2009 Nissan GT-R: Is the GT-R's Transmission Really a Problem?

Yes it is a problem, WHY have the option if you can't even use it without voiding the warranty!

cx7lover, think about what you're saying. Do you really want car manufacturers to take away launch control from their transmissions just because some people abuse it? Shouldn't we expect people to have enough common sense to know that repeated all-out launches in an AWD car are probably not good for it?

The local Nissan dealership got a GT-R last week. I'm gonna go take a look and I'll be sure to ask that question.

I agree with cx7. A car like this is going to see hard use. To include a feature that will not last even a short time is not acceptable.

Otherwise they should include a disclaimer that says...

"This car is for posers only, If you plan on using the performance we gave it, it will fail and we will blame you"

So you bought it at a dealership and didn't have to sign a warranty waiver. You also got it for MSRP. Yours was clearly not a typical transaction.

Put the stories aside and just look at what seems to be objective evidence to support some concerns on this matter.
The User Manual states something like the potential damage caused by driving the car with the VDC turned off it is not covered by the warranty. IIRC does not specifically mentions using the Launch Control which indeed turns off the VDC.
Now, try to drive the car for few months or few thousand miles, like you would drive a car like this, without tracking or launching the car at all, but with the VDC off all the time and tell us if you manage to damage the tranny; and if you do, tell us if Nissan would replace the tranny under warranty. This is the real test I would like to see.

cx7lover: the reason these launch control features are on cars is so that the car publications will say "ZOMFG liek this thing is so freakin fast we are in luv <<<<33333" Which has been the normal. When I read 0-60 times I take it with a grain of salt because normal people drag racing at normal stop lights don't dump the clutch from 6k rpms or engage launch control. Just give me a simple stab the throttle and go 0-60 measurement.

I'm with Nissan on this. there is a difference between driving 'hard' or 'spirited' and downright 'abusing' your car. it's AWD and hard launches causes way more shock to the drivetrain than on a FWD or RWD car.....lots more. Some people have no love or respect for their cars, and they are the ones who always whine when something goes wrong.

the ECU records all sorts of data, and so the dealership will know how many times someone uses the LC....there isn't a need to use it at every stop light. Even if someone races the car on a road course, he/she may only use LC once per heat....and even then, using LC may not be to their advantage.

"Now, try to drive the car for few months or few thousand miles, like you would drive a car like this, without tracking or launching the car at all, but with the VDC off all the time and tell us if you manage to damage the tranny; and if you do, tell us if Nissan would replace the tranny under warranty. This is the real test I would like to see.

You are not supposed to drive it with the VDC switched off all the time, launch control is an exception and I have only heard of a couple of transmission failures which were due to the VDC being switched off for long periods of time.

The transmission imploding is the wish of the GT-R haters who probably get of their knees to pray that something would break in the car they hate so much or include it in their wish list for Santa for Christmas.

"Some people have no love or respect for their cars, and they are the ones who always whine when something goes wrong"

"Shouldn't we expect people to have enough common sense to know that repeated all-out launches in an AWD car are probably not good for it?"

Great comments, afty and jahfakin. Right on the money.

You could probably get toast out of the toaster faster by throwing it against the wall, but eventually, you'll break your toaster.

The Edmunds experience is hardly a typical owners experience. The fact that you got your GT-R for MSRP proves this. The guys over at SM Nissan, must know that you work for edmunds, and I'm sure that your treatment is biased because of it. The fact that your tranny hasn't broken is typical information, how you are treated by Nissan if it does fail is not.

Course the plethora of other problems you guys have had with the GT-R would make me extremely wary of buying one regardless of the tranny.

"Again, we're not saying the GT-R doesn't have its problems, but when someone says they barely ever used launch control and suddenly their transmission imploded, you wonder if there's more to the story."
There's ALWAYS more to the story....;-)

The only way to get a true picture of the GT-R in the real world is to have ACTUAL GT-R owners themselves post their experiences instead of numerous stories from poseurs and haters (same with Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley and other exotics well beyond the average joe's reach).

I'm not a GT-R hater by any means, but I think it's fair to call out this issue and discuss it.
The issue has nothing to do with using LC or abusing the car (how do you define abuse on a sports car?).

The real issue is not being able to turn the VDC off at your will, using the button provided on the dash, without the risk of damaging the car and not being covered by warranty.

I'm not aware of any other car that would potentially self-damage parts of it while driven normally if the VDC is turned off and the manufacturer specifically stating in the manual that will void the warranty in this case. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

nissan won't void your warranty for driving with vdc off. if your actions with vdc off cause 'something' to break, they might deny the claim on said 'something'

in one case of a denied claim, it wasnt a one or two launches and a broken tranny. it was over a couple dozen in a short span of time, without any break in. although the truth is known regarding how the car was treated - tranny temps, engine temps, how often lc was used, how many times lc was used, etc - nissan can't say due to privacy reasons. so the other side of the story isn't going to be told.

launch control (lc) aside, is there a problem with the tranny? maybe, maybe not. there dont seem to be any obvious patterns of failure, and in fact, it seems that there are very few cases of failed transmissions in all. this whole issue was blown up with one particular denied claim, although it is said that there others out there, somewhere.

fortunately for me, my gt-r has been very reliable, but im not into drag racing and did not buy it for that.

do i always drive it like miss daisy? no. i love my weekend drives with it....downshifting and braking deep in turns...then the flat out upshifts coming out.

its a different driving style than many (particularly in america) look for, and i think nissan may have underestimated that...so when they spec'd the transmission, maybe they didnt tell the engineers they wanted it to be able to withstand full bore launches all day every day hot or cold.

having said that, check this out.
http://www.nagtroc.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=26268

sure, all of our transmissions could give out one day... and im sure it would make many people happy... but so far, so good.

