55 Votes

Nissan answers to Porsche, defending its Nurburgring lap time

tryme submitted on 10/3/2008 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 8:13:33 AM

77 user comments | Category: New Cars | Source: | SOURCE: www.4wheelsnews.com

Tag Links: nissan gt-r nurburgring, nissan nurburgring lap

Earlier this week we told that Porsche is accusing Nissan for cheating, more exactly the GT-R couldn’t race a lap on the Nurburgring (Nordschleife) racetrack in just 7 minutes and 29 seconds.

In order to demonstrate this Porsche bought a standard Nissan GT-R, brought it to the German racetrack and the surprise came out: the GT-R raced the lap in 7 minutes and 54 seconds, with over 25 seconds more than the lap raced by Nissan driver.

After this, came the response of Nissan which was quite simple: “We’re not going to get into a war of words with Porsche. The final word from us is that it was done on absolutely standard tyres which are available to customers in the showroom. Normal Dunlop road tires, that come with the car!” said Nissan’s European spokesman Neil Reeve.

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Nissan answers to Porsche, defending its Nurburgring lap time

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— tryme (View Profile)

User Comments

So the company that makes the car saying "Yes we can!" and a company that doesn't make the car says "No you can't!".... um, got any independent test numbers yet?
— jeffy210 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 10:21:45 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 8

I just want to know why is Porsche is so concerned about the GTR, if they are so much better they should have nothing to worry about...Porsche > Nissan...or not! First 370z will be sold to a Porsche rep because they know that will be there next thorn in their side
— 350zdon17 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 10:27:28 AM | | Votes: 16

Let's put it this way.

If somebody would come every day in front of your house with an inscription saying: I'm so much smarter and more successful than the guy inside the house(referring at you)and the story will even make it to newspapers and TV after a while you will eventually try to do something about it.

Even if the guy is a homeless person(Nissan) and you are a successful professional(Porsche)his FALSE CLAIMS will still get to you eventually. And just because you take some action it doesn't mean you actually think that the homeless guy(Nissan)is better than you.

Nissan is nothing more but an annoyance. An annoyance not because of the econoboxes they built, but because of the effect their false claims have over the weaker part of the population.
— Star (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:28:24 AM | | Votes: -21

Speaking of being an annoyance....
— answer (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:31:35 AM | | Votes: 18

"Even if the guy is a homeless person(Nissan) and you are a successful professional(Porsche)his FALSE CLAIMS will still get to you eventually.."

Just look at it this way Star,

...story will even make it to newspapers and TV...
so then the reporters (i.e., independent road tests done by every magazine, TV etc) with help of law enforcement and the local Bank do a background check on this supposed "homeless guy".. and what do they find? his bank account has more money than the "successful guy"! what he was saying was true!

... but the lowly home owner still refuses to believe the homeless guy despite the fact that independent sources verified it.

— sector (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 12:03:44 PM | | Votes: 14

watch top gear people

porsche is just a whinny b**** which is quite pathetic
— KZ258 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 12:30:52 PM | | Votes: 8

Or let's put it this way.

If somebody (Star) would come every day onto a website (AutoSpies) saying: I'm so much smarter, powerful and more successful than everyone(referring to EVERY poster here)and the story gets old, after a while you will eventually try to do something about it, like ask aloud why he still hasn't been banned, but alas...
— StarSearch (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 12:57:22 PM | | Votes: 11

So Porsche is calling Nissan's bluff...basically challenging them...Nissan doesn't want a fight so they drop a few sentences and leave it as it may. If I were Nissan...I would have sent my driver to the ring...and offered to reproduce the same time using an off the showroom floor GT-R. This would have had several debilitating wounds to Porsche's image...1) Your driver can't drive 2) Your car is not as good as ours and we proved it. 3)We don't need to lie...maybe you need a better car. 4)Quit making excuses...baby!

But instead of taking the opportunity to really rub salt in Porsche's wound...THEY DECLINE!!!....ARE YOU F*****G KIDDING ME!

Nissan spent how many months trying to build a Porsche 911 beater and when it comes time for a showdown THEY F*****G DECLINE!!!

— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 2:34:52 PM | | Votes: -3

"Reeve added that it’s flattering that Porsche bought a GT-R and took it on the ring"

Nissan accomplished what they wanted... putting some fear and insecurity into Porsche.

Remember when the original record was beaten it was on a semi-wet track!
— sector (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 10:25:23 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 11

The GT-R never beat any record.
— Heyhuub (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 10:33:56 AM | | Votes: -16

not the track record, I meant the 997 record around the ring.
— sector (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:05:29 AM | | Votes: 6

"Reeve added that it’s flattering that Porsche bought a GT-R and took it on the ring"
That is EXACTLY what NISSAN wanted Porsche to do for them!!! Free Marketing by Porsche.
— SVXXX (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 1:00:53 PM | | Votes: 6

Looks like the car that a lot of people seay to be really easy to drive, is not that easy to drive after all. It may take a real race car driver to accomplish a better lap time than the one that porsche driver accomplished. get back to work porsche.
— S30GTR (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 10:30:11 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 8

yeah, I guess the Porsche driver was just overwhelmed how good GT-R and forgot all about the "task" on hand :)
— sector (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:06:33 AM | | Votes: 9

Just watch the Fifth Gear comparison. Independent and unbiased by a real race car driver!

http://lethistorylive.com/2008/09/nissan-gt-r-vs-porsche-911-turbo-by.html
— vman1013 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:28:09 AM | | Votes: 9

Nissan continues to lie and cheat. It is after all a Japanese car brand.
— Star (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:14:56 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -20

Good thing you aren't biased.
— answer (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:32:34 AM | | Votes: 8

Now, why would you say that about Japanese. They are one of the nicest, respectful group of people you can find. For example, in the hospitality industry Japanese tourists rate #1 in the world because they are polite, considerate, and good tippers.

Tokyo is the largest city in the world with 35 million in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area. It's almost amazing they don't kill each other due to over crowing and hectic lifestyle, and do you know why? it's because they respect each other and are considerate... now does that sound like a bunch of cheaters and liars?
— sector (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:37:30 AM | | Votes: 5

I'm not saying that about Japanese people, I'm saying that about their horrible car companies.
— Star (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:41:20 AM | | Votes: -14

...you mean that ones that are outselling American companies because of superior build quality, customer service and reliability?
— StarSearch (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 12:59:31 PM | | Votes: 6

Exactly, the same Japanese companies that built econoboxes, rebadged them and sell them after as premium cars. The same Japanese companies that copy and steal from the Germans. The same Japanese companies that build cheap imitations of the real German masterpieces. Yup, those ones.
— Star (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 1:42:28 PM | | Votes: -12

"Now, why would you say that about Japanese. They are one of the nicest, respectful group of people you can find."

Except for the violent comic books that the Japanese businessmen read on their train commutes while the women have to endure being groped on the commuter trains and the fact that it's socially acceptable for business men to pay for sex with school girls (enjo kosai) and then there was that allegation recently that there are sweatshops in Japan where Toyota holds Koreans and others against their will and pays them less than minimum wage and the well publicized news stories about how employees have died after Toyota and other large Japanese companies forced them to work many hours of overtime each month for free.

http://ucarmagazine.com/toyota-linked-to-human-trafficking-and-sweatshop-abuses/

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10329261
— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 3:05:21 PM | | Votes: -4

"...Exactly, the same Japanese companies that built econoboxes, rebadged them and sell them after as premium cars. The same Japanese companies that copy and steal from the Germans. The same Japanese companies that build cheap imitations of the real German masterpieces. Yup, those ones. "

So are you making a blanket statement that ALL German cars are masterpieces and that ALL Japanese cars are inferior imitations? Because it would be very easy to list quite a few examples of crap that the Germans produce that would make you like like an even bigger fool, than you already do so well all by yourself.
— StarSearch (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 4:39:35 PM | | Votes: 6

Go Trabby Go!!
— _43LE (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 6:00:30 PM | | Votes: 1

