Friday, January 29, 2010
2010 Nissan GT-R - Does Godzilla Have A Soul?
Being an automotive journalist is like being a male porn star. We're little more than Piloti-shoed buffers between the reader and the objects of their lust, and really, no one cares about us. Still, you only get one chance to make an initial impression, so my first review here on Autoblog had to be big. As luck/fate would have it, I got a phone call a few weeks back that went a little something like this: "How'd you like to drive the first 2010 Nissan GT-R on the West Coast, before the buff books get it?" Needless to say, the answer was obvious. But what to do with the brand-new R35, one of the most heavily and relentlessly covered car-stories of the past year? This takes us right back to that porno metaphor: How do I give the people what they want?
Gallery:Review: 2010 Nissan GT-R
My task then would be to answer the following: There's endless talk about whether or not the Nissan GT-R has a soul. Yes, we all know it's supercar quick and hypercar capable. And yes, Japan's most recent foray into the segment can utterly dominate and humiliate most British, Italian and German machines – all costing two, three or five times as much – and give like-minded American all-stars a run for their ACR/ZR1 money. But is the GT-R anything more than a numb supercomputer, mindlessly parsing bits of data and then spitting out traction and velocity? Are its capabilities a credit to Nissan's mechanical engineers, or its electrical wonks? To put it another, more Comic-Conny way, is there a ghost in Nissan's machine?
That said, the Transmission Control Module (TCM) has been reprogrammed. Not only can the six-speed dual-clutch gearbox shift faster (when in R), but the chances of a customer having to shell out $20,000 for a new cogswapper is greatly reduced. The 2010 GT-R also sports five more horsepower, bringing the total to 485, while torque output remains unchanged at 434 lb-ft. Rumors still persist that since each GT-R engine is hand-built, power levels vary and some engines churn out as much as 520 hp, if not more. Let's chalk this up to some engines running 100 octane and others dealing with California's crapola 91 high-test. Bottom line, the power feels freakishly adequate.
The suspension's been retuned and the Bilsteins are a new design, while the brakes (somehow) have been revamped and fitted with more rigid lines and fresh pads. Our Premium GT-R tester arrived with dark, "near-black" wheels and when coated in Super Silver (like this car) you get a polished front bumper (there's also a new hue called Pearl White). More power, faster shifts, better handling, stouter brakes, blacker wheels and a transmission that's much less likely to eat itself? That sounds fantastic. Soulful, even.
Well, maybe a little about the back seat. No joke: You cannot fit your hand between the front and rear thrones. Even children would be miserable. As far as the front of the cockpit goes, for a Nissan, it's pretty much okay. For an $86,000 vehicle, it's not nearly as nice as you'd like. Sure, there's leather all over the doors and on part of the dash, but it's budget, cheap-feeling leather, not that opulent, veal-fat rubbed and pleated cowhide you'd find in a Spyker. However, all that really matters is the usable stuff. The pedals, steering wheel, flappy-paddles, seats and handbrake are all up to supercar snuff. Especially that burly handbrake.
So then, how's it drive? In a word, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. From a standing start, the forward thrust is obscene. Pornographic, to stick with our earlier metaphor. 60 mph happens in less than four seconds (thanks to launch control delete, the GT-R no longer hunts in the 3.2/3.3-second Enzo/ZR1 woods) and the quarter-mile is annihilated in less than twelve. Trap speed? 120 mph, give or take. Top speed? North of 190 mph.
All these numbers are as quick or quicker than a $200,000+, all-wheel drive, paddle-shifted, 552-horsepower Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 or a $280,000 502-hp Ferrari F430 Scuderia. But forget about the numbers, the price tags and the competitor's badges. Instead, concentrate on the massive brutality taking place and hair-splitting wail of the turbos at full clip. You get to watch the scenery deform all around you as the buzzing builds to full cresendo. After giving one pal a quick blast up an empty freeway, he didn't want to shake hands because his palms were so sweaty. The GT-R is a face-puller, a neck-snapper, a pulse-pounder. Especially when you're banging off shifts in half a second with one of the world's finest paddle-shifted dual-clutch gearboxes. And that's in default. Pop the transmission into R-mode and the shifts are over and done with in two-tenths of a second. Bloody hell, indeed.
