Steponme

Just because YOU don't know of anyone does not mean they don't exist. There's not a single car under $100K I'd rather have than the GT-R. Not only is it incredibly fast, but it's also pretty damn practical year-round (a la AWD) where I'm at. I find it pretty damn good-looking in person as well.

Nandska

Guess we all have to be swingers of something.

I think it's great. Not many/if any companies are doing this on as a yearly update.

s.hasan546

I've met quite a few GTR owners who considered 911 Turbos before they got the GTR. They are young money, that are tech saavy & raised in the era of Japanese modded cars. To this young generation, the GTR is every bit the status symbol/performance of the 911 Turbo. The magazines tend to agree, when you see nearly all of them comparing these 2 cars. I wouldn't say the Turbo is necessarily very different in terms of driving experience as both are made to a heavier, GT ride vs say a GT3, etc.

I would probably take a GTR over any Boxster, Cayman or base Carrera. Even though I know performance wise it would blow the doors off a Carrera S, I would probably take an S & anything above (Turbo, Turbo S, GT3, GT3 RS, GT RS 4.0, etc.) but some of the newly minted rich kids like the GTR, modded 370Z's etc.
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GTR... Status symbol? hardly. Yes just by the numbers the GTR is a clear winner. But the GTR also beats the 458. Do you think the GTR is eating into 458 sales? Helllllll no. Every Porsche driver i know loves driving stick, loves car that have that steering feedback that few companies can match, and have a handling characteristic that is just ineffable.

Also give me a Cayman R over the GTR any day. Even magazines pick it as the best handling car under $100k. The car before the Cayman R was the Boxster spyder.

No i think they would just get the base carrera or cayman if all they wanted was the porsche name. Driving a porsche is a much more of a "drivers" car than a GTR.

Exactly. It's like the McLaren. It's better in almost every way compared to the 458 but magazines still pick the 458 over it. All out performance isn't everything, especially since nowadays it's not about hp, weight; etc. It's more about how good is the computer doing it's job. Sorry but ill take a manual car that i control over anything computerized anyday, in the same price range.

i never said they don't exist. Good for you if thats your ideal car under $100k. 911 Turbo isn't near $100k, try atleast $150k, so it's not a factor for you anyway. I know a good amount of people with high end 911s and none of them considered the GT-R. THrow performance out of the window. Go drive a 911 and tell me you don't love driving every second of it. And IMHO almost any of these cars are DDable. Only women need AWD to survive the winter. Ive never been in a situation, besides a blizzard where only trucks can get through, that a rwd car with winter tires couldn't handle.

luder_5555

This. Though I must admit, I probably wouldn't use any of the cars mentioned in this tread as a snow car. I enjoyed the hell out of driving my Miata in the snow last year, which also included pulling more than one 4x4 our of a snow bank. However driving something RWD with 400+ horsepower would be a terrible experience. I felt that my measly 100hp was about as much as I needed or wanted as I would break the rears loose under power in any gear.

So far I have had a Miata and a Forester as snow cars and they were both fun in their own ways. The Forester was essentially unstoppable, but didn't handle very well, and the Miata could go anywhere that it had enough ground clearance, and handles amazingly. Between the two I would choose the Miata for 90% of the snow driving that I would ever have to do, But given the opportunity I would love to be set loose with something like an Evo, STI, S4/RS4, ect in a heavy snow storm and have fun being the only one enjoying the weather.


As for the on-going discussion, I have met a few people who got a GTR over something like a used 911 TT, or over a Z06/Zr1. Most of them were up near Seattle, and worked for Microsoft. They wanted something that would make them the fastest person when they went to a lapping day. They chose the GTR because it was what they felt would make them the fastest around the track for the amount of money that they wanted to spend. That and they were nerded out by all the computer gizmos. I do agree that most of the people who were going to buy a Porsche or Ferrari would not even look at a GTR, but there are some that will, and I would say that most people who did buy a GTR probably compared it to other things like a GT3, 911tt, z06, ect. And There certainly are people who bought a GTR as a status car. It is just meant to impress different people then a Porsche or Ferrari would.

rockville

The notion of getting a GTR for winter driving is a joke (or should be). When the roads are clear and dry the AWD really isn't going to make a big difference. When the roads aren't clear and dry odds are against most owners taking the GTR vs their other vehicle. Also, the GTR, with stock tires, is not going to be good in the snow. The sort of high performance tires the GTR is using are horrid in the snow. If the level of snow cover isn't that bad just about any car could work. I mean I drove a C6 in the snow. It wouldn't be my first choice but it could make it. Really, we aren't talking about getting a Subaru vs a Camry in New England here.

tarheel91

Confirmation bias and highly inaccurate ass dynos make me skeptical. I'd like to see a dyno of an 09, 10, and 11 on the same day (or in a climate controlled environment) and dyno.

Nandska

Wow. Funny how this thread turns from the new GTR getting a bump to people that need AWD are a bunch of women.

so easily put GT-R and 911 Turbo owners are all women.

Nandska

This would be pretty cool to see. I'm sure that the suspension updates also helped with the way the car felt.

luder_5555

I totally agree. What's more, they should be testing GTR's randomly taken from showrooms. I always have a certain level of skepticism about the test cars provided, especially turbo cars. It would be as easy as a simple reflash to make a lot more power. I am not implying that Nissan has or hasn't done this, or that they are the only ones to have possibly done it.

Either way, one thing that can't really be disputed is that lap times are down significantly with the 2012 vs earlier models. (Both in professional testing, and per owner testimonial.)

Christople

more updates than honda has ever done to any car