I will admit that I am guilty for choosing the 911 Turbo over the GTR if I had a choice...simply for the fact that it has the name Porsche...but the GTR looks so much tougher in person! It is big! and it looks wide! but can still get the job done better than any smaller car out there.
— SHOWTIME (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:16:17 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6

Actually the GT-R looks like a bigger 350Z. And that means it looks cheap. You should go see one before claiming that it looks good.
— Star (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:31:56 AM | | Votes: -16

if you go back and read my comment, you will realize that I said it looks tougher in person...therefore, I saw it!
— SHOWTIME (View Profile)

Posted on 10/4/2008 12:09:46 AM | | Votes: 4

Well he's not very good at basic sentence comprehension obviously
— BJS470 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/4/2008 2:23:05 AM | | Votes: 2

actually STAR, it looks bad ass. it looks like it's leaving porsches behind just by standing still. the car is amazing on the road and on the track as well. it totally drives like a porsche killer to me. but don,t take my word for it. go get you're self one and try it, i asure you it will be fun.
— S30GTR (View Profile)

Posted on 10/5/2008 1:13:05 PM | | Votes: 2

Enough about low-life-Porsche. I will take my GTR on black please!
— GTR35 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:34:50 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 7

I'll take a Porsche 911 in Gray. There is no substitute.
— Star (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:39:40 AM | | Votes: -9

STAR
there is now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— S30GTR (View Profile)

Posted on 10/5/2008 1:14:56 PM | | Votes: 2

Hmm, now I can see where the German fan boys got their whining from, it seems like the German auto companies do that. Get over it, Porsche's ass has always been kicked by the GT-R and with this new one Porsche's ass got blown up, so stop your whining please and accept it.
— Designer1 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 12:03:31 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5

vman1013 - you're very wrong I'm afraid, which makes this even more amazing. FG has been bigging-up Porsche forever and continues to do so, despite this outcome.
— Mugwump00 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 12:43:21 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2

The GT-R looks great from that angle. If I had a balcony overlooking my driveway I'd park it just like that and smile at it over a drink each night.

What was this article about again? ;)
— M35MT (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 1:11:53 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4

The exaust ports are not physically attached to the exhaust pipes. I saw one in person back in April.
— holmstar (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 5:08:08 PM | | Votes: 0

Good response by Nissan. Other independent magazines have backed Nissan up and the GT-R wins, end of story. There is no reason for Nissan to get into a battle, because it is already over with and the GT-R came out on top!! Congratulations Nissan!!
— PerformanceGuy (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 1:12:52 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4

HEY NISSAN you got a hot product dont lie about something stupid like this if you cant do it the same time the porsche does then get your game up dont lie for the customers because they will look stupid because that lie will become a reality as porsche explained
— B7FAN (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 1:19:27 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -3

So Porsche is calling Nissan's bluff...basically challenging them...Nissan doesn't want a fight so they drop a few sentences and leave it as it may. If I were Nissan...I would have sent my driver to the ring...and offered to reproduce the same time using an off the showroom floor GT-R. This would have had several debilitating wounds to Porsche's image...1) Your driver can't drive 2) Your car is not as good as ours and we proved it. 3)We don't need to lie...maybe you need a better car. 4)Quit making excuses...baby!

But instead of taking the opportunity to really rub salt in Porsche's wound...THEY DECLINE!!!....ARE YOU F*****G KIDDING ME!

Nissan spent how many months trying to build a Porsche 911 beater and when it comes time for a showdown THEY F*****G DECLINE!!!
— Need4Speed (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 2:35:26 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -9

Gee, I wonder why Nissan doesn't do what you suggest? What a conundrum.
— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 2:51:58 PM | | Votes: -6

There are two different versions of the current GT-R. The first version is the kind you can buy off the showroom floor (like Porsche did) and the second version is the one Nissan gives the magazines for their comparison tests http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bym4KeAz3M0 .
— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 2:39:42 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -4

Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since it took the overall win in 1998.

1999 - Porsche (Manthey Racing) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-R.

2000 - Porsche (Team Taisan Advan) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-R.

2001 - Porsche (Seikel Motorsport) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-RS.

2002 - Porsche (The Racer's Group) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-RS.

2003 - Porsche (Alex Job Racing - Petersen Motorsports) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-RS.

