2012 Nissan GT-R (R-35 MY12 M/C)

For a privileged few in the upper echelon of the automotive media world, the opportunity presented itself to scoot around Buttonwillow Raceway Park in the new 2012 GT-R. The forecasters in the blogosphere are predicting a Godzilla sized storm with heavy thunder and blistering acceleration with an added chance of personality. The impressions are overall very good, and in short the consensus is the new GT-R has more power, markedly better at-the-limit handling, and a few very minor aesthetic tweaks inside and out. Along with the upgrades, Nissan has announced the unveiling of a "Black Edition" which offers Recaro seats with black and red trim, six spoke Ray's Engineering wheels, and unique colors at a MSRP of $96,100 USD.

Pretty Things

As far as exterior styling, generally speaking the 2012 R-35 remains mostly unaltered. None of the metal body panels have been changed. The only major differences appear to be the Audi-style LED running lights that have become so prominent on sports/luxury cars in the past few years, and a new front and rear fascia. Now, instead of the happy smiling grill, we have a frowning grill, and the rear fascia has been updated with a pronounced rear diffuser, dropping the drag coefficient to 0.26 over the previous 0.27, while at the same time improving downforce by 10%. The front grill has been redesigned to send more air around the side of the body to aid in cooling the larger brakes more efficiently. There have also been a few tweaks to the rear fascia. Newly added are two small air exhausts, presumably to aid in aerodynamics and cooling as well as appearance, as it seems the shift in looks seems to be fueled by the desire to slightly differentiate this year from the previous years.

Stiff Stuff

As far as structural rigidity, the car has been improved by way of a carbon composite front strut brace applied directly above the towers and to the firewall to help with diagonal torsion of the chassis during high speed cornering and bumps. It has been brought up by many a reviewer over the past few years that the GT-R rides slightly on the harsh side and tends to be a bit squirrely during at-the-limit driving, but this minor flaw has not gone unnoticed by the engineers at Nissan. Apparently the whole ride has been tweaked with the goal of significantly bettering "spirited driving" comfort and handling. Nissan has opted for new Bilstein aluminum piston shocks for less friction internally, and they've been mounted further aft on the lower control arms for increased caster. The caster has been increased from five degrees to six degrees improving steering response. Overall, the impression of the new suspension set up is that it is greatly improved over the previous model. And along with new shocks, brakes and braces, Nissan has decided to change tires as well. Previous models were rolling on Bridgestone Potenza RE070A or Dunlop SP Sport GT600 tires, but every '12 model worldwide will be running Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT600 run flat tires. The decision is also handling-based as the tires provide massive amounts of lateral grip when warmed up, but with the unfortunate downside of being slick when cold and noisy all the time. Nissan's handymen have also bumped the brakes up from a healthy 15 inch rotor to an astounding 15.4 inch rotor. These are showcased behind a new set of ten spoke wheels, that not only offer a new look but shave 6.6lbs off of the cars weight.

Power

Kazutoshi Mizuno, Chief Engineer for the R-35, put the car on a 3 year timeline when it was introduced remarking that he was happy with how the car initially turned out, but that in 3 years we would see the full potential of the car. Three years since Godzilla Pt. IV debuted on U.S. soil, we have seen the aftermarket hastily accept the new beast, a much anticipated release in the US domestic market, and a well received public opinion of the new platform. As of this model year release, we have also seen what sufficient amounts of R&D (particularly in a certain part of Europe…namely Germany, can anyone guess? Starts with an N…) can do in terms of refining what was already a viciously powerful robot, and turning it into a refined, powerful, better handling supercar. For 2012 Mizuno-san has upped the power from 485 bhp at 6400 RPM, to an even more monstrous 530 bhp at 6400 RPM, thanks to a bump in boost pressure from 0.75 bar (10.8 psi), to 0.90 bar (13 psi). This added bump in the pony department also comes with a nice nudge in the torque department as well- up from 434 lb/ft at 3400 RPM, to a 448 lb/ft at 6000 RPM. Why so much higher in the RPM cycle you might ask? Be not alarmed as Yoda-san might say. The higher RPM maximum peak torque does not come with the dreaded lag that you might fear. The car utilizes the same IHI turbos, only with a larger inlet and a better breathing exhaust, that combine with newly revised engine management for a higher RPM that the maximum torque peak occurs. Apparently this just means that everything happens just the same, but better and stronger. Along with this newfound display of power, the overall 0-60 MPH (0-100 KPH) drops to the extremely impressive 3 flat second range. Depending on how you measure 0-60 times (roll out included or not included), the 2.9X time might be attainable if all conditions were perfect and a good driver was in the cockpit. Meanwhile, speaking of dropping clutches and launching hard, Nissan has upped the ante again, and instead of their Launch Control version 4 they have introduced a refined system they are calling R-Mode Start. The Achilles' heel of the beast has so far proven to be launch control and VDC deactivation with a mounting number of voided warranties tarnishing the reputation that Nissan has worked so hard to achieve. With the new system, they have narrowed the path to success and hopefully started a newly turned leaf in the launch quest. It surely proves faster off the line than the previous years. From what we can discern from the lucky fellows at Buttonwillow, the car slips the clutch instead of a deathly clutch dump, as seen in the first generation launch control. This allows for a seamless launch sans wheelspin and not an entirely brutal shock to the drivetrain. Early in the press hyping stages, Nissan advertised the miraculous 2.886 second rocket to 60 miles per hour. Quite impressive, but seems to not have been replicated since that initial showcase. Regardless of whether the jaunt is 2.886 seconds or 3.1 seconds, we do know that either way- the 2012 GT-R is astonishingly quick off the line- even more so than its last model year.

Low Down Dirty

As far as the new GT-R stacking up against the competition, Inside Line has run an great set of tests, as they always do with each new car they review and stacked up Godzilla with some of the (more expensive) competition. The '12 GT-R ran the quarter mile in 11.1 @ 124.1 MPH, and the slalom test was run at 74.7 MPH with VDC disabled and 74.2 MPH with VDC enabled. This rivaled their production car record where the Porsche GT3 and GT3 RS both run their slalom test at 75.3 MPH. For comparison, the 2012 Nissan GT-R MSRP Black Edition is $96,100, and the 2012 Porsche GT3 RS MSRP is $135,500. Just for giggles, we'll say that a track day at Buttonwillow (or most any major circuits) costs $250 (also on the high side) a day with a club, and we'll say that you get 4 hours of track time per day, conservatively. That's 630 hours of track time to drive better than the Porsche driver that spent his extra forty grand simply on the car. So, all in all whether you think that the Porsche is a better car or that the GT-R and its lesser price tag aren't worthy of the same treatment, I'm sure everyone down at the track will be interested to see where the chips fall. Let the competition begin.

2012 money shot (note: carbon brace behind engine against firewall to above strut towers)