2009 Nissan GT-R review
October 16, 2008 by Karl Peskett
2009 Nissan GT-R review & road test
Model Tested:
- 2009 Nissan R35 GT-R – Black Edition from $152,990
Options:
- None fitted
Everything. Power, Braking, Handling, Quality, Comfort, the lot
Rear seats a bit cramped
CarAdvice Rating: 
- Review by Karl Peskett - Photography by Tom Jakovljevic
It’s 5:30pm on a Friday afternoon and I get a call on my mobile.
“Hey Karl, what are you up to?”
“Oh, anything and everything,” was my reply.
“It’s Friday afternoon, mate, you can’t pull that one on me.” Steve Jones is a perceptive young man.
“I was just talking about life in general mate. It’s been pretty busy, lately”, I said. Little did I know, it was about to get even busier.
“Aren’t we all”, said Jones. Continuing with barely a pause for thought, he lets go of the big one. “So, I hear you’d like to drive a GT-R.”
All of a sudden, in the time it took for my synapses to register that statement, my plans for that week changed. I had a clean slate. “When did you want to get together for it?” Jones asked.
No one would give up a chance to go along with Steve Jones, who, along with his navigator, Ruari Sauter-Dawson, recently won the 2008 Quit TargaWest tarmac rally in Perth. Working for Fabcar, a dealership in Perth that imports GT-Rs for private buyers, Jones is possibly the best qualified person in Australia to run us through the capabilities of a GT-R.
With that, we booked ourselves a time and a place.
Jones suggested that the best place to test Nissan’s latest and greatest car, was the very spot that its mettle was tested. A TargaWest stage? There couldn’t be a better location. As they say on Millionare, “Lock it in, Eddie.”
There was a problem looming though. The period we had set for the drive coincided with a gloomy weather forecast. The prediction was showers, with an afternoon thunderstorm risk. Perfect, if you’re wanting to test out grip levels in the wet.
However, on a road where rocks, trees and branches are being cleared by only centimetres, and in a car that costs more than $180,000, and goes from 0-100km/h in just 3.5 seconds, sitting on what can only be described as loose bitumen – well, let’s say we weren’t too keen to add water to the equation.
Tags: Nissan GT-R
*** Primo ***
I JUST WANT ONE!
Or would I get a W427….? It’s a tough one!
My word is Datsun .. love it.
Just like the car. Its an absolute pleasure to be ever so slightly involved in bringing this extraoridnary car to the public.
TJ.
Why no pics of the standard car? I know we’ve seen them all before, but it just looks like all you drove was a caged-up racer with bucket seats – not really something most of us are likely to ever get our butts into.
Can we please stop calling it R-35. Its a Nissan GT-R. No Skyline, no R-35. Thanks. Oh, and I also would do anything to own one. Sorry kids, no Christmas presents this year,or next year, daddy is buying us all a new car. I’ll have to borrow my mates M3 so I can drive it do the dealership and pose as a buyer looking for a test drive. hehe.
Sam, Nissan themselves call this the R35
And you are making your judgment from a modified race version?
“rear seats a bit cramped” is the understatement of the century. I checked one out in Kyoto in March, and there was barely a handwidth between front and back. Crueled it for me, unfortunately.
CarAdvice, possibly the best story I have read on your site… I’ve read just about every article for the last 2 years and this would top the lot!
Journalism, and writing to challenge any Wheels article. Tops job!
“…keyless start fob is straight from the Maxima.” Bahaha!
Acutally Tom, if you go the Nissan website there is no mention of R-35. Its just GT-R.
Actually, oops
Jared, the ownwer of the standard one is nice enough to allow us to sample their GTR which they have spent considerable money on getting into the country.
His wishes were that no pictures were taken of the car, so they must be respected.
Sam, the chassis code is CBA-R35. She is definitely a r35.
I don’t think its fair to give it 4 and a half stars on looks either.
Awesome work guys
rear seats a bit cramped, i dont think you buy it for the rear seat room
i gota family and 8 kids so the rere seat importnt to me so instead i bought kia carnval after much thout
Chassis code? OK I stand corrected, but still, its name just GT-R right? Have Nissan dropped the skyline name plate all together? Perhaps they offer a different sports car offering to revive the name?
Damn!….Sam, the skyline coupe and sedan still exists in Japan+, its known as the infiniti g37/g35….
Zahmad, thanks for confusing me further.
What about in Australia where it matters….
Zahmad – sorry to correct you.
In Japan, the Skyline is now in the V35/V36/V37 coding’s – but still called a Nissan Skyline.
In america they are known as G35 G36 etc and go by the Infiniti branding.
Same car though.
The Nissan R35 GTR has no mention of the word Skyline – it is not related by chasis, driveline or engine in any sort of way. The GTR is a unique car to Nissan.
Sam, the last Skyline GT-R was called the R34, the one before it the R33. This one has just dropped the skyline name but is still the R35.
Previously the GTR and Skyline GTST or GTT etc were build off the same platform.
Chassis was a bad choice of word, my bad.
Its hard to pretend to work and browse the internet mate!
If only the japs had a sense of style, this thing is ugly
Thanks for the help Tom. I was aware of the r43 33 etc but was unsure given the lengthy delay between the R34 and the new R35 and the deletion of the Skyline name plate. Cheers.
Thanks Acfsambo.
Get over it guys, “the chassis code is this, blah blah blah!”
It’s Godzilla and nothing less!
i love how the sides just finish and dont merge into the rear that sharp crease is so hot
Great car but the price is not what you quote at $152,990.
A friend wants to buy one and rang a couple of dealers and got quotes of “Delivery” fees up to $20,000 on top of the car price plus more for Govt charges etc.
Nissan…the most confusing manufacturer! to make so many completely crap ugly cars and then keep punching out beautiful beasts like the GTR…
Love the Datsun stickers….if only I had one of my old 1600s still in the garage i would have to get me one ;)
Nissan…the most confusing manufacturer! to make so many completely crap ugly cars and then keep punching out beautiful beasts like the GTR
take the beer glasses off technofreak its still ugly
“This one has just dropped the skyline name but is still the R35.” – and the kept the traditional circular tailights :)
Well all I can say recent emission laws (Kyoto??) in japan killed off the inline RB engines and hence such a delay in any next sports car otherwise they could have just tweaked it with technology as they come…, I think this goes with the 200sx sr20 as well.
Great review, and an owesome car, can wait for tuner editions as well as the upper spec variants yet to come!. its gonna be great seeing Japanese Manufacturers release their supercars in near future!
The one to have I guess, but not really suitable for the road in reality, not if you want to keep your licence anyway. I would imagine most will end up being raced.
You know, my pedestrian Honda CBF1000 does 0-100kph in 3.5 secs. It only cost me $13,500 brand new in September this year. No car made is as agile. That’s where I get my wheeled thrills. I have a WM Caprice V8 for carting the family around and for my transport when it rains. Come to think of it a CBR1000RR is even quicker than my bike (3 secs or less) for only a grand or two extra. What’s all this fuss about being priviliged enough to afford $152K. Rocks in your head if you ask me!!! Where’s the accomplishment in that? Cheers, bikers!
Oh boy, what a pathetic load of crap over the name….. ffs, its Godzilla, its awesome & shits over everything else around at the moment. Sure, it may not be the best looking car, but who cares….. function over form any day, and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Japanese styled cars never look as good as the Euros, thats pretty much a given. You shouldnt be buying this thing to look good in anyway, you are buying it cos it is THE business. And to the bikers, yeah, rocks in your head when you crash as you got nothing between you and the road :)
That livery is disgusting, red,green etc…what were they thinking?? How to make a car look even uglier
I have yet to see one of these out on track or in competition use, this is a HUGE car by the way, yet reviewers and blogs such as yours keep talking about it like it’s a lotus elise!
by the sounds of it, and everything I’ve read thus far, it sounds like an engineering marvel, ranking with the Bugatti Veyron perhaps in that respect?
I haven’t heard it either yet, but in my opinion the RB series of engines that has been in this bloodline are some of the best sounding engines to of graced this planet, I’d say the RB20DET was the best. You can’t beat that straight six sound!
You know, my pedestrian Honda CBF1000 does 0-100kph in 3.5 secs. It only cost me $13,500 brand new in September this year. No car made is as agile. That’s where I get my wheeled thrills. I have a WM Caprice V8 for carting the family around and for my transport when it rains. Come to think of it a CBR1000RR is even quicker than my bike (3 secs or less) for only a grand or two extra. What’s all this fuss about being priviliged enough to afford $152K. Rocks in your head if you ask me!!! Where’s the accomplishment in that? Cheers, bikers!
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Just wait until you get hit by a car or have a crash (one hit kill no compromise)…maybe u’ll open ur eyes then……
Oh btw I was quoting what brian wrote about bikes in earlier post..
“You know, my pedestrian Honda CBF1000 does 0-100kph in 3.5 secs. It only cost me $13,500 brand new in September this year. No car made is as agile. That’s where I get my wheeled thrills. I have a WM Caprice V8 for carting the family around and for my transport when it rains. Come to think of it a CBR1000RR is even quicker than my bike (3 secs or less) for only a grand or two extra. What’s all this fuss about being priviliged enough to afford $152K. Rocks in your head if you ask me!!! Where’s the accomplishment in that? Cheers, bikers!”
You sound like an idiot!
will get one soon
simply amazing car
If you but this its not for the looks. Its cause the car is a monster, its for that moment when some arrogant european car driver pulls up next to you and wont give u a run cause you will leave them for dead even though thye might of spent 2 or 3 times more on the car. As for the bike post. Car drivers wont understand until they have been on a bike. No extra crap like brake assist or traction control. Just you, a motor and the road
Nice car,
Well done Nissan……Far too exspensive for what it is!
if Nissan sold it at 80K-100K they would have sold more and maybe even bring the badge “GTR” to the level where people can justify and see it as value for money and not just performance.
The reality is still a Japanese car…..!
The reality is still a Japanese car…..!
The war is over Bobby, get over it!!