Spy photos: Nissan GT-R beats 911 Turbo around the Nurburgring

This is good stuff, Ed! Thanks!

Impressive lap time at any price. Looks sweet!

I have a feeling that if Porsche was testing their turbo, and brought the Nissan along as a comparison, the Porsche would have been quicker...
Now, I'm not saying that the Nissan isn't quicker, it just needs independant testing to confirm this.
Either way, great PR for Nissan.

Enter the GT2. I won't lie I'm a Porsche fan, so I hope Porsche messages the engine a little to take back it's place to lead of the pack.

This is good stuff, and legit bragging rights for Nissan, who I am a big fan of. Always liked the GT-R and I hope it puts Porsche in its place.

How is is legit bragging rights for Nissan when the test is conducted by Nissan? Of course their car is going to come out on top...

No offense to the GTR but some people thought the previous models were gifts straight from God. Yes the car performed pretty good but the whole Skyline thing was blown WAAAAY out of proportion by people (in the US) who had never even driven one. I never thought these cars lived up to the hype.
 
The R33 and R34 were rediculously heavy and relied on the AWD systems electric nannies to save its arse. These compromises came from platform sharing which isnt the best thing for a halo sports car.
 
The new GTR seems to be much more focused as it has its own LIGHTER dedicated platform and it seems as if Nissan went to great lengths to get this car right the first time. Competition in this segment is fierce but I think the new GTR will do well.

desmo, Nissan didn't set the Porsche's lap times.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordschleife_fastest_lap_times

A thought that occurs to me is whether the increasing pressure on the 911's configuration, not merely from the GTR but more substantially from the R8 and forthcoming turbo incarnation won't pressure/allow Porsche's engineers to move toward higher performance mid-engine configurations along the Cayman line rather than remain forever with the 911's rear-engine configuration in the name of 'tradition'.

Bilt, I looked at your link but what am I meant to look at within it? From what I see under OEM Passenger Vehicles and Sport Racers, there is a Porsche GT2 RS that turned a 7.15 lap, next down the list for 911s is a GT2 that turned a 7.32 lap.
The Nissan turned a 7.38

You're supposed to look at the Porsche 997 Turbo entry:
 
7:40 - Porsche 997 Turbo 480PS/1565 kg Walter Rohrl

Do we even know WHICH GT-R they are using? If they're using the Evolution, then the 911 in GT2 form would crush the evolution.

Bragging rights for the guy who has the hottest woman in the world is mellowed by the fact that there are millions of really hot women available. The GT-R is a sweet ride, but then again there are plenty of cars out there, that most of us would be thrilled to own and drive. I recently found a Porsche 928 for sale with a Chevy 350 V8 - asking price? $5,900!

Oh I see, so I am meant to pick the time for a Porsche 911 that is slower than the Nissan's?...
"We are faster than a Porsche that is going slower than us. Therefore, we are faster than Porsche!".
 
;)

+1 I say pit the top of the line spec against the top of the line spec. Though for comparison reasons related to $$$ we might want to bring up the Chevy Z06 & ZR1. I'm sure a the ZR1 will take a few ticks of the clock compared to the Z06 (1:42ish). I wonder what the Viper or Noble's new car due around the ring?

I really liked the old school Skylines. The I6 was such a great engine that practically begged owners to modify it. I really wish the GTR had kept its heritage. I agree with you (HA4) about the weight of the R33 and R34s. The R32s were some of the best Skylines ever made purely due to weight. But the computers on the 33 and particularly on the 34 were groundbreaking. It was like driving a fighter jet.
 
The VQ engine is a great engine, but it has its limits. The RBs were lighter, stronger, and higher revving. I've seen 1000+hp RB engines turning sub-8s quarter times. The VQs just aren't built well enough to handle that kind of power.

The 09 top spec Vette will have 620-630 hp and will cost about as much as the Nissan. It seems that for all the hoopla, Chevy has already left it in it's dust.

Actually, there will only be 2000 total corvettes made with 620-630 hp and they will cost greater than 100,000 dollars.
 
desmolicious - you are talking with no proof and are making yourself look like an idiot.
 
"GM likely will build fewer than 2000 of these devils, so if you want one, make nice with your dealer now and renegotiate your mortgage. We expect the price tag for the 2009 ZR-1 to be in the $100,000 range."
 
my source: CAR and DRIVER - most recent article
 
Whereas nissan GTR will be in the 70,000 range according to EDMUNDS, so NISSAN IS CHEAP AND BY FAR THE BEST DEAL and that is y nissan poses such a threat to US market, it always did, too bad the previous skylines didn't make it to US.

uh....porsche in GT2 form is a hypercar, not a supercar, it's a completely different class. nissan isn't going to test against a 911 and say they're faster than all porsche's. that was just a benchmark for them.
 
oh, and bugatti veyron > porsche GT2, lol, though i think they are the same company....vw

Keep in mind the Porsche 911 Turbo is the top spec road car.
 
Whereas the Porsche GT series are track cars that are unlivable for a daily drive, with their suspension that act as if it has no suspension.
 
The Porsche GT series is actually cheaper than the 911 Turbo, since they're stripped down track cars.

This post is a response to estreka:
 
I agree with you that I6 were just classic, there is no true replacement for them yet. However, don't loose hope, cuz when nissan first came up with Altessa advanced awd system for skylines, lot of people said that it would make them slow, yet it was this same technology that would propel skylines with normal radial tires to run 8s and 7s on the track or on a regular road and still hit 200 mph with only a 2.6 litre engine.
 
