Article Source: Car and Driver

--------------------------------------------------

Spied: 2009 Nissan Skyline GT-R

Nissan's 450-hp all-wheel-drive supercar is coming to America. We catch it lapping the Nürburgring.
BY PETER LYON AND HIDDEN IMAGE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANS G. LEHMANN/HIDDEN IMAGE
April 2006


Will the fabulous Skyline GT-R come to the U.S.? The answer is yes. At the 2006 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), Nissan president Carlos Ghosn announced that it indeed will come to America as a Nissan (not an Infiniti). The production car’s official debut will be at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.
The latest Skyline GT-R prototype, pictured above, differs from ones seen previously. This one has a pair of small air vents in the hood and four large exhaust outlets in the rear. Past prototypes had no vents and just two tailpipes. The car in the photo obviously uses Infiniti G35 coupe sheetmetal, substantially modified to fit huge tires and a large front air dam. The real GT-R will look a lot like the Nissan GT-R Proto concept that debuted at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show.
Nissan considered a V-8 for the next GT-R but has opted instead for a specially developed twin-turbo V-6, due to its lower weight and explosive power potential. A limited-edition 2005-model GT-R Z-tune, fitted with the now superseded twin-turbo straight-six, generated over 500 horsepower, showing the potential of this car. Britain’s Cosworth is helping Nissan extract more than 450 horsepower from the upcoming 3.7- or 3.8-liter V-6 while still meeting emissions laws.


The next GT-R will be configured with a rear-mounted transaxle. This fact raises a critical and as-yet-unconfirmed question about the GT-R: Will it employ rear- or four-wheel-drive? One company insider we spoke with puts the chances at 50:50 right now. Rear-wheel drive has become more viable with recent advances in traction- and stability-control systems, and it is inherently lighter. The Lexus LF-A and the next Acura NSX both are expected to employ rear drive. On the other hand, the GT-R has employed rear-biased four-wheel drive since 1989, and it’s become an integral part of the GT-R’s mystique. And given the power the next GT-R will have, more accelerative traction would be preferable to electro-nannies stealing the fun. If the GT-R does get four-wheel drive, it could use a revised version of the ATTESA four-wheel-drive system found in the R34 GT-R or a radically new in-wheel electric motor four-wheel-drive system. Driven wheels aside, it is rumored that Nissan has contracted with world-famous Lotus to help with fine-tuning the car’s track performance. As for the transmission, we can expect the GT-R to be fitted with a seven-speed setup with steering-wheel paddles and two pedals.

Even though the GT-R will employ a purpose-built body, chassis, and engine, one senior Nissan official says there is still a chance the new GT-R will share part of its name with the Japanese version of the G35, the Skyline. Whether it’s called the Nissan Skyline GT-R or just the Nissan GT-R, the 2009 model is expected to cost $75,000 when it goes on sale in the U.S. in the spring of 2008.

 

recent cover stories, as well, of Road & Track and Automobile picture the GTR Proto on the cover, with the headline reading "Skyline GTR." so the mystique ain't over. i would even bargain to say that MORE is unknown about the GTR than is known. only seeing the 80% exterior design at the recent TMS is not the full monte'. more is actually unknown than is known, and the story gets weirder all the time.

the thing is, there is so much rumor and secrecy about the GTR that i don't know anymore what is up or down. we all thought nearly 100% that it would be "Infiniti GTR." and that was just flat wrong. that was just entirely wrong.

long ago, they said the GTR would diverge from the Skyline name, yet they said in the same paragraph that the new GTR monocoque would be "basis for subsequent Skylines." so what does that mean?

everyone is expecting the traditional 6cylinder twin turbo. what if that is bogus, too? what if it's a supercharged V8? or an n/a V8 or V6? now we're hearing "paddle shifters on the steering wheel" ??? (i suggested that, too, but hope they don't do that) what if they're putting the RB26 back in it, with their crowning achievement of the R34 GTR Z-Tune as the foreshadowing?

and for a short time around the time of the TMS, they were saying it is the "Corvette of Japan." are we supposed to read into that , too? the Vette has an n/a V8. or is this just an invented catch-phrase of the media, with no hidden meaning?

all bets are off at this point. things are changing by the month, with ideas once slated for "green light" becoming old news leaked to the public after the insiders have already changed their minds. it's as convoluted a picture as the assassination of JFK.

