I am Godzilla. You are Japan.

[Fett]

I picked it up just before Easter and I'm almost through the running-period. I had already driven one at Silverstone so I had a clue as to what to expect but they really have smoothed out some of the little niggles for the second revision...the comfort setting is now spot-on, new software and clutch settings etc.

I'll put a few more pics up later.

 

[Fett]

Cheers for all the comments, shall try and respond to some points/questions tomorrow. A few more pics...

PS i've sent an email via your trust if you don't mind

Cheers,

Tom.

Could you please re-send, I didn't get it, ta.

 

[Fett]

Cheers for all the comments fellers, glad some of you like it. I tried to answer all the questions, if I missed any, apologies.

Fantastic! Anything special about the running in?

First 300 miles, keep it below 3.5k and vary the engine speed. 300-600 miles, give it some beans but take it easy in first through 3rd. Keep the suspension setting to COMF to allow more stroke. 600-1200 miles, keep the engine speed up with plenty of manual shifting between 1st and fourth, suspension settings in COMF. The car then goes in to a HPC for wheel alignment, transmission/clutch settings and a few other bits and bobs.

Thought they put Potenzas on the GT-R?

It's mental how those wheels are 20", the car must feel huge! I'm looking forward to a human point of view when you've got past the twitchy foot period.

The car was originally going to come with the harder Bridgestones but we actually got the stickier Dunlops in the UK. I'm still enjoying the honeymoon period, so you won't get any objective views from me right now, once it starts to wear off I'll write something up.

...and whats with the PS2 pad ?

Before a press car even arrived in the UK, a lot of people dismissed it on forums as a Playstation on wheels...an uninvolving drive and characterless, the drivers input counting for little against the software etc.

Do you have any more shots of the interior Fett? I'm interested in seeing how the red works in there.

Not my pic obviously but hi-res:

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/niss-r35-blackedition-int.jpg

Only thing that would put me off them is knowing the fact another persons GTR might have more power as they are all different BHP!

The tolerances are so small, I doubt there is very, very little variation. Not a particular concern for myself anyway.

I can still think of many, many, many, many cars I'd have before the Nissan (hell, I even prefer my Seicento in a lot of ways.....and Seicentos truly are ******* rubbish!).

We both agree then that there are other more desirable cars than a GT-R. Unfortunately, for myself, finances to some degree dictate what is attainable and practical. Personally, a GT-R is a more attractive motoring prospect in every way to a Seicento, bar parking. Still, variety is the spice of life

Please say your coming to the RR on 2nd May

Sorry, Bank Holiday weekends are sacred. Maybe next time.

That can't be for real can it?

No

is that pic due to your passenger footwell falling out?

No, that has it's own special warning

Any upgrades planned?

One day when I've made it into the big salary world...Hennessey will be getting a call

There might be something in the pipeline, don't want to jinx it though as it rests on my HPC's approval. Frankly, it's more than enough right now.

I wouldn't touch anything Hennessey has been near, horror stories all over the place about that guy. That car has no upgrades to the clutch or transmission and some of that kit used is just HKS gear which is already offered by one HPC as a 570bhp upgrade for less money.

Well done old boy, glad to see you took delivery. Need to arrange to get together now at VMax and see what she'll do mister!

I'll have to check the thread and see whats what. Might see you there

Got a link?

It's a LP560-4...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo3PaTPFiiI

whats the outcome of the launchcontrol/warrenty issues in the end?

Signing a disclosure form was the outcome. You launch it with VDC off and if Nissan prove the box turned to swarf because of the launch, you've got a big bill coming your way. Not much need for that as the UK cars now use R-R-R mode for a faster 0-60. Track pre and post inspections, don't stick tat on the car etc.

Evo triangle eh? I guess it may have been you who my brother saw on the Bala-Trawsfynydd road/raceway? He told me a Grey GTR flew past him and obliterated the the long sweeping corner at the end of the lake

Possibly. Maybe. Not sure...

Daft question. Any chance of having the above pic in full size, its background quality that is.

http://www.zen50273.zen.co.uk/badge_rear.jpg

Let me know when you have it so I can take it down, ta.

