Run for your lives! Godzilla is coming to John Marazzi Nissan Fort Myers and Naples, Florida. It emerged from across the Pacific with a colossal roar, more powerful and intimidating than anything else from the islands of Japan. Except this isn't some 30-story mega-lizard bound for battle against humungous moths, gigantic lobsters and the good citizens of Tokyo. No, this is the Nissan GT-R, a 473-horsepower sports car bound for battle against some serious performance machines that boast higher brand cachet and even higher price tags.
Although this is the first Nissan GT-R on our shores, many Americans are familiar with the legendary Skyline GT-R. This model was introduced in Japan beginning in the 1960s. Later generations became world renowned thanks to their twin-turbo engines, all-wheel drive and high potential for customization. It was never officially imported to America, though a handful trickled across the sea via importers.
As a successor, the new GT-R is truly one of the greatest cars ever produced.
It's capable of world-beating performance while being remarkably easy and
forgiving to drive, and costs less than half of what most similar-performing
European sports cars command.
Introduced for 2009, the Nissan GT-R is a 2+2-seat high-performance sport coupe. A twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 provides the thrust, sending 473 hp and 434 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels. The standard transmission is a six-speed automated manual gearbox that can shift gears in just 0.2 second after the driver fingers the steering-column paddle shifters. The GT-R goes from zero to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds, quicker than nearly every other performance car or exotic on sale today.
The GT-R's all-new PM ("Premium Midship") chassis is unique within Nissan's lineup. To achieve an optimal weight distribution, the transmission is mounted at the rear -- this is unusual for a front-engine design and unprecedented for one with all-wheel drive. What's more, to guard against inconsistencies from one GT-R to the next, the car's suspension and body are assembled on a jig, racecar-style.
The multilink suspension has electronically adjustable dampers that can be set to three different modes: Comfort, Normal/Sport and R-mode. The latter is really only suitable for track purposes, while Normal/Sport is ideal for charging along a country back road. Despite its name, though, don't expect the Comfort mode to provide a marshmallow ride for its occupants -- even in this mode, the ride quality is very stiff.
Still, as far as high-performance supercars are concerned, the Nissan GT-R is on the friendly side for everyday drivability and road trip comfort. Credit a reasonably spacious cabin and a features list that includes leather-trimmed seats and dashboard, keyless ignition/entry, Bluetooth and a 30GB hard drive for music file storage, navigation with live traffic updates, satellite radio and an in-depth vehicle system and performance display. That latter item was co-developed by Polyphony Digital, the same company responsible for the "Gran Turismo" video game series.
With such a fierce fan base already in place and a limited production number, the Nissan GT-R is bound to be a hot commodity for years to come.

|
Call Rob Fontano at 1-866-890-1446 for information on all of our available units. A SUPERCAR WITHOUT
SUPERCAR LIMITATIONS! The all-new 2010
Nissan GT-R, the fifth-generation of the legendary Nissan supercar, makes its
North American debut at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show in November, following
its worldwide debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2007. No longer the
unobtainable object of desire on a video game or in the movies, the GT-R will be
available on sale for the first time in North American in June
2008. |
| Highlights
of the 2010 Nissan GT-R include: Engine
Drivetrain
Transmission
|
Wheels and
Tires
Brakes
Steering
Body/Chassis
|
Exterior
Interior
|

Audi A5 captures Design of the Year; Takeo Fukui named Man of the Year; Direct Fuel Injection named Technology of the Year
ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--AUTOMOBILE Magazine, America's leading automotive lifestyle publication and part of Source Interlink Media, LLC, a subsidiary of media and marketing services company Source Interlink Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SORC), announced today that the Nissan GT-R is the 2009 Automobile of the Year. The magazine also named the Audi A5 Design of the Year, Honda president and CEO Takeo Fukui Man of the Year, and Direct Fuel Injection Technology of the Year.
"After decades of headaches, direct injection is gaining production application"
The winners are featured in the pages of the January 2009 issue of AUTOMOBILE Magazine, available on newsstands beginning December 2, 2008.
2009 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Nissan GT-R

The much anticipated Nissan GT-R is the first Japanese supercar to seriously threaten the reigning opposition, many of whom the GT-R bested on Germany's renowned Nurburgring. Editors noted that while the Nissan GT-R rides like a subway car, sounds like an appliance and weighs a ton, it still deserved to be named Automobile of the Year for delivering high-intensity fun and astonishing performance.
"For decades, previous versions of the GT-R were never exported to the United States. Now we know what we've been missing, and are we happy to be invited to the party," said Jean Jennings, president and editor-in-chief of AUTOMOBILE Magazine. "What we love about the GT-R is that it refuses to compromise. It is not comfortable, it is not trying to make friends and it is not trying to influence people. It exists for one reason only - to go fast - and it does."
In awarding the GT-R its ultimate prize, AUTOMOBILE Magazine editors cited the car's "neck-snapping acceleration," "super-accurate steering" and "incredible value" by supercar standards.