"nissan won't void your warranty for driving with vdc off."

From Nissan 2009 GT-R Warranty Information Booklet, page 9 of 47 (http://www.nissanusa.com/pdf/techpubs/gtr/2009/2009_GTR_WIB.pdf):

"This warranty does not cover damage, failures or corrosion resulting from:
...
Operating the vehicle with the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) off, except when rocking the vehicle when stuck in mud or snow (see GT-R Owner's Manual).
..."

To me it's pretty clear that if you operate the vehicle with the VDC off and the tranny fails as reported, you won't be covered. However, Nissan may decide to cover the repair on case by case situation, but it's totally up to them to do it or not. From the legal point of view, they covered their back with that statement in the warranty booklet.

The question remains why did they have to put that unusual stipulation in the booklet? Did they know the tranny is prone to fail under certain conditions and they covered their back? Turning the VDC off cannot be categorized as abuse in any case.

It seems like if you drive the car at the speed limit, don't launch or abuse it in any way, but you turn the VDC off and the tranny fails, you are not covered or at best, you are at Nissan's mercy. This is what I find weird and it's right there in the warranty booklet.

I paid MSRP and don't work for a magazine. I know that every car and two dealerships in my area went for MSRP. Just have to look...

"It seems like if you drive the car at the speed limit, don't launch or abuse it in any way, but you turn the VDC off and the tranny fails, you are not covered or at best, you are at Nissan's mercy. This is what I find weird and it's right there in the warranty booklet."

it's a cover your @$$ statement like how mcdonalds has "coffee is hot" on their cups.

I am pretty sure you can tell if a transmission is abused or if it fails from a defect. no (car) manufacturer will warranty abuse. I was getting my car serviced at a Nissan dealership and there was a Z there whose clutch/tranny was completely fried. You could tell it was really abused since the rear tires were down to about 1/16-2/16 and the odo was only about 5000 miles. I remember the technician said that would be like 5-6 grand and not covered under warranty. Can you blame Nissan for this? If you bought an iPhone and sat on it, is it Apples fault your butt is too big?

There's a reason why Porsche is still doing R&D for PDK on the 911 Turbo. 3900lbs and 480hp/473tq on a GTR, that's quite a load for a dual clutch transmission to take.

My local Porsche dealer took me for a test ride (I opted not to test drive) in the new 2009 911 C4S w/ PDK, 385hp/295tq on 3300lbs. My salesguy showed me *race* launch control by bouncing off the rev limiter for a few seconds then letting go of the brakes; it was like the lord almighty himself just picked us up and threw us. And my salesguy proceeded on showing me 2-3 other launch control variations -- same deal, bouncing off the rev limiter and letting off the brake.

Porsche has its fair shares with problems, but I'm not impressed with the GTR. I've never seen a automobile maintenance booklet with a transmission replacement log.

langjie: The way the warranty is worded, if you drive your GT-R like a granny, but with the VDC off and you have the bad luck that the tranny dies on you, Nissan will not cover it by the book.
My point is that you should be able to operate (NOT ABUSE) any car with the electronic nannies off if you choose so, more so a performance car, without risking voiding your warranty if the tranny goes wrong.

you should only drive with the VDC off when you need maximum HP, and you are planning on lighting up the tires, and drifting, or racing. other than that, it should be on. it's a safety feature to protect the driver and car.

I don't see why someone would want to drive around town leisurely with it off.

on most cars in the U.S., VDC undefeatable, you can disable for slow speeds, but it reactivates itself under certain conditions.

That's right. I was driving my GT-R down the street at 40 mph and all of a sudden I hear this loud clunk and the rear diff had decided to explode. Simultaneously, the left rear view mirror spontaneously blew off and shot across the road to the sidewalk on the opposite side.

"langjie: The way the warranty is worded, if you drive your GT-R like a granny, but with the VDC off and you have the bad luck that the tranny dies on you, Nissan will not cover it by the book.
My point is that you should be able to operate (NOT ABUSE) any car with the electronic nannies off if you choose so, more so a performance car, without risking voiding your warranty if the tranny goes wrong."

it's worded that way to cover their @$$, but I am sure that Nissan will cover you under warranty if you had some type of catastrophic failure even with the VDC off. They should be able to tell from the teeth of the gears whether or not it was abused.

"it's worded that way to cover their @$$, but I am sure that Nissan will cover you under warranty if you had some type of catastrophic failure even with the VDC off. They should be able to tell from the teeth of the gears whether or not it was abused."

Supposedly the car is equipped with a Black Box....so all they have to do is download the data. no need to drop the tranny or crack the diff open.

http://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/blog/?tag=/gt-r+little+black+box

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/24/florida-man-cancels-nissan-gt-r-order-due-to-black-box/