Nissan defends GT-R Nurburgring lap time with second video

I'd love to see a shootout...

Why don't Porsche just build a car that beats Nissan's claimed time instead?

Oh thats right, they prefer a good "ole" fashioned temper tamtrum instead, just ask VW!!

Porsche could make a car that could smoke the time of the GT-R, and they do, just not at that price point. They can make some awesomely fast cars - just look at the GT3 RS, GT2, and Carrera GT - but they're never what you'd call affordable. They're always incredibly overpriced, you pay tens of thousands of dollars just for the badge.

ok, lemme get this straight: a Porsche CHASSIS ENGINEER takes a GTR around the track and now accuses that Nissan is lying about the lap time beacause HE can't match the lap time set by the Nissan TEST DRIVER. And of course, this same engineer is capable of driving his employers cars around the track at the same pace as the Porsche test drivers....riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight....

what a load of BS this all is!

get the Stig or Sabine Shmidt on the job and settle it once and for all in an objective manner or stop hyping this crap!

"Nissan has also offered free driver training for Porsche if it wants to attempt a second lap."

OUCH!!!

I like bones' idea, the new season is set to start on the 26th (according to the blog comments on the official site) but then if a challenge like this is going to happen it would already have had to been filmed already. I doubt it'll happen, at least not this season, hopefully the next.

.. I really don't see how they expect to counter Porsche's claims that they used normal tyres on the runs with this video.. I'd like to see them actually tape the moment when they mount the tyres on the car that is then taken out for a lap. you know, like Audi did when they did that spot for the Quattro system at the ski jump ramp. that would be something !

now, I am quite a Porsche fan and I do think and accept that the GT-R is (or could be) faster than the 911 Turbo - and I also think that Porsche's attempt to put Nissan's claims in doubt is ..at least "clumsy", but I also think that Nissan are taking this too far with their sarcasm. even if they have a faster car (and if they do, why not accept a shootout ?), they mustn't forget Porsche's history, pedigree and racing heritage - that they are quite far from equalling.

and in the end, it's a question of philosophy: Nissan wanted to make a car that was easy to drive and help even a (very) clumsy driver get the most out of it. Porsche's philosophy is to make driving fun and rewarding.. just do a lap of any track in both cars and then see which one makes you feel better about your skills..

A couple of things: Sorry Its lengthy.

1 - I think its was in bad taste for Porsche to call Nissan a liar. So for Nissan to offer driving lessons to the Porsche "Test Driver," I think thats absolutely hilarious... and well deserved.

2 - No Supercar Marque in their right mind is going to publicly say, "Yeah, we bought a GT-R took it to the track, and it kicked our ass." So what happened? Could have been a "Only Tell You Part of the Truth Story." Example: They (Porsche) took the GT-R to the track and said it was slower than Nissan claims... Half the story, half the truth. What they didn't tell you was they had four people in car and a trunk fuel of luggage. The whole/rest of the story. Kind of like a politician, making a statement but spinning words or twisting actions of others to fit their claims or agendas.

3 - Why doesn't Porsche just accept a straight up shootout at Nurburgring? Is it because they know after putting the Nissan on track, that Nissan was correct. (crickets chirpping) Nissan has repeatedly invited them out to the track, and still Porsche refuses.

4 - Nissan also has a great racing history, but we here in the states and the guys across the pond don't hear about it, because their racing mostly happens in Asia.

5 - I think some people are missing the point. When Nissan built the GT-R, they wanted to prove two things. One. that Companies, regardless of WHO they are, could build a car that was capable of competing on the level of the worlds best. For years they've been knocking at the door with the Skyline GTR and its many variations. Now they've finally cracked the nut. And two, that Car Companies, regardless of who they are, could build a "Supercar" that could be "Affordable" and affordably manufactured. Getting power, performance, luxury style and class, at an acceptable price to todays consumer.

Im not a Nissan fan nor am I Porsche fan (but I'm slowly becoming one). Im a Mazda fan. So the battle between the two Marques, doesn't matter to me that much.

Nissan has always and will continue to always build cars for the masses. However, every Marque needs a flagship. They chose the GT-R as something they can be proud of, stand behind and set a benchmark to the rest of the world on how something of high calibur can be done, and produced, efficiently.

Porsche is and has always been an Icon in Sports Car racing. They don't build car for the masses. Its also an enthusiast's car. Their cars are still assembled by hand... and the quality AND price show it.

I think in this case, it was in poor taste for Porsche to say those things about a manufacturer that it doesn't even compete with. Maybe Porsche should accept the invite for the shootout... or send an executive or VP to another test and physically be there when Nissan runs the car. I think Porsche is upset that a forgein Marque came into their backyard and showed them up at a track dominated by Porsche and BMW.

Take another look at that video. At 04:02 (00:00 when they started timing) there is a metal wall/barrier to the right of the track (where the crew are standing). At 11:33 (7 min 29 when they stopped timing), there is no wall to the right of the track. Okay... what can we conclude from this? That Nissan started and stopped timing their "lap time" at different points on the track - they didn't time the complete full track time, they cut it short. Furthermore, they used a running start which isn't standard practice at the ring - that should take off another couple of seconds from their lap time. All respected track time completed at the Nurburgring was done using a standing start.

No doubt the R35 is a true Japanese supercar, but it's not a wonder machine as Nissan claims it to be. Call it bad sport if you want, but Porsche was correct to call Nissan cheaters. You can't just leave Nissan bragging on about a false claim. Someone's got to shut them up.

