2013 Nissan GT-R First Drive

For Kazutoshi Mizuno, the aberrant asperse in allegation of the GT-R project, the Nurburgring analysis clue in Germany has become a admired playground. It all started in 1996 if the R33 Skyline GT-R V-Spec became the aboriginal assembly car to lap the 'Ring in beneath 8 minutes. Today, the barrage of a new GT-R isn't complete after a cruise to Germany and the enactment of a new 'Ring time.


So today we're trackside to attestant Toshio Suzuki's attack at a new lap almanac in the 2013 Nissan GT-R. It looks identical to the 2012 car, but this adaptation of the R35 boasts an added 15 horsepower, a stiffer physique carapace and a revised suspension.

Suzuki's almanac attack isn't for addition few hours, so he's absolution me accept a go in the meantime. Having already apprenticed the car on the road, I'll be accustomed a scattering of laps of the world's a lot of iconic circuit. What could go wrong?

Sizing up the 'Ring

I've apprenticed the 'Ring abounding times, in aggregate from a Honda Civic Type R to a Lotus Exige, but unless you've completed hundreds of laps, you can never absolutely apperceive it. To adverse the problem, Nissan has assassin a bounded racer to sit next to me and point the way. Clearly he's in charge of banknote — there's no way I'd sit next to me in a GT-R.


When the R35 was alien in 2007, it was initially criticized for accepting too anodyne. It was as if the Japanese affection for electronics had subsumed the role of the driver. Stung by the criticism, Mizuno has acquired the car to acknowledge its soul. "It is actual important that a supersport should be arduous to drive," he says. "There should be advice amid the car and the driver."

The after-effects of these changes can be acquainted aural the aboriginal few corners. At 3,829 pounds, the GT-R charcoal badly heavy, but it's appreciably able at ambuscade its bulk. The council has a brittle breadth that makes it simple to place, which is just as able-bodied if you're casual through the Flugplatz on the top ancillary of 130 mph.


Most alley cars feel bendable about here, but the 2013 Nissan GT-R offers able attrition to roll. The tires chip if they're asked to work, and if you advance too harder there's a anticipated alteration to understeer. It's harder to anticipate of addition supercar that would affect this abundant aplomb about actuality while accustomed such speed. A Porsche 911 GT3 RS would complete bigger and feel added heroic, but I'd be afraid harder.

Asymmetrical Suspension, but Alone for Right-Handers

Although the double-wishbone foreground and multilink rear abeyance remains, Mizuno says they've tweaked the geometry forth with the bounce and damper rates. On right-hand-drive cars, the bureaucracy is absurd to yield annual of both the GT-R's left-to-right weight administration and the furnishings of the engine's rotation.

For the foreground suspension, there's a harder bounce amount on the larboard side, while at the rear the abeyance arm has been installed advancement on the larboard ancillary and bottomward on the right. This detail, which Mizuno describes as "my new logic," is not activated to left-hand-drive cars, breadth the weight administration is bigger balanced.

Common to every 2013 Nissan GT-R is an advance to the acerbity of the body. Reinforcement of the breadth about the rear of the engine and the dashboard has, says Mizuno, bigger the handling. Moreover, every GT-R produced is arrested at the Tochigi accomplishment ability for its acerbity and damping performance. Officially, the weight is unchanged, but Mizuno reckons the 2013 car is in fact a tad lighter than before.

Just What the GT-R Always Needed: Added Power

While the amount focus was on the abeyance design, Mizuno couldn't abide the allurement to advance the engine's efficiency. "We do not do things the affability boutique way," he says. "We clarify everything."
The breathing's been bigger at both ends. The 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 now has an continued air assimilation aqueduct for the intercooler at the foreground and bargain backpressure in the catalytic converter. The addition burden of 0.8 bar charcoal the aforementioned but the changes accept been abundant to accomplish a bashful access in ability from 530 application to 545. The torque achievement is up by 15 pound-feet to 463.

