Shook hands with Godzilla last night, and had a brief, but enjoyable visit. This thing's good. I only experienced two freeway on-ramps to get just a hint of the handling, but it sticks like glue through the turns. If you probed the limits on a public road, you may find yourself on your head. The steering is good, but not great. But the acceleration at speed is amazing, the fastest I've ever experienced. If you mash the throttle on the freeway, there may not be a downshift but there's no drama; you're just gone. And you find yourself quickly going crazy fast. As Dan said, the speedo's useless, but there is a nice digital speed display so you can confirm the traffic citation.
The Polyphony/Xanavi display is fun to play with, but I wasn't about to take a pic while I was driving, so the two screens I'm showing here were when the car was stationary, hence not much displayed data. There are 11 different screens that show engine functions, lateral and longitudinal acceleration, torque distribution, driver's steering and pedal inputs, and some others. It's technically fascinating.
The 6-speed dual clutch transmission is excellent, but first gear is clunky and sometimes even throws you forward. Also, in first and second gears, there is some crunching sounds coming from the transmission. That wasn't pleasant.
But I love the styling. It's the only Japan car that I would call Bad. You know, like Tony Montana or Mr. Blonde.
Albert Austria, Sr Vehicle Evaluation Engineer @ 7622 mi
billt9 says:
04:30 PM, 10/ 1/08
Wow the GT-R looks nice in Taxi Cab Yellow.
I saw a 350Z in such a color and had an urge to wave it down.
desmolicious says:
05:03 PM, 10/ 1/08
Still no license plates?....
I bought a new bike on labour day. 4 days later I had the real plate. In California.
lazyhater says:
05:10 PM, 10/ 1/08
billt9, here is a real GTR painted yellow.....since you are interested.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3n97kjZ_DMQ/SNzdRehJErI/AAAAAAAADrQ/s5Y-v7Z2LKc/s1600-h/yellow+r352.jpg
slickersdrip says:
06:46 PM, 10/ 1/08
Wow, the GT-R does have a certain niceness in yellow. Here I always wanted a blue one.
firstwagon says:
07:23 PM, 10/ 1/08
Does that display look as washed out in person or it just the flash?
dougtheeng says:
06:09 AM, 10/ 2/08
I agree that the display tends to look washed out in photos, but I haven't seen it in real life.
I definitely think the GT-R looks 'bad', and I love that.
tackepj says:
06:30 AM, 10/ 2/08
This car continues to remind me of that tech-infested and rocket-powered Subaru that Jackie Chan drove in Cannonball Run.
You know, a ridiculously fast, computer laden car that looks like someone built in their garage.
felonious says:
06:51 AM, 10/ 2/08
The crunching sound is normal for an AWD car, you'll have to get used to it.
Regarding that pic of the yellow cars - whoa. Any story to go along with it??
stevefromatl says:
07:10 AM, 10/ 2/08
I like the display, but it's almost useless because you can't look at it and drive safely at the same time.
stingray454 says:
07:31 AM, 10/ 2/08
"This car continues to remind me of that tech-infested and rocket-powered Subaru that Jackie Chan drove in Cannonball Run."
I thought that was a Mitsubishi Starion. Or was that one of the sequels?
tackepj says:
08:38 AM, 10/ 2/08
Wiki claims it was a Subaru in the original, but a Starion in the sequel.
All I remember was the Starion too.
lazyhater says:
12:05 PM, 10/ 2/08
"Regarding that pic of the yellow cars - whoa. Any story to go along with it??"
They are James Chen's cars, he likes everything yellow:
http://www.axiswheels.com/about.php?id=1
stingray454 says:
01:30 PM, 10/ 2/08
"All I remember was the Starion too."
Yeah, and I remember the hot girls in black leather driving that white Lamborghini Countach. That left a lasting impression on me as a teen when I first saw that movie :)