As for the V-shape engines, just goto VRT racing website and you can c how the 350z and G35 are blowing away the competition with as much as 700 horses and 800 lbs of torque without having any trouble at all smoking the porsches, ferraris, vipers, and ofcourse corvettes.
And even after racing them to their limit on the track, those 350z and G35s are daily drivers!!!! Now thats reliability.
 
I6 engines produced very high emissions and that is y V-6 engine was the only alternative, now BMW still makes the i6s but this is why they are so restricted. BMW has to keep it that way cuz of the strict emission standards and is now considering switching back to V8.
 
I guess my point is that nissan obviously knows what it is doing with v6 engines, now that the HR (high revving) G37s with variable uplift are incorporated, lets c what lowering the compression and a big turbo can do!!!

desmolicious clearly doesn't know how to read:
 
"Prototypes of the 2009 GT-R started circling the Nurburgring yesterday, and according to spy shooters on the scene it was clear that the GT-R was running at full steam. With that in mind, they pulled out their stop watches to get an idea just how fast the GT-R was getting around the Nordschleife. The fastest hand timed lap came in at around 7:38, two seconds faster than the 911 Turbo's widely reported fastest lap of 7:40."
 
Let me re-phrase, the spy shooter time the lap, not Nissan.

I think the GTR is going to be better than Porsche. Thats what I think , but I am not sure if the Nissan can beat future Porsches.

i'm interested to see how nissan reacts when the GT2, R8 V10, LF-A and even the new ultra-hi-po corvette are released. the new GT-R is super-impressive, but there's a lot, a lot, a lot of competition right now. i wonder if bmw/merc will ever bring something to the table, that's better than the Z8?

Any car that calls into question Porsche 911 Turbo's $130k price tag, I'm all for. And the GT-R does just that.
 
I wonder what tires they are running on it for that 'riing time. Porsche has been known to use R-compound tires for their 'ring times. The Z06's 7:42 time was on stock run-flats - BIG disadvantage in tire grip versus an R-compound race tire.

bassora. I have no problems being corrected but using insults is childish and unbecoming.

The Vette may be faster due to its superior power but how will it put all that to the ground? The current 505hp Z06 is already a bit tail happy.

desmolicious - i apologise, i have no right to insult anyone, its just that i hate it when people make statements with no proof.

desmolicious,
 
I wonder if you are straight ignorant or its stupidity.
 
A Porsche Turbo with price tag of $130k is running 2 seconds SLOWER than the new Skyline GTR that possibly cost less. NOONE claim the GTR is faster than ALL Porsches. Its faster than a Porsche that cost more...
 
First you said the time is unfair because its Nissan that time the lap, then you said the GT2 is faster and now you are bringing in Corvette ZR-1. What's your point? The GTR is still faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo on the Ring.

Now, now...let's not get carried away here...let's be nice, even if we have to agree to disagree...
 
What's up with so many new people and trying to come and insult some of the older bloggers? JEEZ!
 
Anyhoo...having said that...I just want to see what the production cars actually do...
 
I want to see some of those new muscle cars on the road and some of these cars going at it...
 
Anyone interested in seeing a SRT-8 Challenger vs. Corvette Z06 vs. Base GTR vs. Camaro SS?

I don't know...I used to be so interested in high performance, but today it seems every car is packed to the brim with horsepower and all wheel drive. I mean a RAV4 with nearly 300hp? So, my point is Porsche has the richer heritage and that's what counts to me. Nobody is going to rob them of that. It's also nice to know that if they wanted to spank the Nissan they could do it in a heartbeat-just a little tweak here a bump there, and BLA-DAMN!! But, I hope they just stay true and keep perfecting what they have, with an occasional new model. And one day when I can afford a 911 I'll savor it. It's like a fine wine: price is not the point. It's the art behind it and the care taken in perfecting it. If you want a faster cheaper car you'll probably find one.

puristsoul i agree with you when comes to heritage in sport cars names like porsche ,ferrari ,lamborghini are the ones to be reconning,but the skyline has a very strong race heritage to!! maybe not old like those ones ,but goes for at least 45 years already in japan.
being almost invencible in all the categories they entered, to the point of they get to be banned of the australian granturismo series because of their superioryti and even creating their on categorie in japan on the 90 s because of the hygh durability, easy handling , raw power and easy tunning engine!!
making the competition goes nuts.
i think when times like this comes and porsche start doing S U Vs and 4 doors cupes its a sign that no one can go purist in the factory anymore.
well maybe ferrari and lambo but they are on the edge between expensive and impossible to even dreaming whith.
and porsche on this category are the most civilized ones.

FYI, the R33 was my favorite too, despite the weight. The 400R was such a great vehicle.

r33, I've come to realize that the skyline is a special car. I was taking issue about this competition (skyline vs. 911T). Like I said, performance these days is out of control. It's not so shocking anymore that a car can compete with a 911 Turbo. Though the skyline has been around since 1957 (Wow!-I did a little research) it doesn't have the heritige of a 911 and that will never change-that was my point. If you look at the design changes of the Skyline over the years, you'd be hard-pressed to identify it as an evolutionary progression. Now, if Porsche dropped the ball in it's development of the 911, then I'd be heartbroken. I have to concede that the Skyline is kick-ass though!