Nissan Skyline GT-R Faster Around the Nurburgring Than Porsche 911 Turbo

7:40 - 161.217 km/h - Porsche 997 Turbo, 480 PS/ ??? kg, Michelin Cup Sport tires (Motortrend Magazine)

7:43 - 160.173 km/h - Porsche 996 GT3 RS, factory test driver Walter Roehrl (MOTOR magazine)

What this means to you: Anyone who doubted Nissan's ability to take on the 911 Turbo with the latest GT-R could be eating their words if these latest lap times are any indication.

Faster production cars than GT-R:

7:28 - 166.652 km/h - Porsche Carrera GT, 612 PS/ 1475 kg, Walther Roehrl, (Autobild 07/04)

7:32* - 164.071 km/h – Pagani Zonda F, 650 PS/ 1230 kg, (*mfr.)

7:34 - 163.586 km/h - Koenigsegg CCR, 806 PS/1418 kg, Horst von Saurma (sport auto), oct,17-18 05

7:36 - 162.631 km/h - Porsche Carrera GT, 612 PS/ 1475 kg, factory test driver Walther Röhrl (02)

We all know these cars cost at least 7 times more. You are lucky if you can get it at $75,000, considering the dollars are going downward.

those are awesome times, congratulations to Nissan. But let's keep that in perspective. You could take a Mustang and build it to beat a 911 around the track. The fact is at the end of the day there's a pretty huge status gap between these cars, and when the guy with the 911 Turbo is busy getting ushered into the VIP section of the club to have a threesome with two models while his 911 Turbo gets the front valet spot, I don't think he's going to care that the Nissan is 2 seconds faster around Nurburgring.

you know what else is slower than this around the track? Every single BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Aston Martin, every Porsche besides the 911 GT2 (they don't make the Carrera GT anymore), and all but one or two Ferraris and Lamborghinis. And so what? Everyone with the money to buy all those cars will take the ones that don't have "NISSAN" on the front end. The guy who buys the Nissan can brag he can beat those cars, the guy with those cars couldn't care less.

Like who cares.

dam! I love both porsches and the gtr at the same time, but godzilla has returned!

U said it Godzilla has Arrived!!!!! And the take is that they have left considerable engineering room for easy power upgrades (a Hallmark of the GTR's).
I do think the the Nissan team is chasing Porsche ... and not only on performance terms ...
If anybody here is familair with GT racing, they are aware that outright performance is not the main criteria , instead engineering data for its car components to last the race makes race winners.
Porsche is famous for that. If you run a GT team with Porsche's, their data, allows you far more leeway in setting up your car to last the race. (Aka LeMan's America - where the GT class was won by Porsche over Ferrari)
Nissan has set up a system exactly to match that ...

To the dude who was comparing a hopped up Mustang to the GTR ... the GTR is built to take abuse like a race car. Same with the Porsche. Your one off Mustang will probably do one lap well but in a GT race get eaten up alive if you dont have data for its components to see the level of wear/tear.

Very, Very impressive.

Here you go the history of GTR and Datsun given respectively

History of GTR in racing:
http://www.zclubhungary.hu/ENismoGTR.htm

History of Datsun(nissan) in racing:
http://www.datsunhistory.com/Racehistory1.html

MidEngine -

Regardless of Porche's history, you're a moron for not knowing anything about the GT-R. Video games may have made it popular in the States, but small pricks made Porches popular.

There's simply nothing like the GT-R out there in terms of styling, performance and price (competitors relative to performance cost much more) It has its own niche.

Verry Noice, nissan has upped the ante with the gtr, not that the skyline R34 wasnt already one of the 90's greater import automobiles on and off the AWD scene. Cheers to nissan on this one.

This Datsun has got to be fast in oder to hide it's fugliness.

The Nissan Pugly.

jealousy?

No, it is ugly -for a sports car.

It always has been.

But that doesn't mean it doesn't perform well, which is really what matters. It has road presence. That's an excuse for strange looks, yes, but it is just moot at this point. The car will take rich ricers and even converts (ex-Porsche, BMW drivers) by storm.

The Nissan Skyline has always been a bland, boring and emtionless piece of design. But it was a hoot to drive. Witht this new R35 they are entering the elite market, or at least trying to.

The new Nissan GT-R is going to be a force to be reckon with. Currently the only true sportcar from Japan, hopefully the Lexus IS-F and LF-A will join it rank soon.

Good job Nissan and keep it up

Er, 350Z an Miata, no the Miata isn't fast, but it is a sports car in its truest form.

I am very impressed!

I'd get a GTR over the porsche for a few reasons (don't get me wrong, I love porsches, but heres why I'd take the GTR)

-everyone has a 911, and seeing one is common, which also makes it a flashy car, and bothers me..

-I'd like to have something that isn't seen often, or better yet EVER seen. and thats why I love japanese cars much more than american and euros.

-

let the deboosting begin.

I have to agree with you to some degree. German performance cars, seem much more commonplace than Japanese ones. Performance Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs can be a fairly easy find in any city, but cars like the Supra, NSX and the 3000GT VR-4, seem almost nonexistent. I'm sure this statement won't apply to southern California.

I'm not sure I agree with your statement "I'd like to have something that isn't seen often, or better yet EVER seen. and thats why I love japanese cars much more than american and euros." -If you apply this to Japanese cars in general that's not true. Most cars you see on the road, at least in NY, are Japanese. If your applying that statement to Japanese performance cars...then it seems that's more appropriate.

I think it's a regional thing. In my neck of the woods, American and Japaneese sports cars are everywhere. Corvettes, 350Z's and even NSX's it seems. It's rare to see a 911 and when you do its a ho-hum 996 C4 with a dent in the back bumper.

If I were in it for the show, anything in the $70K and up bracket for a sports car would be more than adequate around here. Then again, I live in the mountain state where its easy to impress everyone in their Subaru.

N4S: yes I am talking about Japanese sports cars. But I do like mainstream japanese cars like the accord and LC but thats a different story.

It's gonna be annihalated by the 997 GT2 anyway.

What is the rumored weight of the car? It will make or break it for me.

What a shame it had to be fugly :(

A comment I'm sure your parents made the day you were born.

And a Radical SR8 road car laps it in 6:55

The SR8 is a bit misleading. Although it can be registered as a 'road car' (in the UK... not sure if it has enough to be considered elsewhere) it hardly is one.

I just read in edmund's article that the porsche is a 2009 facelifted turbo with the official debut early next year. so i guess it was definitely not driven by a nissan engineer.

its an extremely impressive CAR. For more on 2009 GTR, check http://theyreviewed.blogspot.com/2007/10/2009-nissan-gt-r-test-drive-first-drive.html

All of you guys are so wrong.A gtr can do 7:15.22 2012<<