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Is the Nissan GT-R Nismo Still Relevant in 2022? Spoiler Alert - Hell Yeah!

Previewed by a concept a little over two decades ago, the Nissan GT-R R35 came out towards the end of 2007. Back then, it was marketed as a Porsche 911 killer, and while the German auto marque is considered lazy when it comes to designing new generations of their 911, they have come up with three of them, while the GT-R has pretty much remained the same.
Nissan GT-R Nismo 17 photos
Photo: Screenshot Youtube | Top Gear
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However, Nissan has constantly refined it over the years, taking care of various aspects, and launching numerous special editions. They have also given it more power, yet unfortunately, to keep making it, they have had to bump the price to unbelievable levels for what is still a Nissan. The latest GT-R Nismo costs £180K (equal to ~$228K) in the United Kingdom, and well over $210K in the United States.

That’s a lot of money for a car that is almost 15 years old, but you have to factor in the fact that the Nismo badge brings with it less weight, more power, and other tweaked aspects. It is the brand’s most extreme road car ever, and features, like every other R35, a hand-built 3.8-liter V6, with turbochargers sourced from the GT3 racer. It has reduced turbo lag, can send up to 98% of the thrust to the rear wheels at launch, via the dual-clutch six-speed automatic transmission, and it hates being driven slowly.

Everyone and their pet has seen GT-Rs do the 0 to 60 mph (0-97 kph) in under 3 seconds, yet in Top Gear’s test, the Nismo did 3.3 seconds, and 7.2 seconds from rest to 100 mph (161 kph). The quarter-mile is dealt with in 11.35 seconds, at 126.7 mph (204 kph), and flat-out, it feels like it will never run out of breath. But does that make it a great highway cruiser? Not at all, because the Comfort setting is pretty much equal to other similar rides’ Sport one. The ride is bouncy, there’s a lot of wind and tire noise coming into the cockpit, and the engine further disturbs the peace.

Nissan GT\-R Nismo
Photo: Screenshot Youtube | Top Gear
On the plus side, it feels very stable. Warm up the tires, and carbon ceramic brakes, take a double dose of the brave pill, and search for a twisty road, and you will come to appreciate the Godzilla even more. Sure, it may have an outdated interior, but don’t forget that it first came out in 2007, and back then, certain people used to complain that it is too high-tech for its own good. It has dual-zone climate control, smartphone integration, rain-sensing wipers, and several other stuff, so at least you won’t feel like a total peasant for buying it instead of getting a Porsche 911 Turbo S. It also has something that is unfortunately part of a dying breed, and that is a traditional handbrake lever.

As it has become harder and harder to make the GT-R compliant with the latest regulations, Nissan was forced to axe it in Europe earlier this year. They also withdrew it from Australia, and earlier this month, we found out that they closed the order books in Japan too. Meanwhile, it is still available in the United States, albeit as a 2021 model.

At this point, you might be wondering what the future holds for the R35, but the company based in the Land of the Rising Sun has been coy on it. In all likelihood, they will eventually pull the plug on it for good, and when they do so, it will be a sad day for the automotive world, which will have lost another great machine. Here’s to seeing an R36 sooner rather than later, with similar DNA, and the same amount of craziness, backed up by a great build quality.

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About the author: Cristian Gnaticov
Cristian Gnaticov profile photo

After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s.
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