Yeah, yeah, yeah -- 485 hp cars with 434 lb-ft of torque and AWD traction should be blisteringly fast when pointed straight. But the GT-R weighs over 3,800 pounds. Can the near two-ton porkster mechanically handle the twisty stuff? Simply put: Yes. But 'handles' is not even the right word. Dispatch, conquer, dominate, tear asunder, murder – that's it – the GT-R murders corners dead. Starting with the donk-sized tires (255/40 R20 in front, 285/35 R20 out back), moving to the retuned suspension and ending with the innards of a Swiss watch-fancy AWD system, the GT-R has world-class Stickum.
Did I mention the stoppers? Going by the ancient caveat, "A car's only as good as its brakes," the new GT-R is the third best car in the world. Period. Cymbal-sized 15-inch discs at all four corners and six-piston Nissan-branded Brembo calipers join forces to mess with the space/time continuum. Slowing the car from 60 mph is near effortless. When you dip deeper into the near-bottomless well of power -- say around 140 mph – the brakes still work flabbergastingly well, hauling you down to something resembling a speed limit in mere moments. At one point in downtown L.A, a school bus cut us off and neither driver nor passenger were the least bit worried. Why? We'd been using the brakes all day – we knew.
Ah, but here it comes. Here's the part of the story where I'm supposed to tell you that yeah, you can hoon a GT-R harder and faster than a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. But the Italians are works of art, a living, breathing symphony filled with arias pointed right at the heart of an automobile where man and machine become one via harmony, divine intervention, etc. The GT-R? Nothing but a Silicon Valley automaton, precisely but passionlessly going about its servile duties while totally disconnected from the world around it and driver within. Well guess what? I'm not saying that – or anything resembling that. In fact, I'm going to say that those who complain about the GT-R's supposed soullessness simply aren't pushing it hard enough. Because once you do, you hear the angels sing. New rule: All observations concerning the GT-R at less than 80 mph or 5,000 rpm (whichever comes first) are meaningless. Under that and Godzilla's not even breathing hard.
When the gloves come off (transmission's in R-mode, suspension's in R-mode, VDC's in R-mode, nitrogen-filled tires are nice and warm and tacky) not only can the new GT-R rundown the aforementioned farm animals, but it's just as rewarding to drive – if not more so. Why? You can brake later, you can hold the road longer and you can blast out of corners quicker. Isn't that why we drive? Like many great cars, the GT-R seems to shrink when pushed, and the harder and meaner, the smaller it gets. Italian exhausts sound a thousand times better, but the GT-R is simply the better supercar. You'll be continually shocked that such a heavy, civilized and inexpensive car is not only capable of, but eager to rotate on its axis, accelerate like a rally car over busted pavement and keep its driver cool/comfortable after hours of use and abuse.
One caveat: during all of our testing we left the VDC on (except for our ill-fated attempt at launch control) and in R-mode for several reasons. The first being that Nissan strictly forbids operating the car with the VDC defeated unless you're stuck in snow or mud – it straight-up voids the warranty – and we didn't feel like returning a handful of broken half-shafts and shredded gears to the good folks at Nissan. The second reason being that most of our evaluative drives were on two-lane public roads with the high possibility of oncoming traffic and blind corners.
So what's up then? Why the bum rap? Why do so many journalists (and I can't name names because I'm friends with so many of them) write off the GT-R as highly competent but ultimately soulless? Sure, it's one of the four or five most mindboggling performance vehicles on sale, but... meh. They just don't dig it. Besides not driving it hard enough, here's another explanation: Remember when compact discs came out? There was a seemingly endless series of interviews on MTV with guys like Tom Petty bemoaning the loss of the pops, hisses and scratches inherent to records. The flaws were part of the sound, man. You can't flip a CD over – how do you know what side of the record is playing? That's fine, but it's just knee-jerk reactionary nostalgia.
