I remember when I first heard about the Nissan GTR, I was very excited on hearing how great the performance of the vehicle was and how it looked. A colleague of mine at R1 Concepts inc., located in La Habra, California was lucky enough to be amongst the first few owners of this great piece of engineering. Now I see that bad boy every day and whenever I come in to work I still glance at it here and there. But when you see a car everyday it starts to become ordinary again. Then I heard news that Nissan will announce the releasing of the 2010 Nissan GTR Spec V. At first, this model sounds like it will be the mother of all imports and pound for pound will contend with many European exotics in performance. Early rumors states that the U.S. version Spec V should be about 550hp and 200-250lbs lighter which will put this Nissan even further up in supercar hierarchy. Man was I excited in hearing that and how it was going to debut in 2010.
Recently the Official Press just launched and it saddens me to say that I am disappointed. The Spec V will come equipped with a couple more carbon fiber add-ons to the outside. It will include a cosmetic upgrade to things like air ducts and the rear wing. The Spec V also comes with a second new color called Ultimate Black Pearl which basically looks like black but up close it looks more like midnight purple. The interior will also have minor changes. There will be no rear seats in the Spec V and the seats have been replaced with Recaro brand leather seats. Surprisingly, the biggest improvement will be the brake system. The Spec V will be equipped with Carbon Ceramic Brake rotors which save significant amounts of unsprung weight while the size is increased to 390mm. There is also an overboost button that is mounted on the steering wheel. This overboost button when used will increase the midrange torque for about 80 seconds. To me, this is a cheap fancy button that doesn’t do much at all. I rather purchase an aftermarket boost controller that has two to three different settings that I can adjust myself so I can increase the boost which gives me more horsepower and torque whenever I want with the push of a button.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the GTR Spec V is the engine. There is no increase in power, let me repeat, there is no increase in power! This comes as a big disappointment considering how much more you will be paying for the Spec V. I hope this is a false statement and that there will an increase in power once the Spec V is in production, but for now, I am not convinced.
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