For 2013 Nissan will release two different trim levels of the Nissan GT-R R35 Stateside: the GT-R Premium--the standard GT-R Model--and the suped up GT-R Black Edition. The Black Edition, which I've gone over extensively in prior posts, features lightweight black forged aluminum RAYS wheels, unique red and black interior, Recaro leather-appointed seats and a new dry processed and vacuum formed carbon fiber rear spoiler.

The two models will begin retailing at the MSRPs of:

GT-R Premium: $96,820
GT-R Black : $106,320

The base price for the Premium sees a healthy hike of $6870 over the 2012 MSRP of $89950, and the premium paid for the Black Edition over the 2012 comparable trim level is a raise of more than $11k. Of course, with this healthy rise in price, the consumer also gains some healthy benefits. Chief amongst those benefits is an increase of 15HP and 15lb.-ft of torque over the 2012 GT-R counterpart. This power comes with increased transmission efficiency as well.

The gains to performance don't stop with increased HP and Torque numbers, either. The 2013 Nissan GT-R R35 features a retuned suspension that has been adjusted and optimized for track performance. The braking system is upgraded some also, and the 2013 GT-R R35 features Brembo full-floating cross-drilled rotors, low steel high stiffness brake pads and Brembo monoblock six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers.

For those people who like their supercar with some luxury, the 2013 R35 isn't focused solely on performance, either. The primary interior upgrade is found in the GT-R's audio system, which now features a standard 11-speaker Bose surround sound system that utilizes rigid diecast steel panels for improved mounting and stability. The Nissan GT-R R35 also features an upgraded Rearview screen, Bluetooth integrated hands-free phone support, and real-time traffic and weather updates with optional XM subscription.

NISMO has finally unveiled a special track edition for the R35 GT-R that meets all FIA GT-3 qualifications and will begin its racing life at the Dubai 24 Hour Track.

NISMO teamed up with JR Motorsports to produce a special track version of the world-renowned r35 GT-R that would be FIA GT3 race compliant, and the results are impressive. With more than a full year's work between the two groups, they've finally hammered out a final product that is sure to take the GT3 World Race circuit by storm.

This new GT3 GT-R is powered by a modified version of the same 3.8L TT V6 engine found in the stock vehicle that will deliver 523 HP to the wheels at 6400 RPM via a modified six-speed rear wheel transaxle controlled through semi-automatic paddle shifters.

The GT3 Version of the GT-R was designed with both the track and the customer in mind, and NISMO took their time with this one to ensure that it had both performance and driveability. To allow for this, they enhanced the chassis for greater inspiration of confidence to those behind the wheel and then allowed for adjustable suspension set-up and driver controls so that whoever is behind the wheel can ensure the vehicle meets their track needs.

This new GT3 race compliant GT-R iteration was first unveiled on Thursday, January 12th at the Autosport International Exhibition (AIE) and Show in the UK. The immediate reception was extremely favorable, as crowds tended to be impressed both by the vehicle's performance potential as well as its obvious, stylistic, modifications suitable for a GT3 course.

To further show off the vehicle's potential, once the GT-R GT3 finishes his showing at the AIE, Nismo will be taking it to the Dubai 24 Hour for competition. There, the GT3 GT-R has already qualified for third on the grid--where the first two spots are occupied by GT3 Ferraris. For the Dubai 24 Hour race, the GT3 GT-R will feature an all-star team comprised of some of last year's world wide GT-R race winners: Michael Krumm, Alex Buncombe, Tom Kimber-Smith and Franck Malliaux. The NISMO GT3 GT-R will feature, prominently, the number 32 for the race.

Of course, things aren't always golden. Yesterday, Michael Krumm--who will be the first driver behind the wheel of the GT-R in the Dubai 24 Hour set to begin today--was quoted as having said “We had a tough start today as we had a few problems with the car but the guys did a great job to get it ready for qualifying.” Thankfully, the team of GT-R engineers that were on hand for NISMO took care of issues, and Krumm closed out with the statement, “The car worked very well and I am very impressed with the engine in particular. I love the GT-Rand I love it even more now. We just need to keep it all together for the long race tomorrow.”

