I awoke this morning to the coldest temps in recent memory around here. Which, in Santa Monica, means high 40s, so yeah, not really cold at all. Still, the cool air seemed to have chilled the GT-R's bones a bit as it turned over a little more lazily than usual. I also noticed that the dashboard display screen took a minute or two to warm up like some old vacuum tube TV
That said, once everything was up to temp the GT-R had no trouble with the slick roads from last night's rain. Like Roman's pointed out earlier, you don't realize how insane all-wheel drive can be until you try laying down some serious horsepower on a damp, cold street. There was a slip here and there, but for the most part the GT-R could still muster a pretty serious launch. Not the mythical transmission-busting kind of launch, but certainly one that would leave a rear-wheel drive car wallowing in the Nissan's tire spray.
Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor @ 14,067 miles
vvk says:
09:02 AM, 12/17/08
This is seriously pathetic stuff. I wonder what would happen at -40?
I bet it wouldn't even start.
stingray454 says:
09:32 AM, 12/17/08
I just read about the Hennessey Godzilla 700 package, and didn't notice anything about transmission or driveline upgrades. With the stock GT-R barely able to keep its transmission together, wouldn't 700hp and AWD quickly lunch the stock tranny?
thenewblack says:
10:25 AM, 12/17/08
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a post about the benefits of AWD in damp/cold conditions? It was a whole 40 seconds ago that I read the post, but I don't remember anything that sounded "seriously pathetic."
Is this car really going to be defined by the one partially documented case of transmission failure, or can we start talking about the topic at hand?
fadetoblackii says:
10:28 AM, 12/17/08
He was talking about the slow loading dash. Paragraph 1 Sentence 4.
dougtheeng says:
10:43 AM, 12/17/08
"He was talking about the slow loading dash. Paragraph 1 Sentence 4."
Every LCD I've ever seen in a car is a little slow at first in cold temperatures. No surprises there.
stovt001 says:
11:40 AM, 12/17/08
But 40 isn't cold. It is cold in California, but it certainly isn't cold in Chicago, New York, or Philadelphia. Certainly Nissan didn't construct GT-Rs specially for that location that can handle colder temps.
dougtheeng says:
11:49 AM, 12/17/08
"But 40 isn't cold. It is cold in California, but it certainly isn't cold in Chicago, New York, or Philadelphia. Certainly Nissan didn't construct GT-Rs specially for that location that can handle colder temps."
I'm guessing 40 is not in the standard operating range for an LCD screen. That being said, "one or two minutes" may be an exaggeration on the author's part.
gossard267 says:
12:09 PM, 12/17/08
"The supercar you can drive anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line!"
chavis10 says:
01:24 PM, 12/17/08
I heard the M3 doesn't like cold weather either. I remember C&D's long termer having some major engine issues when the temp dropped.
carfreak8394 says:
01:31 PM, 12/17/08
Just because people who live in California or Florida think 40 degrees is cold doesn't mean we're pathetic. (; But I do wonder how the GT-R would handle below 0 temperatures..
wants2sk8board says:
01:46 PM, 12/17/08
they should bring the car over here to minnesota this past tuesday it was 16 below 0... or even just minnesota in general in the winter.
subytrojan says:
07:24 PM, 12/17/08
"The Beauty of All-Wheel Drive" is a restricted SOA trademark, Ed. How could you?! j/k :o)
Awesome MY2002 Subaru Impreza WRX commercials (30 seconds each):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zba04oNg3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba2Enmypahw
subytrojan says:
07:25 PM, 12/17/08
Another great MY2002 WRX commercial (also 30 seconds):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7xFJ8yefRA
kurtamaxxxguy says:
06:52 PM, 12/18/08
Wrt AWD vs FWD acceleration:
the Malibu Maxx I had constantly skidded/chirped its front tires (either the stock, or Goodyear TripleTreads) on wet roads.
By comparison, the Forester I now drive barely chirps its wheels on wet roads (the Geolanders chirped more than the Nokians).
The Forester has aprox 20 more HP than the Maxx did, and is lighter.
MN_Car_Enthus says:
08:03 AM, 01/13/09
The fact is the GTR runs fine in cold weather. And I do mean cold...this morning had no problem at -16 and have driven it many times in snow and sub freezing temperatures. Granted, it isn't a chevy tahoe but it makes good work of snow, ice and cold......