2004 - Porsche (White Lightning Racing) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-RS.

2005 - Porsche (Alex Job Racing - BAM! Motorsport) wins the (renamed) GT2 category with a 911 GT3-RSR.

2007 - Porsche (IMSA Performance Matmut) wins the GT2 category with a 911 GT3-RSR.

---

Porsche’s American Le Mans Series class wins since 1998

2000 - Porsche 911 GT3-R wins GT class

2002 - Porsche 911 GT3-RS wins GT class

2003 - Porsche 911 GT3-RS wins GT class

2004 - Porsche 911 GT3-RSR wins GT class

2005 - Porsche 911 GT3-RSR wins (renamed) GT2 class

2006 - Porsche RS Spyder Evo wins LMP2 class

2007 - Porsche RS Spyder Evo wins LMP2 class

---

Nissan's major international race wins over the same period are listed below.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 2:42:34 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -10

This is not relevant. Nice waste of your time.
— M35MT (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 3:01:49 PM | | Votes: 5

It's relevant if you're discussing which company has a long (and honest) history of building the fastest cars.
— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 3:10:06 PM | | Votes: -5

This is NOT about professional racing.
NOT about any company record on the race circuit or any of the above. NONE of that has anything to do with the topic which is about street-legal cars running the ring.

If you ask me Porsche sounds threatened.
— 222max (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 5:04:00 PM | | Votes: 4

TurboSpyder = one SourKraut (pun intended!)
— F1_Driver (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 9:39:52 PM | | Votes: 1

TurboSpyder is right , Nissan hasn`t such a racing heritage like Porsche .
But simultaneously I have never seen him complaining about small BMW racing heritage in major international races . I`m curious why .
— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 10/4/2008 11:45:52 AM | | Votes: 4

Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since it took the overall win in 1998.

1999 - Porsche (Manthey Racing) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-R.

2000 - Porsche (Team Taisan Advan) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-R.

2001 - Porsche (Seikel Motorsport) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-RS.

2002 - Porsche (The Racer's Group) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-RS.

2003 - Porsche (Alex Job Racing - Petersen Motorsports) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-RS.

2004 - Porsche (White Lightning Racing) wins the GT category with a 911 GT3-RS.

2005 - Porsche (Alex Job Racing - BAM! Motorsport) wins the (renamed) GT2 category with a 911 GT3-RSR.

2007 - Porsche (IMSA Performance Matmut) wins the GT2 category with a 911 GT3-RSR.

---

Porsche’s American Le Mans Series class wins since 1998

2000 - Porsche 911 GT3-R wins GT class

2002 - Porsche 911 GT3-RS wins GT class

2003 - Porsche 911 GT3-RS wins GT class

2004 - Porsche 911 GT3-RSR wins GT class

2005 - Porsche 911 GT3-RSR wins (renamed) GT2 class

2006 - Porsche RS Spyder Evo wins LMP2 class

2007 - Porsche RS Spyder Evo wins LMP2 class

---

Nissan's major international race wins over the same period are listed below.

Tsk, tsk, what a waste of bandwith....
— DetectiveBA (View Profile)

Posted on 10/5/2008 11:39:30 AM | | Votes: 1

"Nissan's major international race wins over the same period are listed below."

http://www.datsunhistory.com
— F1_Driver (View Profile)

Posted on 10/6/2008 10:08:21 AM | | Votes: 3

let's guess how old star is.....i say 15
— skippee (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 2:45:04 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 8

Wrong! That's his/her IQ!!!
— F1_Driver (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 9:40:34 PM | | Votes: 3

This is the most annoying topic in the world. Porsche sucks and nissan sucks, blah blah blah. Can we move on or just bicker like someone just broke-up?
— Htay7500 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 3:20:20 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

I think the Prius article can be found elsewhere.
— Eyecarehawaii (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 5:40:12 PM | | Votes: 1

Can we talk intelligently about this? In a drag strip scenario the Porsche would probably have a leg up because it's a lighter car. Pure physics. However in a real world track scenario, like the ring, it's a totally different story...as so many comparisons have shown. Nissan said it would not get into a war of words. Enough said.

