Despite its age, the Nissan GT-R is still an absolute monster of a performance machine. That said, Godzilla does occasionally get outshined by the newer competition, and in response, Nissan offers a variety of special edition models. The latest is the Naomi Osaka Edition, which celebrates professional tennis player and US Open champion Naomi Osaka with a number of color combinations both outside and in the cabin.

2018 Nissan GT-R Naomi Osaka Edition

Specifications
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  • Model: 2018 Nissan GT-R Naomi Osaka Edition
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The GT-R, Well Dressed

Nissan first debuted the GT-R way back in 2007, and today, 11 years later, it’s still on the market without a full generational update. That makes the GT-R practically ancient by modern standards, but thanks to the nameplate’s association with high-speed and cutting-edge technology, it’s still hugely popular with the performance crowd.

This latest special edition model was designed to keep interest running strong, and it follows hot on the heels of another special edition GT-R, specifically the utterly incredible GT-R50 by Italdesign, a million-dollar monster machine that’s as beautiful as it is brutal.

Back to the Naomi Osaka Edition. The name comes from the professional tennis player from Japan and current reigning US Open champion. Osaka took a win in the women’s singles Grand Slam championship this past September, becoming the first-ever Japanese tennis player to do so. Following her victory, Osaka became an ambassador for Nissan, and now, the automaker is dedicating a GT-R in her name.

Beyond the name, Osaka also helped to create the color schemes for this special edition, and each can be matched to any of the three available body colors.

Further exterior upgrades include an LED brake light mounted to a dry carbon rear spoiler, as well as a golden model number plate in the engine bay.

The upgrades continue into the cabin, where the standard GT-R layout is refurbished with a number of color combinations, such as Ivory Leather and Urban Black Leather.

For reference, the Premium grade sits above the Pure grade, but below the more hardcore Track Edition and full-fat Nismo edition. Highlights for the Premium include a titanium exhaust system with integrated Exhaust Sound Control, Bose audio for the cabin, Active Noise Cancellation, and Active Sound Enhancement.

Of course, all of this is in addition to the GT-R’s standard assortment of performance goodies, which include a front-mounted twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-6 powerplant making 565 horsepower at 6,800 rpm and 467 pound-feet of torque 3,300 rpm. One-hundred percent of the go is routed to the pavement through Nissan’s legendary ATTESA E-TS AWD system and an independent rear-mounted transaxle, with a dual-clutch six-speed transmission handling the cog swaps. In the corners, 20-inch forged alloy wheels from Rays do the final spinning, while a high-spec Brembo brake system does the stopping.

Orders for the Nissan GT-R Naomi Osaka Edition open up December 20th, with production limited to 50 units total, 100 percent of which will go to the Japanese market.

Nissan will announce pricing next month. For reference, the Premium grade GT-R goes for $110,540 here in the U.S.

Further Reading

Read our full review on the standard Nissan GT-R.

Read our full review on the 2018 Nissan GT-R50 By Italdesign.