Let's look at the 2005 winner for supercar bang-for-the-buck: the Corvette Z06. It makes about identical power compared to the GT-R, but weighs 700 pounds less. Yet the GT-R is faster, both in a straight line and around corners. Stops better, too. Neat party trick, no? Yes, laying fat, smoky strips of incinerated rubber a hundred feet long is fun, but it's old fashioned, and in many ways, it's making the best of a compromised situation. On the other hand, the GT-R inhabits the same plane of existence as Porsche's legendary 959. Better driving through science. Of course, the Nissan is faster, more nimble and worlds less expensive than my favorite Porsche. Now I'm not blind, deaf or numb. A certain number of imperfections do add flavor. But that's hardly the only way to build character. Might I suggest a 485-hp, twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 coupled to a fancy-pants AWD system and a dual-clutch tranny from hell? For my money, that's about as soulful as a car gets.
Gallery:Review: 2010 Nissan GT-R
2009 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4
Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 – Click above for high-res image gallery
A 5.2-liter V10 with 560 horsepower, 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds, a top speed of over 200 mph and one of the most beautiful modern designs to ever come out of Italy. It's the new Gallardo LP560-4, and Lamborghini wants us to drive it. There are certainly more lucrative ways to make a living than being an automotive journalist, but it's moments like this that we know we made the right career choice. The best news is that we got to drive the new LP560-4 with about two dozen Lamborghini owners. Lamborghini of Orange County recently opened up a new dealership in Newport Beach, and they invited all of their customers down to see the new showroom and go for a Sunday drive. We tackled some of California's best back roads in the LP560-4 with other Gallardos, Murcielagos, and even a few Diablos. Follow the jump to read on.
We arrived at the dealership early in the morning with many of the Lamborghini owners having proven their superior punctuality. The parking lot quickly filled up even more with brightly colored Italian machinery, and we had to pull ourselves away from looking at each one to go track down the keys to the LP560-4 that we'd be driving. Compared to the lime green, orange, and yellow Lambos surrounding it, our car actually looked somewhat subtle, but beautiful nonetheless.
The other cars actually provided a good chance to compare the differences between the original Gallardo and the latest design. Starting with the exterior, the LP560-4 has a more aggressive yet cleaner design. Larger cooling intakes up front allow better air circulation and combine with a newly designed rear diffuser and smooth underbody to improve aerodynamic efficiency by 31%. The new Bi-Xenon headlights are slightly wider than before and feature LED lights in a Y structure, which is also found in the redesigned taillights. Those taillights are part of a cleaner rear end design that features a seamless engine vent and new quad exhaust tips. The changes might seem small, but Lamborghini did an excellent job in updating a design that didn't need much fixing in the first place.
Having given the exterior a once over, it was time to take a look at the interior. Not much has been changed from the original Gallardo, but it's still easy to appreciate Audi's influence in the design and quality of materials. The leather seats are extremely comfortable and the alcantara-covered steering wheel is perfectly positioned and easy to grip. The monotone colors might seem lacking in the usual flair of an Italian supercar, but Lamborghini's "Ad Personam" program ensure that customers can create any combination of color and trim. If a customer wants yellow seats and lime green trim they can get it. We'll stick with gray.
We barely had time to get adjusted in the seats when the other Lamborghinis started lining up to head out of the parking lot. We didn't want to get left behind, and so brought the V10 to life and engaged Reverse by simply pressing the "R" button to the left of the dash. And then we remembered how much of a pain it is to back up a Lamborghini. The Gallardo actually has one of the better views out its rearview mirror, but it's still pretty limited. Fortunately, Lamborghini has integrated a small camera into the rear spoiler that is displayed on the multimedia system, which makes backing up a much less stressful event.