 

[Fett]

Wisdom imo.



Can you go into this a bit more? What is swarf

Edit: nvm - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarf But what is R-R-R mode?

Race-Race-Race.

There are three switches in the car (pic a few pages back) for adjustments to be made to the transmission, the suspension and the ESP. Left alone they are in their default setting, or you can choose comfort setting on the suspension or leave it alone for normal variable damping. In Race, damping is fixed and it's probably one of the hardest rides I've encountered.

Esp has Off, Normal and Race settings and the transmission Snow, Race and normal. If you want the parameters of each setting, I can type them out.

The old launch control required the ESP/VDC to be off, with the other two in Race setting. A few people in Russia and the US took this to be a default setting and continually launched their cars and stripped 1st...hence all the fuss. To settle the issue, Nissan UK have made it clear they won't cover warranty claims if it's found that you have borked your box by using this setting. Instead, they have the R-R-R mode for the second revision which is apparently faster (Nissan have it at 3.3 I think) without the issues.

In a nutshell.

 

[Fett]

Very informative, thank you.

Does this mean you can launch in R-R-R mode with 3.3 second to 60 useing the computer controlled launch an infinite amount of times and still claim on warranty?

My agreement explicitly states that driving with ESP off in other other circumstances than emergency voids the warranty. Nothing mentioned about RRR mode, so it's a grey-area 'yes'. Within common sense boundaries, I cannot see any issues, nor does my HPC.

Seriously though, without touching any buttons, you'll still be under 4 seconds so I'm not sure when you would ever need it bar the strip or for the novelty value. I'm sure I'll try it out but I don't think it'll be an everyday occurrence.

 

[Fett]

Ah, I wasn't aware of this, I assumed a decent launch unaided would be more around the 4.5 second area, fair play! Big congratulations, eager to hear your experiences and impressions with it. Get much attention from the public?

The updated software is there to protect the transaxle, an expensive and complicated bit of kit. Nissan naively believed that littering the manual with VDC OFF warnings would protect it to some degree but also shot themselves in the foot by actually having the LC initialise with it switched off.

The new times from the US with the update have made it faster but with less shock to the transmission. Non LC is 3.5-3.6 and the 1/4 has dropped by a few tenths as well, so it's win-win, the car does it in manual or auto and in full-party mode it's obviously quicker than the old LC, like I said, I'm pretty sure Nissan have it now as 3.3.

As far as attention, I've never been photographed in a car before by strangers, it's a bit odd. Easter weekend traffic on the A55 was like sitting in a fishbowl.

 

[Fett]

I really don't think you can compare the GTR to Ferraris and Porsches.

Something like a 911 GT2 is arguably more of a driver's car.

It's a new breed of motor. It's very much like (sorry I know this phrase has been done to death on internet forums) a Playstation on wheels, as many critics and test drivers have stated.

Really? I'd say 99% of the Playstation comments were from those internet test pilots that had not driven a GT-R and based their opinion on the tech spec sheet and not actually experiencing the dynamics of driving the car. Now the majority of auto-journalists have driven the car, that argument sort of died a death some time ago.

It's definitely a head turner but I think the ladies would still be a lot more impressed if you turned up in an Aston, Lambo etc...

Wow.

Someone else thought of it first...

Yeah.

That one belongs to David Yu. DAVID YU WHO WRITES FOR EVO AND PERFORMANCE CAR AND AUTO-JOURNALS.COM AND DRIVES A CORVETTE LEST YOU FORGET.

Have a read of the Dale Lomas piece in PC a couple of months back. To unlock the full potential of the car you have to drive through where the computer controlled limits appear to be and really push the vehicle.

Or just flick a few switches. Have not seen this article, any chance of a link? Ta.

 

[Fett]

For clarity I met my wife when I had a Cavalier....about 5 stone ago

Well I fancied a change, so I bought a GT-R.

It's actually a scarily effective man-magnet, so it's a win-win situation.

 

[Fett]

I know that feeling, I had a TVR once and seemed to attract Pipe Smoker of the Year types!

I'm either wiping off beard hairs from the paint or battling through the encirclement of small bicycles.

