Jalopnik: Godzilla

Nissan Gets Ballsy, Breaks Out Bone-Stock GT-R For SEMA

Andrew Stoy — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:40:00 EST

You see some rare, one-of-a-kind ~~ABS plastic~~ ~~carbon fiber~~ sheetmetal on the SEMA show floor, but nothing is less common in Vegas this time of year than a completely stock example of one of the hottest cars on the planet. That's right: Nissan elected to bring a bone-stock GT-R to SEMA, almost as a challenge to the customizers on-site. "Blank canvas, boys. Whatcha gonna do now?" it taunts, no doubt causing the creative wheels to turn even faster than when confronted with someone else's interpretation of the car. Well played, Nissan. Well played. Also, considering mods apparently void the warranty, we should have expected it.

Repeat: Do Not Mess With The Nissan GT-R

Travis Hudson — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Despite the owner's manual for the Nissan GT-R strictly forbidding it, a Japanese company has gone ahead and released a carbon fiber kit for Godzilla himself, defying everything Nissan stands for this with vehicle. Arios is the company behind this mess. Despite it not being a giant wing or massive fender flairs, the inclusion of carbon fiber front and sideskirts is enough to make every Nissan designer crap their pants, simultaneously. Along with the kit, Arios offers to swap the new GT-R front emblem with the older one from the Skyline GT-R KPCG10. Please. [WCF]

Like Nissan GT-R? Buy GT-R Accessories!

Travis Hudson — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Rawr, do as Godzilla says or face the wrath of Godzilla! Now Godzilla says to buy many Godzilla accessories including a briefcase, wallet, gloves, emblem, keychains, cell phone straps, shirts, hats and more!

This is the latest line of accessories for the Nissan GT-R that will be available with the launch of Godzilla. All of the accessories have the same look and feel of the vehicle and the briefcase is even completely carbon fiber. These are the kinds of briefcases that hold bundles and bundles of money. Regardless, future owners and future wannabe owners should definitely check out this line of accessories to increase that street-cred. Oh, and the leather hat is a bit much. [Carscoop]

JDM Nissan R35 GT-R Can Be Yours For $96,000

Mark Arnold — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:45:00 EDT

Want a new Nissan GT-R, but you don't want to wait around to take delivery of an "officially" imported model? Well you're in luck, because we've found a 2007 JDM model for sale that's ready to be exported from Japan to your local shipping yard. The asking price? 9,585,000 yen; the equivalent of about $96,000. Now if you're in the good ol' USofA, that's alot of money for a right-hand-drive car that you can't legally register for the street. Sure, you might be able to use it as a trackday toy, but the point of the big Nissan is that it offers incredible performance in a package you can use as everyday transportation. So unless you're an aftermarket tuning company looking for a test vehicle, this just isn't a logical purchase.

But who cares about logic? We want this. We want it so we can tease the drooling fanboys. We want it so we can pull up to the McDonald's window in reverse. We want it so we can give out rides to confused old folks from the retirement home. We want it so we can get pulled over by a local officer who has no idea that the car is illegal. We want to drift it, race it, and jump it. We want it because it'd be stupid to buy one.
[J's Garage Export]

Nissan GT-R Stacked Up To (And Over) The NSX

Matt Hardigree — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:00:00 EST

Remember when we started referring to the Nissan GT-R as Godzilla? You probably thought it was just us making a clever commentary on the prospects of the new Nissan as a sales leader (though not everyone agrees that'll happen). Nope. We were talking about how freaking ginormous the thing is. Thanks to the folks over at i-club, we now can represent this idea visually.

See that car next to it? That's a Honda/Acura NSX, the most recent Japanese supercar to grace the US from sea to shining sea. And while the NSX was of the extra light and nimble European mid-engined supercar variety, the new GT-R is decidedly more American (lots of power, engine in the front, gigantic proportions). [i-club via MotiveMag]

Nissan GT-R With Left Hand Drive Spotted In Phoenix Area

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST

One of our dear readers managed to snap a couple of camera phone pictures of the the new Godzilla, unbadged and zipping through the Phoenix, AZ rush hour traffic. As far as we can tell, this is one of the first sightings of a non-concept southpaw GT-R in the United States. And are those Michigan plates? What it's doing in Phoenix is a bit of a mystery, but we're guessing it hoped there was an actual phoenix to then fight to the death (or testing). How do you know a Jaloper took the photos? That big crack through the windshield is a good sign. (Props to Josh for the awesome grab).

