Nissan GT-R Review

If you want one of the most incendiary point-to-point new cars on sale, the Nissan GT-R should be high up your shopping list. It’s an unashamed driver’s car, one with huge focus and intensity, which delivers thrills you almost certainly will never have experienced before.

The thing is, it does all this for a price well below the supercar norm. This is a core part of the GT-R’s brilliance – it’s the blue-collar supercar, of sorts, delivering highs that really shouldn’t be possible for this kind of money.

Then there’s the practicality. It has loads of onboard creature comforts. It’s roomy, with a big boot. There’s even passable space in the comfortable, individually-bolstered rear seats. It’s an uncommonly well-rounded supercar you could use every day.

With the new GT-R, we really like the appeal of the entry-level Pure model. For less than £85,000, it offers all the performance you could ever want, and an exotic spec including 20-inch alloys and a titanium exhaust. Do you really need to spend £3,000 more on the Recaro version just to get an upgraded interior? Or £4,000 more on the Prestige to get posh leather?

But then your eyes will clock the Track Edition. Yes, it’s £100,000, but it has ultra-lightweight wheels, Bilstein suspension and a special reinforced body for better on-track performance. Bargain, no? Certainly more so than the Nismo version. This has 600PS and Nismo body styling, but is it really worth £175,000? No, we think the sweet-spot is either base Pure or honed Track Edition.

As for used GT-R, you can now buy 2016 models from £50k. That’s still a lot of money, but wait until you experience the 550PS performance first-hand…

Few cars are quite like the Nissan GT-R. The Porsche 911 is a famously capable everyday rival, and with prices from £82,000, it’s a fiercely appealing GT-R alternative. But 385PS pales compared to the Nissan’s 570PS, and if you want all-wheel drive, you’ll need to spend over £88,000.

Super saloons and estates are other alternatives. Think of cars such as the BMW M5 and Audi RS6. Even these make the Nissan look like a bargain, mind – and that’s before you consider exotica such as the Ferrari F8 Tributo and Lamborghini Huracan Evo. Maybe the Honda NSX might also take your fancy?

Really, though, there’s nothing similar to the Nissan GT-R, which is why it has such unique appeal. Long may it continue so.

Build quality is extremely high. This is virtually a hand-built machine crafted by Nissan’s most senior craftspeople, who employ an obsessive level of detail engineering when creating the GT-R. There are some wonderful details such as the GT-R logo on the steering wheel, and the wheel itself, while the toggle buttons for the various suspension controls are very tactile. We like the aluminium-effect trim panels, too.

The trouble is, the main trim materials are more Nissan-grade than luxury-grade. They’re certainly robust, but lack the sort of rich finish you’ll find in a Porsche. The difference really is stark if you’re switching from one to another.

You’ll notice this in particular if you focus on the switches. You get bespoke controls in a Porsche, whereas those in a GT-R are shared with a 10-year old Juke. And some of the minor buttons were the same as once seen in the 350Z, which today is becoming a retro classic. It’s not really what you expect of a car that’s competing against such esteemed rivals. However, it still has a hand-finished sense of being a bit special, and this counts more highly than parts-bin sharing for its specialist fans. 

We must also give special mention here to the Nismo version. All of the above applies, but it also gets a unique Alcantara-wrapped dashboard and steering wheel that we’re sure will prove highly collectable in decades to come. It makes the interior feel that bit posher as well.

Infotainment is a real feature of the Nissan GT-R. And not necessarily for the features you normally associate with it, either. Owners love the GT-R’s 8.0-inch central screen for its gadget-packed performance car functionality, particularly the ability to monitor a whole host of metrics from turbocharger intake temperature to cornering G-force. There’s even a comprehensive telemetry recorder for those who want to pretend they’re Lewis Hamilton.

Other features include SD sat-nav, two USB ports, DAB radio, Bluetooth, a colour reversing camera and, for traditionalists, an aux-in socket.

Nissan offers a standard Bose audio system with 11 speakers and, curiously, it builds in both active noise cancellation and active sound enhancement. It means the stuff you don’t want to hear is filtered out, and more of what you really do want to hear – particularly the engine and exhausts – is beamed in with brilliant clarity.

Nismo models get an enhanced NissanConnect system with Nismo IT, with even more focus on performance and detailed analysis.

The Nissan GT-R is a genuinely roomy car inside. There’s a good amount of space up front, with occupants enjoying a bit more lounging room than normally associated with this type of car. The seats are set that bit higher off the ground, too, in contrast to a low-slung supercar. This gives a better view out – you’ll no longer be left staring at the tyres of lorries on motorways (or gazing at the engine of a bus in traffic).

In the rear, it’s less impressive by regular car standards – but still a lot better than the supercar norm. Legroom is tight, but there is more room than something like a Porsche 911, plus a fair bit more comfort and support. You won’t necessarily want adults sitting back there – unless they’re after a thrill-seeking ride they’ll never forget – but for kids, it’s surprisingly accommodating. It certainly bolsters the GT-R’s credentials for those with young families.

The boot is another positive aspect. There are 315 litres of space in there: not quite family hatchback-sized, but bigger than a more compact supermini. It’s large enough to swallow a couple of sets of golf clubs.

