According to Autocar and Steeve Sutcliffe, Nissan is about the release a further upgrade of the Nissan GT-R, with more hp, more chassis evolution. So, I guess we can start a new thread about it now ! Official presentation is supposed to occur on November 7th. Below the article he posted on Autocar: Nissan GT-R: the best just got better In the mag this week (dated 26 October) there’s a group test of the new Ginetta G60, in which we compare Britain’s excellent new sports car superstar with its rivals – namely the Lotus Evora S, Audi R8, Porsche Cayman and Nissan GT-R. The Ginetta acquits itself exceedingly well, but in the end it can’t quite compete with the extraordinary all-round ability of the mighty GT-R. The test proved many things, for all sorts of reasons, but most of all it reiterated how much value there is to the GT-R recipe. No matter which way look at it, and no matter what sort of cars you compare it with at roughly the same price (it costs £71,950) the Nissan is just an incredible hunk of car for the money, plain and simple. And the scary thing is, it’s about to get even better still. On 7 November Nissan will officially introduce a new 2012 model year version that boasts more power, more performance, even tastier handling and, as is de rigeur nowadays, better economy and cleaner emissions, too. At the moment Nissan won’t actually say precisely how much power the new GT-R generates, but what I can tell you – having driven it yesterday with a 2011 example, back-to-back – is that it certainly feels a fair bit quicker, especially at the top end. Which is kind of ridiculous, really, given that the 2011 car was already capable of flooring all comers, on all surfaces. At a guess I’d say the new GT-R has 560, maybe 565bhp (the current one has 525) but the big difference I noticed was in the extra agility of its chassis. Nissan has retuned the GT-R’s suspension, its all-wheel-drive system and the brakes to be even more responsive, and on a circuit (I drove it at Silverstone) the new car feels a fair bit sharper everywhere. It’s also 6kg lighter, with the spring rates altered across the car to be 50kg stiffer on the driver’s side, depending whether it’s left or right hand drive. That’s a first as far as I’m aware, and it’s typical of the attention to detail contained throughout this most amazing of cars. Conclusion: the best just got quite a lot better still – and the gap between it and the rest of the universe just got wider as a result.
Another report in Auto Express. Looks like there is no cosmetic evolution on the car is the pictures published on the site are the new car... The Nissan GT-R has received its annual round of upgrades for 2012. With more power and an unusual new suspension setup, it promises to out pace and out handle every model that’s gone before. Katzutoshi Mizuno, chief engineer and father of the GT-R project, told us: “From the very outset the plan with the GT-R was to update it every year and keep improving it. The GT-R as you see it now still has four years left to go.” The big step came with MY10 to MY11, where an extra 45bhp was extracted from the twin-turbo V6, bringing the total to 523bhp and 612Nm of torque. Nissan is refusing to release official figures for the MY12 car until an official announcement in Japan on November 7, but engineers hinted that the power hike will be milder - so around 543bhp, a 20bhp increase, seems feasible. More intriguing are the suspension tweaks which is now slightly stiffer on the driver's side, to compensate for the weight of the driver and the suspension column. It’s a geometry that’s unique to the GT-R and sums up the minute attention to detail that this car is all about. We had the opportunity to drive the refreshed model back to back with the outgoing car on the Silverstone circuit – crucial to highlight the improvements. Firstly, it’s faster, not by huge amounts, but there’s more urgency in the upper rev range. The exhaust note seemed louder too – a product of the freer flowing pipes that helps to liberate the extra bhp. Despite the track being wet, acceleration was savage down the straights and the stability under braking was superb, but the lack of grip and the weight of the GT-R, meant we were forced to tip-toe around the slower corners. In truth, the suspension changes were imperceptible, but the GT-R’s body control was so impressive in the first place that comes as little surprise. Although stuck with six-ratios, while competitors are forging ahead with seven and eight-speed dual-clutch boxes, the transmission is still remarkable fast and smooth. And customers wishing to get a little more from their GT-R, although we can’t see why you would, can now order a track pack, which adds stiffer suspension, lighter wheels, improves brake cooling, rips out the rear seats and adds specially-designed sport seats in the front.
Yes it did last year, but the GT-R development team announced at the launch that there would be continuous improvement, and every MY featured upgrades.
