next GT-R.

Then in the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, another GT-R showcar appeared called the GT-R Proto; and the new, innovative shape of the next GT-R was apparent. Obviously based on Nissan’s FM-code front midengine chassis, this GT-R would apparently use a turbocharged version of the VQ V6 with a seven-speed transmission and all-wheel drive.

And at the 2006 New York Auto Show, Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that, yes finally, the new Skyline GT-R R36 would be sold in the United States and it would be sold worldwide exclusively through Nissan, and not Infiniti. And apparently without the Skyline name.

That’s right, it’ll officially be called the Nissan GT-R. Yeah, right, just like the 2007 Mazda Miata is the MX-5.

Almost Ready To Rock
Since then, more prototypes of the 2009 Nissan Skyline GT-R with sheet metal nearly identical to the GT-R Proto have been often seen at the Nürburgring and in America’s Southwest, usually in the company of at least one Porsche 911 Turbo. It’s that 480-hp, all-wheel-drive Porsche that Nissan is obviously using as its performance benchmark for this car.

But when the new production GT-R R36 goes on sale after its debut at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show in October, we don’t expect it to carry a price tag near that Porsche’s $122,000 chit. Instead the 2009 Nissan Skyline GT-R is expected to run somewhere around $70,000, making it a contender to take the title of best value supercar from the Chevrolet Corvette Z06.

No wonder it’s the most eagerly anticipated car in a generation. And to feed that anticipation, we’ll be updating this page with new information, photos and anything else related to the 2009 Nissan Skyline GT-R R36 until the official unveiling at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Show.

At first glance, the Nissan GT-R seems a totem for everything wrong with modern sports cars. It’s much too big, way too heavy, far too complex, and damnably too expensive for mere wage earners, especially after inevitable gouging precipitated by a global struggle for the annual production run of just 12,000. Were Colin Chapman alive, he’d be on YouTube maniacally machine-gunning a GT-R to “add lightness.”
The Nissan GT-R has been the dream car of many American enthusiasts since it was introduced in the Gran Turismo series of video games. A favorite among armchair racers, the digital GT-R was a cinch to drive, with impressive all-wheel-drive handling and plenty of power. Many longed to bring this video-game car to life, and now Nissan has done just that.

Much like the virtual machine, the new GT-R seems to defy the laws of physics. According to its stats, this is one of the fastest, best handling street-legal cars available. Based on our first drive in the new GT-R, we can tell you those stats don’t lie.
Now that we’re on our third or fourth glance, and we’ve been able to slap on testing gear and hit the track, the GT-R is earning our awe. In seeking to uphold all that is Godzilla, chief engineer Kazutoshi Mizuno and his crew have built a simply astonishing vehicle.

It’s still big, heavy, complex, and expensive, but it’s also a holy spitfire at the drag strip and a joy to drive in every way that a big, heavy, and complex car has no right to be unless it’s way more expensive than the GT-R’s advertised base price of $70,475.

This GT-R story is about performance numbers, so we won’t dillydally: 60 mph is barbecued in 3.3 seconds, the quarter-mile in 11.5 seconds at 124 mph. Braking from 70 mph takes 145 feet, and skidpad runs are 0.99 g.

Those are Olympic-qualifying stats. Indeed, with those results, the GT-R would have nuked our last $123,760 Porsche 911 Turbo and felled our last $404,410 Lamborghini LP640 roadster. Still think the GT-R is too expensive? We don’t.

If all production cars run like our 3529-mile engineering-mule tester, with its husky midrange torque and smooth ramp-ups to on-boost thrust, buyers will be getting way more than 480 horsepower for their dollars. The GT-R must have more to be haul-assing its 3908 pounds to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds. That’s what the $321,956 611-hp Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano runs on game day.

Unconfirmed reports out of Japan say production GT-Rs are cremating dynos with 480 horsepower at the wheels, which means the twin-turbo, twin-intercooler, twin-intake 3.8-liter V-6 is churning out well over 500 fillies.

And it all goes to ground so effortlessly. The GT-R’s launch control requires the dual-clutch auto-manual transmission and the shock absorbers be set to the max-performance “R” setting, the stability control to be off, and feet on both the brake and gas. Do that, and the V-6 leaps to 4500 rpm and dumps the clutch when you lift the brake. There’s a brief chirp from the rear rolling pins as they deposit barely an inch of rubber, and the GT-R is gone.

Upshifts with the leather-fringed paddles are rifle-round quick but free of shock. Nissan has sweated its first dual-clutch six-speed, and it shows in the seamless ratio changes and lurch-free clutching. We conducted 15 brutal launches, and the GT-R endured them with grace, sometimes posting 60-mph sprints just 0.01 second apart.

Heavy Yet Nimble

Having established that the GT-R is preposterously and reliably fast, we shall now recite what else we noticed in this brief visit with the car. Even at full war cry the engine is muted, just a mellow warble even under full throttle. The car is also comfortable, at least for those in front.

As mentioned, the GT-R has expansive dimensions. Our tape measure revealed front-seat space that totals 54 cubic feet within the lavish 109.5-inch wheelbase. Rear seaters get woeful head- and legroom but at least enjoy more torso space than in a 911.

