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My weekend as Hulk's sidekick...
Was my wife's gift to me for my birthday - a 2011 GTR (the 530HP one, not the 550HP latest and greatest) rental for a weekend. So here's my shaken and stirred thoughts about the monster in no particular order.
First the looks, I have seen many GTRs before this, but it is different walking towards one. It is big and intimidating. And Sitting in it, doesn't change that. - it is is more akin to commandeering a spaceship than a car, from the high seating position and the limited view to the MFD with the zillion graphs. The particular car I had was the black edition with the Recaro seats and they are excellent - very snug and yet very comfortable. Most car seats give me a back ache after a few hours, but I spend close to 7 hours inside the GTR over the next 2 days and not a single complaint about the seats.
Driving it, well, the thing is fast. It was my first 500+HP car, so I expected to be shocked, but not electrocuted. While the turbo lag is minimal, the throttle response is far from linear. Below 3k, it is fast, but above 3500, it is mental. Somewhere between the two, the car engages the warp drive and the Camry that was already just a speck in the rear view mirror just completely immaterializes.
The steering is very accurate and direct, but not too much feedback. All the feel is up the butt via the suspension which is super hard. I had it in 'comfort' mode pretty much all the time, and it is borderline usable on a daily basis on the semi-decent suburban roads. I wouldn't dare use it in the pothole filled roads that plague SF.
The first day, I spend driving around the roads and ramps in my neighborhood that I am very familiar with. And I came back sort of disappointed. The biggest reason being the cacophony of noises the car makes. The V6 is not smooth nor melodious, the transmission is clunky and diffs makes all sorts of noise especially at slower speeds. It is a mechanically unsympathetic car. Maybe it is something you get used to, but for me, for now, it was seriously getting in the way of me enjoying the car. The car is big and heavy and you see the mass around you, but you don't feel it. The body control is excellent and turn in immediate. While the M3 negotiates a corner, the GTR just bludgeons it into submission - there is nothing subtle about the way it goes. But the grip is insane, once it settles into a turn, I doubt even a crane could pull it away from it's intended line. And the real insanity of it is that only later when returning the car would I find out the car didn't even have the grippy OEM tires - the rental agency had swapped them out for cheaper, longer lasting but less grippy Yokohamas.
The 2nd day I went to some of the best back roads I know of in northern California - one of which,is fittingly enough named the "Skyline drive". The first few miles of the back road was really narrow and tight and GTR felt like fish out of water. It was just too wide. There was some hatchback on my ass all the time but I didn't dare push it - the rental agency has a 10k wrecking fee on top of whatever insurance covers. But after a few miles the road opened up a little bit and lanes got a bit wider and nasty single lane hairbends were replaced by fast sweepers and brutal switchbacks and the GTR just transformed it self and the hatchback soon disappeared. It is amazing how much speed the car can carry through corners. Stuff that would give me sweaty palms on my M3 hardly causes a flutter. The other amazing thing bout the car - how fast it makes slower traffic move aside - including a Boxster, a E46 M3 and an E63 - haha, yes, I just referred to an M and an AMG as 'slower traffic'. But I don't blame them, the speeds the GTR carries through back roads is insane and resistance is futile. On the downside, I been through these roads many times with my M3 and get a rush every single time. No such luck with the GTR. Instead of being in the thick of it, you are like a junior partner marveling at the astonishing feats it is capable of. If Hulk had a sidekick, this is what he would feel like...
(ps. may be a more skilled pilot than me could bring more equilibrium to the day's proceedings and push the GTR to a point where the driver would actually make a difference).
TLDR version -
The car is fast, duh! Mechanically, not too smooth - especially at slower speeds. Suspension is superhard, but livable at least for typical suburban US roads. The car needs very challenging roads to be enjoyable. On normal roads it is sort of boring - the car is just too capable for your run of the mill ramps/ city streets.
Pic time...
Not a fan of those black Ray's wheels, the normal wheels look much better.
At a 'pit stop' on Skyline drive...
A bunch of bikers came to me and asked about the car... which is one of the coolest thing about it - people who know about cars knows about it's awesomeness, for the rest, it is just a "Nissan".
What the GTR does to a corner...
The rental co has many exotics including this 458, it is $2500 for a day though...maybe for next birthday...
Last but not least, my beloved M3 - still cheers me up like nothing else...
