AFTER MUCH anticipation, Nissan Philippines Inc. (NPI) finally unveils its first official GT-R supercar at the 6th Philippine International Motor Show.
Hiroshi Tamura, Nissan’s NISMO Chief Product Specialist flew in personally to unveil his latest iteration of the Nissan GT-R R35 and to talk about its key new features and performance enhancements.
NISMO stands for Nissan Motorsport International Ltd., Nissan’s in-house tuning and performance division.
Fondly dubbed by car enthusiasts as the “Godzilla,” the moniker for the GT-R came from the Australian motoring press in 1989 when Nissan introduced its third generation R32 Skyline GT-R in 1989. The name thereafter became synonymous even on future generation GT-R’s.
Although Nissan already dropped the “Skyline” name, and is not officially part of the Skyline range, the R35 is still considered a successor of the Skyline GT-R family.
The GT-R R35 model was introduced in Japan in 2007 and was conceived as a concept car first shown in the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show, afterwhich Nissan unveiled a redesigned concept vehicle in the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show that became a close-to-production concept car.
“We are very excited introduce the iconic Nissan GT-R to the Philippine automotive market, as we continue on our quest to deliver innovation and excitement for everyone” said NPI president and managing director Ramesh Narasimhan.
“These are certainly exciting times for Nissan. We have experienced phenomenal growth in the past few months, achieving record-breaking sales two months in a row and a market share increase to 4.1 percent, growing faster than the automotive industry as a whole.
“And with the addition of this highly anticipated vehicle into our expanding product line-up, we are looking forward to saying that Nissan truly is back and better than ever,” Narasimhan said.
Hiroshi Tamura explains, “The new GT-R delivers a heart-pounding driving experience at all times and on any road for whoever sits in the driver’s seat. We have continued to push its performance boundaries to the outer limits—it’s even more potent than before.
“At the same time, more refinement has been added to take the entire driving experience to an entirely new level. We’re proud to bring you what we feel is the ultimate GT that possesses amazing performance, newfound civility and a rich racing history.”
The 2017 Nissan GT-R’s exterior was updated to have a bigger air intake of about 20 percent, but the whole ground effects design had to be modified to compensate for the additional downforce.
From the front end to its side skirts all the way to the rear, it had to be redesigned. Its notable new “V-motion” grille was not just for aesthetics. It was enlarged to provide better engine cooling, and features an updated mesh pattern. This new hood allows air to flow smoothly from the grille, and has been reinforced to enhance stability for high-speed driving.
Inside, the 2017 GT-R sports a totally redesigned dashboard with a more premium feel along with an instrument panel wrapped in a single, seamless piece of high-quality leather.
The new model also promises a more civilized ride without necessarily sacrificing handling and performance.
Controls inside the car are more intuitive and the center dashboard layout has been simplified with an integrated cluster of the audio controls, reducing the number of switches from 27 in the previous model to just 11.
Inside the heart of the 2017 GT-R beats its award-winning VR38DETT engine, a 3.8-liter V6 24-valve twin-turbocharged, handcrafted and overseen by a Takumi technician, delivering 570 ps at 6800 rpm, and with torque at 637 Nm.
The engine comes with a set of new titanium mufflers with Active Sound Enhancement (ASE) that promises an improved exhaust note and driving experience.
Considering all its performance enhancements for 2017, Tamura considers this latest model as the most comfortable model to date, thanks to its new sound absorption materials and retuned suspension system.
The launch at the 2016 PIMS coincided with the inauguration of the Nissan High Performance Center in Quezon Avenue, Quezon City last Friday. “We had to finish the performance center in six weeks,” said Autohub Group CEO Willy TeeTen, whose Nissan dealership exclusively represents the GT-R badge in the country. This is in compliance with Nissan’s updated global corporate image guidelines.
The 2017 Nissan GT-R comes in Katsura Orange, Vibrant Red, Pearl Black, Ultimate Silver, Gun Metallic, Pearl White, and Pearl Blue, and is now available at the price of P7.350 million.
Aside from what is on stock, GT-R enthusiasts who want to order their GT-R in a different combination of exterior and interior trims/finishes (other than what’s available) only need a lead time of about two to three months.
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