#14: 2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo
2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo
We’re hopping across oceans once again to visit our Japanese friends and their island of speed with the 2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo. The GT-R is Nissan’s current flagship production car with tons of racing pedigree that dates to 1969. Originally based on the legendary Skyline coupe, the GT-R has achieved fame on the road and track. It still pays homage to the Skyline with its twin-turbo 6 motor, four-wheel drive, R35 designator, “Godzilla” nickname of the late 80’s and 90’s, and classic round headlights, but this is where the similarities end.
Unveiled in 2007, the GT-R had to have a staggered global release. There was so much tech and mechanical engineering crammed under the hood of the Godzilla that Nissan had to build specialized regional service centers just to handle customer maintenance needs before the car could even be sold.
Nissan GT-R Nismo
Originally built to pump out 480 horses and 430 torques, the first rendition of the AWD Japanese supercar put cars like the Z06 to shame with a base price in the $60K range – and then Nissan upped the ante in 2015 with the GT-R Nismo. Not content with offering a 4-second 0-60 time at such a low price range, Nissan decided to steal some turbos off their GT3 racer, throw on some stiffer suspension and aerodynamic bits, and pump up the GT-R’s numbers to a wild 600 horses and 481 torques.
The result was the GT-R Nismo, Godzilla on steroids. New spring rates, shocks, roll bars and bushings helped the Nismo hook its Dunlop Sport Maxx GTs and launch like an arrow. The Nismo-zilla bested Porsche’s hyper 918 Spyder on the ‘Gring with a lap time of just 7:8.679. The Nismo can top out at 196 MPH, and it’ll reach that first 60 MPH in just 2.6 seconds (though some claim to have hit 2.5).
