GT-R tuners South Side Performance have just released two different replacement clutch packs for the VR38 powered beast from the east. The SSP SS Clutch pack is a direct replacement for the factory unit, while the SSP RS Clutch pack features a 25% larger surface area for those who wish to make up to 700 HP with their Nissan GT-R.
Eisenmann, the Stuttgart-based tuners traditionally manufacture exhaust systems for high-end European automakers like Mercedes and McLaren. However even they could not turn away the Nissan GT-R, at a Japanese customer’s request they constructed a one-off stainless steel exhaust that begins with a custom Y-pipe.
The American tuners Hennessey, who made a name for themselves turbo charging Dodge Vipers, are now the proud owners of the world’s fastest Nissan GT-R. This past March at the Texas Mile, Hennessey drove their 700 HP GT-R through the traps at 193.7 MPH. Owners of Nissan’s Super car can purchase the Godzilla 700 kit for $18,500, or $24,500 installed.
Back when the Japanese automaker was producing the R-34 Skyline, Kozo Watanabe, “Mr. GT-R” and head of Nissan development, was celebrating the vehicle’s racing success by releasing a hard core V-Spec model. The Skyline GT-R V-Spec was set up with a harsh suspension that gave the vehicle razor sharp handling. However, these machines were better suited for smooth racing surfaces and not the typical Tokyo city street where the vehicles would spend most of their time.
Back in 1999 when Carlos Ghosen became President and CEO of Nissan, he gave Watanabe the boot and brought in Kazutoshi Mizuno to head up the GT-R engineering team. Mizuno was the former Nissan Le Mans chief engineer and Group C racing team manager.
The GT-R V-Spec had become a track ready performance machine, but the former racing engineer had other ideas for a friendlier Mizuno-Spec GT-R.
Just because you can afford a high-performance machine, doesn’t mean you know how to drive it.
This point was hit home by the Nissan GT-R driver who couldn’t keep up with a Mitsubishi Evo IX MR during a race on a curvy road. Keep watching the video, this was a more than just a little cosmetic damage.
We were braced for this back in November. That’s when we first got word that Nissan would increase the price for the next model year by about a five percent. Now we have the exact number for the increase for the 2010 GT-R: $3950.
That moves the price of the standard car from $76,840 to $80,790 and from $79,090 to $83,040 for the GT-R Premium model. But the extra cash does buy five extra horsepower (that works out to $790 per horse). That moves the power from 480 to 485 hp. Of course, that’s an estimate because Nissan was quick to point out many times last year that each engine and transmission is hand built, and specifically built for each car, so some power deviation can be expected.
There are a few other small extras that come with the $4k increase (like enhanced colors). For those who are really interested, it’s in the press release after the jump.
When it comes to building high-performance JDM engines there is truly only one place to turn. The Japanese tuning shop JUN is tearing into the VR38DETT found in the Nissan GT-R with the goal of creating 1000 HP. The aftermarket company will develop a series of internals for the motor consisting of a crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons and camshafts all machined from billet steel. It won’t be long before we see a bright yellow colored R-35 terrorizing pavement everywhere.
The Ohio based Porsche tuners at Switzer Performance have recognized the rivalry between the Porsche 997 Turbo and the Nissan GT-R, due to the cars similar on road capabilities. The question they are now asking is, are they still comparable when tuned? In order to find out the engineers at Switzer put in long hours developing a reliable GT-R that will make 626 HP at the wheels all day long. They call it the P700.
Nissan has taken the covers off of their latest factory tuned GT-R, the Spec V, and unfortunately this model has been uncovered to be the slowest of the R-35s. Despite this, Nissan is still developing the GT-R in order to release an upgraded version that they are calling the Series II. This vehicle will receive an upgraded suspension; a retuned transmission, stickier rubber and a 5 HP increase. Toshio Suzuki, Nissan’s head test driver, told GT-R blog that the modifications made to the Series II should allow the vehicle to navigate the 33 left turns and 40 right turns that make up the Nürburgring in about 5 seconds less than the current model.
The Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit is a 12.9 mile loop in western Germany that has been used since 1927 to test man and machine. Since 1983 automobile manufacturers and the media alike have been recording lap times on the circuit’s current configuration. The lap times are a benchmark for a vehicle’s performance, and are used to evaluate and compare the fastest vehicles in the world.
The GT-R has some history with the Green Hell. The R-33 Skyline GT-R was the first production car to lap the Ring in less than 8 minutes. More recently the Japanese car maker has had some words with the Porsche camp concerning lap times. In every video of track tests of the preproduction GT-R there is a Porsche 911 Turbo following not far behind. The 997 Turbo was the benchmark that Nissan had set for the performance of their supercar.
When Nissan announced an initial lap time of 7 minutes 38 seconds the people at Porsche took notice. With some more tuning Nissan engineers were able to bring the time down to 7 minutes 29 seconds. When this happened Porsche purchased a GT-R and put it head to head against their products. Porsche did not use their normal driver former World Rally Champion Walter Rohrl, but instead a Nürburgring expert. They managed to run a lap time of 7:54 in the GT-R, a 7:38 in the 911 Turbo and a 7:34 in their 530 HP GT2. It was then that August Achleitner, product chief for the 911, called foul. He stated that the lap time is impossible from the stock GT-R on stock tires. Nissan retaliated by posting the video of their 7:29 run on the internet and offered Porsche an opportunity to attend driving school.
The Series II GT-R would hypothetically bring the lap time down to 7 minutes and 24 seconds. Ahead of the Ferrari Enzo, right between a Pagani Zonda and Maserati MC12 supercars.
The RB26DETT straight six in the R32 thru R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R was famous for being able to make up to 1000 HP with the stock internals. We may soon find out if the same is true for the VR38DETT in the R35 GT-R. South Side Performance has just released a turbo upgrade that has the potential to generate quadruple digit power numbers.
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