Nissan is now claiming aught to 60 mph in 2.8 abnormal (down from the 3.1 abnormal we accomplished in the 2012 GT-R), although the 193-mph top acceleration is banausic and is authentic by the car's gearing. These are the alone abstracts clearly arise by Nissan, but Mizuno accepted he's acquisitive that absolute testing will appearance a continuing quarter-mile in 10.6 or 10.7 seconds. The ammunition burning is aswell hardly bigger if you're into that array of thing.


The Road-Going Experience 

The aberration in application may be marginal, but on the road, the 2013 Nissan GT-R absolutely does feel faster than before. It may not accept the aureate soundtrack of a Ferrari or Porsche, but it gathers clip with a brutal, aboriginal simplicity. You ability even alarm it crude, were it not so fabulously capable. Mizuno talks about a aesthetics of "power for life," presenting the GT-R as a car for all conditions. Maybe alone the Porsche 911 Turbo comes abutting to analogous the GT-R's accustomed versatility.

The abeyance tweaks accept aswell delivered a GT-R that's added active than before. This is a car with the aggregate of Klitschko and the activity of Pacquiao. It ability not wag its appendage like an old-school beef car, but accepting the a lot of from it still requires accomplishment and not a little finesse. It's an amazing section of engineering that's still absorbing even if you don't accept how it all works.

The bureaucracy about-face that adjusts the transmission, dampers and adherence ascendancy still offers three modes — Normal, Appropriate and "R." Thankfully, anniversary aspect can be set up individually. For alley use, our alternative was "R" for the adherence ascendancy and transmission, and "Normal" for the dampers to accommodate greater acquiescence on the bouncing alley surfaces about the 'Ring.

The six-speed dual-clutch chiral has aswell been artful for the 2013 archetypal year with a adequate about-face angle arm and a firmer adjudicator address for the flywheel housing. The arrangement still has a nice automated feel. For a car so codicillary on electronics and automation, it's nice to be able to feel the cogs engage, even if the action can occasionally feel beneath than bland at low speed.

Even if you don't like the feel, you ability as able-bodied get acclimated to it, as the GT-R will accept a dual-clutch chiral for the accountable future. "You cannot do aught to 60 mph in beneath than 3 abnormal in a manual," says Mizuno. "It is too alarming because the animal physique cannot accumulate pace."

The Almanac Attempt

Mizuno aggregate his armament at the 'Ring to facilitate Toshio Suzuki's attack on the GT-R lap record. Suzuki reckons he's done about 1,300 laps of the 'Ring and drives at 98 percent on almanac runs. "It is important to apply on acclimation the car on all four tires," he says.

His bang-up reckons he's "testing the car for the customer, not for aggregation pride," although even Mizuno accept to accept it doesn't do the sales abstracts any harm. He takes the accomplished action acutely seriously, so abundant so that with the cameras accessible and an army of witnesses, he decides to alarm the attack off. Initially we're told there was a botheration with the annoy balance, but again the absolute acumen is revealed.

"I accept not absitively on the final blueprint of the tires," he says. "If we change them in the future, the almanac run will not be accurate." So that's it. The latest GT-R will be launched after an official 'Ring time, although Mizuno after settles on Dunlop Sport Maxx GT 600 DSST CTT tires.

Final Thoughts

The new 2013 Nissan GT-R arrives in the U.S. this January. The U.S. ambit will abide of alone two models — the 2013 GT-R Premium and the GT-R Atramentous Edition, which gets atramentous Rays forged-alloy wheels, Recaro covering seats and a carbon-fiber rear spoiler.

In Europe and Japan, Nissan is developing a appropriate clue backpack with a baby aero kit, uprated wheels, suspension, anchor cooling and a tweaked interior. Sadly, there are no affairs to accompany this car to the U.S., although Nissan admits that ability change if abundant barter appeal it.

For now then, we accept to accomplish do with the "normal" GT-R, which isn't abundant of a chore. While a lot of manufacturers acquaint absurd artful revisions to pump activity into a revised car, Mizuno concentrates on the $.25 that matter. The engineering changes ability arise modest, but in sum they amalgamate to accommodate a actual absolute advance in the car's all-embracing performance. So yes, Japan's finest supercar just got even better.