Immediately you notice the same eagerness
to tum that the car had on cold tyres, but with a progressive steer from the
rear axle that aims the car at the apex with vigour. There's no electronic
trickery or torque vectoring here: just that thicker rear anti-roll bar helping
the nose attack the apex. And speaking of bite, the Nismo chomps into the apex
with astonishing aggression. You oversteer the car at first, unwinding the lock
before you get to the apex to avoid hitting it too soon. Choose a more considered
and economical approach and the GT-R gently drifts from apex to apex, finding
traction and delivering agility that's scarcely believable given the car's
weight.
Front and rear
Nismo badging denotes this GT-R variant's motorsport pedigree
The GT-R's most thrilling, driving
characteristic remains: its ability to glide through the last phase of a corner
with all four wheels rotating just ahead of the road speed and with zero lock
applied to the steering wheel. It isn't wild oversteer (although it can be coaxed)
and it isn't gentle push either - it's an alignment with the straight-ahead
before corner exit. This is a satisfying, unique experience, felt vividly
through the steering wheel and the seat of your pants. Push through the neutral
stance with a hard stab of throttle and you'll get a quarter-turn of opposite
lock on the exit, and if you're lucky you'll leave a black strip on the exit
kerb as you run up and then down it. The result is a euphoric feeling of
controlled progress. Digital? Pah.
Increased rigidity
in the bodyshell is achieved using adhesive bonding in addition to spot welding
There's little to criticise in terms of the
brakes and power steering, either. The electrically assisted rack is well
damped, with even resistance and clear feedback. It's not as alive as the
electric system on the 911 GT3, but it is superior to the steering on standard
911s. The brake hardware is the same as on the standard car but mildly
recalibrated, and provides good pedal resistance and strong initial bite. We don't
get much time on track and so can't comment on fade, but the engineers remain
unconcerned even when the car returned to the pits with the pads smoking.
The GT-R remains misunderstood. It delivers
clinical speed, but not without involving the driver every step of the way. The
Nismo version isn't so much a GT-R amplified, but more a GT-R refined for more
speed. For track driving in particular, it's sharper, more agile and feels more
in control of its masses. We'll reserve judgment on its abilities on road until
we drive it in the UK late in 2014, but while it'll be less forgiving than the
regular GT-R - and in particular the 'more compliant' 2014-spec car- I don't
think it will tie itself in knots on twisty, bumpy British roads.
New
skirts and spoilers increase the amount of downforce produced by this GT-R
Saying that, Tamura readily admits that the
standard GT-R will be fast and involving enough for most, and is 'perhaps' the
better road car. But the magic of the Nismo is that it allows you to access
those core GT-R attributes - grip, traction and the astonishingly satisfying
cornering attitude - for longer periods and with more control. Combine this
with its rarity (around 200 will be built a year, 65 of which are only for
Japan), its undoubted kudos and its Veyron-rivalling acceleration, and it
begins to look like good value even at $199,585. And no, I can't quite believe
I've written that either.
