Nissan GT-R Le Mans Edition: Limited Production Model with 600HP!

Should be interesting, any predictions?

— _43LE (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 2:46:53 PM | | Votes: 4   

Predictions? Yes, they do about as well at Le Mans as Japanese manufacturers have always done.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 4:47:33 PM | | Votes: -12   

I would like to call you on that TurboS ~ what exactly is the winning history of Japan in the LM series and which contructor holds the most win of any Japanese constructor over the last 10 years...Please post so that we can see how knowledgeable you are.

— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 4:52:43 PM | | Votes: 5   

Mazda did so well that their car was banned after 2 wins. Meh getting punished for thinking out side the box.

— veyron1001 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 5:43:06 PM | | Votes: 5   

First of all Veyron...Mazda only one once in 1991 and after that the Rotary engine was banned from all races after that. That was the first and last time a Japanese manufacturer every won an LM series race. It kinda makes you wonder why Nissan never went with a Rotary engine.

— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 7:40:05 PM | | Votes: 2   

Tubro aka sport aka midengine:

You're too predictable.

— _43LE (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 8:19:22 PM | | Votes: 1   

"which contructor holds the most win of any Japanese constructor over the last 10 years?"


All of the Japanese manufacturers are tied at ZERO for the most overall wins at Le Mans in the last ten years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:24_Hours_of_Le_Mans_races


I expect Nissan to be as competitive at Le Mans as Toyota and Honda currently are in F1.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 10:20:29 PM | | Votes: -5   

Just like you predicted that the GT-R would not perform as well as a Porsche.

Come to think of it, waaaay to predictable...it's been fun.

— _43LE (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 10:47:23 PM | | Votes: 3   

I didn't make any predictions about the GT-R's performance before it came out.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 11/11/2008 11:10:56 PM | | Votes: -2   

Some people seem to forget that the potency of the GT-R is due to it's AWD system. Rear-wheel drive only won't improve anything.

— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 4:54:25 PM | | Votes: -1   

it will make it lighter.

— 1995e34 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 5:33:48 PM | | Votes: 3   

It still won't be lighter than a Corvette ZR-1...and the ZR-1 will still have more hp...so exactly how does that make the GT-R more capable than a ZR-1. Anyone who can read an English sentence can read any GT-R article and see that GT-R's advantage comes from it's AWD system and traction/torque distribution software. Tell me I'm wrong!

— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 7:33:01 PM | | Votes: 1   

it might come a lot closer to meeting the weight of the corvette than you would think. remember, the gt-r has a trans axle that sends power back to the front of the car after it has been sent to the rear. yes, two drive shafts running the length of the car. also, a rear seat. don't be surprised if this gt-t weighs 400lbs less than the regular model.

but yeah, your right the vette ultimately having the greater power/weight ratio will make the difference.

— 1995e34 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 8:56:12 PM | | Votes: -1   

Need4Speed you are bitching at the wrong people. If you want awd in the corvette bitch at the near bankrupt GM.

— veyron1001 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 8:56:21 PM | | Votes: 2   

"Anyone who can read an English sentence can read any GT-R article and see that GT-R's advantage comes from it's AWD system and traction/torque distribution software. Tell me I'm wrong!"


You're wrong. The GT-R's handling ability is due to its Bilstein super handling Damptronic system.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 10:25:22 PM | | Votes: -5   

I respect the ZR1, but it will not stand a chance against this new version GTR.

— GTR35 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 3:11:46 PM | | Votes: 8   

Hmmm. Let's see. The base GT-R is rated at 480hp and is roughly 1.1 seconds behind the ZR1 0-100mph and about .4 seconds slower to the 1/4 mile.

Add 120 more horses, improve the aerodynamics and shed a few pounds. What do you think?

— 222max (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 3:39:16 PM | | Votes: 6   

Take away the slick awd and this car isnt going to be anywhere close to as fast as it was in stock trim. LeMans as far as I know doesn't allow for AWD systems, so that means the GT-R will be on the same playing field as the ZR1. Im going to go ahead and predict that its aerodynamics wont be that much better than they already are and the weight wont be that much lighter, the gtr is still a 4 seat coupe, and a relative heffer compared to the ZR1. I just don't see the GT-R doing much to the Ubervette. We'll see, but I'd say that the ZR1 would still be quicker. Definitely cheaper.

— jasonhutchcraft (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 4:00:29 PM | | Votes: -2   

Uh, You do realize that one of the reasons the GT-R is so heavy is the AWD system. If you lose that and go to a RWD config you are probably going to lose at least 1-200lbs easily.

— 222max (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 4:23:26 PM | | Votes: 6   

it will certainly beat the zr-1 but it would probably cost twice as much as a zr-1. this lm spec will be an extremely low volume car so its not a fair comparison.

— rumnyc (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 4:41:33 PM | | Votes: -3   

The GT-R has much more than 480 hp - at least the ones that the magazines tested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bym4KeAz3M0

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 4:52:15 PM | | Votes: -4   

Irrelevant. I said it's RATED at 480. It most likely is making more than 480 (so who's complaining about that?). Chances are that the V-spec and the LM will both actually produce more hp than their official rating numbers.

