Every now and then the mainstream automotive press gets its inner TTAC on. Normally, those moments are reserved for vehicles that A) don’t advertise very heavily and B) don’t advertise very heavily. To be fair, the Nissan GT-R doesn’t advertise very heavily. So it’s fair game for USA Today carmudgeon James Healey. You may recall Healey’s previous work, in which the scribe often sounds like he’s holding a conversation with a PR flack– with Healey playing both critic and spinmeister. (Except when he actually quotes the manufacturer’s rep.) In this case, we get less prevarication, more kvetching.
But, c’mon, for a starting price of about $77,000, shouldn’t the power-window switches and the inside door handles be easy to reach? Shouldn’t the high-falutin’ dual-clutch transmission engage more gently than a whack in the back by a Caterpillar D9? Or the shift lever move toward the words “manual” and “automatic” to choose your mode instead of going one way only? Shouldn’t the outside door handles be easier to grab and yank?
Can’t there be some technology in this high-tech showpiece that gives those who live where there are real roads with real bumps a smoother ride than the so-called comfort setting on the adjustable suspension? (“Comfort is a relative term, isn’t it,” acknowledges Nissan’s U.S. product chief Larry Dominique.) High performance is no excuse for lack of utility and ergonomic elegance.
Tell that to a race car driver. Does this mean the GT-R’s days as unquestioned supercar slayer is over? Are we looking at a car where everyone who wants one (and can afford one) buys one and that’s it? Yes and yes. And as Healey rightly points out, branding this $70k plus two-door a Nissan was a mistake. But then, the G-Coupe. So…
Ragging on this car for that reason, at $77,000, is the equivalent of ragging on an Exige S at $55,000. The difference is, no one complains about the many inconveniences that one experiences in an Lotus. The extra 22 odd thousand dollars goes into the extra performance of being able to take down the upper echelons of supercars for a bargain price. Which is also why it’s unfair to rag on the Z06
The only reason this car is a great hoo-ha is because up until now, “Skyline” was a clarion call to the Tuner-boys (ricers >ducking<). This is the same reaction you get when you tell a Porsche guy “959”. It is/was the ultimate unobtanium.
Now that it is another car available for sale, even if they will all wear the Additional Dealer Ripoff Sticker, they have to be, well, actual cars, not fantasies.
This occurs with movie stars as well, which may explain the high divorce rate there.
i liked the old Skyline GTRs better.
The Infiniti G35/Skyline should never have been a Skyline, the R34 was the last proper Skyline
I remember back in the early 70s I was offered a Ferrari 250 GTO for $6000. I was interested but after talking with some of the guys at the carwash I was told that they tend to foul the plugs during city driving. I mean really, for that kind of money one expects better! Combine that with no A/C and I’m glad I passed. Honda 600 FTW!
I’m not sure James Healey understands the GT-R or cars like it. Maybe he also complained that his golden lab didn’t fit in the Lotus Elise and that he couldn’t fit the antique commode that he was trying to get home into the 911 GT2 he was reviewing. Maybe the GT-R doesn’t have enough cup holders.
He should consider the demographic the car is aimed at before getting too carried away. Or if he just doesn’t like hard core sports cars then maybe he should stick with reviewing Volvos and Acuras.
He was looking for a high priced Avalon perhaps? This is like saying an F-15 has a lousy tray table.
But did the author mention you can attach your nifty nintendo game pad and LLRRUUDD + ABBA + Select + Start + destroy the clutches and immediately void the warranty, as well?
It’s totally worth $77K (err… $108K) if you can do that!
Building this car on a bespoke platform was a mistake.
Luckily they didn’t. I was just looking over an engine-out GT-R at a tuner shop… If this is “bespoke” compared to a G37 or 370Z, then I have no idea what you would call a Honda Odyssey or Lincoln MKS… probably “uniquemobiles”.
Fundamentally, it’s a G37 with extra driveshafts and a lot of power. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
I’m not going to be too hard on him.
It sounds kind of like he was expecting the GTR to be a budget Cl63 AMG or 911 Turbo. Instead he found out he was driving the rich man’s EVO MR.
Jack:
I’m going to defer to you on the platform thing. Text amended to make a branding point, which is much more defensible. At least for this author.
I wonder what he’ll say Porsche missed with the Panamera? I mean, other than price and looks.
“But, c’mon, for a starting price of about $77,000, shouldn’t the power-window switches and the inside door handles be easy to reach? Shouldn’t the high-falutin’ dual-clutch transmission engage more gently than a whack in the back by a Caterpillar D9? Or the shift lever move toward the words “manual” and “automatic” to choose your mode instead of going one way only? Shouldn’t the outside door handles be easier to grab and yank?”
Oh, shut up. For $77,000, the car also should not have as good an interior as it has, it should not have 480 horsepower, all-wheel drive, and a dual-clutch transmission, and it just plain should not lap the Ring in 7:29.
The trouble with this car and the Vette is not a lack of wood trim, inferior plastics or fender gaps, it is stupid sh1t like “shouldn’t the power-window switches and the inside door handles be easy to reach”
The worst thing about the GT-R is that it puts Nissan in a corner, in terms of marketing.
The Z or G would be pretty interesting with the V8 out of the FX50 or a milder twin turbo VQ, but then the GT-R would become more pointless.
This car is a pretty bad-assed GT for under $80K. Nissan needs to stick to it. The kids sitting in their parents’ basements playing Gran Turismo weren’t going to run out and buy this, but if Nissan sticks with it Nissan will be able to establish a following with people that can pay the price.
