20aeman

I wouldn't want a manual transmission GTR. Use launch control and I guarantee you'll bounce off the limiter before your brain can react and get your fingers to pull the paddle shifter to get you into second gear. It's just geared way too aggressively for a manual transmission. I'd rather have that ludicrous gearbox than a Corvette manual box where 1st gear winds up to 60.

Driving a GTR is like turning on the afterburners in a fighter jet. You put the pedal to the metal from a standstill (even without launch control), and there is practically nothing out there that will give you the same G forces from the acceleration. That will never get boring.

Maintenance will be pricey though. For example, when you change brake pads, you have to change the super expensive rotors at the same time. They won't just replace the pads by themselves. Oil changes cost between 200 and 350 depending on the stealership.

There's nothing really preventing it from being a daily driver, aside from the expensive maintenance/consumables and lack of refinement.

s.hasan546

little skill to drive? Have you driven one? While the GT-R is not the hardest car in the world to drive hard, it's def not easy on a track. 1/4 mile sure it's easy but def not on a road course as people keep regurgitating from reviews.

fusionchickenleg

compared to a low weight, high powered RWD car with a manual transmission, i.e. a C6 Z06, the GTR is much easier to control, provides more driver confidence, thus extracting more of its performance in a much more consistent manner. i think it's hard to disagree with that. any high powered lightweight RWD car will take a lot of energy and focus to not crash when going near its limits.

Sure not everybody can hop into a GT-R and turn the fastest lap times around VIR, but 99.9% of people will turn faster lap times in a GT-R than they can with a Z06.

When Chris S said "little skill" I'm sure it's relative to the amount of skills required to pilot a Z06 around a track at the same pace as the GT-R.

Chris S

If it will never get boring, why have my friends who've owned them sold them within six months? Need proof? PM VTACH on this forum, he prefers his 1 Series M Coupe by far. They're fast, but not engaging cars to drive.

And while I agree that maintenance is pricey, screw "they" who won't change pads by themselves. What's to stop you from changing your own frickin' pads? Seriously, it's not that difficult.

I've driven a couple over a few occasions, including some very technical, challenging Hill Country roads. No, I didn't push them to the very limits out of respect for the fact that they weren't my cars, but I drove them at a spirited pace. Point and shoot, it really diminishes the skill level required to go fast b/c of all the electronics, awd, and no third pedal to deal with. I think it's a very easy car to drive, but due to the sheer performance levels, it would also be easy to get over your head as well - I can see it causing drivers' confidence to exceed their skill level. For some reason, the 991 Carrera 4S has a lot of the same factors, yet it's so much more engaging and fun to drive. (I have driven that one on a track, and not on the street) For about the same money new, I'd take one over a GT-R w/o hesitation.

CosmosMpower

Funny Altian and I were just talking about this last night. Have you driven a GT-R on a track in anger? NOT easy to drive fast at the limit, everyone who has not driven one hard thinks that and so did I until I bought one and drove it at ECR and MSR. It was very bit as much a handful as my Lotus, S2000 etc.

SlowTeg

I think that's an important distinction, and I completely agree. Faster times != fun imo. There are certainly faster cars on the track than an s2k, but having a clutch pedal and shifter + RWD is fun. I've talked to a few people that have gone from AWD cars to the s2k and they say it requires much more attention and skill due to the fact that you can't lay into the throttle as soon and power out of turns. Not to mention there are less electronic gizmos changing torque output to the front/rear, etc.

I'm by no means a great or probably even "good" driver by many standards, but that's what I find fun. It's troubling when you hear about the new porsches losing the clutch pedal and traditional shifter. Rev matching and shifting I personally find to be fun and part of the enjoyment of driving. Personally I could careless about a 1 second slower lap time because perhaps I can't rev match as perfectly or shift as fast as a sequential, but I'm perfectly fine with that.

Chris S

No, but if you're offering, I'll be happy to take it for a few laps and report back my findings. I've ridden shotgun in a couple @ H2R, and the drivers seemed to think it was pretty easy to control - seemed like a very stable car.

CosmosMpower

It's not the labor that's expensive, that's on par with almost any other performance car it's the parts. The cheapest rotors you can trust on a track are 1,100 a pair. Pads are 800 bucks, transmission fluid is 800 bucks, tires are 1700-2000 bucks and they don't last long because the car is heavy. If you think you want to bail out of your C5 Z06 due to consumable cost, double it and then some for the GT-R. I'll admit it, it's crazy expensive to track one on a regular basis so I've only tracked mine 5 times in the year I've owned it.

The car is pretty easy to drive a 7/10 but when you are 10/10 on a track flogging it that's a whole different story. The car is so fast and the limits are so high that when you're on the ragged edge it let's go in a pretty spectacular fashion when you go over the threshold. In a RWD car you know when you're starting to get in trouble earlier on.

Yes it's easier to drive than a Z06 with the same power, but since when did having a car that was harder to drive become more fun? To me the advancement in engineering and the ability to push the limits are a good thing. To me skittish handling is a bad thing, look at high level motorsports like F1. Teams are trying to map the ECU in ways to mimic traction control to keep the power coming off corner exit in check. I doubt that makes the car less fun or engaging, just makes it faster and easier to drive fast.

CosmosMpower

No, but if you're offering, I'll be happy to take it for a few laps and report back my findings. I've ridden shotgun in a couple @ H2R, and the drivers seemed to think it was pretty easy to control - seemed like a very stable car.
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Sure but if you crash it I'll need the titles to your M3, S2000 and C5Z

Disgustipated

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Right now I drive an extremely raw car (no traction control, no Active Center Diff, oversteer biased Evo 8 RS, no power windows, no AC, no power locks, no power mirrors!) and it's even more engaging and raw than my S and E30 were. I truly appreciate a raw, communicative, responsive car.

That being said, I find that the Z06 and GTR both stand out on their own merits, even if they're as opposite as can be.

On one hand, it's appealing to have something like a GTR where I can just pour tons of power into it and have the suspension and AWD system working together perfectly, complimenting my skill as a driver. I feel like the GTR is appealing the same way that the 458 Italia is appealing: sure, it takes shifting out of the equation, and has a lot of electronic wizardry going on behind the scenes, but it has such a massive amount of performance that I can't help but respect the car.

On the other hand, the Z06 relies entirely on me to shift it and manage that oversteer happy tail. It's got low end torque like I've never had before, and it's something that I wouldn't have to worry about shit breaking with, unlike the GTR. There is just something about a 3150 lb Corvette with a 7L motor and monster tires on the back that appeals to me as a driver. I like everything about the car, and overall, it's cheaper than the GTR, more reliable, and probably more of a daily drive friendly car.

It's really hard to decide between the two. If I'm lucky, I'll end up getting both eventually. Either way, having one or the other will make my garage pretty damn awesome: Evo 8, IS-F, and either a GT-R or Z06? That many awesome cars means I can have a different experience every day going to work and to the track.