Next Level

NISSAN’S HALO GT-R EVOLVES WITH LESS WEIGHT, QUICKER SHIFTS AND CARBON-CERAMIC BRAKES. BUT IS IT ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY A SCARY NEW PRICE?

- Louis Cordony

THERE WAS NO WARNING. Not even a sign. Suddenly, the blind corner I’ve barrelled into aboard the Nissan GT-R Nismo at warp speed has tightened. Hard. I wrench on the Alcantara wrapped steering wheel praying that the tyres bite. They do. And the nose tucks into the bend.

But then the corner tightens again and an unmentionable part of my body clenches. No mortal road car would make it. The G-force readout is already well above 1g. As the bend pulls to the left I’m so convinced the front wheels will push I cover the brakes, hoping some load transfer will arrest us in the lane over.

To my amazement, with more steering lock, the Nismo hunkers down and keys into the road even harder, its Vibrant Red body skimming the long grass inside the corner as it hugs the apex. I unwind the steering, lift off the brake, then resume my squeeze on the throttle. The wastegates open, the roar inside intensifies and the scenery blur once again. If anything could take that bend faster, it hasn’t yet been invented.

It’s hard to believe Nissan’s R35 GT-R will soon be 13 years old. Three generations of Porsche 911 have reigned at that time. Yet as the world continues to wait and see how, or even if, Nissan will replace it after all these years, engineers continue an unending process of refining the four-wheel-drive monster. The 2020 GT-R Nismo is the latest result of that hard work.

It’s also the maddest, baddest and fastest GT-R you can buy. At least in Australia. The Nismo that set a 7min 08.769sec Nurburgring Nordschleife lap time in 2014 can only be built for Japan and American customers. So Australia, like the rest of the world, continues to score the slightly tamer one.