When we broke the story that Nissan would reprogram the GT-R
, we weren't able to include the full text of Nissan's letter to dealers. We now have access to the complete document and you can read every word of it by clicking on the thumbnails below.
Among the new information is a note that owner notification for the "Customer Satisfaction Inititiative" will begin February 16, 2009. In the bulletin, Nissan also advises dealers that --
If you have not modified a vehicle by the time of sale, you must advise the customer that completion of the modification is a condition of sale and that the required modification will be performed during the initial 1,000-mile performance appointment or as soon thereafter as possible. Please note, the customer must sign the revised modified disclosure form.
We still haven't decided whether to have our long-term 2009 Nissan GT-R reprogrammed, as we remain unconvinced by yesterday's report that the GT-R could be faster with detuned launch control.
subytrojan says:
04:32 PM, 02/ 6/09
I think it's dumb that customers are supposed to leave VDC on at *all times.* What if they're driving on a track? You F41L, Nissan!
dieseltc says:
04:56 PM, 02/ 6/09
If I were Nissan, I'd do the same thing. Takes only a few people to ruin it for everyone else. Put the blame on those morons and not Nissan and you won't see steps like these having to be taken.
billt9 says:
05:36 PM, 02/ 6/09
Nissan should have disabled the VDC OFF down toggle. There. Problem solved. Undefeatable VDC.
The VDC is already available in Normal and Race mode. Did they really need a VDC off?
Seriously is it possible to get stuck in snow that you need VDC off? In the case there should be some long complicated VDC off manuver, like pump the brake twice, turn ignition to acc, honk the horn 4 times, turn ignition to off, turn headlights to daylight lights, lock and unlock your glovebox, then turn on ignition. And then you have VDC off up to 20 mph. There.
qualitycontrol says:
07:51 PM, 02/ 6/09
The whole "VDC on 100% of the time" thing really is kind of foolish....but I'm not stupid or naive, and we know Nissan loved that their new car netted (hands down) some of the best performance car numbers in quite a while by launching with the VDC off, but I'm guessing they weren't expecting for their turn-of-the-century, $20,000 wonder transaxle to fail (ever) and require them to replace it, costing they quite the amount....I do agree that upgrade should and needs to be done to eliminate the dumba**es that are launching the car like this 25 times an hour, and then run crying to Nissan when their baby breaks. Regardless of whatever Nissan may say about equal or increased acceleration times to encourage people to drive it with the VDC or go get the upgrade, don't expect any sub 4-sec 0-60 times with this first revision. Heck, they're still working the kinks out of their CVT, so it's gonna take em some time to work all the bugs out of this far more complicated tranny
kurtamaxxxguy says:
09:39 PM, 02/ 6/09
At Portland Auto Show, one major dealer representing Nissan told me there's apparently a price increase coming for the 2010 GT-R, around $8 K or so. The increase was explained as helping defray expenses Nissan has incurred for replacing transaxles damaged by Launch Control.
None of this stopped the Gen Y's and other younger folks of taking pictures and trying to yank the GT-R's door open (the vehicle on show was securely locked and surrounded by "keep away" markers).
BTW, the Audi R8 upstairs attracted just as much attention, and was equally locked and placed off limits. :-)
zjev says:
05:26 AM, 02/ 7/09
At this point I think you have to get it done. You don't believe that others are faster with the re-programming and that is fine. Different cars, different conditions, different drivers. Different GT-Rs have put out a variety of power figures and times. To me, you guys have done the data on "this" car. All you have to do is do the programming on the car and re-test it and there you go. You will have the official results for "your" car.
navsto says:
11:23 AM, 02/ 7/09
I have been following Nissan GTR for some time since I am in the market buying sports car for me. When Nissan GTR showed up I was very excited.
In the meantime I had two of my friends buying sports car for them. I thought I should wait and see how it is going to play out.
One of them had M3, S4 - total German car fan. He was considering GTR but bought 911 turbo in the end (which was to be expected).
Another guy was more of a performance type who cares about performance more than other things. He use to have M. Evolution, Subaru WRX etc... - not German car fan. He even put money down for GTR and after dealer dragging his feet for months he pulled the money out and got 911 Turbo S.
I drove both 911s many times, had M3, S4 over weekend, drove evolution a few times, owned g35s for some time and now I have Subaru Legacy as my "winter beater".
I am neutral about car "origin" and can even say that I prefer Japanese over Germans a bit due to reliability. I finally decided to get GTR off my list. I think that Nissan tried to produce "Super car" and failed. Super car is not just 3.5s from 0 to 60mph. I can lunch 911 Turbo, M3, or Lotus Exige S (which I did a few times with the dealer sitting with me in the car and he encouraged me to do that) many times without worry that my transmission will blow up. I want to know when I have warranty that it is real warranty not "sorry we don't fix transmission even though we under design it and it is our fault".
Nissan really needed to do better job before launching this car. They lost golden oportunity. The word is out and people are staying away from GTR. it degraded from being auper car to just another Japanese fast car. Incoming ZR1 is going to fade GTR fame further I think.
As for me I am looking for either Lotus Exige S or 911 Turbo (still have not decided).
I appologize for such a long reply but wanted to give insight into decission making process of one person that is considering buying cars that are into GTR territory.
Regards.