Eventually managed to test drive one of these

Positives

1) Insanely fast, felt much much faster than my M5. Probably the quickest feeling car I've ever driven. I had a quick drive in a mate's 997 turbo about six months ago, and even though I didn't rag the 997 for obvious reasons, from memory the GTR feels faster. Strange, as on paper I thought their stats are near identical?

2) Gearbox works well

3) Brakes work well.

4) It was p2ssing down with rain so never really got to test it's handling capabilities

5) I think it looks good

Negatives

1) I'm not quite sure why Nissan bothered with the rear seats. They are unuseable. The may as well have made it a two seater and saved some weight. I took my child seat along and with the front seats in a comfortable position for normal sized adults (I'm 6ft and my wife is 5ft8) there is zero leg room for a child, and I mean zero

2) The seats are not very comfortable, I believe you can have sporty seats that are also comfortable, my M5 has them.

3) Ride is quite harsh, but that comes with the territory.

In summary it really is one hell of a car, it is soooo fast. I actually found myself giggling out aloud when I was WOT. Unfortunately the lack of rear space is a deal breaker for me, I would need to transport the kids for short journeys and this can't be done with the GTR. A real shame, that engine is just out of this world

If it wasn't for this I would have bought the car on the spot

 

Do you have another car you could use for transporting the kids as it sounds like you really like the car?

By the way, what is WOT?

 

Wide open throttle.

 

The fact it hasn't a manual option would stop me ever buying this car. Shame really as Nissan's SynchroRev system on the 370Z if bl00dy fantastic.

Oh, and the interior of the GTR is just terrible.

 

I would run another car but that's not the point. I would drive the GTR to work and then need to pick the kids up on the way back. If I can't have the kids in the car even for the shortest journey that means the car would hardly ever be used. No point having a car that just sits in the garage

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by stilover

The fact it hasn't a manual option would stop me ever buying this c

Quite the opposite for me actually. These modern semi auto gearboxes work really well, no need for a manual imho now that they've got them to operate so slickly. Actually one of the things putting me off a used 997tt is that it's only manual (Tiptronic doesn't count as it's rubbish, nowhere close to GTR box, VW DSG or BMWs SMG. PDK is only on recent cars and so way over my budget)

Interior isn't that bad given it cost £60k and goes like a hyper car

 

So not an option to have one in the front with the seat really far forward and the other behind?

 

Can a roof box not be fitted to a GTR?

 

I suppose that's an option, do you have to disable the airbag for that?

I would still have the problem though that wifey couldn't also be fitted in. I never thought the GTR would be a family car but I hoped as my kids are small (2 and 4 years) that we could all squeeze in for a short hop to the shops etc.

 

It would probably invalidate the warranty knowing Nissan

 

Evo X would be worth trying as comparison perhaps. Chap up the road from me has one, and even as standard (brand new) he preferred the handling over that of the GTR. The Evo now has engine work taking it up to the same sort of power as the GTR and it's possibly the fastest car I've been in.

 

Thanks but the Evo is not for me, and I've been there done that when it comes to modding. Life is too short and I'm too old

 

I get to drive one next month and I am pissing my pants with excitement!

 

Not quite the same league though when you've been shopping for an R35 GTR I'd imagine.

What about the 911 Turbo? Does it have more rear leg room? Can't imagine it does.

 

Take it you didn't watch 5th Gear put an Evo 400FQ up against the GTR.

GTR was in a totally different league. To sum up Plato & Tiff's review on the Evo? ****. Although not using the same word.

 

Plenty of rear leg room in mine for the kids ( 8 and 5) and I'm 6' 4".
Well, I say plenty but in reality only enough for a trip of 1 hr at most.

I've also looked (not driven) at the GTR and concur that my kids would have to be amputees to fit in the back.

 

911 it is then!

 

As Zip says and as I've been led to believe by others it may well do. It won't be bags more but might just be enough. I'll try and pop along at the weekend and have a look.

It's a real shame as the the GTR would have (obviously) been a lot cheaper. With the Porsche I find it psychologically quite difficult to pay so much money for an 'old' car. ie £50k buys you a one year old GTR whereas £65k buys you a 3 year old 997.

Anyway lets see, it might be better if I can't fit the kids in the back of the 997 either, I'll be less broke

 

Zip, is that with the wife in the car as well?

Btw, I see you've been doing a bit of detective work elsewhere

 

Can you get them with a windscreen?

Les

 

I've had my GTR for just over a year now in regard to your observations

1) Agreed it still blows me away today how well this car can accelerate and carry speed, it is capable of shocking from a standstill or from a roll on. The engine and drivetrain are from another world!

2) Gearbox is a slight bone of contention with me, i was unlucky enough to have my gearbox fail after 2000miles, attributed to a solenoid problem, replaced with a new box 3weeks later. Gearbox works well on track and the shifts are super smooth in automatic mode and super rapid in R mode manual!

3) Breaks more than up to the job!

