You could be forgiven for thinking, lately, that Nissan has become a one-car manufacturer. The Qashqai, so beloved of aspirational families, givein them a hint of SUV styling but keeping the hatchback running costs, has been a runaway success for Nissan, and is currently the no.2 selling car in Ireland. The only problem is that its success does tend to obscure the fact that Nissan makes other cars, and some damned exciting ones at that...
Take this GT-R, for instance. Jet black, in Spec-V form, so it gets 545bhp and is around 60kg lighter than standard. Four wheel drive that could outfox a tax accountant, paddle-shift gearbox that’s faster than an Uzi and a glowering, menacing mien. Looking for all the world like Darth Vader’s company car. This is not a mere vehicle, this is practically weaponised, a stealth bomber with wheels. And oh look, someone’s left the keys in it...
We’re down at Mondello Park and it’s lashing rain, a weather report that would normally have us huddling in the pits, trying to keep dry. But today it’s well worth the sloshy stride across to the waiting cars, because the chance to drive a GT-R is one thing, the chance to drive a GT-R when it’s wet enough to really explore the capabilities of that remarkable 4wd system is something else again.
Sit in and thumb the red starter button and the GT-R 3.8-litre V6 twin-turbo engine kicks into a smooth, gently menacing idle. In spite of its high performance credentials, it’s no harder to slide yourself aboard and acquaint yourself with the cockpit than it would be in a rental Micra. Nissan has kept things simple and user-friendly in here, and comfort levels are remarkably good. You could happily spend the day in those seats.
Tug the stubby selector for the twin-clutch transmission back to A for automatic mode. You can of course take full manual control with the column-mounted paddle shifters, but today I’m going to leave it in auto so that I can concentrate harder on not crashing. The transmission clunks into first and with no fuss at all, we trundle down the soaking pitlane.
Up till this point it’s all been drama free, but as soon as we’re past the marshaling post and under the spectator bridge, the GT-R comes to life. A quick stab of the throttle annihilates the short chute between the pits and the first corner and it’s time to get turned in. A nudge of understeer is the first sensation as the GT-R’s not insubstantial bulk tries to push straight on. It’s a fleeting sensation and the nose soon turns obediently towards the apex of the hairpin corner, the GT-R still feeling pussy-cat-ish at these sighting lap speeds.
I up the ante through the second corner and instantly the GT-R’s chassis shows its mettlre. Even a delicate squeeze of the throttle has the rear tyres skittering out in a fast arcing motion, but even before I apply opposite lock, the computer that controls the car’s motions has figured out, adjusted the brakes, traction control, stability control and 4wd split and stopped me spinning embarrassingly off. And it does the same at the next corner, and the next, and the next.
That sounds like it might be a recipe for having a smothering nanny computer on board when you’re trying to have fun, but oddly, it isn’t. The GT-R is just so capable, so easy to drive, even when driving very fast indeed, that you soon start to develop a rhythm and rapport with both the mechanical car and the electronic one. It soon becomes second nature to kick the back end out to ludicrous angles, dabbing on opposite lock all the time, confident that your own excesses and lack of skill will be safely mopped up.
And of course, there’s the sheer, nutter power of the thing. Fast enough to flatten your eyeballs and bend your ribs out of shape, the GT-R is, in spite of its astonishingly friendly nature, a true Porsche hunter, a sleek mechanical panther stalking its skittish German prey. How does 0-100kmh in a hair over 3.0secs sound, and a top speed above the magic 300kmh barrier? Nissan might even put the Spec V’s back seats back in if you ask nicely.
After all that, a 370Z, even in race-track spec with a trick diff, should seem so pedestrian, but it just doesn’t. After a hairy first lap with a lot of sliding and not a lot of throttle (just the rear-wheels driven, then) the 370Z starts to come to life, and you learn to trust the very stiff diff to plant the back end in place (and the fabulous steering to correct when it doesn’t) and suddenly the 370Z feels like its old self again. A hairy-arsed, old-fashioned rear-drive drift machine with a warbling V6 engine and a meaty, muscular gearchange. Although not as capable as the GT-R, obviously, it was if anything probably slightly more fun on a soaking Mondello International circuit.
And the Juke R? Ah, well, that’s another thing again. It looks more or less like a standard Juke, bar some crazily over-extended wheelarches and an oddly bisected roof spoiler, but underneath it’s basically a GT-R, complete with the full-fat 545bhp (not the 480bhp that the original Juke R concept had), 4wd and paddle-shift gearbox. It’s nuts, of course, but it is a real car, and you can, sort of, buy one. Assuming you have €400,000 to spare. Plus local taxes.
Is it as quick as a GT-R? Well, it was damned near impossible to catch in a straight line on the track, even if the lower, leaner GT-R would probably do it over through the corners. If Nissan would consider putting the back seats back into the Juke R, it could be the ultimate school run vehicle.
All of this was, of course, a demonstration, a reminder that Nissan, while it’s busy turning out Qashqais, Mircras and the all-electric Leaf, is still a sporty car company at heart. If the GT-R, Juke R and 370Z weren’t sufficient proof, then don’t forget the Nissan-backed DeltaWing race car that stunned the crowds at Le Mans this year and is set to have its own one-make racing series in the future. Nissan Ireland will be ramming the point home early in the new year when it introduces the Nismo sporting sub-brand to our market, starting with a hot 1.6 turbo version of the Juke, which you'll be able to bodykit-up to look like a reasonable facsimile of the Juke R.
Consider us reminded. 542bhp reminded.
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