Straightline

Larry Miller, a prominent Utah car dealer and collector, died yesterday at the age of 64. Although he was well known as the longtime owner of the Utah Jazz, car enthusiasts know him as the man behind Miller Motorsports Park west of Salt Lake City.

There, the multimillionaire spared no expense building the race track of his dreams that also happens to include an on-site museum for his extensive collection of vintage Fords. There's even an impressive "Hall of Champions" event facility overlooking the track that pays homage to the greatest racing legends of all time. As car enthusiasts go, Larry was about as serious as it gets.

The LarryMillerGroup

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Motorsports

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.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Coupes,Nissan,Sports Cars

In a bulletin sent out to dealers today, Nissan outlined its plan for transmission changes in all unsold 2009 GT-Rs as well as the upcoming 2010 GT-R. The changes are the first official response to reports of transaxle failure as a result of using the much-hyped launch control system.

We sifted through all the official wording and it boils down to this:

-    There are no hardware changes.

-    Dealers will reprogram the car's ECU to alter the transmission characteristics during hard launches.

-    Launch Control remains, but the maximum allowable engine speed with the VDC system switched off will be reduced from the current 4,500 rpm to between 3,000 and 3,500 rpm. The clutch engagement program will also change to reduce driveline stress, e.g., less abrupt engagement on launch.

-    When  launching with the VDC on, the new programming will allow for higher engine speeds and a more aggressive clutch engagement than the current setup.

-    Nissan reiterated that launching the GT-R with the VDC off is not covered by the warranty.

-    A revised customer disclosure form will be issued and required for GT-R sales going forward.

-    All GT-Rs worldwide will receive the revised programming.

Text of the dealer bulletin after the jump.

Continue reading Nissan Reprogramming Launch Control on the GT-R.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Coupes,Nissan,Sports Cars

Here are the totals: We drove for three days, covered 2000 miles, killed 4,236,465 bugs, touched 170 mph, met hundreds of Inside Line readers, burned through 115 gallons of 91 octane gasoline, used 8 bottles of octane booster, talked our way out of two 91 mph speeding tickets, did donuts on one dry lake, raced at one drag strip and lapped one state-of-the-art road course. We broke speed limits in three states (California, Nevada and Utah), let four Inside Line readers drive the GT-R, ate $100 worth of fast food, stopped at one very flooded, very beautiful, very large salt lake bed named for Captain B.L.E. Bonneville, used the GT-R's launch-control 14 times, answered the question "Is that the new Skyline?" 2,677 times, used our Verizon wireless card a total of 23 hours, killed no one, crashed never and hit one car wash in downtown Reno, the trip's finish line.

Basically it was the trip of a lifetime...

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: Wrapping up the Trip of a Lifetime.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

After taking our hot laps at Miller Motorsports Park, we took a tour of the rest of the facility. It's a gearheads dream, and in this case, the gearhead's name is Larry Miller, a prominent local car dealer. He built the place with his own money and spared no expense in the process.

The main attraction is the road course which features four different loops, the longest being a 4.5-mile layout with 23 turns. There's also a nearly mile long go kart track with dirt sections on either end for running super motos. A row of world class pit garages sits on the 3,500 foot long main straight and well-situated grandstands are sprinkled throughout the edge of the course. The press box is as advanced as anything at Daytona and heck, even the bathrooms are impressively spotless.

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: More From Miller Motorsports Park.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

What can we say? The GT-R is popular with the law enforcement crowd. First it was the CHP , then one of Sandy City’s finest . Yesterday, it was Officer J...

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: Not Always the Loneliest Road in America.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

Got up early this morning to head over to Miller Motorsports Park in the city of Tooele (that's Two-ella) just east of Salt Lake City. We've seen this relatively new track on TV a few times before, but not even a good HD telecast could do justice to the almost surreal facility in the Utah desert. It's easily the most modern, well thought out race track we've ever seen.