4) Handles as well as it accelerates. The limits of the car are beyond your level of driving skill or your ***** with the VDC off you can really exploit its neutral chassis. VDC on is useless, under any form of hard accelerating it will cut power. VDC in R mode is fun in the wet and affords you an element of safety when pressing on through the twisties. However ont he note of rain the dunlops are **** IMO

5) Looks are subjective but i agree with you

NEGATIVES

1) Agreed i'm 6ft 3 you can't even slither a *** paper between the rear seat and the back of mine. I do however use it for my laptop, jacket, helmet etc.......

2) Seats are the comfiest i have ever had in a car, but my past history is only Subaru and Evos....

3) Ride is harsh at first, suspension does bed in and makes it more enjoyable over time, but with a car like this i prefer my suspension nice and firm...

 

For ride quality, gearbox strength, cooling, tyre/consumable prices and service intervals I'd much prefer the 997 Turbo. I'd put the engines and brakes equal, although the tuning stuff available in a short time is more interesting for the GTR at a much more sensible price with greater features. For price, gearbox, grip, handling, I much prefer the GTR, although I haven't tried the PDK gearbox on the Porsche. Both are useless for adults in the back.

Having a 370Z as a courtesy car for the day at a recent service I liked it very much, it felt more compact, but I couldn't get on with the gearbox after dual clutch. Acceleration and traction aren't worth comparing and meant that after five miles down a few back roads I was ready to park it up and go shopping for the rest of the day rather than take an extended drive for pleasure.

In comparing the E60 M5 to the GTR, I preferred the M5 for space, ride comfort, refinement, it was near equal in very high speed acceleration, made a better noise, service intervals/prices/parts prices better. I preferred the GTR for its brakes, traction, torque, grip.

If they made an M5 with say a 4.4 twin turbo V8, better brakes and a 4WD option, I'd take that over them all! As it was I'd have probably taken the E60 M5 if it simply had 4WD as the pads can be changed and the rest of the car is just simply ace.

If I didn't have to do snow or have another car to do it, an M5 with better brake pads would do great.

E60 M5 will be a tough act to follow living in the South I reckon as an all rounder. It is just so much better in so many ways than my old E46 M3.

 

Perhaps the M5 has similar acceleration to the GTR at higher speeds, its where the M5 really comes into its own. Where other cars would start to run out of puff the M5 will just keep going and going......and going.
Also between 5krpm and the limiter at 8.5rpm its manic. The thing is you don't very often get to drive in that style on the roads.

That's where that gorgeous, instantaneous wallop of torque from the GTR is just second to none, I've never felt anything like it before. Its like my M5 feels in the sweet spot, but available immediately, if that makes sense?

The 997tt felt marginally slower because I think the turbos have just a hint of lag which it seems the GTR just doesn't have. Perhaps that makes it feel faster even though in a straight timed drag there may not be much in it?

John, the new M5 will have some of the wish list you mentioned. Its going to have a V8 twin turbo charged engine. That much has been confirmed, the exact details are obvious not out yet. Emissions have forced them in that direction.

Die hard M fans are whingeing about it no longer being a bespoke high revving NA engine, but for me its a positive move. I love the rush of forced induction. There are also loads of rumours about extensive use of carbon fibre to bring the weight down. 5 litre twin turbo V8 with circa 600 BHP and 500 torques + lower weight + decent sequential gearbox sounds all good to me

Maybe I should just sit tight and wait for it. 2011 just seems a long time away, and then the dilemma of whether to buy a car like that brand new. The initial depreciation will be epic

 

The GTR does have some obvious lag below 2000-3000 RPM depending on gears and whether the exhaust is modified (I know some insist this is boost threshold not lag but they are part of the same phenomenon) but the gearbox hides it very well. So you have really good acceleration over 65% of the rev range, whereas on M5 it is the top 40%.

997 has VTG but the GTR has another 200cc displacement (compared to the 997.1 Turbo).

 

Sounds pretty impressive anyway.

Les

 

Deep,

My wife's only 5' 2" so with her in the front and my daughter (8 but size of an 11 year old) behind her and my lad (nearly 5 and the size of a nearly 5 year old) behind me it's ok.
I'm a little cramped but not uncomfortably so.

You can make a little more rear room by taking the seat s out when you put kiddy seats/booster seats in.

The rear seat squabs are only held on with velcro and the seat backs only require 1 spanner and 5 minutes to remove.
It just helps the child seats fit a little further back into the seat well.

One problem though, is finding child seats that fit properly - fortunately I only need the one booster for my son.

My detective work?
I knew it was you - and I spend more time over there than I do here

 

I've had my GT-R for 5 months now, and the thing that's surprised me most is how practical it's been. Eveyone knows it's fast (after a few weeks it's starts to become deceptively quicker than you think as you become used to the acceleration) but I've done a few long haul trips with wife and 4 year old and had no issues at all. Little girl goes in the back, wife (5'4) goes in the front and all the luggage in the boot. I've also had two fairly large mates onboard for a trip and had no complaints - quite the opposite actually

It's not the biggest interior but the gtr is more practical compared to a 911 in terms of space and ease.

 

You must be the coolest dad come school pick up time!

Best ride from school at that age for me was mums 2.8i ghia x Granada lol

 

sell the kids?

 

How can a car so huge on the outside be so tiny on the inside?!

A 911 manages to be much more compact yet more roomy.

Have zero interest in a GTR yet a 911 Turbo or Turbo S would justify selling a minor limb.