With a clear path in front of us, we pulled the right paddle and first gear engaged. Pulling away, we could instantly sense that this wasn't just an automatic transmission with paddles. The feeling of the clutch engaging is actually transmitted through the pedal, an unusual sensation when your left foot is sitting idly by. The e-gear transmission has actually been completely redesigned for the LP560-4, reducing shift times by 40% in Corsa mode and weighing significantly less than the previous version. It can be a little rough during the shift from first to second, but it smoothes out in the higher gears and works best with a slight lift of the throttle. The paddles are slightly higher and farther away from the wheel than we would like, and many times we needed to partially remove our hands from the wheel to shift. While we found the e-gear to be a relatively satisfactory method of changing gears, it still baffles us that so many owners choose the option over the standard 6-speed. Yes, the e-gear is able to shift much faster than we ever could on our own, and it does offer the option of a full automatic, but come on, do you buy a car like this to putter around town? For us, there's nothing more enjoyable than maneuvering through a well-sorted gated shifter, but we can't blame Lamborghini for making what its customers want.
While the transmission executed its duties fairly smoothly, the same couldn't be said for the brakes. Our LP560-4 was fitted with the $10,000 carbon ceramic rotor option that made it very hard to modulate the brakes, particularly at slow speeds. Even moderate pressure resulted in no response from the brakes, but slightly more pressure would cause the calipers to bring the car to a jarring halt. We would probably opt for the standard 14-inch Brembo iron rotors that are more than up to the task of carrying out braking duties for driving on the street and the occasional trip to the track.
It might sound like we weren't enjoying our drive in the LP560-4 so far, but we had mostly driven at slow speeds in town and hadn't been able to let the bull stretch its legs. That soon changed, however, as the train of Lamborghinis took to the freeway and we were able to finally experience the brutal acceleration of the LP560-4. Our lack of excitement with the e-gear and (mild) frustration with the brakes melted away and a broad smile emerged with the sound of the Lamborghini V10 behind our heads. Like the transmission, the motor has been significantly updated and now displaces 5.2 liters (compared to 5.0) and utilizes a new direct injection system and upgraded variable valve timing to produce 552 bhp and 398 lb-ft torque. That's good for a 0 to 60 mph run in 3.7 seconds and a top speed north of 200 mph. Despite knowing the motor would willingly pull to 8,000 rpm, our instincts were to shift around 6,000-7,000. It didn't seem possible that the power would just keep coming, but it did!
The drive only got better from there, as we headed toward some twisty back roads that gave us the opportunity to experience the potential of the LP560-4's chassis and suspension. Lamborghini hasn't left this untouched either, and added an additional tie rod to the rear suspension as well as upgraded to slightly firmer bushings. Not having driven the original Gallardo, we can't provide a comparison, but what we do know is that the LP560-4 is one of the most planted and capable cars we have ever driven.
After a short stint through an especially enjoyable section of road we were amazed at the immense capability of the LP560-4. The car seemed to be telling us, "Seriously? That's all you've got?" The stiffness of the chassis can be felt going through turns with elevation changes, making the car extremely predictable. The specially developed Pirelli P-Zero tires, combined with Lamborghini's AWD system, provide levels of grip higher than would ever be needed on public streets. The twisty roads also allowed for the transmission and brakes to come into their own. Once warmed up the carbon ceramic brakes allowed for better modulation, and the e-gear provided audible bliss with every rev-matched downshift.
The drive ended all too soon and we began heading back to the dealership. Fortunately, the fun hadn't ended and we were able to get a taste of what it's like to be a Lamborghini owner. As the train of Lamborghinis passed by shops and businesses, people literally were coming out of buildings and watching the cars go by like it was a parade. People waved, cheered, took pictures and gave us thumbs up. We had attained instant celebrity status. Of course, achieving that status will cost you north of $200,000, and even then you'll have to deal with a nine-month waiting list, but it's worth every penny. Or, in our case, it's worth forgoing a higher paying job to be able to drive it for free.