We knew this one was coming, the new GT-R Nismo, hot off the heels of the recently revised version of the Nissan R35 GT-R, but perhaps not this soon. Just after the new car was announced for sale in the UK, the news about the next race-tuned GT-R surfaced.
Based on the MY2017 car, the entirely handmade Nismo model made its debut at the famous Nurburgring race track in Germany, where the car (Nismo and otherwise) was primarily developed.
For the uninitiated, the GT-R Nismo in a nutshell is the more track-focused variant of the already very fast and capable Nissan GT-R, only with more power, more aero, lighter materials, and suspension tuned by the marque’s in-house performance division: Nismo.
For the 2017 model, Nismo has fitted it with carbon fibre front bumpers, larger front side sills to improve airflow and downforce, and a larger front grille helps cool the up-tuned twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 engine that now produces 441kW and 652Nm.
The GT-R Nismo builds on the stiffened structure of the car over the outgoing model year. This left Nissan with plenty of room to tune the car’s shock absorbers, springs and stabilisers, resulting in a sharper-handling chassis and more surface contact to deliver power to the road.
The engine also gains a pair of GT3 race-derived large diameter turbochargers that can be attributed to the bulk of the extra power and linear torque delivery, but also the engine and transmission calibration work done by Nismo.
Nissan’s 2017 GT-R Nismo has its interior uncommonly left alone from the base car. The only obvious changes are made to the seats which have been replaced with carbon buckets that are leather-wrapped with Alcantara inserts.
Much of the leather on the dashboard, too, has been replaced with Alcantara. Other than that, the GT-R Nismo isn’t a far cry from the upgraded and altogether more comfortable interior of the normal 2017 GT-R.
“The GT-R NISMO emphasises the ‘R’ in its nomenclature,” said Hiroshi Tamura, the Chief Product Specialist of the GT-R NISMO and the standard GT-R.
“Its direct ties with racing make it at home on any racetrack, providing the highest levels of excitement and exhilaration for the driver. With the 2017 GT-R as a starting point, the new NISMO version has become a more well-balanced machine, with not just increased performance, but a heightened premium feel overall. It is the result of our relentless pursuit of ultimate driving pleasure.”
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