I Despise The New GT-R . . .There, I've said it. After months and months of hearing people drool over the R35 and singing its high praises, it's been incredibly hard to hold my tongue. On second thought, maybe "despise" is a bit harsh. "Don't like" is more like it. Yes, I know all about its performance capabilities. Yes, its ATTESA E-TS all-wheel drive system is ridiculously good. Yes, it's stuffed with a 480 hp 3.8L twin-turbo VR38. Yes, it has the most overly-engineered production Bridgestones on the planet. And yes, its 7:29 lap time at Nurburgring is ridiculously fast. Whoop-dee-freaking-do. None of those facts change my disposition on the GT-R.
Owning an R33, and having owned an R32, the GT-R has personal meaning. To me, a GT-R is a raw, raucous sports car that's four-wheels of potential. The GT-R-along with a few other cars from the '90s-came underrated from the factory, stock. A blank canvas, it's as if Nissan engineers were saying, "Here masses. Here is a car that will whoop some serious ass from the factory-but, if you choose to tune it, feel free. In fact, enjoy." Which is exactly why R32s, R33s, and R34s were killing it on the drag strip, track, Wangan and on the street-just when you thought one couldn't go any faster or break any more records, another GT-R would. And that is what created the legend of the GT-R, a car with seemingly unlimited potential. The R35 on the other hand, doesn't have any of that.
Again, yes, the R35 is much quicker, more solid, more refined and much more high-tech than previous GT-Rs. I mean, this is a car equipped with an incredible sequential transmission-stock-that blips through gears faster than your brain can process the shift. But somewhere along the way, with all the technology, the driving experience was lost. The visceral action of pounding gears, the roar of the road, exiting a corner too hot and feeling the rear end get a little squirrely, those are all emotions that bond you to your car. All the cars that I've truly loved, I've had some near-death experience in.
And that's why I "don't like" the new GT-R. To its own fault, the R35 is too perfect. And when that happened, the spirit of the GT-R was lost-not to mention the "Skyline" designation was dropped, and the R35 is incredibly difficult to tune. One of its greatest strengths, the intrinsically-programmed twin-clutch transmission, is also one of its greatest weaknesses.
So why all the contradictory statements? I guess it's because that it's not that I "don't like" the new GT-R, but that it's different. So to speak, the GT-R paradigm has shifted. The R32, R33 and R34 were, and are, some of the greatest sports cars of all time. Period. The R35? A great supercar. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it's not what I want (not to mention can afford).
But those are just my opinions. For someone with a greater depth of understanding of GT-Rs, we had Alex Shen of SP Engineering talk about the differences between his R34 and R35. Alex has owned all four of the past generations of GT-R at one time or another, and has tuned dozens of others. To call him an expert on GT-Rs would be an understatement . . . sort of like saying, "I don't like the new GT-R". Kidding.
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Carter Jung
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