— 222max (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 5:04:04 PM | | Votes: 1   

As JasonHutch correctly point out...taken straight from the 2008 LM Regulation Handbook...

"9.4 - Four wheel drive : not permitted." You can also throw out the super-handling software too!...not permitted!

— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 5:24:38 PM | | Votes: 1   

jasonhutchcraft you have little understanding

— veyron1001 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 5:41:21 PM | | Votes: 1   

TurboSpyder

Recent dyno test from Edmunds:
"After several very consistent pulls, the GT-R generates 406 hp at 6,000 rpm and 399 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm. ... Like the GT-R, the ZR1's engine pulls very consistently over several runs. The final numbers are 505 hp at 6,200 rpm and 494 lb-ft at 4,200 rpm..."

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=134467
---
Porsche 911 Turbo dyno test from Edmunds:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=125172

Porsche 911 Turbo is doing the same wheel hp numbers as Nissan gt-r.

---
and
"Peak output at the wheels:
410.2 hp @ 5950 rpm & 418.9 lb-ft @ 3450 rpm"

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/112_0803_2009_nissan_gt_r_dyno_test/results_analysis.html

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 11/11/2008 5:48:27 AM | | Votes: 1   

410 hp at the wheels of an awd car translates to about 540 engine hp.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 11/11/2008 10:24:35 AM | | Votes: -1   

"Nissan engineers insist the GT-R really does only have 480 hp. Motohiro Matsumura, president of Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc. in Farmington Hills, Michigan, says our dyno test story, which revealed the GT-R develops 430 hp at the wheels, is basically right. But he insists our estimate of a minimum 15-percent friction losses -- which suggests the GT-R is making 507 hp -- is wrong. Matsumura-san says ultra-low friction bearings in the wheel hubs and transmission, plus the careful alignment of the all-wheel-drive system's propshafts, mean friction losses are reduced to an unprecedented 10 percent or so. We're going to get a GT-R back and conduct some coast-down tests to see if he's right."

http://blogs.motortrend.com/6247428/new-cars/nissan-360-day-1-things-ive-learned/index.html

---

http://www.nagtroc.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=24289

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 11/11/2008 10:27:44 AM | | Votes: 2   

At this point I don't believe a thing that Nissan says about the GT-R. Here's a post from another forum where they discuss the GT-R's real potential Nurburgring lap times.

-------

The aforementioned rallye star during one of the recent nurburgring 24hrs 30-45s a lap quicker than even the manthey car when heavy fog descended on the Eifel. He knows the place very very well.

I dropped him an email and he sent me this and asked me to post it onto the discussion:


"Hi Adam,
Its funny how fast information goes around the world! I drove the Nissan GTR yesterday for KW with the KW clubsport and with the original suspension. All other parts were stock and the weight was original! Due to the fact, that there where some passing manouvers and 2 small mistakes in my line, the theoretical best time, calculated from my best sectors (with data logger), was a 7.46. ( a real lap was 7,49)
So I think, it is not possible, to go faster, when W.Röhrl and Chr.Menzel also where not able to go under 7.45!
The secret source, who watched the test of the 3 cars is not so secret: He owns a guest house in Nürbrug and was there at the test and watched everything. I spoke to him 2 days ago and it was true that tha car was far away from stock, that means power, sound, tyres, exhaust, weight!
But anyway the Nissan GTR is fast also in stock outfit and fun to drive. Only when acclerating it would need more power to the rear, to kill the understeer. Under braking conditions it steers very good into corners! Sometimes to much, but then it is even more fun!
If You want, You can post that in the internet! Source: Wolf!
Danke und Viele Grüße"

-------

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 11/11/2008 12:10:28 PM | | Votes: 0   

Car and Driver article from last month

---

Despite what Nissan claims, the GT-R is not making the advertised 480 horsepower.

BY LARRY WEBSTER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY G. RUSSELL
October 2008



“It’s a ringer,” we said among ourselves as soon as the first Nissan GT-R’s test results were in. Despite a power-to-weight ratio that’s 30 percent worse than that of the similarly priced Corvette Z06, that first GT-R outran the Z06 to 60 mph (3.3 seconds versus 3.4 for the quickest Z06 we’ve tested) and through the quarter-mile (11.5 at 124 mph versus 11.8 at 125). Even allowing for the launch advantages of all-wheel drive, the GT-R’s performance made us suspicious. It wouldn’t be hard for Nissan engineers, we surmised, to crank up the boost and thus jack up horsepower that would result in astonishing track numbers in American car-magazine tests. The GT-R was in such demand and our allotted time with it was so short, however, that we didn’t have time to strap it onto a chassis dyno and measure the horsepower.

We soon tested two more GT-Rs, and supporting our suspicions, they were considerably slower. GT-R No. 2 was 0.6 second behind the No. 1 through the quarter, and GT-R numero tres was a disturbing 1.1 seconds slower. Again, we didn’t have enough time to dyno-test those cars, but it seemed clear that the first GT-R was likely a one-of-a-kind rocket.

