Nissan Announces New Record Nurburgring Time for GT-R: 7min 26.7 sec

To whom it may concern because quite frankly, these Nurburgring lap time records are starting to get as boring as the never-ending promotion of Chevy's Camaro, Nissan has officially announced that it has improved the GT-R's lap time at the Nordschleife circuit in Germany to 7min 26 seconds 70 on April 23, 2009. The previous recorder lap times at the 'Ring were 7 minutes 27 seconds 56 on April 15, 2009, 7min 29sec in April 2008 and 7min 38sec in September 2007.

"This record demonstrates our commitment to the continuous evolution of the Nissan GT-R," says Kazutoshi Mizuno, Chief Vehicle Engineer and Chief Vehicle Specialist. "We would like to continue delivering the passion and pride of ownership to our customers by improving its performance every year."

In other words, expect to see Porsche, Nissan, GM and who knows who many other automakers, announcing new 'record' lap times at the 'Ring faster than you can say Nordschleife.

Rumorville: 2011 Nissan GT-R with More Power and New Aero Kit

A lightly camouflaged Nissan GT-R prototype that was recently spotted at Germany's Nurburgring race track has spawned rumors in Japan of an updated version of the R35 that could hit the market as soon as next year as a 2011MY. While this may sound strange since Nissan presented a facelifted version of the GT-R with trivial upgrades that included some fine tuning of the twin-turbocharged V6's electronics for a 5HP "boost" to 485HP just a few months ago, considering the fact that the 2010MY GT-R came out only a year after its Japanese market debut and six months after its North American market introduction, everything is possible.

Using the spy photos as an educational canvas, Japan's Best Car magazine came up with a computer generated image of what the facelifted 2011 GT-R could like. Cosmetic changes are said to include new aero bits as well as a redesigned front bumper while speculation has it that Nissan will also fiddle around with the 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 "squeezing" out a few more ponies for an overall output close to 500HP.

If the rumors turn out to be true, then apparently the more hardcore V-Spec model is also due for an update, though not before 2011.

Via: Best Car

Family Feud: Nissan GT-R Smacks Nissan Primera, ends up on a Tree

The power, the looks, the brains - um, in this case better cross the last one out... According to Romanian media reports, the driver of this Nissan GT-R was merrily "testing" the Japanese sports coupe's ability to go over 150km/h (around 100mph) on a central road in the capital city of Bucharest when all of sudden, a mundane Nissan Primera appeared out of nowhere...

After rear-ending the poor guy in the family car the driver of GT-R lost control of the vehicle which smashed into a tree knocking it down. Believe it or not, according to the report, apart from some minor scratches, no one was seriously injured in the accident.

Via: Libertatea , Photos: Simona Ghita

2010 Nissan GT-R Allegedly Laps the Nurburgring 1.44 Sec Faster than 2009 model

Of course you're wondering why we're saying 'allegedly'. Well, simply put, at the time this post was written, no Nissan media site that we know of -Japanese included- has issued an official press release on the matter. Most websites have published a supposedly official release saying that Nissan lapped the Nurburgring with a Japanese specification 2010 GT-R facelift running on Dunlop tires with RAYS forged alloy wheels, in 7 minutes and 27.56 seconds, or about 1.44 seconds faster than the pre-facelift model. We'll update this post as soon as we find something officially-official from Nissan.

Via: Autoblog.com

Nissan GT-R Snares New Nurburgring Record

The all-conquering Nissan GT-R supercar has set another lap record at the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany.

A Japanese specification GT-R, running on Dunlop tyres with RAYS forged alloy wheels (V-spec equipment) recorded a blistering 7min 27.56 secs yesterday.

Driven by Nissan's Chief test driver Toshio Suzuki (who recently demonstrated the GT-R to the Australian media in Sydney at Eastern Creek Raceway) piloted the performance coupe.

Although dry, the track surface grip was impaired by dust and sand. Under the direction of Nissan GT-R Chief Vehicle Engineer, Kazutoshi Mizuno, and depending on conditions, the Nissan test team will attempt another record at the 'Ring tomorrow.

