We keep hear­ing about the GT-R’s return to rac­ing, but now the cov­ers are off.

Nihon­car have just posted fan­tas­tic pics of the new in a return to cham­pi­onship rac­ing at Suzuka!

�Check it out right now!

[Source: Nihon­car via Nissan]

A crawl of the blo­gos­phere brings this awe­some video of the Nis­san GT-​​R doing the Nur­bur­gring in just 7:38, 2 sec­onds ahead of it’s 380KW Ger­man rival, the Porsche 911 Turbo. What a week it’s been for the new GT-​​R!

What’s also cool about this, is theres an inside view! Check it out below.

And while you’re doing so, com­pare that lap time to these:

• 7:38 — Nis­san GT-​​R, 480PS/​1720kg, 26,600 Meter Timging Sep­tem­ber 2007
• 7:40 — Porsche 997 Turbo 480PS/​1565 kg Wal­ter R�hrl
• 7:40 — Mercedes-​​Benz SLR McLaren, 626PS/​1768 kg Klaus Lud­wig (Auto­Bild 07/​04)
• 7:40 — Bugatti Vey­ron 16/​4, 1001PS/​1888 kg (Wheels mag­a­zine Aus­tralia, 12/​05)
• 7:41 — Man­they Porsche GT3 M410, 413 PS/​1320 kg (160.868 km/​h), Lucas Luhr (Auto­bild 07/​04)
• 7:42 — Porsche 997 GT3, 415 PS/​1440 kg, Wal­ter R�hrl (Auto­mo­bil 05/​06)
• 7.42 — Corvette Z06 (Jan Magnussen)[2]
• 7:42 — Ford GT, 550 PS/​1521 kg (as indi­cated by Octane mag­a­zine, 11/​05) (news release, pictures)
• 7:43 — Lam­borgh­ini Mur­cielago (Auto­car mag­a­zine 02)
• 7:44 — Pagani Zonda S 550 PS/​1280 kg (sport auto 02/​05) 7:46 — Porsche 996 GT2, 462 PS/​1450 kg (sport auto 06/​01)
• 7:46 — Jaguar XJ220, 3.5-litre V6, John Neilsen.
• 7:47 — Porsche 996 GT3 RS (sport tyres) [cita­tion needed]
• 7:47 — Fer­rari 599 GTB Fiorano,620PS/1690 kg (sport auto)
• 7:47 — Lam­borgh­ini Mur­cielago LP640 E-​​gear (sport tyres) (sport auto 01/​07)
• 7:48 — Porsche 997 GT3, 415 PS/​1440 kg (sport auto 07/​06)
• 7:49 — Hel­mut D�hne, Honda VFR750R

[More times here]

[Source: Youtube via Autoblog]

Yes, for the first time, the Nis­san GT-​​R will be sold directly into Australia!

As con­firmed on CarAd­vice, Nis­san Australia�s boss Shinya Han­nya has said that all strings will be pulled to get the GT-​​R dow­nun­der before 2009 (We cer­tainly hope so, but we’re look­ing for more like 2008, Mr Han­nya!). No other infor­ma­tion on localised spec­i­fi­ca­tions (if any are in the works) are cur­rently available.

The new Nis­san GT-R’s finally landed at Tokyo!

Here’s a run down of some final specifications:

• VR38VETT (3.8L Twin Turbo) dump­ing out 353KW (473HP, 480PS) and 588 Nm (433 lb-​​ft)
• 6 speed, Borg Warner six-​​plate dual-​​clutch transmission
• On sale Decem­ber 6 2007 in Japan
• Brembo 6-​​piston brakes in front, 4-​​piston in rear
• Bil­stein (DampTronic) suspension
• Black Edi­tion is listed as 4WD — expected, and now confirmed.

But per­haps the most amaz­ing thing isn’t the release of this amaz­ing new car, per­haps it’s a lit­tle tid­bit given almost as an aside over at Auto­blog. They claim “Mr. Ghosn com­mit­ted to Nis­san field­ing GT-​​Rs in next year’s Super GT Cham­pi­onship” !
The GT-​​R is com­ing back to motor­sports proper, and this means the Godzilla is well and truly back in the game.

 

Also: Don’t for­get to view Autoblog’s pics of the GT-​​R LIVE at Tokyo!

Orig­i­nal Press Release:

Just damn sexy, the Nis­san GT-​​R

Finally, after the heartache, tears, and edge of the seat antic­i­pa­tion, the Nis­san GT-​​R pic­tures have hit the blo­gos­phere like noth­ing else. Feast your eyes on Nissan’s lat­est foray into the Super­car mar­ket. Sport­ing the all new 3.8L twin turbo VR38VETT pow­er­house, the new GT-​​R will whisk you from 0–100 in 3.5s or less, and do the quar­ter in a very healthy 11.7seconds. The Corvette and 911 now have some seri­ous com­pe­ti­tion from Japan; and who knows what the Japan­ese tun­ing houses, or just enthu­si­asts, will extract from the new GT-​​R?

But enough. There’s one rea­son you’re here. Enjoy and know hap­pi­ness as only the GT-​​R can deliver.

The 2008 Nis­san GT-​​R