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FERNLEY, NV – Hailing from Tochigi, Japan, and weighing in at a polished tailpipe less than a small SUV, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd’s ’09 GT-R sports coupe at first seems unlikely to flip the ultra-high-performance arena on its lid.
It’s not the flamboyant head-turner buyers expect of a supercar, and its historic badge is only now being introduced into the U.S.’s automotive lexicon.
But as the first of the auto maker’s halo cars to be sold worldwide, Nissan has high expectations for the fifth-generation R35 model. And with this being the first GT-R not to be based on the Japan-market Skyline coupe, few cars have received more hype than this video-game icon.
After a day in the mountains, as well as on Reno-Fernley Raceway’s road course here, it becomes clear the new GT-R truly is something special. It accelerates and changes direction with physics-defying tenacity, and its high-speed grip and stability are nothing short of incredible for a street vehicle of any price.
Putting the aptly nicknamed Godzilla into context is difficult because no current or recent vehicle has made such over-the-top athleticism – and usability – so attainable.
Its $70,000 sticker, 3.5-second 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time and 193-mph (311-km/h) top speed put it in lock step with the equally affordable but less-practical Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Yet, by purposely eclipsing the benchmark of a Porsche 911 Turbo, Nissan ensures the GT-R can show its signature 4-ring taillights to most exotics more than double its price.