First British Drivers take Delivery of Nissan GT-R

Today, the very first British buyers took delivery of the much-hyped Nissan GT-R sportscar. Luckily for them, all GT-Rs arriving in the UK are 2009MY meaning that they feature the 5HP power increase for an overall output of 485HP, suspension and various other upgrades. Nissan UK said that subsequent deliveries are planned for soon after though, due to high demand, those ordering will have to wait for at least a year to get their hands on the car. Since the order books opened in UK on 2nd April 2008, Nissan has received 1,250 deposits from buyers.

Video: Nissan GT-R R35 Crashes after being Smoked by a Lancer EVO IX

In what could very well be the first-ever Nissan GT-R R35 crash documented on tape, a 'poor' GT-R owner loses control of his car after racing against a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX MR on a twisty mountain road at night. As you can see in the video after the jump, the GT-R pilot didn't seem to be much of a match for the EVO driver -even though for apparent reasons, it's an easier task to keep up with a car in front than to be leading the chase/race. Follow the jump to watch the video.

Via: Jalopnik

Facelifted 2010 Nissan GT-R with 485HP Priced from $80,790

Nissan has released U.S. pricing for its subtly updated and of course, more expensive, 2010 GT-R supercar. In a nutshell, the 2010MY AWD coupe receives five-additional ponies for a total output of 485-horsepower, revised suspension, brake and transmission, updated wheel finishes and standard front seat- and roof-mounted curtain side-impact supplemental air bags. These changes result to an increase of $3,950 in the price of both the base GT-R and the GT-R Premium model which now have an MSRP of $80,790 and $83,040 respectively. Destination and handling in both cases will set you back by another $1,000.

We remind you that in September 2008, Nissan hiked the prices for the base GT-R by a whopping $6,990, from $69,850 to $76,840, and by $7,190, from $71,900 to $79,090 for the Premium model.

For more details and a high-resolution gallery of the 2010 Nissan GT-R, click here.

Nissan GT-R R35 Station Wagon Conversion

To be completely frank, what you see pictured above is a R35 GT-R faced Nissan Stagea M35, a Japanese-market model produced from 2001 to 2007 which is commonly referred to as the Skyline Station Wagon as it is based on the Skyline/Infiniti G35 V35 platform. On show at the Nagoya Auto Trend show, this canny conversion from Japanese speciality tuner "Kids Heart", combines the front end of the almighty GT-R with the practical body of the Stagea.

Unfortunately, we don't have any information concerning the GT-R Wagon's hardware, but we reckon that you'd agree with us when we say that it would be a letdown if it isn't equipped with the GT-R's twin-turbo V6 engine.

Source: Northwestern Nissans , Via: Jalopnik

Infiniti Releases Essence Concept Teaser Photo

Following an earlier announcement, Infiniti went ahead today and issued the first teaser photograph of its Geneva Show-bound concept car that will be called 'Essence'. The Japanese firm has not revealed any particular details on the car other than it has been produced in collaboration with Louis Vuitton and that it will be 'one dramatic concept' previewing 'an exploration into the brand's future'.

The image appears to illustrate the car's swoopy C-pillar and pronounced rear-wheel arch, leading us to believe that the Essence could be previewing a proposal for a high-end sports coupe. If that's the case, then it wouldn't be too farfetched to say that there's a good possibility that it could be based on the underpinnings of the Nissan GT-R. But better wait for more information to come in before we make any more speculations.

More Than Meets the Eye: Audi R8 and Nissan GT-R Transformers

Here in the States, when it comes to Transformer toys, we're usually restricted to receiving the mainstream Autobots and Decepticons, but in the Land of the Rising Sun, fans appear to have broader range of products to choose from. Take these Transformers for example that are based on the new Nissan GT-R and the Audi R8. Judging from what we see in the photos, the Nissan GT-R Autobot looks like a pretty neat proposal, something that cannot be said for the Audi R8 Decepticon which gives the impression of a poorly executed design.

And for those of you wondering, we have no idea which company builds these Transformers or where you can buy them.

Photos Via: The Arker