They say power is nothing without control, and that's supposed to remind people that boosting the engine's output alone isn't going to make their car go that much faster unless they also upgrade the other components as well.
Components such as brakes, tires, suspension, and, of course, probably the most important of all, transmission. You can't expect a stock gearbox that's meant to deal with relatively normal amounts of power and torque handle the outrageous output you get after boring the engine, fitting larger turbos, and messing with the vehicle's ECU.
Well, Nissan's six-speed double-clutch automated manual transmission is known to take serious punishment without flinching, so perhaps Rocky Bhattel, the owner of the 1,600 hp 1,100 lb-ft (1,500 Nm) Nissan GT-R in this video isn't really to blame for what you're about to witness in this latest carwow drag race video.
They don't go into too much detail on the GT-R's mods, but we do find out that the 3.8-liter V6 engine now has a displacement of 4.1-liter, that it has carbon-ceramic brakes, and that Rocky spent close to $400,000 in total for that car. Granted, not all that money was spent on making it go faster, with that Rockford Fosgate sound system being a prime example.
Next to it on that airstrip is a tuned BMW M5. The 800 hp the Bavarian performance sedan makes would be a perfectly respectable figure in almost any other situation, but here, it's merely half of what the Nissan has lurking under the hood. With numbers like these, the weight difference is totally neglectable.
Finally, the third contestant makes even less power at 221 hp out of its 1.0-liter V4 engine, but the Ducati V4R has other things going for it. For instance, the fact it weighs just 425 lbs (193 kg); or the fact it has just two wheels; or that it can rev like crazy; or that its rider is a complete pro called Tommy Bridewell who races in the Bennetts British Superbike.
So, how do you think this will pan out? Well, if we hadn't had that talk about transmissions and how they might not handle the load at the beginning, you might be leaning toward the Nissan GT-R. Well, you'd be both right and wrong at the same time. Just watch the clip and you'll understand what we mean.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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