We’ve been seeing quite a lot of guess work and speculation lately about 2009 changes to the supercar killer that is the Nissan GT-R. And all this before the UK even gets its first car.
The most speculated upon change, and one that has been confirmed, is the deletion of launch control from the spec for all cars ordered from today. It would seem that Nissan aren’t prepared to swallow the warranty claims that are already coming in from using the system. Perhaps they didn’t expect people to actually use it?! Who knows. But it seems odd that Nissan can’t handle it whilst Ferrari can. Still, I suppose the GT-R is a third the price of a Ferrari, so not so much to play with when it comes to warranty costs.
Nissan GT-R upgrades confirmed for 2009
Other changes to the GT-R include an extremely modest power hike (5bhp) through some electronic fiddling. But considering no two GT-Rs seem to have the same power output (the engines are all hand-made) I’m not sure what difference this will make, if any. Torque remains unchanged.
Tyres have been changed to the Dunlop Sport 600 DSST, which were developed just for the GT-R, and are the tyres used to wind Porsche up with the ‘Fastest Nurburgring’ lap recently. I suppose Nissan must be pretty confident the tyres make a difference, or they’re going to be hoist with their own petard on this one.
Ride quality has been improved by a few suspension tweaks, which we guess won’t harm the handling. A few cosmetic changes, including new wheels, in different colours depending on the model, complete the changes.
It looks like most of these changes are a response to the feedback that’s come from real-world use. It’s arguable that Nissan should have sussed these things before the car was launched, but they are pretty minor. The most notable is of course the deletion of launch control, which will limit the opportunity to abuse the car quite so easily. Probably not a bad thing.
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