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2009 Nissan GT-R Preview

Godzilla. This less than lovable fictional monster best known for terrorizing

Japan's ultimate sports car finally emerges after years of development. (Photo: Nissan)

Tokyo and other areas of the Pacific coast was the perfect nickname for Nissan's beast of an automobile, the Skyline GT-R. Here was a run of the mill family-sized coupe that in the hands of Nissan's finest, became a true giant killer. For many years, particularly the years spanning R32 through R34 (late '80s through early '00s), the GT-R dominated Japan's sports car market as the ultimate that the nation had to offer, using highly advanced technologies to stop all over lighter, more powerful, sleeker and often much more expensive rivals. Even when lined up against such exotics as the Acura NSX, Ferrari 348 and Porsche 911 Turbo, not only could the Skyline GT-R hold its own, it could put others in their place.

A lot has changed since Godzilla was last running amok. Many of its key rivals, the Supra, 3000 GT, RX-7 and others have vanished. In a way, this has allowed Nissan to specifically target some high-end, high-performance metal ... namely the Porsche 911 Turbo. It's no surprise such a car has been used as a GT-R benchmark, given that the legendary German is one of the world's finest performance machines.

Things have changed on the surface and underneath. The GT-R is no longer a Skyline; it is its own entity. (Photo: Nissan)

Traditionalists might approve of the goals, but it's come at a cost. You might have noticed that the new GT-R is just that, the new GT-R. Nissan has divorced this entity from Skyline entirely. In Japan, the Skyline is the equal to our Infiniti G-Series, of which the new GT-R is not directly based.

The new GT-R is derived from the same architecture as the G35, but it features its own platform that Nissan dubs, “PM”, short for Prime Midship. The key difference between PM and the current FM (Front Midship) architectural design found in various rear-wheel drive Nissans and Infinitis is the location of the engine and gearbox. Where FM cars feature their gearboxes directly aft the engine, PM cars have a different layout that features two-thirds of the engine behind the front axle, while the rest of the gearbox, clutch and other components are mounted at the back of the car like the Chevrolet Corvette, as well as some Maseratis and Ferraris.

It isn't just about being quicker, it's about being smoother and more refined too. (Photo: Nissan)

In the past, GT-Rs were strictly manuals with a human-operated clutch pedal, which is not the case with the new car. As with Mitsubishi's ultimate Lancer, the new GT-R now features one of the most advanced transmissions on the market, a dual-clutch sequential manual transmission. The six-speed unit is just like the unit found in many Volkswagens and Audis, and in fact is produced by the same manufacturer, Borg Warner. Nissan is only offering the GT-R with the dual-clutch transmission as of right now, a traditional manual gearbox isn't in the cards yet.

There is no question that the GT-R is a complicated machine. Just look at what its active all wheel drive system does. From standstill to 25 mph power is divvied up between front and rear axles equally, but over that it shifts to a rear bias of 60-percent to improve high-speed cornering. However, that's just under normal circumstances. If the road gets wet or snow-covered, the car adapts on the double putting power down where it's needed the most. For ultimate efficiency it can even send up to 98-percent of its power to the

Everything you'd ever want to know about the car - everything - is available on the central display. It was designed by Polyphony, the people behind the Playstation hit Gran Turismo. (Photo: Nissan)

rear wheels. But can things get too complicated? Making the front wheels driving wheels required the power to travel to the rear gearbox, then, via another shaft, back to the front. To save weight, Nissan did all of this with carbon-fiber propeller shafts, but isn't the whole thing just too complicated, with more weight and potentially more things to go wrong?

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