Nissan GT-R Still Fast Even Without Launch Control

The GT-R's Launch Control panel

As if you didn't know already the Nissan GT-R is mind boggling fast in a straight line even without “Launch Control”. The heavy car will do 3.9 seconds without the controversial system being engaged and that was verified by American test drivers after finding out a shocking story about the warranty of the cars.

There were a lot of rumors surrounding the fact that warranties were voided because of the extended use of the “Launch Control” feature of the car. You might ask what is the problem, in this case... well to activate LC in a GT-R you need to turn off the traction control and set the transmission in sport mode, making it more vulnerable, because of the speed needed to swap cogs.

The fix of a GT-R transmission is $20,000, not cheap and the manual of the car states that damage to the transmission is not covered if it is proven to be the result of using Launch Control with the VDC turned off and that the only reason you should turn off VDC is to "rock" the vehicle when stuck in mud or snow.

The thing is that you can still go terribly fast in the GT-R and you can keep the warranty by simply not activating the LC, because 3.9 seconds isn't very slow. A Chevrolet Matiz does it in 12 seconds so you will be faster than that and in fact faster than a lot more cars on the road today. You won't be faster than a GT-R with a driver who doesn't care of the $20,000, but faster than the others anyway.

To be in tune with all the ones that bought a GT-R and found out that their car isn't as fast as claimed, we can sing a little tune for them and their car: “Don't be sad, Don't be blue, Frankenstein was ugly too...”