RB26…the year 2000 called and they want their engine back. Get with the program dude, unless your still in that whole Fast and Furious generation shit.
:anal
and whats wrong with an rb?
The choice of V6 vs I6 motor comes down to weight distribution. Sure the RB was a great engine and they used to clean up the Japanese GT league for years but it was also a very long block compared to that of a standard V6. With a shorter block you can push the engine further back in the engine bay and thus achieve a 50/50 weight ratio much easier than if the engine went the entire engine bay length. And doing a small detail like that improves handling of the car because the center of gravity is centered.
It’s the same concept that many companies use to improve handling in a vehicle. Honda did it in the S2000, Nissan has in the S13s and Subaru does it the WRX.
Nissan said that they would not be making very many sacrifices in the name of performance. Plus they really wanted to put a cool motor on the scene.
agreed ^
rb’s are still the shit though
and i wanna see how much power one of these new motors can push reliably
its aluminium right?
Sounds like it is going to be fast <meow> car. Hopefully this is the real deal and not the BS fanboy shit i have been reading. 7:55 (average) on the nur is not bad at <meow> all.
Yes, it lives up to all the hype!
The coming Nissan GT-R is a world-class supercar: Top speed of 193 mph, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, a 473 hp, 433 lb ft twin-turbo V6 mounted in the front and driving all four wheels through a rear-mounted transaxle. Take a breath. Okay, continue. And a dual-clutch six-speed automatic you can operate via paddles on the steering wheel.
After a full day driving it on the Nurburgring, the Autobahn and up and over numerous little German country roads we can easily say this is one car that was not over hyped. It is truly a world-class supercar on par with, if not just ahead of, the iconic Porsche Turbo. (They had a Porsche Turbo on hand, too, and we thought the GT-R felt better tied down.)
But it’s one thing to put a license plate on a race car and call it streetable. Chief engineer Kazutoshi Mizuno said the new GT-R was designed and engineered as an all-around, all-season, all-weather car that is comfortable to drive every day, even at normal speeds on a normal day.
During the few minutes we drove at what could be called a “normal pace” that day we’d have to say we agree with him. But given only a few hours at the wheel of this, the most highly anticipated supercar in years, we were only in “normal” mode for very brief spurts. The rest of the time we were at some level between “pushing it” and “hammering on the mutha’.”
Our first time behind the wheel was on the A48 autobahn in Germany somewhere out around Koblenz or Koln or some other K-town where the German socialist government had not yet succeeded in adding those awful 120-km-hr speed limits. It was like Bonneville with elevation changes and guardrails. The only limitation out here was aerodynamic. Hence, we were obliged to go all-out whompin’ fast the whole time.
Rolling right out of the autobahn rest stop where we rendezvoused with the Japanese engineering support crew, we nailed the throttle to the floor and man did the throttle respond. The 3.8-liter VR38 V6 sits up front, with two of its six cylinders forward of the front axle and four aft. Two bagel-sized IHI turbos sit right at the exhaust manifold for quick response. The 433 lb ft of torque rails across the tach from 3200 to 5200 rpm. Peak 473 hp comes at 6400 revs.
A carbon fiber prop shaft (“Good damping and stiffness”) runs back to the transaxle, incorporating the clutch, transmission and transaxle altogether. The shifting is done via a direct, twin-clutch system. One clutch handles the odd gears and another clutch handles the even ones. Shifts take 0.2 seconds. There are BorgWarner triple-cone synchronizers for all gears. Another shaft runs forward from that transaxle to send power to the front wheels. Below 25 mph the torque split is 50/50, above that, under normal driving, the split is 40/60. But it can split up to 2/98 under hard acceleration, which was what we were giving it.
Our car rode on 20-inch wheels wrapped by Bridgestone Potenza RE070s, 255/40 in front and 285/35 rears. Front suspension was upper and lower A-arms and the rear was a five-link.
It’s always fun to go from zero to warp factor in a right hand-drive car using a jet-lagged left hand-drive brain, trying not to turn on the windshield wipers when you think you’re hitting the turn signal.
The GT-R lists quarter-mile time at 11.7 seconds and entering the Autobahn we had no reason to doubt that. The turbo boost was, as promised, very progressive, with little or no discernable lag, just smooth, even power delivery.
Despite the late-morning hour and the mid-week day, there were still a few cars in the way. When we eased onto the 15.2-inch ventilated cross-drilled Brembo brakes from well into triple-digit speeds the car slowed without drama. But then traffic would clear out and the GT-R resumed its high velocity chase with ease.
There are three settings for the Bilstein Damptronic shocks: R, Sports and Comfort. We went out in Sports.