— E36er (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 5:33:16 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2

The key here is that the Nissan MRSP is significantly less than that for the Turbo Porsche, the Nissan weighs more, yet it performs on par with the Turbo. The GT-R is a direct ccompetitor with the Turbo from a performance aspect so Porsche decided to spend the USD 74k plus dealer's premium and shipping to see what made it so good. When they found what they were hoping to find they published their results, I supect in an attempt to gain or at least retain potential customer interest.
We all buy cars for various reasons. The GT-R in no way threatens Porsche's market position as a maker of premium sports cars. It just offers we consumers an additional choice and cometition between manufacturers is good for the consumer in most cases.
— Eyecarehawaii (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 5:50:33 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0

Give me a sledge hammer and I will make the GT-R look good.

:-)
— EL34 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/3/2008 11:34:20 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -4

TurboSpyder - Ultra Porche Fanboy....

haha
— changomo (View Profile)

Posted on 10/4/2008 4:05:47 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3

This is by far the most controversial topic of 2008 and probably will continue to be for years to come. I'm sick and tired of these articles. For the record the 997 is a very very quick car and so is the GT-R. There different classes of cars (911's being exotic-luxury sports cars) whereas the GT-R is a sports car that is only built to go fast and that's it.

Both are amazingly fast cars. I've test driven both cars (which are owned by an acquaintance of mine) and they are mighty quick.

We just have to end this and respect both cars and life moves on. Any 911 Turbo owner is sure as hell lucky to own one and the same goes to the GT-R owners. Different price, different market, different taste, different cars for different types of people all for one good reason, going fast.

Let's not hate on both there's no reason to realistically.
— Agent63 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/4/2008 8:45:29 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

GT-R and Porsche suck!!!!

lexus lf-a is where its at .
— Lexurious (View Profile)

Posted on 10/4/2008 9:22:38 PM | | Votes: -2

7:54 seems to to be a correct lap time for the GT-R, based on its power-to-weight and hardware ratio. As I recall it, the Z06 ran a 7:56 in 2003, and had a similar power-to-weight ratio (using only 405hp, but it was 750 lbs. lighter), with similar braking and handling numbers.

The problem with these Nurburgring lap time claims is there is no "Sanctioning Body" to oversee, officially document, and test these cars and their times. It can be very easy. The GT-R that Nissan used could have had over 550hp none of us would even know it.

Regardless of Porsche’s allegations, which may very well be true, it will not change the fact that the GT-R is a very fast car offering similar if not better performance than some of Porsche’s best cars, for a lot less money. Perhaps Nissan can explain how they "really" got that time and Porsche can explain why they have been charging us so much (too much) for their cars?
— DetectiveBA (View Profile)

Posted on 10/5/2008 11:35:20 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

DetectiveBA,

you meant to tell me that the GTR with all its uber handling and ability to maintain high apex speeds could only better the 2003 Z06 time by 2 miserable seconds!? I don't know about you but all of a sudden, 7:54 for a GTR on the nurb is beginning to look like a weak attempt.
— Gennissen (View Profile)

Posted on 10/6/2008 4:35:54 AM | | Votes: 2

“There is no way Nissan can beat Porsche”.

Sounds like …
“The 1969 Apollo Lunar landing was a hoax.”
“911 was a CIA plot, not a terrorist act.”

German Porsche engineers should pay more attention to their heritage.

"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are."

Bertolt Brecht
German Communist & dramatist (1898 - 1956)
— topneuro (View Profile)

Posted on 10/5/2008 9:50:51 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2

For Brands that respect theirs customer they never say "I Can do it" when they know is not true. Now is worse for them. People don't thrust in theirs credibility anymore. People who has power and money never buy copies just the original because this thing was created for this purpose for a long time ago. Porche always was and is a very fast cars they prove it and everybody know it.
— pepito66 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/6/2008 8:43:42 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0

And the world is still flat.
— F1_Driver (View Profile)

Posted on 10/6/2008 10:07:28 AM | | Votes: 0

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Nissan answers to Porsche, defending its Nurburgring lap time

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