 

further clouding the water, for years they have gone on record as saying the GTR will "be a giant leap ahead of all prior GTRs to date." so what does that mean? they would then say that it would be based on the benchmarks of the Porsche 996 GT3. today that has been superceded by the 997, but at the time of the interviews, the 996 was all that was available. so what does that do? the GT3 is NOT a turbo car.

so does this mean the GTR is not necessarily a turbo car anymore? and does this mean, too that Nissan is adopting the "refine the machine" idea of Porsche, offering turbo and non-turbo models of the same platform, as does Porsche? Porsche has the Carrera 4S --an AWD Turbo car, as well as the 997 GT3 --a RWD N/A car --both built upon the 911 platform. is this the direction Nissan is taking?

if so, that would truly mean a new direction and "paradigm" for the GTR program. one that would actually be really cool! under this new idea, we would see GTR variants, as we see variants of the 911 platform. and they would just "refine the machine" in subsequent packages and model variants of the same basic GTR philosophy.

we shall see...

 

running with the idea of "refine the machine," a la Porsche with it's timeless 911 platform that has spawned myriad variants, the new GTR may assume this paradigm as well. here are some possible GTR platform variants --for the fun of it

GT-R variants:

USDM:
--GT-R base model --RWD, 3.5L non-turbo
--GT-Rt --RWD 3.6L turbo and/or supercharged

JDM:
--GT-RS track model --RWD, 3.6L non-turbo track-oriented suspension system with 40 mm lower ride height, +25hp over the base model GT-R.
--GT-RSt JDM 3.6L, turbo track model
--GT-R4 JDM n/a, 3.5L with ATTESA
--GT-RS4 JDM twin-turbo 3.6L, Super-HICAS, ATTESA

something like that anyway

 

^^^the above assumes that the Skyline name is not used anymore. however, if it is, we may see a similar ranking of the variants as we see in the RB-series Skylines of times past. i am leaving room open for the big shocker that the GTR will be "Skyline GTR" again. remember that Nissan has been extremely expert and adept at fooling everyone thus far.

 

Some guy in the army just moved to portugual and would have to pay too much to get is 2000 GTR registered there. He told me he'll sell it to me for $6,000 us dollars and includes shipping to the u.s. car has 10,000 miles and has been garage kept. and says its 890hp and top speed of 215. Do you think its a scam?

 

This article is from an unknown date but it includes a short interview with Carlos Tavares, Product Chief @ Nissan.

quote:
The rumor mill in Japan says that the production GT-R will have a front-mounted, twin-turbo, 3.8-liter V-6 engine that's a development of the 350Z's unit. Nissan's original plan to do a V-8 has been axed because the engine is too big and heavy to provide the dynamic balance the engineers want. The V-6 will reputedly produce 450 hp and 370 lb-ft of torque. The power will be sent to all four wheels via a seven-speed transmission. The all-wheel-drive system will feature a development of the GT-R's famed, torque-sensing, electronic ATTESA E-TS, matched to four-wheel steering.

 

^^^ that is referring to the VQ35HR, then. that is the next gen of VQ for the G and the Z. very exciting news, indeed.

viva la GTR.

 

The last issue of motortrend mentioned there may be to engine options for the GTR and that the prices would be $55k-75k. Has anybody else heard the same elsewhere?

 

traditionally, there has been only one engine for the GTR. however, being that the USDM is the way it is, i would put more money betting there are tranny options. like sequential paddle with auto mode (like the Ferrari 599GTB), or fully 6spd manual shift on a stick.

really, nobody knows anything for certain but exclusive Nissan and Nismo personnel.