Japan's only Super Car, the Nissan GT-R, provides assured control and outperforms the best Europe has to offer.

The exotic, all-new 2009 Nissan GT-R, long coveted by American buyers who previously could experience the legendary GT-R only through electronic video games, officially went on sale July 7th at a select number of GT-R Certified Nissan dealers across the United States.

"I've followed the history of the GT-R since inception and, after years of anticipation, it's great to see the 'Godzilla of supercars' finally coming to the U.S.," said Alison.

 

"I've owned a number of Nissan 350Z sports cars and other exotics and muscle cars, but more than any other vehicle I can't wait to get this new GT-R out on the road."

The 2009 Nissan GT-R features a 3.8-liter twin turbo V6 producing 480 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque, backed by an all-new, paddle-shifted, dual clutch sequential 6-speed rear transaxle. It features the use of a world's first independent rear transaxle ATTESA E-TS all-wheel drive system, which places the transmission, transfer case and final drive at the rear of the vehicle, optimizing weight distribution and maximizing handling capability.

The Nissan GT-R's hybrid body construction combines steel, carbon fiber and die-cast aluminum and has a low coefficient of drag of 0.27, while achieving high front and rear downforce. GT-R's four-passenger cabin features a sloping "aero blade canopy" roofline and curved C-pillar "sword edge," as well as GT-R's hallmark four-ring taillights, functional rear carbon fiber underbody diffuser, rear spoiler and large, integrated quad exhaust tips. Inside, GT-R's interior includes sculpted performance bucket seats for an optimal driving position, a cockpit-style instrument panel with a large center-mounted tachometer and a multi-function display - which includes mechanical and driving information, as well as an on-board driving recorder.

A 2009 Nissan GT-R recently set a lap time of 7 minutes 29 seconds at the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife, one of the fastest times achieved by a production-spec vehicle to date, and has been timed in independent magazine tests at 0 - 60 miles per hour in under 3.5 seconds.

 

Recorded on April 16 and 17, the GT-R used was a base specification car and fitted with the standard Japanese market tyres. Driven by GT-R chief test driver Tochio Suzuki, this latest lap time beats the previous fastest time for the GT-R by nine seconds.

The previous best lap time for GT-R of 7:38, also driven by Suzuki, was one of the fastest laps achieved by a production car despite conditions being slightly damp on two corners.

"At last year's testing, we were frustrated by the conditions at the Nürburgring, always believing that the GT-R could go under seven minutes 30 seconds," said Kazutoshi Mizuno, Chief Vehicle Engineer for GT-R. "Below seven minutes 30 seconds, the GT-R proves it is among the fastest mass-production cars in the world. We set out to build a multi-performance supercar accessible to anyone, anytime and anywhere - I believe the GT-R has delivered that promise."

The Nissan GT-R package balances this power with practicability - two contradicting factors - to realize a new dimensional multiperformance supercar with ultimate performance for " anyone, anywhere, anytime" . Offering the acceleration performance of a supercar, the Nissan GT-R holds a higher dimension of 'cornering and braking'.

The Nissan GT-R adopts a newly developed Premium Midship package, a furtherly advanced form of the FM (Front Midship) package.

 

Nissan GT-R: "Force of the Earth" - Utilizing natural forces to the maximum

Returning to the fundamental principle of what an automobile should be, the vehicle is designed to convert inertia force, generated by the earth's natural forces (gravity) and the vehicle in movement, into tire grip, and change airflow into a stabilizing force.

As a result, Nissan developed a drive system especially and exclusively for the new Nissan GT-R called Independent Transaxle 4WD (Nissan patent). This independent transaxle 4WD was unified with the rear final drive unit, and the front and rear were integrated by a carbon propeller shaft, after moving the clutch, transmission, and transfer to the rear of the vehicle for the first time in world.

Stabilized ground load on all four wheels

On conventional vehicles, there was a tendency for front wheels to loose adhesion from meeting resistance of an invisible wall of air, causing load to slip. The load shifts to the rear as drive force is applied, causing the front wheels to lift, lighter steering. Especially in rainy weather when air density rises, the front wheels lift further, creating a higher possibility for a hydroplane phenomenon to occur.

In order to stabilize load-distribution on all four wheels, the basic elements for packaging were reconsidered, to create a package that fully utilizes natural forces of the earth.

Nissan GT-R Optimized Load Distribution

Discussion on load distribution of conventional vehicles has been focused on the static load distribution during stopping. However, to ultimately heighten the fundamental performances of "driving, cornering, braking" , inertia load shift has been fully separated and independent between the front and rear wheels; the engine load on the front tires and transaxle load on the rear. In addition to this, the transaxle placed below the rear wheel center lowers the center of gravity of the vehicle. The Nissan GT-R, capable of utilizing inertia load, realizes ultimate flat riding comfort with minimal load shift during braking, cornering and any driving situation.

 

The basic dimension of the 2009 Nissan GT-R has also been optimized. Run-flat tires with a large diameter and high capacity have been adopted to maximize the tire grip area where power and torque are applied, and optimize power weight and torque weight ratio. Heavy load is placed in the center of the vehicle based on the wheelbase tread.A brake with powerful braking force, is adopted to handle " driving and cornering" . The optimized dimension realizes balanced load distribution on all four wheels, improved cornering performance and stability, pitching convergence, damping force and braking force improvement, and minimized shift in posture.

 

 

As load distribution is evenly balanced on all four wheels with the optimized load distribution and dimension, vehicle behavior is easy to grasp, allowing the driver to start accelerating earlier. In addition, powerful traction of the front wheels helps the vehicle to accurately accelerate in the steered direction. With this newly created " traction steering" driving concept, the fun-to-drive range is widely expanded.

 

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