2012 GT-R To Shave 8 Secs From 'Ring Lap-Time? - PistonHeads Headlines 2012 GT-R TO SHAVE 8 SECS FROM 'RING LAP-TIME? Test figures for next year's model show 7min 16secs lap is do-able... PH went to Silverstone yesterday to catch up with 'the father of the GT-R' Kazutoshi Mizuno, and spend some time behind the wheel of the new-for-2012 version of Nissan's super coupe. Mizuno san, who we met at the Nurburgring a couple of years back, remains on charismatic form. Listening to (and watching) his animated talk through the spec upgrades for the new 2012 version of the GT-R, backed up by the usual set of scribbled diagrams on whiteboard, it's hard not to wonder whether this humorous yet driven man is a crack-pot or a genius. The people who know him best - the GT-R development team at Nissan - clearly ascribe to the latter view and in the light of the man's achievements it's hard to argue. I asked Mizuno san yesterday whether he recognised how his character differed from the stereotypical senior Japanese management figure, and he laughingly acknowledged he was regarded as 'an outlaw' and sometimes even 'crazy' by more conservative colleagues. In fact he reckons on spending more than half his working day just managing internal politics to clear a path for his 'no compromise' approach to development. Don't worry folks, I thanked him on your behalf! The results of his team's latest activities were on hand at Silverstone, and while there's no visual difference between the 2011 and 2012 models, there's enough under the skin to make it interesting. First off is a power hike, the exact scale of which will be confirmed next week, but which we're expecting to lift output to the 550hp-ish mark. Second, and for right hand drive markets only, there's an asymmetric suspension set-up (which Mizuno reckons may be a world first for a production car) designed to counterbalance the extra 50kgs weight of the steering assemblies etc. So everything's just a little stiffer on the right, and even the geometry has been adjusted. Small front end revisions also mean the nose of the car is a little 'pointier' to steer, an improvement that we were able to feel thanks to a quick cone slalom demo. The extra power and chassis tweaks clearly improve performance, although it wasn't noticeable to me even driving the cars back to back on a wet Silverstone circuit - in spite of being 'shown around' by Andy Middlehurst. However, Mizuno told me that a review of the data collected from extensive Nurburgring testing reveals the 2012 car is on average 5-8kmh faster through every corner there, and 5kmh faster on the final straight where the car now reaches 296kmh. Extrapolating that to a lap time, the man himself reckons we should be seeing a difference of at least 7-8secs against the current GT-R 'personal best' of 7min 24secs. (In fact he said 10secs first, but corrected himself with the air of a man who thought it best to appear conservative... the lap-time itself will tell!) Other announcements due next week when the 2012 GT-R is officially revealed will include the availability of a Track Pack, which adds a Spec-V style interior, racing seats with high friction fabric to stop you slipping about, uprated brakes and a sports exhaust. The firm is also considering making the Club Track Edition available in the UK - this will get you a car with a roll-cage, Bilstein racing shocks and slick tyres, plus five full track days including Nissan on-circuit maintenance, driver training with Toshio Suzuki (he who holds the GT-R 'Ring lap record) and the chance to rub shoulders with Mizuno san himself. A similar deal is already available in Japan, where it looks pretty good value at around £25k. Mizuno san also talked about the platform extension possibilities of the GT-R, which in this current generation has at least five years of life in it. I pressed Mizuno san for more info, but drew a bit of a blank - although he did tell me this: "The GT-R is a two door coupe with a very big boot. Use your journalistic skill to imagine what might be next." Hmm... GT-R convertible anyone?
QR confirms: Nissan GT-R MY 2012 - Foto e prime informazioni ufficiali - Quattroruote 550ps flat 620 Nm 3,200-5,800 rpm bit better fuel economy stronger chassis composite brakes (optionals) rearview camera Bose Hi-Fi (right drive only) asymmetric setting "track Pack" (optional: 2 seats, sportier setup)
Nissan Details North American 2013MY GT-R, Sales Start in January Next Year Earlier today, we brought you news on the European and Japanese specification versions of the refreshed 2012 GT-R, and now it's time for the skinny on the North American variant that will go on sale on January next year as a 2013 model year car. The refinements for the updated N.A. GT-R are more or less the same with its Euro counterpart and are highlighted by the changes to the 3.8-liter bi-turbo V6 that include improved intake efficiency, reduced airflow resistance through an enlarged air intake duct for the intercooler, and improved exhaust emissions efficiency. As a result, the 2013MY GT-R is rated at 545-horses and 463 lb-ft, an increase of 15HP and 15 lb-ft over the outgoing model. Additionally, Nissan engineers have refined the transmission and retuned the suspension, while a handmade dry carbon rear spoiler has been added to the GT-R Black Edition model. Other changes include the addition of a new blue lighting treatment inside the tachometer ring, while a RearView Monitor, Nissan Navigation System with XM NavTraffic with Real-Time Traffic Information and NavWeather capabilities, and Bluetooth Hands-free Phone System, are now standard on both the GT-R Premium and the GT-R Black Edition models. Unfortunately, the U.S. won’t be getting the lighter and more hardcore GT-R Track edition.