Nissan fits U.S.-market GT-Rs with extra-wide front buckets of perforated leather and anti-slip fabric that support and comfort.

Elsewhere in the cockpit, Italian-looking finery is present in taut, top-stitched dash upholstery and a leather-swathed hand brake fit for a Ferrari. The dash design actually seems to be one of no design, characterized by basic rectangles, circles, and squares.

The dials, the air vents, the buttons (11 on the steering wheel alone), and the multicolor nav-and-info screen stack haphazardly up a hillside like shanties in a Brazilian favela. But they prove easy to use and will appeal to those who prefer a simple functionality over art-house flourish.

Many of the “gauges” on the 11 driver-selectable info screens are inane if not suicidal to watch while in motion, such as a lateral-g meter and a front-to-rear torque-split enumerator.

However, esoteric displays such as graphs showing brake-and-accelerator-pedal movements would be useful to those who in-car-video their lapping sessions.

Lapping? The GT-R’s specs describe a luxury grand tourer, and it is one, especially with its shock selector set on comfort and the pavement cracks rolling sedately underneath the huge tires. But turned loose on a track or mountain macaroni, the GT-R flouts its size and mass handicaps.

It cements itself to corner apexes and scribes perfect lines on exit with none of the steering numbness or front-end washout we’re trained to expect from all-wheel-drive supercars.

The obvious rear torque bias pays its dividends, as does a lightning-quick 15.1:1 rack ratio when it comes time to reel in the fat derrière from the inevitable, entertaining, easily controlled power slides.

Larger, heavier, and less costly than its competition, the GT-R also charges harder and dances with lighter soles. At least so says our experience so far. Comparison tests and dyno pulls to follow.

The GT-R has landed. For the first time in the model’s history, Nissan’s sensational GT-R sportscar will be sold on US soil. And clearly for some – namely friend and industry colleague Ray Wert from Jalopnik – that news is just too hot to handle. Rear-ending aside, the GT-R is a ‘multi-dimensional’ performance vehicle – ‘for anyone, at anytime, and anywhere’ – debuted to North America at Los Angeles, post its Tokyo unveiling and ahead of the car’s showroom debut in June next year.

Styled to perform, the functional design employs advanced aerodynamics which ooze what Nissan call the athleticism of a well-trained sportsman. Its aerodynamics produce a low drag coefficient of 0.27 but maintain high downforce across the car. The body is a hybrid of steel, carbon fibre and die-cast aluminium, with the new GT-R’s platform utilising a world-first: independent rear transaxle all-wheel-drive coupled with a rear-mounted transmission and final drive for optimum weight distribution and handling abilities.

Having achieved a famed Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time of 7:38, one of the fastest laps by a production vehicle to date, the GT-R is a performance machine whose spec sheet statistics add up on the track. The new Nissan pumps out 480 horsepower and an estimated 430 lb-ft of torque from its all-new 3.8-litre twin turbo V6 engine and is mated to an all-new paddle-shift sequential 6-speed gearbox. And yet it still manages to meet ultra low emission vehicle standards.

In the cabin, optimal driving position is provided by the specially-sculpted performance bucket seats while a cockpit-style instrument panel and centre-mounted tachometer and muti-function display provide driving feedback. A ’set-up switch’ allows for control over transmission shifts, shock absorbers and the car’s Vehicle Dynamic Control system. With three settings – Normal, Comfort or R for ultimate handling – settings can be optimised according to driver requirements.

Pricing for the North American-marketed GT-R was also unveiled, with prices starting from $69,850 for the base model and $71,900 for the Premium model, which includes heated seats, side air bags and an 11-speaker Bose sound system.

LOS ANGELES – Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO, Nissan Motor Co., today unveiled the Nissan GT-R at a press conference at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show. The Nissan GT-R, which will be available for the first time ever in the United States beginning in June 2008, makes its North American debut at the L.A. Auto Show, following its global introduction at the Tokyo Motor Show last October.

One of the most anticipated vehicles ever created by Nissan is coming to the U.S. in June 2008 – the 2009 Nissan GT-R. No longer the unobtainable object of desire on a video game or in the movies, the GT-R will be available on sale for the first time in North American in June 2008.

GT-R is a multi-dimensional performance machine that lives up to the concept of “the ultimate supercar that can be driven by anyone, anytime, anywhere” and achieved a lap time of 7:38 around the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife, one of the fastest times achieved by a production-spec vehicle to date.

Under the hood, the Nissan GT-R features an all-new 3.8-liter twin turbo V6 producing 480 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque (estimated), while meeting ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) standards. The engine is backed by an all-new, paddle-shifted GR6 sequential 6-speed dual clutch rear transaxle.

The new Nissan GT-R is built on an exclusive all-new Premium Midship platform. This new platform enables the use of a world’s first independent rear transaxle ATTESA E-TS all-wheel drive system, which places the transmission, transfer case and final drive at the rear of the vehicle, optimizing weight distribution and maximizing handling capability.