John Gardner, Media Manager for Miller Motorsports Park, invited us over to stretch the legs of the GT-R around the West Loop. It's just over two miles long and features 10 turns. John then introduced us to Mitch Wright, Director of Racing, who gave us a few tips on the correct lines before letting us loose at full speed.

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: Running Hot Laps at Miller Motorsports Park.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

Just topped off the GT-R's tank for the 7th time. As you may have noticed from previous posts, we haven't exactly been feathering the throttle. It hasn't killed our overall average though as it now stands at 17.54 mpg. We did leave out the tank we used this morning while lapping at Miller Motorsports Park as it seemed to disappear at an alarming rate...

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: How's it on Fuel?.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

After Officer Cunningham's go it was Nigel Williams' turn. The 47-year-old software development manager is originally from Tasmania, but now lives and works in Provo, Utah with his wife and children. His daily ride is a new BMW 335 Xi.
 
Just a few minutes on the road and Nigel was already commenting on the GT-R's firm ride...

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: Inside Line Reader Visit #4.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

After the third full-on, full-throttle, all-out, wheel spinning, launch control abusing hole shot in the parking lot of the Sandy City, Utah police station last night I realized something: "It's fun to hang out with the cops."

We were there to let Inside Line reader and Sandy City policeman Eric Cunningham drive the 2009 Nissan GT-R we've been living in for the last two days. The 29-year-old is an 8-year veteran of the Sandy City police force. His days are spent busting bad guys in either a front-wheel-drive Impala (for the snow) or a full-pack Harley-Davidson (even in the dead of winter), so the GT-R was going to feel quick.



And Eric wasted no time. He pulled out of the cop shop and nailed it. Let's face it; he wasn't exactly going to get a ticket. Three full throttle upshifts later he said this: "It's amazing. I can't get over how quick off the line it is. It feels faster than my friends Lamborghini Murcielago. Smoother power delivery, too. For a six it's incredible."

What about the ride? "It isn't as stiff as I thought it would be, but then again, I'm not driving it thousands of miles like you." Which is true. I also pointed out to Officer Cunningham that the city streets of Sandy City make a pool table look rough.

So is the GT-R worth the asking price? "Definitely," Cunningham said while further exercising his over the local speed limit privileges. "I'd pay $100,000 for this thing if I could."

Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 1,150 miles

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: Inside Line Reader Visit #3.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

When we finally arrived at the Bonneville Salt Flats late yesterday afternoon, we found most of it covered in five inches of water. The GT-R may have achieved mythical status over the years, but even the R35 can't walk on the wet stuff.

There was, however, a long, desolate access road, so we decided to shoot a quick video of the launch control in action from inside the car. Hope it gives you some idea how violent it is when this thing takes off...

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: Bonneville Bust.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

A nutritious meal on the road is hard to come by. Knowing how far we were behind schedule, a drive thru lunch was the only option yesterday afternoon. Needless to say, we’re pretty sure it’s the first time a GT-R has navigated a gut busting, house of calories like Burger King. We’re happy to report that the cupholders in the center console are some of the best we’ve ever seen in a car with over 450 horsepower...

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: Yes, the GT-R Even Has Usable Cupholders.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

We're back on the road to Reno after spending the morning at Miller Motorsports Park. It's an unbelievable place. It may be in Utah, but we might want to move there anyway, it's that cool.

We'll have photos and video up later to give you an idea what's its like and how the GT-R performed on one of Miller's numerous road courses...

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: Leaving Miller Motorsports.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

As promised, here’s a quick video of last night's action at Sacramento Raceway. It's not bad, not bad at all.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor @ 977 miles

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan

Bonneville isn’t very close to Sacramento, a little over 500 miles according to our navigation system. We figured leaving at 8:00 would give us plenty of time to get there before the sun went down. Then we got behind our friend in the Expedition and Oldham had to stop and admire the scenery while sucking down a few Marlboros. Oh, and then we forgot that whole Mountain Time Zone thing and lost another hour...

Continue reading 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip: Making Time in the GT-R.

Categories: 2009 Nissan GT-R Road Trip,Nissan