Best of luck to those guys today as they show off the GT-R's capabilities in the GT3 races.

Now, if you want to own a GT3 ready GT-R, produced directly by NISMO for such an occasion, you'll soon be able to. NISMO themselves will be directly responsible for sales and all customer support on their GT3 GT-R in the major markets of: Japan, Asia, North America, South America, and Oceania. For those in Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, NISMO's partner JRM will be handling all distribution and support. Pricing has not yet been officially announced.

Thus, I give you this Matte Black and Carbon Fiber wrapped Nissan GT-R. It's so understated that it almost becomes overstated, and it takes vehicle styling and mixes it with that of a B-2 Stealth bomber; of course, this particular GT-R comes to us courtesy of the wealthy and mean (mean for a racer, at least) streets of Dubai - the world's newest playground for the exorbitantly wealthy.

The matte black wheels, matte black paint, carbon fiber fascia, splitter, diffuser, and spoiler pieces all come together beautifully with the vehicle's small touches of color -- the seemingly necessary highlights of the GT-R badging and the bronze colored Brembo caliper covers -- to make one gorgeous new GT-R. It's smooth, sleek, and looks like the sort of vehicle that would fit in perfectly in the wind-whipped and sand-blasted realm of the deserts surrounding its home. The carbon fiber exhaust tips (maybe they're an Akrapovic? It would make sense, the sound is right for one) are a great touch. Now, all the driver needs to do to complete the look is get themselves some acrylic light blackout kits.

For further proof of the beauty of the vehicle, also, take notice that the cameraman has focused directly on this very unique GT-R when inside of a Dubai parking garage where the following cars are also visible just within the few seconds of the video itself: multiple Porsche 911's, multiple Land Rovers,  a Mercedes Benz G class, a Mercedes Benz S Class, and a gorgeous red Ferrari. That's millions of dollars within direct vicinity of this GT-R, yet its unique paint scheme and carbon fiber touches really set it apart.

I don't know, personally. I still like the gloss, showcar quality of a well-polished, well-done, metallic coat paint job, but there's something inherently sexy--and inherently Batmobile-esque--of an all-black GT-R, much like the new Black edition, that this Matte Black ride just totally personifies.

What do you think?

EVI Corporation is a custom automotive company that spends its days outfitting vehicles for police forces--particularly for undercover purposes. A few weeks ago, they got in their very first Black Edition 2012 Nissan GT-R (with all of 13 miles on the odometer), and set to turning it in to the ultimate police car. Well, they've done just that, and a Virginia precinct (who will not be named, sadly) has purchased said GT-R.

This isn't the first Police GT-R to hit the streets, but this is definitely the coolest. EVI used a 530HP, Black Edition, 2012 GT-R as their base vehicle and outfitted with all of the police necessities. The flashing lights are hidden in the front headlights and in the front mirror, as well, so this vehicle is truly undercover.

Ultimately, there's not much more to say about this GT-R that hasn't already been said, expect to highlight what a crazy cool cop car it is. I guess it's a true V6 Interceptor, huh? And there's no running from it in any conditions. Here's just to hoping we don't hear about this one being involved in an accident any time soon, and I just want to imagine the look on the first person's face to get busted by this thing. I hope it happens when a ballsy Porsche or Ferrari pulls up next to it on the highway and tries to challenge it to a race. That would be a fun story. (Mostly because the GT-R would not only beat it at the race, but also pull it over).

AMS kept all of the interior trim and amenities--AC, Stereo, Power Seats, and all--and boosted the HP on their GT-R up over the 1500 mark. That's right - 1500+ HP. That's more than 300HP over the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which is considered a benchmark vehicle in those terms. Of course, AMS didn't just want flashy HP numbers, so they set to improving the chassis, handling, and braking on their GT-R as well, and what they ended up with is this absolute 1500+ HP monster that's just as friendly on the city streets as it is terrifying on a track, and terrifying it is: this car just set a new 1/4 mile record by posting an 8.97 second, 169mph mark. That's right, sub 9's and 169mph in the 1/4 mile run. That's just not fair.

