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Detroit, 3:23 AM
Tue Nov 17
27 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
oh wait. #ringwars
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
@Steve_in_NC: Hey you guys, remember not to dragon the gtr in public.
10/28/09
But still that time does seem suspect.
Maybe I'm just not that educated about the car and its capabilities.
10/28/09
10/28/09
I just hoped that someone would take their time to help me understand why the car is as good as it is. Which "Power Tryp forever" has done and you have not.
I do have one request:
Don't cluster me with the Porsche fanboys out there. The ZR1 is still faster so I am happy and I don't want to get involved in the quarrel you Nissan fans have with Porsche fans. #ringwars
10/28/09
This car has the same components you will find in a Porsche cup car (their actual race cars) sans the sequential six and full cage. So you can be assured it will run around the 'ring all day (as it does at the Nurburgring 24 and countless other endurance races), whereas the GTR race car is completely different from the street car (it doesn't even have the same kind of engine).
Then there is the whole issue of a lack of third party verification on the Nissan 'ring time. Porsche is famous for its production cars always achieving the claimed performance figures (in fact, they usually undershoot their claims). This has been verified on every last one of their cars, as they have been running the 'ring since before it was cool. This whole tiff started when Porsche walked into a random US Nissan dealership and bought a GT-R, then shipped it home to verify the time. The best they could manage was in the 7:50s. So far, no one has been able to replicate Nissan's time. Add to this that several magazines (I think Motor Trend was one) dynoed their demo car and found it had been tarted up a bit to wow the reviewers (which isn't all that uncommon). This all leads to the conclusion that the GT-R you buy will probably not be able to turn in a 'ring time of 7:26 or 7:29, but the average car owner (myself included) doesn't have the skill to max out the car anyways.
The final straw would be the warranty issue, where Nissan's clearly states that using your launch control will void the warranty as will dynoing it or taking it to a race track. Therefore, if you drive it in any way other than strictly to the letter of the law, the GT-R's data recorder will tell the Dealership next check-up, and ipso facto, warranty retracto. Contrast this to Porsche, which offers trackday and driver's ed (the race track kind, not the passenger brake kind) courses from the dealership, and will warrant it absolutely so long as you don't try to upgrade parts (although who knows how long that will last once VW has had their way).
The end result is a Porsche may be expensive, but it's not just a mark-up. You get what you pay for, and GT-R owners paid for a house on sand.
Oh, and do group me in with the Porsche fanboys: there is no substitute. #ringwars
10/28/09
07/30/09
07/30/09
Was Nelson Piquet's Brabham gorgeous or what?
07/30/09
That wreck of Kubica’s is still one of the worst incidents I've seen and is made even more impressive by the fact that his injuries were so minor.
I find it interesting that there are no shots of Williams BMW up there. The team saw some pretty good results with wins from Montoya and Ralphy boy. Pity that relationship fizzled.
07/30/09
07/30/09
Sadder still is that we might be losing an iconic F1 icon for those F1 folks pushing brooms.
07/31/09
@SeanKHotay: Hidely-ho, neighborino!
07/30/09
07/30/09
07/31/09
@NatefromOgden:This one is for sale, a steal at only 18000 Euro! Throw it in a tired E30 and go looking for bikes to race.
07/30/09
Mario Theissen, receiving the FIA's Ned Flanders Grooming Award for Best Mustache by a Team BossSadder still is that we might be losing an iconic F1 icon for the corner workers from the F1 pitlane.
07/30/09
BMW is just the latest to call it quits in the F1 circuit, but a gallery of some of the other teams would be cool too.
07/30/09
07/30/09
07/30/09
07/30/09
07/31/09
07/30/09
07/30/09
07/30/09
07/30/09
OTOH, years of smoking left me with a negative opinion of Marlboro that no amount of BMW M1s could ever dispel.
07/30/09
07/30/09