Nissan GT R The Concept

As a racing system developer and racing team director in the '90s, I've participated in many different races worldwide, including the Group C Japan Sports Prototype Car Endurance Championship, 24-hour races at Daytona and Le Mans, the Japan GT Championship, which we entered with a GT-R, and the F3000. Supported by Nissan team members, crew and fans, I've had the ultimate joy of winning a number of championships.

During that period, there was one thing I always wondered about: "Why don't we apply the performance and safety of racing cars to regular cars? Even during the euphoria after a championship win, the question rattled around inside me.

Racing cars remain stable under any condition by applying downforce and distributing the load equally to all four wheels. They offer both comfort and a feeling of stability described by drivers as " the tires are sucked to the ground" . Beyond that they are very safe, keeping the driver from harm even in high-speed accidents. Why aren't these technologies applied to mass-production cars to benefit customers?

In my mind I formulated a study for applying racing technologies to mass-production cars, and shortly thereafter I ended my racing career and took charge of developing consumer vehicles. I met with people I believed could share my dream, and began developing the FM package. At the time most considered the idea of applying racing technologies to mass-production cars just a dream. Dedicated efforts by our team to make that dream come true resulted in the development of the FM package and its realization in the Skyline and Fairlady Z.

The concept of the FM package is "flat-ride sport." Flat body-control that requires no eye movement creates a flat-ride environment that allows for precise driving and sporty performance, putting every possible driving situation under the control of the driver. We took this idea to a new level for the new Skyline. The " Premium Midship package" used for the first time in the Nissan GT-R, is a result of our challenge to create the world's best supercar total performance. This package came about as we focused on the fundamental principles of cars, without dividing them into categories like racing cars, mass-production vehicles and the like. It's the ultimate development of two core ideas: First, airflow can become power. Second, when weight is evenly distributed to the four wheels, the tires grip the road surface, so grip limits can be determined by how we distribute weight. Based on these ideas, every component in the Nissan GT-R, the body, engine, transmission, suspension, tires, everything, was newly developed exclusively for the Nissan GT-R. We concentrated on the creation of performance through vehicle packaging and 'the development and utilization of an overall vehicle measurement system' for unified technology communication. Members from planning, designing, testing, and production have come together as a dedicated team to develop this vehicle and create a whole new sales and service structure.

By making the most of the natural forces of gravity, inertial force and air, and bringing them into the tangible form of an automobile, we brought into reality the Nissan GT-R concept, "Supercar life available to anyone, anywhere at any time." The Nissan GT-R can work for a professional driver on a racetrack or for the rest of us on our way to a resort for the weekend, giving everyone the joy of supercar driving with confidence even on wet or snow-covered roads. It offers a sense of luxury with GT cruising in automatic mode, and has demonstrated world-class performance on Germany's Nürburgring circuit. The multi-performance supercar NISSAN GT-R raced through the Nürburgring circuit - where the condition of the most feared high-speed corner, "Kesselchen" was wet - with a record time of 7m38s. The Nissan GT-R has also made another important new breakthrough. It is a supercar designed to return environmental-friendliness and safety. The new NISSAN GT-R is a new multi-dimensional multi-performance supercar, born for the 21st century.

There was a supercar boom in the late 1970s, and I am sure many people have dreamed of owning a supercar and enjoying it to the fullest, with total confidence. The Nissan GT-R has a different perspective and aspires to makes those dreams come true.

The Nissan GT-R represents a new dimension of multi-performance in a supercar developed with a completely new approach, returning to the first principles of moving in a straight line, cornering and braking. In the Nissan GT-R I have instilled my hopes on how a car can excite people worldwide, how automakers worldwide might react to it, and for the car itself, that it continues to evolve to satisfy customers.

Nissan likes to say about its new Nissan GT-R that is the 21st Century supercar for anyone, anywhere, anytime.

The new Nissan GT-R may well be the most accomplished and technologically advanced high performance car ever made. One of the world's fastest vehicles (including a production car lap record at the famous Nürburgring in Germany), it is also probably the world's easiest and most secure high-speed car to drive fast. The multi-performance supercar Nissan GT-R raced through the Nürburgring circuit - where the condition of the most feared high-speed corner, "Kesselchen" was wet - with a record time of 7m38s. It can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.6 seconds. The new Nissan GT-R is also striking value, offering much better performance - in acceleration, cornering power and braking - than all equivalently priced sports coupes.

