Nissan GT-R wins category in Japan’s COTY awards

The Nissan GT-R has taken home the 'Most Advanced Technology Award' in this year’s Japanese Car of the Year (COTY) awards ceremony, held over the weekend in Oiso, Japan. The diminutive Toyota iQ was picked the favourite among the judges, taking home the overall COTY award.

For the Most Advanced Technology Award, the judges picked the GT-R because it delivered "powerful performance and clean emission" levels. The jury was also impressed by the car's advanced body structure combining carbon, aluminum and steel, in addition to its impressive dual-clutch transmission and the world's first independent transaxle 4WD.

Some of the highlights mentioned include the steel unibody monocoque chassis, carbon-fiber front substructure and rear diffuser, all-aluminum front double-wishbone suspension, and the rear-mounted dual-clutch transmission.

Despite all this advanced technology, the GT-R has not yet shown off its true potential, with the much more potent Spec-V edition in development. The Spec-V will have a lighter kerb weight brought about by the use of carbon-fiber for some of the body panels and internal structure. Cutting down weight will be complimented by more horses under the hood, with the additional power to be extracted from the engine through increased boost pressure and fine-tuning of the ECU and exhaust system.