Was my wife's gift to me for my birthday - a 2011 GTR (the 530HP one, not the 550HP latest and greatest) rental for a weekend. So here's my shaken and stirred thoughts about the monster in no particular order.
First the looks, I have seen many GTRs before this, but it is different walking towards one. It is big and intimidating. And Sitting in it, doesn't change that. - it is is more akin to commandeering a spaceship than a car, from the high seating position and the limited view to the MFD with the zillion graphs. The particular car I had was the black edition with the Recaro seats and they are excellent - very snug and yet very comfortable. Most car seats give me a back ache after a few hours, but I spend close to 7 hours inside the GTR over the next 2 days and not a single complaint about the seats.
Driving it, well, the thing is fast. It was my first 500+HP car, so I expected to be shocked, but not electrocuted. While the turbo lag is minimal, the throttle response is far from linear. Below 3k, it is fast, but above 3500, it is mental. Somewhere between the two, the car engages the warp drive and the Camry that was already just a speck in the rear view mirror just completely immaterializes.
The steering is very accurate and direct, but not too much feedback. All the feel is up the butt via the suspension which is super hard. I had it in 'comfort' mode pretty much all the time, and it is borderline usable on a daily basis on the semi-decent suburban roads. I wouldn't dare use it in the pothole filled roads that plague SF.
The first day, I spend driving around the roads and ramps in my neighborhood that I am very familiar with. And I came back sort of disappointed. The biggest reason being the cacophony of noises the car makes. The V6 is not smooth nor melodious, the transmission is clunky and diffs makes all sorts of noise especially at slower speeds. It is a mechanically unsympathetic car. Maybe it is something you get used to, but for me, for now, it was seriously getting in the way of me enjoying the car. The car is big and heavy and you see the mass around you, but you don't feel it. The body control is excellent and turn in immediate. While the M3 negotiates a corner, the GTR just bludgeons it into submission - there is nothing subtle about the way it goes. But the grip is insane, once it settles into a turn, I doubt even a crane could pull it away from it's intended line. And the real insanity of it is that only later when returning the car would I find out the car didn't even have the grippy OEM tires - the rental agency had swapped them out for cheaper, longer lasting but less grippy Yokohamas.
The 2nd day I went to some of the best back roads I know of in northern California - one of which,is fittingly enough named the "Skyline drive". The first few miles of the back road was really narrow and tight and GTR felt like fish out of water. It was just too wide. There was some hatchback on my ass all the time but I didn't dare push it - the rental agency has a 10k wrecking fee on top of whatever insurance covers. But after a few miles the road opened up a little bit and lanes got a bit wider and nasty single lane hairbends were replaced by fast sweepers and brutal switchbacks and the GTR just transformed it self and the hatchback soon disappeared. It is amazing how much speed the car can carry through corners. Stuff that would give me sweaty palms on my M3 hardly causes a flutter. The other amazing thing bout the car - how fast it makes slower traffic move aside - including a Boxster, a E46 M3 and an E63 - haha, yes, I just referred to an M and an AMG as 'slower traffic'. But I don't blame them, the speeds the GTR carries through back roads is insane and resistance is futile. On the downside, I been through these roads many times with my M3 and get a rush every single time. No such luck with the GTR. Instead of being in the thick of it, you are like a junior partner marveling at the astonishing feats it is capable of. If Hulk had a sidekick, this is what he would feel like...
(ps. may be a more skilled pilot than me could bring more equilibrium to the day's proceedings and push the GTR to a point where the driver would actually make a difference).
TLDR version -
The car is fast, duh! Mechanically, not too smooth - especially at slower speeds. Suspension is superhard, but livable at least for typical suburban US roads. The car needs very challenging roads to be enjoyable. On normal roads it is sort of boring - the car is just too capable for your run of the mill ramps/ city streets.
Pic time...
Not a fan of those black Ray's wheels, the normal wheels look much better.
At a 'pit stop' on Skyline drive...
A bunch of bikers came to me and asked about the car... which is one of the coolest thing about it - people who know about cars knows about it's awesomeness, for the rest, it is just a "Nissan".
What the GTR does to a corner...
The rental co has many exotics including this 458, it is $2500 for a day though...maybe for next birthday...
Last but not least, my beloved M3 - still cheers me up like nothing else...