Suspension is a special multi-link Bilstein DampTronic system, and the braking system is made up of Brembo full-floating drilled rotors, low steel high stiffness brake pads and Brembo mono block six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers. Tires are nitrogen-filled Bridgestone high-performance run flat or optional Dunlop high-performance all-season tires, on exclusive GT-R 20-inch wheels.

The Nissan GT-R’s functional styling utilizes advanced aerodynamics, evoking the lines of a well-trained athlete. GT-R’s hybrid body construction combines steel, carbon fiber and die-cast aluminum, and features a low coefficient of drag of 0.27, while achieving high front and rear downforce.

GT-R’s interior balances functionality with a sense of ease and comfort. It features sculpted performance bucket seats for an optimal driving position, a cockpit-style instrument panel with a large center-mounted tachometer and multi-function display – which includes mechanical and driving information, as well as an on-board driving recorder.

Total vehicle adjustability is provided by a “set-up switch” located in the center of the instrument panel, enabling the driver to adjust transmission shifts, shock absorbers and the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC-R) in three settings – Normal, Comfort or “R,” for ultimate handling. Available is a specially designed 11-speaker Bose® sound system, with speakers mounted in rigid aluminum die cast panels, which provides sound quality suitable for a supercar.

Pricing of the 2009 Nissan GT-R was also announced – $69,850 for the Base model and $71,900 for the Premium model, which adds a standard Bose® audio system, heated seats and side air bags.

“As a racing system developer and racing team director in the ’90s, I’ve participated in many different races worldwide, including the Group C Japan Sports Prototype Car Endurance Championship, 24-hour races at Daytona and Le Mans, the Japan GT Championship, which we entered with a GT-R,” explained Kazutoshi Mizuno, Chief Vehicle Engineer of Nissan’s GT-R supercar. “During that period, there was one thing I always wondered about: Why don’t we apply the performance and safety of racing cars to regular cars? Even during the euphoria after a championship win, the question rattled around inside me.” One reason is that while screaming high-rpm engine performance may excite enthusiasts and provide a thrill on race tracks, the narrow, high-rpm power band that is acceptable for racing can provide an unsatisfactory experience in street driving.

Traffic, weather, and variable driver skill can all conspire to make many racing-derived engines disappointing to retail customers. Although Nissan touts the racing contribution to its new VR38 engine seen in the company’s new GT-R supercar, the company emphasizes that a driver-friendly powerband is a key attribute. “More important than the absolute power is the manner in which it is delivered,” said Mizuno. “The engine’s very tractable, and that means it’s very easy to drive-a key quality of the Nissan GT-R.” Peak torque of 434 Ib·ft (588 N’m) is available from 3200 rpm, he pointed out. That compares to a 5200 rpm torque peak for the company’s well-liked VQ V6 as applied to the Infiniti G37 coupe. Peak power of 473 hp (353 kW) also occurs at lower revs-6400 rpm for the VR
compared to 7000 rpm for the VQ.

Despite the obvious similarities between the engines, including the 95.5-mm (3 .76-in) bore diameter, there are dramatic differences between themall the way down to the VR’s closed-deck block, which provides a stronger foundation and better head gasket sealing than the VQ’s open-deck design. Gasket integrity is a key concern in turbocharged engines, remarked Colin Price, Product Planning Manager for Nissan North America. The engines differ in their stroke, with the VR’s longer 88.4 mm (3.48 in) yielding the added displacement. The VR’s compression ratio is reduced to 9.0: 1 from the VQ’s 11.0:1.

Because Mizuno and his hand-picked team came from Nissan’s racing organization, secrecy evidently remains a prime consideration,
even following the GT-R’s launch . As a result, details such as boost pressure have not been made available.
A significant feature of the VR’s aluminum block is the use of a sprayed plasma coating in the cylinder bores without any cast iron sleeves installed. This 0.15-mm (0.006-in) thick layer substitutes for a 2.6-mm (0.1 O-in) iron liner, which not only reduces the engine’s mass by 2.8 kg (5.2 Ib), but also increases the potential bore diameter by 4.8 mm (0.19 in) on the same bore centers.

The implication, therefore, is that the VR has a potential displacement of 4190 cm3 That 10% increase in displacement suggests, then, that the potential larger engine would have a projected output of about 520 hp (388 kW) and 477 Ib·ft (647 N·m).
The thinner cylinder walls improve heat transfer from the combustion chamber to the coolant passages, reducing the temperature between cylinders by 40°C (72°F), the company stated. Heat control is critical for the engine to survive with the thin plasma layers in its cylinders. To further aid in those cylinders’ durability, Nissan has devised a sophisticated oil system that combines some of the traits of a conventional wet-sump system with those of a racing-style dry sump.

The oil return lines that drain from the heads extend across the pan to the other side of the engine so that in high-g corner maneuvers, oil in the pan is not pushed back up into the cylinder head. A dedicated scavenging pump evacuates oil from the duallHI-supplied turbochargers’ shafts to prevent buildup in those areas.
The measures ensure that the engine can withstand as much as 1.5 lateral g, according to Price. The company specifies ExxonMobil’s Mobill OW-40 synthetic oil exclusively.

Source aei-online.org