Tech Talk: The Nissan GT-R - Japanese, but not as we know it

What we have over here folks is a Nissan GT-R. This is actually one, if not the fastest point to point cars that has ever been built and we all know about its Porsche 911 Turbo eating capabilities. We also know that its 3.8liter V6 engine makes around 520bhp in stock tune and this figure is actually some figure that was cooked up by Nissan for its brochures as almost everyone who's driven one thinks it has about 50bhp more.

It is also mass defying in that you would never believe that a 1,730kg car can actually take corners better than a 200kg lighter Mitsubishi Evolution instead of feeling like the Mitsubishi with 4 extremely fat people inside it. It is heavy, but it still wipes the floors out of more exotic supercars. Japanese witchcraft I tell you.

But I recently was having a look-see at a 2008 UK Spec Nissan GT-R at my friendly neighbourhood Japanese performance car specialist, LMY Automobile and Services Sdn Bhd and I somehow think that this car, while an icon and an incredible machine, feels over-engineered on some points whilst being underdeveloped on some others.

Now some may ask what the actual difference between a UK car and a JDM one is. The main difference is that the trip computer in the meter console (not the main display in the middle of the dashboard) is in English instead of Japanese and the stereo system's FM radio mode reaches from 88.0mhz to over a 100mhz. If this was s JDM model, the radio would only reach 88.9mhz. Other than that nothing's changed basically.

The cars are still right hand drive like the JDM versions and still require the expensive 100RON petrol (as stated on the fuel flap). So those that have purchased a JDM GT-R or a UK GT-R, be sure to use the highest octane rating available if you can't find the required happy juice. Of course, if you're in Malaysia, the highest readily available petrol is Shell's V-Power Racing, but this runs a rated 97RON, which is still down on the necessary octane rating required by the GT-R.

Some Malaysian registered GT-Rs here have shown lean fuel maps on the dyno because of this especially after their owners start plonking in aftermarket exhaust systems and the usual customary air filter add-ons. You could get it re-mapped to ensure that your investment does not go 'boom!'. LMY offers this service for the GT-R, allowing Godzilla to gulp cheaper RON95 safely, but this is another story altogether.

We all know the Nissan GT-R is on many a motorhead's wishlist but the reason I have decided to highlight this detail is that I happen to believe this car has a contradiction. Firstly, it is built out of lightweight materials like aluminium and carbon fiber. Take for example the carbon fiber driveshaft pictured above. The items were bloody light. I could pick it up with one hand without breaking a sweat.

You could also feel that the bonnet, doors and boot are made of aluminium, and the engine bay in a carbon fiber surround. But even with all the lightweight materials used the car weighs in at a porky 1,730kg. And whilst the extra weight does not blunt any of its supercar devouring performance, you can see where the extra weight comes from just by looking at the engine bay.

Note that the GT-R is built unlike any other Japanese supercar. It may look and feel Japanese, I somehow believe that it was actually designed by some Europeans or it was designed with Europe in mind. Just take a look at the engine bay and take note the double firewall and then the fully covered area between the firewall. This area houses brake servo components as well as the battery. Note that everything is hidden from view. Like Nissan does not want anyone to take a look at the brake servo or even the fat battery they stuffed in between the firewalls.

The thing that irks me the most is that in a car that is about ultimate performance, Nissan went and threw some make-up on the car. It's like a pretty girl who decided to put on some foundation to hide some imperfections when she actually has none. Its like Cindy Crawford trying to cover up that mole on her face when no one actually cares if she does or not. This is a Nissan GT-R. No one cares about whether the battery shows its ugly design or not. Even the limited run (and hideously expensive Lexus LFA) does not have such a visible secondary firewall and that it does not even cover up the brake fluid bottle like the GT-R. So why did Nissan do this with the GT-R? To make the car look pretty in brochures and in the showroom. But who the heck actually cares about how the engine bay looks in the first place?

This is a GT-R. Nissan actually does not need to cover all of these bits up with all those extra plastic bits that would add about a couple of kilograms up top and up front in the GT-R. I mean, if I was an anorak, I'd take this into account. Let's take a picture of a 2006 W220 Mercedes Benz SL65 AMG. This is an over 2,000kg Leviathan that is powered by a stonking bi-turbo V12 engine. Now notice that the Mercedes Benz actually costs a whole lot more than the GT-R, is an established luxury car marque noted for its engineering and it still does not cover everything up. As I said, no one would actually take notice of the 'ugliness' of the GT-R's engine bay. It isn't a pretty lithe little coupe in the first place. It is a brutal, very Sumo wrestler type of car. It isn't a fragile piece of origami in the first place.

And on another note, the engineers have decided to go all tight with the packaging underneath. The reason this GT-R had to visit the specialists at LMY is that it was suffering from a rattling transmission. It turns out the GT-R is suffering from a rattly bearing in the front transmission transfer case. Do note that the GT-R has the transmission located at the rear and a prop-shaft sends the power to the box at the rear which sends the drive out to the rear wheels and then another prop-shaft to the front. And as a result of brutal usage of the 'launch control' to, errr, launch the car at junctions, traffic lights and track days, the transfer case bearing had gone bust.

Now look at the transfer case. It is sandwiched between two catalytic convertors. Everything is so tightly packed here and I somehow believe that the heat from the two fat cats would in some way affect the components therein in the long run. Problems with heat soak is even more prevalent in the hot and humid tropics where this UK spec GT-R happens to call home these days. In fact this is why I think the transfer case bearing decided to call it a day so soon (the GT-R here has less than 30,000miles on the clock).

So while the engineers were busy over-engineering up above with all the double firewall and decorative coverings, they may have not done so elsewhere. But regardless of what I've just said here, it does not change anything about what the Nissan GT-R is. In fact these contradictions actually make the GT-R something more epic. Like an Italian supercar with its flaws and idiosyncrasies, the Nissan GT-R actually has a soul somewhere under all that technology. Japanese witchcraft. Remember that fact.

With thanks to LMY Automobiles & Services.