Long-Term Road Tests

Ever want to know what it's like to ride in a GT-R on the highway?

Well, yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

Driving north on highway 5, I saw this truck hauling a black GT-R and though the picture would be cool. With the shutter of my point-and-shoot set at 1/100 and with a wide focal length it should've been pretty sharp, afterall, it was a fairly bright morning. Well, it's not...and yes, I was in COMF.

*Kurt Niebuhr just saw the picture and added this: Yeah, it kinda does ride like that. Like it's being hung off the back of a truck."

Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant 

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

We used our 2009 BMW M3 sedan as a chase car to shuttle the GT-R to a service appointment this morning. Seeing the two beside one another made me wonder just how they sized up in terms of performance. Check out these numbers. Then look at the total package.

Which would you choose?

M3 Sedan
Price: $67,370
0-60 mph: 4.8 seconds
1/4-mile: 12.9 @ 111.0 mph
Slalom: 71.8 mph
Skidpad: 0.93 g
Service: 4-yr/50,000-mile free scheduled maintenance
Cost to date: $500.00 (@ 12,000 miles)

GT-R
Price: $73,165
0-60 mph: 3.8 seconds
1/4-mile: 11.8 @ 118.6 mph
Slalom: 74.0 mph
Skidpad: 0.93 g
Service: Pay as you go
Cost to date: $8,000.00 (@ 30,000 miles)

Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Manager @ 11,210 miles

Categories: 2009 BMW M3,2009 Nissan GT-R

Below are the fuel economy numbers for October 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.

As usual, a couple of cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: October 2009 .

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX,2010 Mazdaspeed 3,2010 Volvo XC60 T6 AWD

Last week I wrote a post asking you to guess what we were offered by Carmax for the 2009 Nissan GT-R and what my asking price would be. If you're curious, you can check out the ad on Mota or Autotrader.

Some of your guesses were right on the money. We were shocked by how little Carmax offered. In the past they have often exceeded our expectation. But this time we were disappointed.

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R: How do you Price a Supercar?.

Categories: 2009 BMW M3,2009 Nissan GT-R

Sunday I drove in our 2009 Nissan GT-R to have brunch with a friend I hadn't seen for 10 years. During this time he's become a writer-producer for the hit show "24." Naturally, I wanted to make an impression and show him how well I've done, too.

Turned out, he was out on his front lawn as I came rolling up his street. He rushed over and said, "I thought, 'That can't be Phil coming in that incredible car!'" Then he looked at it and said, "What is it?" I told him it is one of the fastest cars on the road. And it is a Nissan.

Being in show business, he was thinking Ferrari, Porsche, BMW. No, this is as fast as the big boys.

There's nothing Hollywood people like better than hearing about something they didn't know. Maybe Jack Bauer will be driving one soon.

In other news, we are selling the GT-R. So you can begin sending all the "I'd never buy an Edmunds car..." comments. Also, we took it to Carmax just for fun, to see what they would give us for it. Want to guess what their number was? And what about our asking price?

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

Our GT-R cranked through 30,000 miles on my commute home last Thursday night and this milestone got me thinking...

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R: Highest Mileage GT-R in the Country?.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

I don't have photographic evidence because my camera's battery died on me as I was taking the picture.

But I was just at the coffee shop up the street from us, and in the parking lot were 3 Mini Es and a silver and black GT-R.

How's that for luck?

There is a company that shares that parking lot and they must have a fleet of Mini Es. They have 2 high-voltage charging stations in their section.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

Categories: 2009 Mini E,2009 Nissan GT-R

This ad was in my local Sunday paper yesterday. Who would have ever thunk Godzillas would be sitting on dealer lots (notice the 2 at this payment) and the subject of a dealer's Autumn Savings Event and move-the-metal lease deal? Is the GT-R's 15-minutes up?

Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

Another day, another set of tires for our 2009 Nissan GT-R. This round we bought two fronts and paid $907.96, mounting and balancing included. Also in this total was a fee to patch a puncture located center-tread in the left-rear tire.

The last time we replaced the front tires was at 16,000 miles. We blame the aggressive suspension setting and extended freeway driving for the short tire life. But we knew what to expect. To date we've spent $2,700 on tires and accumulated 27,000 miles on the GT-R.

Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Manager @ 27,780 miles

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

Below are the fuel economy numbers for September 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.

As always, a couple of cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: September 2009.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX

Thanks to questionlp for this week's favorite caption.

Here are our other faves:

GT-R, Attraction Control included. (ergsum)
Another seat-of-the-pants review. (ergsum)
Caroline you can come out now (wrinklebump)
GT-R, it's buns of fun! (ergsum)
gt-r trunk: onnomnomnom! (dougtheeng)
The GT-R has push to start feature (stpawyfrmdonut)
Does my butt make this supercar look big? (shaddai)
What?! I'm checking out the trunk. (altimadude00)
Oh here's your Ferrari pride! I found it under this back tire. (oldchap)
Nissan's GT-R elicits cheeky response. (rick8365)
"I CAN'T FIND THE STIG!" (vt8919)
Man, this thing does haul ass. (mnorm1)

What was your favorite?

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

It seems we take pictures of the Nissan GT-R in a lot of interesting situations. It has by far been the most captioned of our long-term fleet.

Here you see our GT-R at a NASCAR race in Fontana.

We suggest: Does this supercar make my butt look big?

What's your caption?

We'll post our favorite this afternoon.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

Yesterday, a low tire pressure light flashed up in our long-term 2009 Nissan GT-R's instrument cluster. I punched up the tire pressure display to determine the offending tire. Okay, left rear. I looked for a nail and found a small one in the middle of the tread. Yay for technology.

But I checked the other tires, you know, just in case. That's when this tire check got a lot more exciting.

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R: Tire Surprise.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

Sunrise in L.A. isn't until 6:40 a.m. now, which makes it extra difficult for me to drag my butt out of bed in the full dark of 5:00 a.m. When the alarm blared angrily this morning, I was tempted to pull the covers over my head and just deal with the 30-mile slog up the 405 freeway during rush hour, instead of getting up and trying to beat traffic.

Then I remembered the Nissan GT-R parked in my driveway.

The GT-R's cabin is a fine place to spend time, but it's a heckuva lot more fun to actually drive it for 45 minutes than to just sit in it for an hour-fifteen.

Thanks GT-R, for giving me a 480-horsepower reason to get out of bed this morning.

Kelly Toepke, News Editor @ 29,467 miles

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R

Time for another episode of What You Said.

2009 Dodge Challenger R/T: Challenge

We Read Car Porn for the Articles
By wrinklebump on September 14, 2009 3:06 PM
They're both pretty awesome.
The Camaro has a few flattering angles but the Dodge is all-around vehicular pornography.

Memories of Your First Car
By plumcrazy2 on September 14, 2009 7:50 PM
Back when I was looking for my first car everyone had one of three cars: a Camaro, Mustang or Cutlass (circa 1990). My friends dad took me to a Mopar car show I knew what I had to have. I found myself a 74 Barracuda and my dad and I spent 6 months on body and paint. I was the only one on the street on the weekends. This summer we went to my wife's class reunion, the most asked question - "What happened to the car?" (I still have it.)
I can understand why people like the Mustang and the Camaro, both good looking cars - but for me its the Challenger all the way. And if I'm the only one on the road with one, well that's fine with me too. I don't mind standing out in a crowd.
DCuerpoJr I agree I would love a drop top, but I have given up hope on that.

2009 Dodge Challenger R/T: Big Bruiser, Easy Cruiser

Grand Challenger
By jeepsrt on September 14, 2009 8:59 AM
I parked my Grand Cherokee next to one of these and was amazed at the size of the Challenger, my Jeep did'nt look so Grand next to it.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS: Animated Design

Car Foodies
By vt8919 on September 14, 2009 9:07 AM
That Camaro sure looks thirsty for a Sonic soda.

By altimadude00 on September 14, 2009 9:54 AM
Camaro Super Slurper?

By DCuerpoJr on September 14, 2009 10:28 AM
LoL @ altimadude00. How about Camaro Super Sonic.

More after the jump...

Continue reading What You Said (9/13-9/19).

Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Mini E,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS