Hi Guys,

We took the opportunity to purchase the Gun Metal Grey R35 GT-R from West Covina Nissan last week. Even with the heavy mark up, for 100k this car is well worth it. It is truely a STEAL for anyone to buy this car at sticker of $72k down the road (good choice!).

Here's our take on the car after driving the car for 5 days:

Comfort :

Does it ride like a luxury sports car? HELL NO. The car was not designed to be built that way from the getgo. The wind noise is heavy, road noise can be heard through the cabin, and suspension is VERY stiff (even with the comfort shock setting). The only thing that is luxury about this car is the electronic gadgets that's made available through the main head unit display. Touch screen buttons, electronic gauges (customizable), internal audio 8gig hard drive (can also record CD's through the single CD player), dual zone air air conditioning, and virtually all the vital things you want to know about the car can be read through the screen. Very nice.

Also the clutch packs in the transmssion and differential is very noisy (I kinda like that noise) and can be heard inside the cabin.

Performance:

Still doing our 1k mile break in, but did have the chances to do some half throttle pull. After driving some heavy modded 500+rwhp SR20DET 240SX's, is the GT-R fast? Yes. Is it super fast? No. What makes the GT-R fast is how well balanced the car is from the factory matching the suspension, chasi tuning and the amazing transmission that shifts like a video game. So smooth and soooooooo scary fast. Beats the SMG's in the BMW's by a million miles. Even in the automatic mode the car drove almost the same as a normal Altima or Maxima. The gear shift so fast after exiting a Starbucks plaza by the time I know it I am already at 5th gear (crazy!).

Interior:

The interior is so nice. Best Japanese sports car interior we have yet to see, the seats are bucket type with nicely done leather stitching and all seat adjustments are done electronically (too bad no memory option). Driver side dash area are nicely touched up leather stitched (typical stuff found in the Euro cars that costs just about the same in the 100k+ range) and rear bucket seats are nicely done up as well. There isn't too much PLASTICS to be found in this car other than the trims around the center console, some on the door side and around the shifter console. The car would have felt CHEAP if there's too many plastics but I am glad this is not the case. The overall interior felt very very sophiscated unlike typical Porsche 996/997 Interior which is extremely empty for the price tag of 100+k.

Exterior:

The paint craftsmanship is very nice, lots of metallic. According to the GTR sales manage at West Covina Nissan, the front bumper is painted so that it's gravel chip resistant up to 120mph (not sure about that), but we plan to do the clear bra to preserve the overall fit and finish of the car anyways. One thing we find it odd on the GTR is the door handle. The car no longer has the conventional pull up type handle, it is equipped with a flush handle where you push and pull the door open. Kinda neat, and keeps the body line smooth. The only grip about this car is not having a factory equipped fog lights.

Conclusion:

Is the GTR king of the road? For the most part yes, but that depends on the perception of what's king of the road. Straight line performance the GT-R is not the fastest car produced, if coming from the dig maybe since the car has the fancy launch control, AWD and also super fast shifting. Coming from a rolling start or freeway acceleration might be another story. However, putting the HP issue aside, the GTR is truely engineered in all area and aspects in terms of how a sports car should be. It felt like the attention to details were well planned out on the R35's comparing to the previous R32, 33, 34's. This time Nissan did it right by packing the car with nice interior features, good updated seats, good styling, good performnace and good handeling. Initially I have to say for $72k for a Nissan is truely up there, but after seeing and driving the car in person, it is truely a steal. The new M3 with V8 400hp cost just about the same if not more than the GT-R, 997 Porchea TT costs almost double the price of the MSRP sticker of the GT-R, the only thing that can come close to value is probably the Corvette Z06's.

Bottom line, we are all just happy that Nissan finally bring the Legendary GT-R's over to the USDM market. Prior to the R35 release a used R34 Vspec Skyline registered (before things got screwy) cost just about the same for $100k through Motor-Ex. So the R35 is still well priced and worth the money even with the markup. Having this car and being STREET LEGAL was something we hope can have with the previous GT-R's, but now the dream has come true.