Godzilla, as its known to its many fans worldwide, is back, and it’s leaner, meaner, and hungrier for havoc than ever. Based on what is the most technologically advanced, rewarding and, dare we say, affordable supercar there is, the “new” 2012 GT-R is sure to get your hair standing on end. The monster has been meddled with to get even higher levels of performance out of what is already a very exciting and more than competent package. The mods Nissan engineers have carried out are purely functional, with driving pleasure and dynamic proficiency at the top of the agenda. This is not a “facelift”; there is no Botox or collagen involved.
All of the changes made to the GT-R had one goal attached to the memo; making the GT-R even better. With that comes improved engine output and torque, greater fuel efficiency, revised handling, a refreshed exterior with improved aerodynamics, revised interior treatment, and new wheels and tires. Whew! Now that’s a makeover!
The 2012 Nissan GT-R now comes in six different versions: "Pure Edition," "Black Edition," "Premium Edition," "SpecV," ClubTrack," and "EGOIST." The big news of this year is the Egoist edition. It was exclusively created by Takumi, or "master with greatest skills." Each unit will be unique, as customers will be able to choose from a combination of 20 interior colors, four upper area interior colors, and 10 lower area interior colors. The seats are an exclusive quilted design with single and double stitching combined in a reticular pattern.
On the US market, the new GT-R will go on sale in February 2011 with prices starting at $89,950 for the Premium model and $95,100 for the Black Edition.
Updated 01/06/2011: Nissan has revealed the ordering guide for the 2012 GT-R, just one month before the sports car goes on sale (February). The good news is that the option list is quite short, meaning that the GT-R will come fully loaded from the factory. Check out the details after the jump!
UPDATE 03/24/11: We knew that when Nissan decided to give the 2012 Nissan GT-R more ferocious power under its hood, it was only a matter of time before Godzilla drops by the Nurburgring to leave its imprint on the iconic race track. Turns out, that time has finally come. Nissan’s new GT-R came to the Nurburgring with 523 horsepower in tow and it showed just how much faster the 2012 version is compared to its 2011 predecessor. With a blazing lap around the ’Ring, the 2012 GT-R clocked in a time of seven minutes and 24.22 seconds, easily destroying the the GT-R record of seven minutes and 26 seconds. While it’s still not the fastest car to ever lap he Nurburgring, the 2012 GT-R’s impressive run is still living proof that there are only a few cars in this world that can stand up against Godzilla’s fire-stewing, rubber-burning wrath. Check out the video after the jump!
Hit the jump for full details on the 2012 Nissan GT-R.
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2010 has been quite a year for the auto industry’s sports car segment. With auto brands becoming more and more aggressive in their pursuit of power, speed, and consumer preference, sports cars have become about as popular in 2010 as Justin Bieber’s hairdo.
So with all these choices, one can just imagine the painstaking labor we went through in determining our choices for the 2010 Sports Car of the Year. Of all the categories, this one was, without question, the hardest to agree on, especially when the multitude of choices available are considered.
In the end, we did find a common ground in selecting the five best sports cars of the year, despite the fact that there were some arguments along the way. Of the five that we chose - one of them is a one-off sports car - four of them came from Europe whereas the only non-European sports car on the list calls the Land of the Rising Sun as its home.
Head over to the list after the jump.
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While everyone else has been tinkering around, waiting to discover the next new detail on the 2012 Nissan GT-R, AMS Performance has been working on a package for the GT-R R35 that will just blow you away! The package is called the Alpha 9 and will catapult the standard 530hp found on the current GT-R R35 to a mind-boggling 650hp! Now, that’s an upgrade!
Adding this much extra power will inevitably bring better performance numbers. The Nissan GT-R is now capable of running the quarter mile in 10 seconds at 138 mph setting a new pump gas R35 GT-R 1/4 mile record. This does confuse us, however, because back in May we reported on a GT-R R35 that did the quarter mile in 9.62 seconds. We have to wonder if these two know about each other.
Next to the engine upgrade, the Alpha 9 package also includes a 90 mm exhaust system, upgraded billet wheel ball bearing turbochargers, new turbo inlet pipes, a front mount intercooler upgrade, and custom calibrated MAF sensors. The tuner can also add catalytic converters for the downpipes and a substitute race mid-pipe which removes the muffler as an option.
Of course, if you want to drive a sports car that can set a new world record, you will have to pay $21,999 for the package.
UPDATE 12/30/2010: Don’t like the GT-R Alpha 9 in black? Well, neither did another customer who just commissioned AMS to provide him with a livelier color for the sports car. Commence Operation Agent Orange. Click on the picture above to see the final dyno test of the spunkier GT-R!
Usually when we write about crashes involving all of the different kinds of sports cars, we like ending our stories with "Fortunately no one was hurt." However, this latest sports car crash does not offer us that type of luxury. A 31-year-old was driving at high speeds in his dark gray Nissan GT-R somewhere in Germany when, while taking a dangerous curve, lost control and crashed into a bus. In total, 14 people were hurt and the GT-R’s driver was trapped in the mangled metal of a car until firefighters freed him. Unfortunately, the emergency crew arrived at the crash scene too late and could only pronounce his death.
Thirty passengers were riding along on the bus when the crash occurred with 14 of these passengers suffering a slew of injuries from small cuts and abrasions to cervical trauma. All 14 were transported to a hospital nearby.
No charges will be filed for the reckless driving, but we believe the driver suffered a much more severe fate. We can only end this story with a line of advice: "Drive safely and don’t forget that speed kills!"
Over here in the good ol’ US of A, people are gearing up for one of the biggest auto shows of the year, the Detroit Auto Show, but spin the globe around and we’ll see that there is another show that deserves a good amount of attention as well. Over in Japan, the Tokyo Auto Salon will begin in less than a month to bring us some of the hottest tuned up machines we’ve seen, and the star of the show will obviously be the new Nissan GT-R.
Bringing the sports car to the forefront of the crowd is Axell Auto, a tuner who, until now, specializes in tuning Toyota van models. How they switched from vans to a beautiful sports car is beyond us, but we’ll take it anyway.
What they have done is prepared an extreme widebody kit for the new GT-R sports coupe. This kit will include new body panels, wider fenders, matching widebody Rear quarter panel fenders, a new rear bumper with a lot of vents and, of course, a new set of wheels. Currently the car is still under development, but these first couple of sketches leave us waiting in anticipation for the car’s Tokyo debut.
No engine updates have been announced as of yet, but maybe the tuner is waiting for the Tokyo Auto Show on January 14th to unleash that announcement. We can only hope.