This video may fool boy-racers who believe that tuned up Japanese sports cars with Nitro is the fastest thing on land and even faster than a bloody rocket (blame it on 'The fast and the furious'), but to anyone who is rational enough to not be blinded by this hype, this video only proves that the stock (if it even is a stock machine) GTR's time of 7:29 was an incomplete track time with a running start.

Also, Porsche's test driver is the Walter Rohrl. In case you didn't know, he holds a record track time at Nurburgring and has been racing at the ring for far longer than you spent your life watching TV. He knows the Nurburg track better than any of you know your own face. He's been driving at Nurburgring all his life and drove the 24 hour Nurburgring race in heavy fog and rain only anticipating the corners by timing and memory with minimal visual cues. He was also elected Rally driver of the century in Italy. Walter Rohrl is an international hero and one of the best driver alive to be taking the wheel, regardless of what car it is, on Nurburgring.
In comparison, Toshio Suzuki is only a local amature. Suzuki holds no championships, no wins, and not even a podium finish at any major racing tournaments.
So shut your hole you cheating buggers at Nissan and go back to your drawing board.

P.S. The Stig is a great driver too for sure, but Walter Rohrl is far more qualified, especially if you're talking about running the Nurburgring, and you're all guilty of watching too much Top Gear.

WSX ?
Walter is your dad? Just curious.

What WSX said!

Having seen the video, its not convincing! Sorry Nissan, you lied!

Actually, only the guys at GM seem to use halted start in their time attacks at the ring (not sure about their time with the Corvette ZR1 - possibly a running start considering its very fast lap time of 7:26). But I'm pretty sure that lap times are supposed to finish where they start. By examining Nissan's released video, it looks like that they cuts off a bit of the track probably shaving off a few valuable seconds the lap time. So I guess a lap time of 7:40 would be a more realistic figure with the GTR, possibly even in the mid-late 7:30's, which is incredibly fast nonetheless.

But I did read this - that the R35 developing team have been hogging the Nurburgring for almost a year, running the track with the GTR prototypes hundreds of times before they ran the ring with the finished product. In comparison, other developers rarely spend more than a day at Nurburgring, let a lone a few hours. The guys at GM spent roughly 3 hours practicing on Nurburgring before they ran the time attack. If every developer spent that much at the ring as Nissan had done, every car's lap time would be much faster, and GTR's laptime wouldn't be considered nearly as fast at all. But no one is that obsessed with record times at Nurburgring.

In the end, it just shows that Nissan were just too obsessed with times at Nurburgring and they missed the whole point of running it = Nissan only proved that their driver wasted almost a year at Nurburgring to the point of memorising every grain of asphalt on the track.

I think Nissan built a proper car and i am not the biggest Nissan fan but i really think they acheived that time and if Porsche is so stuckup that they wont admitt it then they are sore losers!

I urge WSX to take another look at the video, and this time pause it and look close because the same blue metal barrier and the grandstands in the near distance are the same at the begining of timing as well as the end!! I am not really a fan of either car but I do however pay close attention to claims made by some people and take the time to review the material myself to see if these claims hold any truth, and I must say after a carefull look at the video I must conclude that it appears to be authentic to me except for the rolling start!!

zr1 beats them both anyway...including the carrera gt

lots of Nordschleife amateurs manage times around 08'00 minutes a lap and their cars do not benefit from the support such as an entire Nissan team. Consequently, 7'30 minutes is very feasible for professionals ...

I think porsche calling nissan is wrong but i do agree with them they. I am not a hater in fact i love the the gtr looks and sounds but there is no way it could pull 7:29.03. I agree with dccr when the gtr rounded the last corner you can see that they stopped at the wrong point. If they would have stopped it at the right time I would say it could have ran the ring in about 7:32. As i said before i am no hater. there is a video of the zr1 and the gtr side by side at the track and the only way the zr1 left the gtr is on the straight away. i find this hard to believe because the zr1 is just so much faster than the gtr. Dont get me wrong i still think the gtr is a fast car.

DEAR WSX,
The video you looked at is just a video! It is in fact not the official method used to record lap times. I seriously doubt that Nissan would think they could get away with cutting an entire section out of they're lap. If the video makes it look like they did, then whoever edited the video obviously fucked up somehow. You sir, are a twat.
P.S. Feel free to write a dipshit comeback.

datsun beats the beetle.sad very sad take it on the chin

I think that walter rohrl would say whatever porsche told him to.The stig did test the gtr and it was faster than the gt 3.And its also an everyday car.
Im a Dodge Chrysler fan.But I would choose the gtr. because I WORK HARD FOR MY WAGE.and consider European cars highly overrated and meant for selfish snobs.

Porsche= overated selfish snobs car.
Nissan gtr= everyday supercar

A lot of name callers. How about they line them up and let them fly. GTR against ZR1 against GT2 or 911 turbo S. Since Nissan says they can better a GT2 I say GT2 but what ever. Oh and I saw tests where the ZR1 smoked the GTR... so not sure where that other guy says GTR beats Zr1...?

Just a heads up on this old topic. Reading the March issue of sportauto, the official timers of the Ring fast laps, they have the current 911 Turbo S running 7:44, the Turbo running 7:47 and the GTR 7:38. These are official times from sportauto. Ferrari 458 is also a 7:38, SLS AMG is 7:40. The editors of sportauto aren't the absolute fastest guys on earth but Horst V.S. is pretty quick. Regardless of the 7:29 time posted by Nissan, its clear by these numbers that Nissan is indeed faster than the Porsche Turbo and Turbo S. The irony being that the GTR time posted is from the older GTR and not the latest 2011 car.