 

[Fett]

I think that if i had a Ferrari, or indeed i ever do buy a car of the sort, it would stay under lock and key hidden away - and brought out only for personal use after a relationship had been established and would be shrug off as to not portray me as a typical ferrari/sports car nerd.

I truly cannot think of anything more embarrassing than to turn up to a first date in something like that, the notion that it would actually "pull" a girl seems bizarre to me - cars like this are a bit geeky if anything arent they?

I think you are worrying way too much squire. Clean pair of tighties and a shave should do as a good first impression. I couldn't be arsed if my car comes across in a certain way or not to women, at the end of the day, if you are a car-bore, she's going to find out. My missus clocked my number pretty early on, she had to ask me to remove my stringbacks to pass her the bread.

 

[Fett]

ive never seen a ferrari or porsche..where you can sit for a good while and dial the car in ie set it up via a tv screen lol. Personally for me its off putting..id rather much jump in a car...press a few buttons ie turn off traction control and then slam my foot down and enjoy the ride...unlike the GTR where you can spend a good while setting it up...

I have no idea what you are talking about.

You ordered this some time ago, didn't you. I seem to remember reading some other threads on this.

Random question - the configurator on the nissan website seems to suggest,there are basically 3 versions. Was there much you could add in optional extras, or much choice over alloys etc?

I paid the deposit in June last year, so it's been a bit of a wait but worth it.

Yep, 3 variations, standard, Premium and Black. As far as options, you sort of buy them by choosing your variation. So if you want black wheels, you go for the Black edition etc. Any extras are offered by the HPCs and seem to vary from one to another. Choices from Middlehurst were:

Delivery pack (oil/fuel/mats)
Carbon heel mats
Carbon vents/skirts/apron etc
Carbon Dymag wheels
Silver alloys
Rear and front park sensors
Cobratrak 5
AP rotors
Pads
Running lights
Y-pipe
Paint Shield
HKS filter
HKS Conversion

...and few other bits and bobs.

 

[Fett]

As already mentioned many times, wow! Congrats on the motor, the paintwork looks fantastic in your pictures.
The ability of the GTR defies belief & the fact that the top motoring publications also regard it as a great steer pretty much tells you everything you need to know regarding electronic interference.

Cheers, the car/paintwork took a couple of days to get to how I wanted it, I asked the dealer not to touch it so it still had the shipping wrap adhesive lines on it and it had been sitting at the docks for a bit.

As far as the motoring press liking it, it doesn't matter how many awards or accolades thrown at it, some people just won't have it

I haven't seen this Autocar TV feature thrown about too much, interesting comments regarding its real-world usage.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/VideosWallpapers/Videos.aspx?AR=239816
Lovely roads, bit toight for the GTR mind!

I guess if Corstorphine found it big and intimidating to drive, that could happen on a c-road like Buttertubs Pass or similiar. Bit of a struggle to interpret that as a real world reflection of everyday driving roads personally. Maybe a little more time with it, understanding what setting is required if TC is cutting in and a sequence of turns with what happens at 2:30min might see a different outcome. Can't argue with choosing the RS on that particular road, I'd prefer it as well...I'd plump for a R26.R or a Cooper S over a LP 560-4 up there but I know what I would rather go home in. RS is a great car though by all accounts.

Cool. How would you rate the overall experience o buying it?

Apart from my intial deposit confirmation letter, and a change in wheel colour, its been a very good experience. My HPC was always pretty well informed and kept me fairly up to date with what was happening, I got the very best possible delivery date, an ongoing concierge service, freebies like Geneva tickets etc, so I can't really moan. Without a doubt the highlight was the deposit holder day at Silverstone which pretty much answered all my questions about the cars abilities and a bit of drifting thrown in on Nissans rubber with a GT-R Arai helmet and freebies to take home.

The handover took a couple of hours, all very smooth and professional with photos being taken and a very thorough rundown of the tracker, transmission, VDU etc. Changed the mats for ones I liked, signed a few things, handed over my debit card and that was it. It was reassuring to see the new GT-R service building looking immaculate and Gary Finney (who can hustle a GT-R round the 'Ring fairly rapidly) as the Service and Performance manager. So yes, definitely recommended.