Welcome to the battle of a couple of the biggest rivals known to man. Nope, we’re not talking about the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics - although we know how that turned out - we’re talking about the Nissan GT-R and the Porsche Turbo. War has been declared between these two since Nissan brought out the GT-R and in order to determine which side would claim ultimate bragging rights, Fifth Gear pinned the two together.
It’s a battle between the 530 HP 2012 Nissan GT-R and the 530 HP 2011 Porsche 911 Turbo S. With equal power outputs and similar 0-60 mph sprint times - 3.0 seconds and 3.3 seconds - the real winner will come down to handling, weight, and aerodynamics. Check out the video to see who mastered the task.
Hennessey has been laying out packages left and right for a variety of models lately, including the Dodge Ram HPE500, Cadillac Escalade, and now, the lusciously tuned Nissan GT-R. There was no time wasted fiddling with the exterior of the GTR because Hennessey went straight to work pumping up the standard 3.8L V6 engine to produce up to 800 HP.
We haven’t seen this many additions under the hood of a vehicle since the last Hennessey tuned project we encountered, so we’re going to focus on some of the more important ones for now. The standard 3.8L V6 engine was jacked up with the help of SUMO turbo, intercooler piping, and intercooler core upgrades, as well as high-flow fuel injectors and chassis dyno tuning and engine calibration. Other additions include a SUMO stainless steel midpipe exhaust, SUMO stainless steel turbo downpipes, and a SUMO high-flow cold air induction. These modifications allow the GTR800 to pack an 813 HP punch and sprint the car from 0-60 mph in 2.6 seconds. The 0-100 mph sprint is made in 6.2 seconds and the quarter mile can be had for 10.5 seconds at a speed of 136 mph.
If that’s not enough for your average consumer, then Hennessey is equipped with several different options, including a transmission clutch pack upgrade, a SUMO electronic exhaust cutout (75 mm), a KW variant 3 adjustable coilover suspension upgrade, premium wheel and tire packages, and carbon fiber body kits and accessories. Oh, and they’ll also throw in Hennessey and GTR800 exterior badges and serial numbered dash and engine plaques for good measure.
Hit the jump for specifications on Hennessey’s Nissan GTR projects.
On paper, a race against a Japanese buzzsaw called the Cadillac Escalade SUV and the ’Godzilla’ Nissan GT-R, doesn’t seem like a fair fight, especially when you consider that the ’fight’ is actually a 0-60 mph test to see which vehicle can hit the mark first. On one end, you have the Japanese buzzsaw called the Nissan GT-R, a car that has earned the nickname, ’Godzilla’. Can a three-ton SUV whose hulking mass is enough to drag itself down compete against the faster GT-R? Hennessey has made sure of it.
This mismatch was given a fair shake by the folks over at Hennessey, which gave the Escalade an HPE1000 performance upgrade, getting the 6,000lb SUV’s 6.2L engine a total of 1008bhp at 5,900rpm and 967 lb-ft of torque at 3,700 rpm. This was done with a forged & balanced 427 cid LSX engine, high flow cylinder heads, a Hennessey HPE1000 camshaft, an intake manifold upgrade, upgraded fuel injectors, an upgraded fuel system (pump, lines, and Rails), twin ball bearing turbochargers, and much more.
With the playing field somewhat leveled, the two protagonists took to an isolated country road to find out which vehicle can smoke the other. To our surprise, the Escalade, which is more than twice as heavy as the GT-R, managed to outpace the Japanese supercar by the slimmest of margins - one-tenth of a second - with a time of 3.3 seconds compared to Godzilla’s 3.4-second time.
While we’re not totally blown away by the result considering the ’assistance’ the Escalade got from Hennessey, the mere fact that a mammoth of an SUV can actually outpace a powerful Japanese rocket really got us thinking just how dementedly brilliant the people over at Hennessey are.
Check out the video to watch the proceedings and hit the jump to see the full specifications for the Cadillac Escalade by Hennessey.
If you are a fan of the Indy Pro Series then a name like Tony Kanaan more than rings a bell. For those of you who don’t know the name, here’s a little 411: Kanaan is a Brazilian race car driver who won the 2004 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series championship driving Andretti Green Racing’s 7-Eleven sponsored car. A champ like this deserves nothing less than to drive a vehicle that matches his status, so CEC Wheels in Miami took on the job of transforming an already stunning Nissan GT-R into a vehicle fit for a champion.
Taking the smooth lines of the GT-R to the next level is a new front spoiler, a new grille, an engine cover, hood scoops, mirror covers, side skirts, trunk, rear diffuser, and a rear wing all made in carbon fiber. With a name like CEC Wheels, a new set of Yokohama AVS M7 forged wheels painted in gloss black were a must in the makeover. The interior was also spiffed up with some black leather, Recaro CS seats, a Password JDM carbon rear speaker shelf, a Password JDM carbon rear seat delete, and a K40 Radar with Jammers.
On the mechanical side, CEC went to work by adding a coilover suspension, a big 405mm rotor kit, stainless brake lines, racing brake pads, and a new titanium exhaust system.
Hit the jump to see the full list of additions made to Tony Kanaan’s new Nissan GT-R.
Axell Auto isn’t exactly what we call a sports car tuner. In fact, the tuning firm is actually more accustomed to providing packages for SUVs and vans more so than any other type of car. So why are we featuring their new tuning program for the sporty Nissan GT-R? Because as their maiden voyage to the world of sports cars, it is a great discovery of tuning greatness. It’s called the Widebody GT-Rs and Axell says it is a package for customers who want something new.
The Nissan Widebody GT-Rs is the word sexy translated into a vehicle. It features a cool black exterior fitted with wide front and rear fenders, completely new front and rear bumper designs with a carbon fiber rear diffuser, a rear wing, and side skirts with functional brake ducting. The finishing touch is the new set of wheels, size 10.5J in the front and 13J in the rear. Sultry red leather can be found covering the inside of the Nissan.
Check out the engine department and you’ll discover that this beauty also has a great personality. The standard VR38DETT 3.8-liter V6 twin turbo engine found in the Nissan GTR has been tweaked to deliver two different levels of performance: 789 HP and 986 HP. These updates will be combined with a new suspension, a new brake system, and a new exhaust system with four huge pipes.
Prices for this package have not been released as of yet, but we’ll get back to you as soon as we get it.