Nissan GT-R Gets Test Drive from Nihon Car

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST

Our buddies over at Nihon Car have gotten their filthy mitts on the new Nissan GT-R. We've covered Godzilla pretty exhaustively here, but they've got beautiful video of the beast in motion. Good old-fashioned car pr0n from a closed circuit course gives you an idea of just how composed this vehicle is when driven hard. The part we liked best was the in-motion shots—we weren't expecting the interior to be so jet-fighter like. All those digital gauges and doodads have our inner nerd panting.

It's while the car is lurking through the tight streets of Tokyo that you get a sense just how big this sucker is. We know we're probably absolutely last on the list for keys to this car—what with our insistence on keeping the Carlos Ghosn: Superhero picture alive and well. Nonetheless, should we ever get seat time, our assumption is there will be a certain amount of more tire smoke, not to mention jokes about hacking out the back window in favor of a truck bed.

Godzilla Smash! The First Nissan GT-R Crash

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:30:00 EST

The folks over at the North American GT-R Owners Club forum managed to get their hands on some shots of what is believed to be the first smashed Nissan GT-R (lucky for us they did it in public). Since it's a 480 hp supercar, we're going to assume that this didn't happen at a speed lower than 20 mph and thus the front of the car held up pretty well, all things considered.

We're not sure what makes us so fascinated with smashed exotics, but there's always a good story there if you search long enough. Given the relative affordability of the GT-R, we're ready for a lot more GT-R smash up action. [NAGTROC via AutoBlog]

JDM Godzillas Unlock Top Speed Only at the Track

Jonny Lieberman — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:13:00 EST

We're very torn about this one. In Japan, the new 2009 Nissan GT-R's are limited to a top speed of 112 mph (180 km/h). Which, quite frankly, is depressing. Remember though— that's Japan only. American and European hoons are (supposedly) limited to 155 mph (250 km/h). Back in Japan, should you take your Godzilla to a track, the GPS doohickies tell the computer to remove the limiter. Makes sense, right? Limit the car to a moderate top speed on the road, and then unleash its full, city-smashing, Mothra-wrasslin' potential on the track. We have two major problems with that.

First of all, this is a Skyline. When the R32 left the factory, the engineers colored the governor yellow so that buyer's could easily locate it and rip it out, unlocking the engine's full and quite super potential. With the new GT-R, Nissan is doing a 180, and not just in kilometers per hour. According to reports, the ECU on the latest Skyline is is quite heavily encrypted and therefor not easily hacked. So, that's no good.

Our second gripe is all about Orwellian, Big Brother-type precedents. Yeah, how cute, when you get to the track you can go faster. We get it. But how long until this sort of technology filters down to the rest of us? As in you're in a 35 mph zone — you can only go 35 mph. Never forget how O'Brien described the future to Winston Smith, "...a boot stamping on a human face forever." We may be hyperbolizin' and feeling a bit like the Red Rocker, but we're still shuddering. (You need to take a SOMA or something dude... - Ed.) [Gizmodo]

Possible Nissan GT-R V-Spec

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:00:00 EST

Pictures are floating to the top of the web of a modified 2008 Nissan GT-R, that could be the mule of a V-Spec or Group N variant. GTR-Forums.com is running a series of pics captured at a NISMO event of a GT-R with a modified front end (no grill insert) and check out the inside of the A-piller. Fancy rollcage, or lightened structure? You decide. Keep in mind, we don't know if there even is a lighter and meaner V-spec/Group N package in the works. This could turn out to be the luckiest drift king in Japan (Godzilla went on sale there December 6, pics are from earlier) taking a pre-order GT-R on it's first track day. If such a car is in development, what would we even call it? Mecha-Godzilla? [GTR-Forums.com] (Japanese Only)