Like previous versions of the legendary race-winning GT-R, the latest model is a showcase for Nissan's engineering talents. Features include an advanced full-time four-wheel drive system that improves traction and cornering power. This four-wheel drive system uses an independent transaxle 4WD (a world first) for greater agility. There is a brand new 480 PS (353 kW) V6 twin-turbo engine that combines exhilarating power with an ultra-low emission exhaust (Japanese regulation) and the best fuel economy in its sector. The lightweight body, which uses a new package (Nissan's 'Premium Midship'), features diecast aluminum, carbon fiber and advanced steel and has a class-leading aerodynamic Cd of just 0.27. There's a new dual- clutch paddle shift transmission that offers exceptionally fastthe gear shifts and the facility to drive in full automatic mode, improving ease of driving. The big ventilated Brembo disc brakes offer immense stopping performance.

'The new Nissan GT-R is an extraordinary car, a technological flagship for Nissan that demonstrates our passion for cars,' says Carlos Tavares, executive vice president for corporate and product planning. 'It is designed for optimal high-speed performance in all road conditions. No car combines such speed, ease of driving, ability to excel in all road conditions, such exhilaration, value-for-money and distinctive style. As with its predecessors that have worn the famous GT-R badge, it is a technological wonder car, with an extraordinary breadth of ability. That's why we say it's for anyone, anywhere, at anytime.'

For anyone - because drivers of all abilities can enjoy its extraordinary performance, from professional racing drivers to those who simply want a stylish and exciting car for weekend driving.

For anywhere - because here is a supercar that's been developed around the world, from the twists and turns and dips and crests of the famous Nürburgring racing circuit in Germany, to Nissan's high-speed hot weather circuit in Arizona, to the snowy roads of Michigan. It is the world's only supercar that's just at home on dry tarmac, snow and on wet rainy roads, helped by its advanced four-wheel drive system that offers superb traction and safety. Unlike previous versions of the GT-R, this one will be sold in both right- and left-hand drive forms around the world, including the North American and mainland European markets.

At anytime - because it is just as capable on hot summer days as snowy winter ones, by day or at night.

Technological highlights include:

An independent transaxle and advanced four-wheel drive system that continuously adjusts torque front-to-rear (and vice versa) depending on dynamic needs
New six-speed paddle shift dual-clutch gearbox featuring the exceedingly quick gearshift plus full automatic function for ease-of-driving
New high-efficient 3.8-litre twin turbo V6 engine, mating great horsepower (480 PS / 353 kW), a wide torque spread (maximum torque 60gm / 588 Nm), good fuel economy and low emissions (ULEV in Japanese regulation). New technology includes plasma coating bores to improve cooling efficiency and boost both power and economy
Aerodynamic body of just 0.27 Cd - so it's one of the world's slickest cars. This is specially unusual on a supercar that offers high downforce front and rear
New body using lightweight steel, carbonfiber and diecast aluminum construction
Brembo drilled ventilated disc brakes and Brembo opposed monoblock calipers that offer immense stopping power
Dampers, gear shift and VDC-R are all manually adjustable, by simple switches on the dashboard, offering maximum comfort with ease of driving, or maximum performance
Multi-functional instrument display, designed by the people who did the graphics of the Sony PlayStation Gran Turismo game
A g-force meter in the instrument display, showing both lateral (acceleration and braking) and transverse (cornering) forces.

'The challenge is to build a car that is stable and quiet at that speed, a car that is comfortable and easy to drive at that speed, a car that has excellent straight-line stability at over 300 km/h (186.4mph), a car that can handle snow and ice and rain at high speed, a car that is also environmentally sound and has very high safety standards. It is my belief that no car mixes these abilities like the new Nissan GT-R.' says Kazutoshi Mizuno, chief vehicle engineer and chief product specialist for the Nissan GT-R, and former racing team director and racing chief engineer for Nissan.

Mizuno describes the Nissan GT-R as a 'multi-performance supercar for the 21st century.'

'I believe it creates a completely new car genre. It inherits the DNA of past great GT-Rs and packs it with the very latest and best technology. The key factors are the utilization of the earth's natural forces and the high technology for human-machine interface, developed to control the ultimate performance. Our objective was to create a flagship model to promote our technology but also to develop a new type of supercar. Supercars have traditionally been aimed at drivers with advanced skills. But our new "multi-performance supercar" can be driven fast and skillfully by just about anybody in just about any road condition.'

Despite the extraordinarily high level of technology, the GT-R has some old-fashioned sports car features, not least that much of the assembly of the car, made at Nissan's Tochigi plant. Each engine is hand assembled by a single engineer (at Nissan's Yokohama factory) and so is each transmission.

Date : 29 Oct 2007 06:20:17 Source: Nissan

Date : 29 Oct 2007 06:20:17
Source: Nissan