30 Nov 07
As you move off, the GT-R feels big, heavy and wide, but also massively strong and very focused. As you gingerly press the right pedal, the V6 turbo immediately responds, revving easily up to three, four grand, the turbo boost fast, powerful and progressive.
The engine's set up to deliver nearly 70% of its torque with ordinary low-rev driving. It sounds hard, businesslike and not musical like an Alfa V6, but you forget all about that as the engine gets into its stride. It will zoom very happily up to the 7,000rpm red line, and is happiest between 4,000 and 7,000rpm. That's where the GT-R is sensationally, gobsmackingly fast and as you zap through the gears, the changes come as rapidly as you can think them, exhilaratingly clean and sharp every time. This brilliant 'box, which can also run as a straight auto, does great blips on downshifts, too. It also whirrs and clicks at low speeds, like a racing car.
The sharp and exploitable chassis has double wishbone front and multilink rear suspension and you can vary the stiffness of the trick Bilstein electronic damping. 'Sports' is where you'll want to be most of the time. 'R' is intended for track driving, and makes the ride extremely brittle if you use it on the road. 'Comfort' brings with it waves of body float, which is odd in a GT-R. There is also an 'R' button on the dash that gives faster gearchanges and makes the VDC stability control cut in later, or turns it off completely. But again, these are really for the track.
It's a big, weighty car. It's longer and wider than a Corvette and yes, the 1,740kg kerb weight is more than its creators wanted. But for a big coupe, the GT-R is amazingly agile, and packs huge amounts of grip. While turn-in is tenacious, the sharp, high-geared steering (just 2.5 turns lock-to-lock) needs a bit of getting used to. On the track the steering action is superb, imparting fantastic precision, weighting and feedback. But on fast rural roads, the GT-R can feel a bit nervy. Just a slight movement of the wheel can see the car shift position quite dramatically, and on rutted rural roads it tends to tramline.