Top speed is listed at 193 mph but with traffic the best we could do was 176. You wouldn’t try that in any country but Germany, where you can usually assume everyone else is paying attention. There was a Japanese engineer riding shotgun over on the left whom we dubbed “Bushido engineer-o” or brave engineer. He thought that was pretty funny.
While the coefficient of drag is an impressive 0.27, better than almost any production car, the GT-R also produces downforce at each axle, something very few production cars can claim.
“Cd is more important than downforce on a G35,” said chief designer Hiroshi Hasegawa. “But in the case of the GT-R we have to make downforce.”
At 193 mph you might appreciate that philosophy.
The first time we went out, the right front wheel felt just a little out of balance, so we came back in and they changed all four wheels. They’re efficient, these guys. After that the car was smooth as well as stable and safe, due in equal parts to the German roadway and the Japanese engineering.
The whole car sits on the new PM platform, PM meaning Prime Midship. The PM incorporates what Mizuno-san called a “hybrid superstructure body.” There is carbon-injected material in the front end and carbon composite material underneath for aerodynamic downforce. There’s even some polypropylene in the body, too.
We truly enjoyed the Autobahn experience. This is the perfect car for such a top-speed run—it gives such a sense of control at those speeds that you feel like you could do anything.
Next on our agenda of “anything” were some miles of country road. We were able to drive the GT-R back-to-back with a Porsche Turbo.
“Okay now, please enjoy,” said the Nissan technician as we exited the company compound down the street from the Nurburgring.
After “much spirited driving,” we can say the Turbo had a good deal more lag and more dive and squat than the GT-R. But once the Porsche got spooled up, achtung, baby. It felt lighter and the steering felt quicker, too. The biggest difference between the two was that the Turbo demanded more of its driver while the GT-R was easier to handle, flatter and more stable. We’d be happy with either one, if you’re considering a birthday present or anything.
Next up on this Disneyland of a day was Der Nurburgring. This is what all those teenagers whose parents have not taken away their Playstation access really want to do: drive an actual GT-R around the actual Nurburgring as fast as grip, guts and gasoline allow.
Man-oh-flippin’-man. The real deal is about 100 times more thrilling than any computer simulation, even those with the little plastic steering wheel and feet pedals attached.
This was the new Nurburgring, too. Nissan wasn’t foolish enough to turn this small squadron of car writer hacks loose on the narrow, blind, crazy-dangerous Nordschliefe. At the time of our drive there were only three prototype GT-Rs extant in the world, and all the apologizing on Earth wouldn’t bring one back if you crunched it.
The new Nurburgring is faster, with wide, sweeping turns bordered by runoff areas so huge that even the most no-talent buffoon could likely stay on the pavement. So we did.
All the Japanese engineers and executives had been telling everyone that there was a 35-mph speed limit in the pits, but in all the excitement we kind of forgot about it and nailed the throttle right out of the parking spot right there in pit lane. The wide, low, squealing run-flat tires laid down long patches of black rubber as we launched past the closed garages, pulling back on the right paddle to shift the rear-mounted dual-clutch six-speed transaxle every time the engine got close to its 7000-rpm redline.
In no time at all we were roaring onto pit-out near the end of the straight and directly into the low, evening sun. By the time we got fully out on the front straight and were shifting up from four to five or so, the sun was directly in front of the GT-R and streaming into the windshield; we were trying to remember if that first right-hander came at this rise or just past it. It was just past it, but we’d already started braking and downshifting, the GR6’s “synchro-rev control,” which perfectly matched each downshift with a throttle blip much better than we’d ever have been able to match it.
Tiptoeing through the first couple turns to avoid the infamy of the run-off gravel, the car felt perfectly safe and willing. So we hammered it up through the gears down the hill and to the far 180-degree turn and started to feel more confident. By the end of the first lap we were flat out on the front straight, roaring up through all six gears for all it was worth.
Nissan lists lateral g’s at 0.99, and we certainly bumped up against that in many a Nurburgring corner.
We only got three full laps and no one was timing us, so you’ll just have to assume we set the lap record. Earlier, Mizuno-san had offered some lap times from the Nordschliefe for various cars driven by the German magazine SportAuto. Those times are driver-dependent, track-knowledge-dependent, weather-, traffic- and bunny-crossing-the-track dependent. But Mizuno suggested the GT-R could get anywhere from 7:44 on up, with most laps coming in between 7:55 and 7:58. So he suggested the GT-R’s strong suit was that it offered “the best cost per lap time.” For whatever that’s worth.
