2009 Nissan GT-R

By Benjamin Cyr

Breathtaking!

Before hand, I’m telling you, you must forget anything you had in mind in terms of comparing to the sheer performance of the Nissan GT-R 2009. Nissan redefined my perception of what is a true high performance sports car with this new GT-R.

Skyline

Before I make you drool all over your keyboard by giving my driving impressions, let me give you a little crash course of history. This might not be the most popular class in school but the Skyline is different and it will be necessary in our long story. For the vast majority of North American consumers, the Nissan Skyline GT-R is completely unknown. There is a good reason for this: it was never sold here due mostly to security norms unique to our market. Know that since its introduction in Japan under version R32, the Skyline is THE reference for enthusiasts. At the beginning, the Skyline was a comfortable and homogeneous midsize mostly bought for its practicality and affordable price. For comparison purpose, it could be compared to a Nissan Altima. In 1989, Nissan decided to enter Group A competition in Japan. This meant Nissan had to use as base a model from their current line-up. Also, the base mechanics from this car had to be the one from the commercial version of the car. Nissan picked the Skyline has their race horse.

It is during that same year Nissan introduced the first Skyline GT-R with the, now famed, in-line 6 cylinders double turbo engine linked to a high performance All Wheel Drive system named ATTESA-ETS. Aside from the body and the chassis, the car had nothing in common with the commercialized version. The first generation was named R32. The results were just astonishing: the GT-R, in its first year of competition, won all of the Group A races. This earned the car the, so famed, nickname Godzilla. Of this, one must remember this code: RB26DETT. Nissan did not take half measures. They developed an engine solely for this car. But this task wasn’t to be easy as orders asked for a very reliable, high output and easily adaptable or customizable, as you wish to see it. The final result was an in line 6 cylinders of only 2.6 litres to which two small turbo were fitted: Codename for this project was RB26DETT. The official output of this engine always was 280hp, which was the maximum legally allowed in Japan. But, it’s interesting to know that specialist now claim the engine was rather achieving an horsepower of around 325hp. Another interesting figure is the actual conception of the engine. Engineers who analysed its details immediately realized it had potential for much more than the mere 325hp it was doing. It is claimed that 500hp and more could be achieved without changing any internal parts. The cylinders, pistons, chamber walls and rods were so well conceived and constructed that the engine was deemed indestructible, even considering the red line was at 8000 rpm.

The first generation Skyline ended in 1993. The R33 took its place until 1998. Then, the superb R34 was introduced and ruled the roads for five years. Now, after a long absence, the new R35 Skyline makes is debut under the name GT-R.