Switching to the Infiniti brand is probably necessary. Nissan dealers tend to be clueless about anything better than a Maxima. They act like a damn Z should have a market adjustment while Infiniti dealers wheel-and-deal on much better Gs.
The so called “PM” platform used in the GT-R is unique-“ish”. If they had built a from scratch platform for this car, it would be priced in league with the dead Acura NSX and probably dead Lexus LF-A. And it would probably be dead. Would that’ve been better?
I thought the proper way to bitch about the GT-R was to complain that using a $77k sports car as a sports car voids the warranty.
look at this guys mug shot
he should stick to camrys and accords
i think he’s one of those guys who wants to drive exotic machines and write bad reviews on them
it’s that “YEAH I TESTED A FERRARI, it was a noisy expensive piece of Italian crap… THAT’S WAY TOO RED!”
people admire me for taking a controversial stance
Look at it this way, you’re getting F430-beating performance for 80-100K (markups ho!). You should be glad the engine even comes with a car attached to it.
Man people love to complain. Supercar performance at a sportscar price. This car has set a new bar. Flaws and all.
I think he has a point — namely, that it’s frustrating for a car that pitches itself as a high-performance GT (and succeeds or nearly succeeds on many levels) to foul up the details. If it were a Caterham, where even the roof is optional, I would call it churlish, but it’s a heavyweight GT.
Yes, people put up with worse ergonomic flaws from Ferrari, but honestly, they would annoy me there, too. But then, I’m one of those people who would rather have had an Acura NSX than an F355, because the NSX was largely free of that kind of foible (er, until you discovered that fixing a door ding would cost you $2,000).
If you look at the big picture, this is kind of a pointless thing to complain about. There just aren’t that many GT-Rs being produced and sold to warrant this sort of reaction. The GT-R is a halo car, and its whole raison d’etre isn’t to be an easily tuned powerhouse like its predecessors or a to be product for the masses. It’s a niche vehicle that targets pistonheads with heavy wallets. Hell, I haven’t even seen one yet, and I’m in Southern California.
So why is it afforded immunity? Well, it’s not. It’s an amazing car from what I’ve processed so far, and for what it is — an honest high-tech 4-seater track demon — it’s pretty damned impressive. Complaining about its price tag is flat-out silly. If anything, find a technical flaw that goes against what it claims to be.
Someone will always find something to bitch about. With the current auto company carnage out there we should feel luck they GTR isn’t canned already.
I’ll give the guy some credit, because it’s the only review I think he’s ever done critical of a Japanese product!
The pendulum of public opinion never goes from one extreme to the middle. This is what keeps Obama awake at night.
The article is largely correct. Using “Nissan” and anything over $25K is a bad idea. Also, this car is an overweight POS, but comes with a cool feature. . If you turn off traction control and the drive-shaft breaks, your warranty is voided. Go look it on Google. Additionally, paying good money for Asian “sports car” is dumb anyway. $70K gets are really sweet used 997 911S.
And since it’s stated in the manual that the VDC off option is only for off-road use and off-road use isn’t warrantable, dot.dot.dot.
The handful of failures are all related to drag-racing. Search the internet, mayhaps? The only firsthand account is from some idiot who did two dozen launches within the break-in period, the others are from drag afficionados with 50-100 launches… BMW warranty for LC is 15-30 launches… Ferraris is… wait… Ferrari deleted LC in the US… stupid manufacturer with no supercar experience… LOL
People turning off VDC to gain just 3/10ths (off the 11.6 the GT-R can do stock with VDC on) destroys the car after 50 or more launches? Do tell.
Now, Nissan has upgraded their cars so that you can use launch control without turning off VDC, and cut low-11 quarter miles, while doing so… all perfectly within warranty. A warranty that any manufacturer would happily void if you ever set foot on the dragstrip. (not doing your burnouts on the dragstrip? Isn’t street-racing illegal?)
Before they did that, I had nothing but disdain for the idiots and yokels who go boohooing to the internets after breaking their cars (having been a club forumer for years, I’ve seen it with everyone from Subaru to Mazda owners…) but maybe they do have their value, after all.
Not that I really care… I’m never going to be able to afford the car, but the wild-ass internet froth about the car is just plain ridiculous, and I hate seeing misinformation spread as gospel.
And it’s the gears that break. Driveshafts is Corvettes… or is that differentials? No, I think driveshafts is Subarus… or was that Evos? Seriously, research it.
You know what happens when you drop the clutch on a Vette with sticky tires on a hot day and break the crankshaft? Warranty doesn’t cover it. You know what happens when you do 3 LC runs in a row in a Ferrari F430 and the clutch turns into an acrid vapor? You get an $8900 bill plus towing.
also not covered by warranty of any manufaturer:
-money shifting
-damage from brake burns
-driving into lakes
Additionally, paying good money for Asian “sports car” is dumb anyway. $70K gets are really sweet used 997 911S.
(sarcasm)
Yes, clearly anyone who wants to buy a car that is faster and more unique than a 997 911S is stupid. If it’s not a porsche, it’s crap.
(/sarcasm)
Does he complain about the placement of the gallardo’s switches in another review? I’d love to hear what he thinks of TVRs.
niky: Finally a voice of reason! It always irked me that people think that Nissan advertised 0-60 times in the US, when in fac they don’t, and how people squabble over the non-LC 0-60 of 3.7 seconds. Woe is me?
I’m not sure that this reviewer actually drove the car.
I’ve driven a bona fide supercar, ergonomic quibbles and all, and the last thing on my mind afterwards was how lousy the door handles were..