The German duo of Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr followed up Saturday's GT1 Qualifying Race victory in the no.23 JRM Racing Nissan GT-R with more of the same in today's Championship Race at Paul Ricard, leading from beginning to end and putting themselves back on top of the GT1 Drivers' Championship standings in the process. The no.21 Sumo Power GT of David Brabham and Jamie Campbell-Walter clinched an excellent fourth place after making up seven grid positions during the course of the race, whilst there were also good drives from Enrique Bernoldi and Nick Catsburg in the no.20 car. The only sour note of the afternoon for Nissan came with the retirement of the luckless no.22 JRM, which encountered suspension problems late on in the race when challenging for third place.
A large number of penalties applied by the race stewards in relation to the Qualifying Race meant a starting grid that bore little resemblance to Saturday's final race positions, with the first placed no.23 JRM the only Nissan to start where it finished. The no.22 and no.21 were both penalised three positions for cutting track corners, although due to similar penalties being incurred by several other cars around them they actually ended up only dropping two places (no.22) and one place (no.21) respectively. This meant that the four GT-Rs started the race in first (no.23 JRM), sixth (no.22 JRM), seventh (no.20 Sumo Power GT) and 11th (no.21 Sumo Power GT) positions.


A clean race start saw Krumm comfortably retain his first position going into the all-important and often incident-packed first corner in the no.23 JRM, with the no.22 and 20 Nissans doing likewise in sixth and seventh. The no.21 Sumo Power GT was the only GT-R to lose a position on the opening lap, falling back one to 12th place, but this would only prove to be a catalyst for some highly-skilled and pulsating driving from Campbell-Walter, who made four excellent passing manoeuvres to leave his car in a comfortable eighth place come the opening of the pit window on 25 minutes.

At the front, having worn the fresh tyres in, the no.23 JRM started to pull away from the chasing no.7 Aston Martin, establishing a four second lead ahead of the mandatory tyre and driver changes, whilst Westbrook's stint behind the wheel saw the no.22 JRM make a good overtaking manoeuvre to come into the pits in fifth.
The main Nissan pit stop beneficiary this time round was the no.21 Sumo Power GT, with some brilliant work by the car's pit crew allowing the fresh behind the wheel Brabham to come out two places up the order in sixth. There were satisfactory stops for the two JRMs, with the no.23 and no.22 JRM retaining first and fifth respectively, whilst the no.20 Sumo Power GT found itself losing a couple of places to come back out in ninth.
The opening stages of the second half of the race saw the no.23's lead to second place slashed to nearly nothing as the no.8 Young Driver Aston Martin, having overtaken it's no.7 team-mate in the pits, managed to close right up to Luhr's tail: there followed several tense laps before the GT-R managed to pull away and build a near two second gap again. Slightly further back, Dumbreck was having a strong drive behind the wheel of the no.22 JRM, easily overtaking the no.41 Ford GT for fourth place, whilst Bernoldi, having closed a substantial gap to the cars in front of him, made two great overtakes in the final quarter of the race, lifting the no.20 Sumo Power GT up into seventh.


Just when everything was looking rosy for Nissan there was to be unfortunate late drama as the no.22 JRM, which has endured a terrible run of bad luck throughout the length of this season's Championship, suffered a suspension problem whilst pushing hard for third place, ending its race challenge instantly. Dumbreck's loss promoted Brabham's into fifth, and the Australian was to go one better and over take the Ford for fourth on the penultimate lap - an astonishing achievement given the no.21's start on the sixth row of the grid. Up ahead meanwhile, Luhr was able to withstand a renewed push from the no.8 Aston Martin in second to claim the no.23 JRM's second GT1 race victory in as many days.

Speaking afterwards, Michael Krumm said: "It's a brilliant feeling to get a double victory here at Paul Ricard and jump back into the lead in the Drivers' Championship - the GT-R felt really great out there, and it handled very comfortably throughout my stint behind the wheel.


"The most important thing for me today was to have a good getaway and get through the first corner without an accident, which I did. As expected, Tomas (Enge) in the following no.7 Aston gave me a very hard time during the first few laps, and it took a while to get the tyre pressures up. However, after about three or four laps I found the grip and I was able to start building a little bit of a gap: I wanted to make as big a gap as I could for the driver change in case anything went wrong. Overall it really has been a perfect weekend - now it's on to the great unknown of China, which we'll obviously be approaching with a lot of confidence."
Michael's team-mate in the no.23 JRM, Lucas Luhr, added: "When I left the pits I had quite a good gap but evidently the no.8 Aston pushed quite hard on his out lap, because I soon saw him coming up behind me in my mirrors and I thought 'this is going to be close!'. After a few laps the tyre pressure came up and then I could control the pace more, but I still didn't want to risk pushing too much, as we saw what can happen with tyre degradation on this track yesterday: I didn't overstretch."


"Once again, Michael and I need to thank the whole team for their hard work, and for giving us the wonderful tools with which we can win races. Two wins is a great feeling!"
Round eight of the GT1 World Championship, in Ordos, China will take place on the weekend of the 3rd - 4th September, 2011.

"Thought I'd share this exciting news about a new GTR race car for the occasional track goers!

All in all, I am very excited about the car but not so much on the price! One more thing I can say that he said it is not the Spec R but i think it is. And oh yeah one last thing that I can add that they might bring a couple of them to sell in the States!"

You can read the full thread here. But as you can guess, everybody has something to say about it. The NISMO nameplate is rarely a cheap one, and if it bears the NISMO plate, it usually means excellent quality at a hefty price. The interesting point here though is the fact that Nissan is even entertaining the idea of customer racing backed by NISMO. A nice change from a few years ago and the tranny woes, (many of which are still pending in courts from the U.S. to Germany) of the first iteration of the R35. A rear roll cage with a wider stance and *GULP* almost 500 pounds shed off the car, would be a particularly palette whetting track monster. Now, if it was street legal… hmm….

Here 's a link to some pictures of the RC by NISMO, just to get an idea of what we might be working with from our article on the GT-R RC.

David Brabham and Jamie Campbell-Walter gave the Sumo Power GT team a well-deserved podium finish in round six of the FIA GT1 World championship, crossing the line in third place as the series visited the relatively new circuit at Navarra in southern Spain.

Due to the second-placed Lamborghini requiring an engine change - out of step with the Championship regulations' timetable - it meant that a five-place grid penalty was applied and, consequently, Campbell-Walter moved up a place to start the Championship Race from third on the grid. Capitalising on his slightly elevated position, he made a perfect start and tucked his GT-R neatly on the inside of the first corner to take second place – much to the delight of the team.

As the first half of the race unfolded, not only did Campbell-Walter consolidate his position, he also pulled out a comfortable margin of four seconds over the third-placed JRM Racing Nissan GT-R of Peter Dumbreck by the time the pit-stop window opened half-way through the race.

"I think that to come away with a fourth and a third is a good outcome for us at this circuit team manager Hiroki Furuse confirmed, "We did not come here thinking we would beat the Lamborghinis, but we almost did! The whole team has worked really hard this weekend to get the cars up to speed and keep them running and I'm delighted to see Jamie and David have a much more successful time of things."

Here are the official standings for the Championship Race and the overall points standings from NISMO:

Championship Race

Current standings after Round 6

The showdown pits a 2011 (2012 in the U.S.) GT-R against a Lexus LFA, a Porsche 911 GT2RS, a Corvette ZR1, and a Ferrari 430F1 against one another for a three lap race on the famed Japanese Fuji Raceway. The dialog is all in Japanese, but when cars like this are racing, that doesn't matter does it? The vehicles all give a great showing, even though the GT-R's launch right around the Ferrari at the beginning of the race is one of the more impressive things I've seen in a long time. I'm used to seeing differences in acceleration like that between the GT-R and other vehicles, but never in a manner like this, where the GT-R is forced to go wide around a Ferrari within the first few seconds of the race because its get up and go is just that much more impressive. Not a vehicle to trifled with.

Ultimately, it's a fun race and a great video worth a watch. Hope you enjoy the results as much as I did!