We finally got the opportunity to run a GT-R on a chassis dyno in May after Tony Swan returned with the example he used for the One Lap of America competition. The only problem with that car—No. 4 in our series—was that it performed about as well as the first. There were some differences, as you can see in the chart below, but those can easily be chalked up to the fact that the cars were tested on different days at different tracks. Yes, we do perform a weather correction to account for much of the ambient-condition difference, but no correction is perfect.

A brief primer on the Mustang chassis dyno we used: Picture a pair of parallel, supersized rolling pins mounted in the floor. The car is strapped down so that the front wheels are on one roller and the rears on the other. The operator puts the car in gear and, via the tires, spins these rollers, which are attached to a device that measures the applied force. A computer that ties into the car’s diagnostic plug and reads engine rpm calculates the horsepower. This power figure is what’s known as “wheel horsepower,” and it’s less than the engine horsepower that’s listed in our specs because the drivetrain components—transmission, driveshafts, bearings, differential—all have internal friction that soaks up power. How much power is lost in the journey to the road is not accurately known, but a 15-percent loss for rear-drive cars with manual transmissions and a near 20-percent loss for four-wheel-drive cars are good estimates.

On MotorCity Speed’s Mustang dyno in Commerce Township, Michigan, GT-R No. 4 produced a peak of 415 horsepower

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 11/11/2008 12:22:25 PM | | Votes: 1   

cont.)


produced a peak of 415 horsepower at the wheels. Based on our 20-percent loss estimate, the engine output was 519, or 39 horsepower more than Nissan’s stated 480.

So what’s up? We called Nissan, and the company says the first four cars we tested were early-build versions that received regular engine-computer software updates, which may account for the varied results we recorded. We then wondered which engine-computer calibration was the one real-world GT-R buyers would receive.

Three weeks later, a fifth GT-R arrived. This one, allegedly, was a production version with the latest—and final—engine calibration. We took it both to the test track and MotorCity’s dyno.

This car performed nearly identically to the fourth car. It smoked the quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds at 120 mph and produced 420 wheel horsepower. We also measured the turbo boost pressure in both cars, and the curves were basically identical.

Though we didn’t get a chance to dyno-test the two slower GT-Rs, three of the five were so close in performance that we believe they accurately represent the GT-R’s capability. Clearly, Nissan is delivering more than the advertised 480 horsepower. And the most likely figure is about 520, which is yet another reason to bow to the best performance value since the Corvette Z06.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/columns/c_d_staff/larry_webster/what_is_the_gt_r_s_real_horsepower_column?cid=259

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 11/11/2008 12:29:30 PM | | Votes: 1   

"Car and Driver article from last month"

Yes , also Car and Driver test has confirmed that Nissan gtr is doing about 415 wheel horsepower .

"Here's a post from another forum where they discuss the GT-R's real potential Nurburgring lap times."

And here is the full discussion:
http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/107229-ring-r35-not-stock.html

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 11/11/2008 3:58:08 PM | | Votes: 1   

"Three weeks later, a fifth GT-R arrived. This one, allegedly, was a production version with the latest—and final—engine calibration. We took it both to the test track and MotorCity’s dyno.

This car performed nearly identically to the fourth car. It smoked the quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds at 120 mph and produced 420 wheel horsepower. We also measured the turbo boost pressure in both cars, and the curves were basically identical.

Though we didn’t get a chance to dyno-test the two slower GT-Rs, three of the five were so close in performance that we believe they accurately represent the GT-R’s capability. Clearly, Nissan is delivering more than the advertised 480 horsepower. And the most likely figure is about 520, which is yet another reason to bow to the best performance value since the Corvette Z06."

And above is the most important part of the whole article. The #5 car, a production spec car, performed as well as the #1 car and dyno tested at an estimated 520 peak hp. So you're upset at Nissan because the under rated their car?

— 222max (View Profile)

Posted on 11/11/2008 11:42:16 PM | | Votes: 1   

"an estimated 520 peak hp."

It`s estimated at 520 hp , but nobody knows what are the real drivetrain losses . Edmunds has tested gt r and 911 turbo and for both cars obtained similar whp results , about 400 - 405 whp , so gt r has very probably similar hp at the crank to 911 Turbo . Recently Edmunds again has got 406 whp in gtr .

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 11/12/2008 3:26:26 AM | | Votes: 1   

2.9 seconds. Why don't you list all the cars you know that can hit 60 in 2.9 seconds!...try that first before you make ridiculous assumptions!

— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 5:02:31 PM | | Votes: -2   

I don't care how much hp they throw into it -- it's still ugly. Still cheezy.

— grysko (View Profile)

Posted on 11/10/2008 5:43:39 PM | | Votes: -2   

don't try to drive the ZR-1 on wet surface.. it will literally kill you. handles like a drift car trying to go grip

— pavcon (View Profile)

Posted on 11/13/2008 10:58:49 PM | | Votes: 1