The GT-R also gets Isofix mountings for child car seats in the rear. While you might find accessing them to be a bit awkward, it’s nevertheless a positive to have them, and again underlines the car’s everyday practicality and usability.

Other details that make all the difference include cupholders in the rear, a front centre console that includes an armrest, stowage cubby and two more cupholders, plenty of 12v power sockets plus – and we really like this – a lovely leather strap in the boot to help you close the lid.

The Nissan GT-R uses a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 engine created just for this vehicle. It’s even built on a special production line in Japan by Nissan’s most experienced master craftsmen – the same sort of hand-built precision you usually see with something like an Aston Martin engine.

The spec sheet includes plasma-sprayed cylinder bores and a secondary air management system that feeds a dedicated charge to the engine at lower revs, so it is still responsive while meeting strict emissions regulations. The engine requires servicing every 6,000 miles, which sees the maintenance bills quickly start to spiral, but it’s such a unique and specialist powerplant, it’s easy to understand why once you experience it.

Performance is ridiculous. Explosive doesn’t even begin to describe it. The latest cars will do 0-62mph in just 2.7 seconds – and such colossal acceleration is easily repeatable thanks to the car’s launch control and fast-shifting dual-clutch gearbox. Nismo models go one better, with 0-62mph in 2.6 seconds. This really is just about as fast as you can get in a production car. Even earlier cars still did 0-62mph in under 3.0 seconds.

The intensity is frightening. The GT-R just hurtles to the horizon at barely-abating speed. If you have a long enough piece of tarmac away from inconveniences such as speed limits, it will do 196mph. And it’s not only the overall performance – the Nissan has wild levels of pulling power even at everyday engine revs. It is ever-ready to surge forward with wild electricity.

The six-speed gearbox is fast-shifting and dependable. There are paddle shifters behind the steering wheel, but you’re probably best leaving the car to sort it all out, so quickly will the need to shift gears arise. You can ramp up the intensity yet further by engaging R-mode, which gives even crisper upshifts and more sudden downshifts. You select this via one of the three toggles on the centre console.

We’ve mentioned the GT-R has both sound enhancement and noise cancellation. This does as it suggests – delivers both refinement when you really want it, and concert-hall performance car sound when you’re in the mood for some fun.

When you’re not trying to lose your licence, it’s surprisingly refined and quiet. Road noise is well isolated and wind noise is kept out of the picture even at motorway speeds. The engine is reasonably subdued, and the noise that it does make is, as you’d expect, lovely.

Dial up ‘R’ mode and its character changes. The engine starts howling and the exotic, super-expensive titanium exhausts howl. Later GT-Rs were better than earlier versions in this regard, and the latest Track Edition and Nismo versions are mouth-watering. It all adds up to a car that, unusually for a supercar, really does serve up the best of both worlds.

The Nissan GT-R comes as standard with front, side and curtain airbags. The front seats have both seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters to better distribute forces in a collision. And the bonnet has a special pop-up function to help protect pedestrians in an impact.

We’ve mentioned the Isofix mounts in the rear, and Nissan also makes life easier during hill-starts with an anti-roll-back hold function. As you’d hope for such a desirable car, there’s a Nissan alarm and immobiliser as standard.

Cruise control includes a speed limiter and rain-sensing windscreen wipers are an everyday safety boost. Really, though, it’s the GT-R’s incredibly high limits that deliver the most effective everyday safety boon – in the right hands, of course. Drivers should never breach its grip limits on the public highway, the engine is always responsive enough to get you out of trouble, and standard Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes will stop on a sixpence. 

It’s the lesser abilities of other cars that you need to worry about here, rather than any active safety shortcomings with the GT-R.

It won’t surprise you to learn the GT-R comes in at the highest-possible insurance group 50. Basically, it’s going to cost a fortune to insure, and some companies won’t even touch it because they deem it too much of a risk. 

Prepare to be patient when trying to insure a Nissan GT-R – both to get cover in the first place, then to ensure you’re not spending many, many thousands on it.

It’s a triple knockout in terms of VED (road tax). The GT-R emits a hefty 316g/km CO2 – three times the figure of a standard Nissan Juke crossover – which means, wait for it, a £2175 first-year VED bill. 

Also, because it costs more than £40,000, owners then have to pay £475 a year for the next five years, before costs finally drop to £150 a year. The GT-R is an extremely costly car to run, and that’s before you factor in the eye-watering servicing bills.

As Nissan’s range-topper, all GT-Rs come with a very high level of standard equipment. 

Performance car features include exotic 20-inch Rays forged alloy wheels, a titanium exhaust and Bose audio system. All get leather and Alcantara upholstery, electric heated seats, dual-zone climate control and keyless go.

Recaro models feature special Recaro front seats in black and red, while Prestige versions have bespoke black, red, ivory or tan ‘Touring’ leather. 

The Track Edition, our favourite, adds bespoke lightweight alloy wheels to Recaro grade, along with an exclusive Nismo Bilstein Damptronic suspension system and increased body rigidity. 

The ultra-exotic Nismo has a range of Nismo-specific features and that even more potent 600PS V6.

Even the earliest secondhand GT-Rs get the comprehensive touchscreen media system, along with other technology that sets it apart from a normal Nissan.