The GT-R will be priced somewhere in the low-$70,000 range, which does make it perhaps the best cost per lap. We’ll know for sure when it enters U.S. showrooms in May or June. Japan will get first crack at it, we get second and the Europeans, who did such a great job of getting out of our way during our Autobahn drive, will have to get it third.
Engine and Drivetrain:
* The engine designation is VR38DETT (Twin Turbocharged 3.8-liter V6) * The engine performance of the 3 trims is the same * <i>There is no Manual transmission option</i>
FUUUUCK THAAAAAAAAT!!!
I’ll NEVER buy one.
I won’t even try to persuade my DAD to buy one!
AND THATS WHY YOU OWN AN FD!
(and think its the shit)
Could have saved weight by designing an aluminum block RB26. A tuned RB sounds 100x better than a VQ engine.
Not like weight was an issue for them (3800lbs)…
Why??? I guess everyone is just an Rb fan boy
Rb’s are heavy, tall and long compared to a VQ. Designing an aerodynamic car around a tall and long engine is alot harder than a compact v style.
Have you looked inside a GTR engine bay lately? Its not the engine that preventing Nissan from making a more aero car. The whole front end is designed to cram as much cooling as possible into the intercooler and rad.
RB fan boy? ok, whatever dude. Looks like some here have an RB complex.
Yea a RB20DE would really make this car so much cooler. :roll:
Nothing besides the fact they have been out since 1988.
Yea RB’s are the shit, those weak ass pistons, hydrualic lifter, oil drainage problems, oil pump drive issues and the fact they are heavy make them the shit FO SHO dog!!!
Dont even try to say shit about this , i have a RB25 that im doing a full build on right now and am fixing all the factory problems right off the bat.
Reliability and power are inversley proportional to each other. More Power=Less reliable…unless you rebuild the engine. But im willing to bet since this engine is built by Cosworth which has been building RACING engines for 50 years there shouldnt be to many factory problems with the VR motors.
Someone piss in your cornflakes?
An RB26 engine can hold 450hp at the flywheel quite reliably on pump gas. If its an R33 or R34 motor without the crank shaft problem they are very reliable. The stock pistons are not a problem unless you are pushing some serious boost or a bad tune. If anything needed an update its the intake. The design crams too much air into #6 and leans it out, causing the so called piston problem. This is why most guys with an Apexi Power FC put more fuel into #5 and 6 to combat this problem.
I think it would have been cool to keep it a straight 6 in GTR tradition, considering they have had one since 1969… Update it, make it competative. Use aluminum for the block, I can’t see it weighing more than 50lbs more than a VQ, if at all. Its not like Nissan has had the same I6 all along, if they were to keep using it, an update would be good. Maybe more displacement to lug around that 3800lb tank.
I was not dissing the VQ, its a well built motor. It just seems to me that the I6 is keeping with tradition. I feel the same with with BMW getting rid of the I6 in the M3 for a V-8… just seems wrong. Why not put a V-10 into a Corvette? Because a V-8 is keeping with tradition.
Quit your ranting and calling guys fanboys. I am a car enthusiest and one of my favorite things about the GTR is the I6TT.
thanks for the positive discussion and no name calling whatsoever.it is awesome to hear and to discuss two sided arguments and comment on one anothers opinions.
all I can say is:
AUTOMATIC ONLY.
:finga: :finga: :finga: :finga: :finga: :finga: :finga: :finga:
what wrong with the auto trans + paddle shift style gear box. Have you driven a car equiped with one? they’re very very very nice. Go drive an e46 m3 with stick then drive an e46 m3 with paddle shifts. i garandamtee-you you will love the paddle shifts. i say if it makes the skyline faster, by all means.
aluminum ftl … if you want to make something stronger you dont use weak metal just to save some weight
Well the inline 6 history argument is valid but the Skyline never sold in most of the world anyways so People in North American, South America, and most of Europe dont even know about the Skyline. Nissan is building this car to showcase Nissan and to give it an image car that can compete against all the other 500 + hp. 0-100 in 3.5 seconds and a 11.7 Quarter mile are very impressive times and being very close to the Porsche GT’s Nurburg Ring time ( 4 or 5 seconds off on a 7.5 minute race track). this car is heavy and a little underpowered but alll its technology makes up for these things.
The turbos on the GTR make the New Porsche Variable geometry turbo look old school. This car is a showcase of what Nissan can do, not really a history thing considering Nissan almost went bank rupt in 1998.
I agree on that and this is what people dont understand about it. It is not for the average consumer … its to show people that Nissan is an innovative company and that they haven’t lost their racing heritage. Every car company needs to have a flagship that little kids can hang a poster of in their bedroom and for middle aged men to look forward to one day affording when they have a mid life crisis.