Never before in history has a car manufacturer not deemed it necessary to launch a car by using the press to promote awareness. Because no number of newspaper column centimetres could ever match the hype created by years of pictures on the internet, decades of GT-R heritage and the power of the PlayStation.
The R35 GT-R was unquestionably the star of 2008’s Johannesburg International Motor Show. By mid-2009 when its local release date was becoming an issue of when, rather than if, few people knew that Nissan was already sitting with 200 confirmed deposits of R500 000 each.
It seems a crime to attempt reducing the GT-R’s hysterical proficiency to a few lines, but we’ll try. The GT-R, with its advanced four-wheel-drive system, twin-clutch transmission and 358 kW provided by two turbochargers has power that is accessible as the grip is endless.
And it’s a cliché to call the Nissan an everyday supercar, but its dimensions and drivability make it just that.
It feels just as at ease at 60 km/h or 260 km/h; one could park at Pick ’n Pay or fly faster around the test track of the BBC car show Top Gear than a Porsche Carrera GT, a quite astonishing feat considering that the GT-R weighs more than an agility-killing 1,7 tons. The bulk is perhaps the only niggle about the Nissan, and that weight can be sensed from behind the wheel, too.
Other than that, it’s perfect. It’s hard to imagine there will be another car like it again. BP
PRICE: R1 175 000
ENGINE: 3,8-litre twin-turbo petrol; 358 kW; 588 Nm
PERFORMANCE: 0-100 in under 4 seconds; top speed 310 km/h; l/100km average N/A
VERDICT: There aren’t enough stars in the sky