Don't get me wrong, I'm as excited as anyone about the new GTR...but when a compnay like nissan, toyota (supra), honda (NSX), mazda (RX-7) creates a car that is more performance based than the rest of their line it seems to only last for a string of 3 or 4 years and then disappears . With the GTR being the high caliber that it is and costing about more than double the amount of their other US models, will it last? Will the US enjoy more than a few years of the GTR history? Thoughts? This car is (in my opinion) much more of a car than any of those that I listed, but it's not like nissan is porsche and can keep producing cars of this caliber and provide service techs across the world to maintain these cars...what do you guys think? Am I being too much of a pessimist?

edit:in the title I meant to say RX-7, not RX-8

 

I just find it hard to believe that an import will be able to offer as much as the GT-R supposedly is going to offer at a competitive price. If the cost to own in the States is as much as a Porsche, then I think most people will opt for the Porsche (equal or better performance plus status). To be successful it will have to compete with the likes of the Z06 and I don't think a limited-edition import will ever be the "performance bargain" that a mass-produced American car will be.

 

It's hard to predict this one.


Unless sales are off the hook and Nissan allocates and builds more GT-Rs with parts and service centers to match demand, I think Nissan will keep numbers of this car very limited. The running costs are going to kill and inflated prices to just buy the car will only exaggerate this effect.

I feel the MSRP is being overly discussed and the cost of ownership is being extremely downplayed. Once you have the car, you are going to need to service and maintain it This is where the expenses start to go into the stratosphere as in Ferrari and Porsche. Maintaining the R35 will be very, very costly and prohibitive to many would-be owners particularly as a used car out of warranty.

The cost of ownership and availability of shops to maintain the GT-R will be the ultimate killer. For Ferrari, there has long been an established heritage and brand draw over the years to allow for private shops and parts networks to emerge. Ferrari and Porsche are very established in the global marketplace.

This will not exist for the GT-R.

The GT-R is not a signature marque in the same sense as a Maserati or Aston Martin or Ferrari. So that is against it, too, as it will approach Italian-car-like maintenance costs.

Special "tools" and training to service it --only at the dealer-- is against it. No sign of outside private shops to service the GT-R is very against it.

And lack of a 3-pedal manual transmission is against it because lots of BMW and Porsche people --many who have the money and crossover interest in the GT-R-- almost always demand greater driver involvement than just paddle-like video game controlling.

So that is possibly against it.

It may very well go the way of the RX-7, being too expensive for one segment, and not worth it to the higher-money crowd who already own several exotics.

Nissan may find it has no audience, or a dwindling one, and go back to Japan like the RX-7 and Silvia S15 (never even made available here) unless an infrastructure is established beyond only the limited dealer network, and an option of transmissions is introduced.

Currently, I am not very interested in a paddle-only GT-R, even if it is super fast and excellent. I want more of a driver's car with 3 pedals. And I'm one of the biggest fans of Nissan.

 

I too was very leary of the paddle shifters...although I drove my father in laws M3 with SMG and I loved it...except for the fact that the first year BMW introduced the SMG in the M line you could not launch well at all. I've heard that on the later models (06-08) this problem has been fixed. If the GTR allows the driver to launch the car in similar fashion as a manual trans...then I'm all over the new tranny.

 

My thoughts exactly. And even if the above were the case, the GT-R will probably remain legendary where it matters most: to enthusiasts, import or otherwise, who care about this and cars like it. Initial runs and pre order dramas are quickly forgotten - it's when a car achieves cult status that it will last forever. (or close to it)

A limited four or five year run doesn't sound that bad to me. There are several sporty cars out there whose runs are approaching or even passed the ten year mark; whose body lines and interior bits are beginning to appear stale in comparison to more fresh and recent designs and technological innovations. While I'd love to own an R35, even the basic Skyline/G37 arguably has a smoother and cleaner appearance than the chunkier and blocky GT-R, so what more when five or six years down the line, Nissan and other manufacturers duke it out to pass the benchmarks the GT-R is beginning to set?

 

100% yes

again, yes. The GT-R has always been on the vanguard edge of technological innovation, in ways an unsung hero. Even the R32 GT-R is still an impressive performer by today's standards. The R35 is light years ahead.

 

I think the GT-R is here to stay. Given the amount of an uproar it's going to cause here in the states (it's just inevitable), Nissan will only have more reason to continue to produce it. Now if I can just remember where I left that $90,000 I had lying around...

 

i think that it says a lot to be compared to the NSX and the RX7 and the supra...

or it says a lot about those cars to be compared to the GTR..

 

The U.S. auto market has been known to kill a few Japanese car models.

-Nate

 

I think both statements are true.