By James Bergeron
Photo Gallery:
2009 Nissan GT-R
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It is rare occurance for a car to come onto the automotive scene and make a huge splash. But two years in a row, two different companies have managed to do so. Last year, Audi introduced the R8: a car with supercar looks and performance for a bargain price (well, in comparison to other supercars). The R8 was voted Canadian Car of the Year by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada. This year, Nissan released the 2009 Nissan GT-R, a car with supercar performance but perhaps not-quite-supercar looks.
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Some may argue it does have supercar looks, but I have a feeling the average bystander won’t be taking as much notice as they would with the R8. Coincidentally, I took and Audi R8 for a test drive just this past Friday, and everyone in ear- or eyeshot from the car could not take their eyes off of it. I’ll report back my GT-R findings at the end of my blog.
The GT-R is a supercar for the playstation generation. It has been dubbed that for quite some time now with the success of the Grand Turismo racing game. To those that do not know the car, it could be mistaken for a 350z and passed by without a second glance, but to those that do know the car, there is no mistaking their enthusiasm — and at $81,900 this car sets a new bang-for-the-buck metric in Canada.
What do you get for $81,900? Well, you get a hand-built engine that, according to Nissan Canada, makes 480hp, but rumours have it that’s the least you’ll get with some cars being measured much higher. You’ll also get an incredible 430lb-ft of torque, all produced by a 3.8 litre V6 turbo-charged engine.
The power is transferred to the ground by a sophisticated AWD drivetrain and a six-speed dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters. And of course, as expected at this price, you get all the gizmos and toys you could ever want including navigation, satellite radio and a slew of performance-measuring computers for G-force and speed readouts.
2009 Nissan GT-R
MSRP as tested (including destination): $87,350
For more information on Nissan and the GT-R visit Nissan Canada
