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After a five year hiatus since the last Skyline, the GT-R has landed, aiming to provide an unmatched synergy of technology and dynamic driver involvement.
The GT-R body features die-cast aluminum, carbon fiber and advanced steel construction and has an altogether more svelte appearance compared to the overly aggressive and angular traditional Skyline design language.
The more curvaceous styling is not purely an aesthetic exercise either for GT-R. It features a drag-coefficient of only Cd 0.27, remarkable for a supercar which produces prodigious ground hugging and airflow distorting down-force.
Straight-six no more
Perhaps the most radical new feature is the engine, which is now a twin-turbo in V6 configuration instead of the traditional in-line six Skyline layout. Displacing 3.8-litres and producing 353kW and 588Nm the new engine features unusual plasma coating bores to improve cooling efficiency.
Driving all four wheels - as dictated by the Skyline bloodline - through a Borg Warner six-speed paddle shift dual-clutch gearbox which features full automatic, GT-R employs a myriad of electro-mechanical sophistry to ensure epic handling.
An independent transaxle and advanced four-wheel drive system continuously adjusts torque front-to-rear (and vice versa) depending on dynamic needs to provide the broadest possible dynamic range of handling responses to driver input. Huge performance
Acceleration from 0-100km/h is claimed to be 3.6 seconds and a pre-production GT-R prototype has already lapped the fabled Nërburgring in 7 minutes and 38 seconds piloted by Nissan test driver Suezaki-san in partially wet conditions. Which is an entire two seconds faster than either the Bugatti Veyron or Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren clocked.
Huge Brembo drilled ventilated disc brakes and Brembo opposed monoblock calipers offer immense stopping power whilst dampers, gear shift and VDC-R are all manually adjustable, by simple switches on the dashboard. Skyline also features run-flat high performance tyres enabling a driver to cruise at 80km/h for 80km even when one of the tyres is punctured. Fantasy cabin
A high-speed, high-capacity CARWINGS (Japanese market) navigation system, with a powerful 30GB hard disk drive, features an easy-to-use touch pad, as well as traditional navigation switches.
The screen interface features not only the navigation system, but also an enriched entertainment system with a Music Box hard drive, DVD and CD player, and Bluetooth audio function.
Obviously no GT-R would be complete without the obligatory cabin mounted G-meter which records both lateral (acceleration and braking) and transverse (cornering) forces.
Adding to the bespoke nature of the GT-R will be the meticulous nature of its production, with each engine and transmission being hand assembled by a single engineer.
The first models will arrive at Japanese dealers on December 6, retailing in Japan at approximately $67 000.
