Beast from the East?

I do understand all that, but not from a personal ownership perspective. There is nothing sexy about Nissan whereas Ferrari conjures up total lust. Ferrari has character, history and soul. I don't mean to diminish the intangibles that make Ferrari great but I do hope that they are taking notice. The GT-R is unlike any other Japanese import and Ferrari can't ignore the stats. The car may be in a different market segment but I don't see how Ferrari can ignore a car that outperforms all but its most elite models. Some say it is not all about the speed but on the other hand I don't see Ferrari leaving the new F149 without enough performance to eclipse the GT-Rs numbers.

 

I have a better question.

Are threads about the GTR as useful as posting the wooden F50?
What about after the one billionth time? Do they become less useful then?

Friends dont let friends beat a dead horse.

OK sorry. Rant off.

 

Anyone can get HP from a Turbo'd motor.
Getting good HP from a naturally aspirated one is the trick.

 

Nissan GT-R? Bring it. I"ll suck the paint off it w/ my Datsun 240Z. Can you say 0-60 in < 3 sec?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

......Still a rice burner...oh and that looks like a Maxima with a wing to me... Big deal. Performance is great... I'll admit. But I dont think a car is based on performance... If that were the case, there would be a top fuel draggie sitting in my garage! For my idea of a car, is like my idea of a boat in my boathouse. I almost enjoy looking at them more than driving them. And I just dont see much with that Nissan. As a kid, I never got hooked on the preformance of a car, I got hooked on the look.

 

Wrong analogy. Harley makes cruisers, rice rockets are sports bikes. You wouldn't compare Harley vs a Ducati but you WOULD compare a Buell with a Ducati. You wouldn't compare Bentley and a 350Z but you would compare a Z4 and a 350Z.

P.S. REAL players pick up chicks even with a bus pass and besides, most women hate Ferraris. You would have more luck with a Mini convertible.

 

You know... that Nissan can turn too.

 

At the end of the day, the winner goes home with the prom queen and the looser whines about NA vs. Forced induction.

 

I don't think GTR will hurt Ferrari sells by any means. Ferrari is not just a car, it is an art. BUT I bet you my house that these GTR will be finding homes at Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, and every other car companies R&D department for nice "check up."

Competition is good thing, even if that competition is indirect.

 

Which won't matter a damn if it is slower AND more expensive. As I always said

"People will pay a LOT more money for a LITTLE more performance. Nobody will pay a LOT more money for LESS performance."

I.e. An M3 was much more expensive then a 350Z but was a little faster and a little better handling. Imagine if the M3 was both slower AND more expensive then the 350Z?

 

Oh really? You should tell that to F40.

 

So lets just say that the Nissan GTR is a state of the art digital timepiece and the Ferrari is a Patek Phillipe.......both tell the time.

The plastic digital is far more accurate than the glamourous Patek ......

Which would you rather own.........



The technology available to attain these mind boggling performances is becoming ever cheaper..........meaning that at some point there must be a performance plateau that quite a few manufacturers will have reached.

So then with so much performance choice how do you decide what to buy......

Ferrari , Lamborghini etc have the definite edge as they are fast with classy style that the Nissans of this world will never have.


Good on Nissan for raising the bar ...........but it cannot go much higher.

 

Ferrari has character, history and soul. (you forgot 'passion) What does the GT-R have? Performance, value, technology, supercar beating numbers. Try not to forget the GT-R has plenty of character, history, racing history, and soul as well. Let's hope Ferrari will come up with something that can handily beat the GT-R. Perhaps the F430 replacement will do that. I seriously doubt the F149 will even come close to the performance of the F430 let alone the GT-R. Hardtop convertible 4 seater and performance? Nah~

 

If the F40 made the same HP with a N/A motor, would it be any less desirable?

How many Ferrari have had a turbo since the F40?

 

My hottie wife and her friends certainly don't think so. (See Avatar)http://ferrarichat.com/forum/images/icons/icon10.gif

But then again I have Mini convertible.... maybe that was.. yeah that was it.

The only kind of girl you can pick up with a bus pass costs about the same by the hour.....

(S)

Mark

 

I reread the R & T article last night. Here are some unavoidable facts.

a) - this car is UGLY.

b) - it weighs nearly 4000 lbs. 300 more than the Porsche, 600 more than the Corvette.

c) - it certainly DOES NOT out accelerate either one; virtually same times up to 60, then increasingly SLOWER, especially after 100. Quarter mile times not different enough to matter, but Porsche & Corvette have significantly better trap SPEEDS, again showing the lack of high speed acceleration in the R.

d) - this car has a weight distribution of 56 front/ 44 rear. This is practically a FWD car with AWD grafted on, like a Jaguar X.

e) - in light of d. above, it is no surprise that it can pull fast numbers in the so-called "slalom" test; this is a test that favors the kind of setup the GT-R has. It is also a test that means NOTHING on either real world street or track.

f) - in steady-state cornering, the numbers are close enough to both Porsche & Corvette to be within margin of error.

g) - as far as the track times go, PRACTICALLY ALL the advantage comes from a "kink" in which the front-heavy nature of the GT-R lets it plow straight through rather than getting light like the Z06 or 911. Again, not something I would place a very high value on in the real world. Also note that if the track were a high speed arrangement, the other cars would be pulling away at a rapid rate on the top speed straights.

h) - I do not believe the 193 mph top speed. The reason is simple; look at the 100+ acceleration numbers - they are falling off too fast compared with the Z06. Note that R & T did not really test it, just took the makers word, saying "there is no reason to doubt the 193 top speed".

i) - I suspect that even the numbers produced by the test may be suspect. I have my doubts that this car was not overboosted past "480 hp" for test purposes; simply because of the power/weight disadvantage the R has on paper.

j) - Did I mention that the car is UGLY? R & T itself says "some may find it looks too robotic". Well said.

Thus, I think Road & Track has done us a dis-service by loudly proclaiming "GT-R SPANKS CORVETTE and PORSCHE" in bold letters on it's cover. And they say these magazines dont fold over for advertising dollars!!!

 

I'm talking to a wall - you're clueless.

 

And I wish you a nice day as well.

 

EVO magazine had similar test results so the R&T car was not pumped up. In fact EVO has tested 2 or 3 GT-Rs and they all had comparable performance. They were not able to test top speed due to factory speed limiters. Nissan must be doing something right if a car with less HP and more weight has comparable performance numbers to something like a GT3/Z06/Audi R8. EVO made a point of that; why is this car so fast? They conluded that it was due to the gearbox and AWD. Most reviewers all praise its handling, although some deem it too civil and unengaging with electronic interference.

 

Then I respectfully think you should buy one - if you can get past it's ugly face. I guess somebody has to love it. I am sticking with my Porsche, Corvettes, and Ferrari.

BTW, one of the points I made was that the car is NOT REALLY ALL THAT FAST...it is being eaten alive above 100mph and would be by a 430 or Viper or especially the new ZR1 as well.

EDIT - I feel increasingly guilty posting on this in the general FERRARI section...shouldn't some moderator really move this to OTHER? I don't see any real Ferrari content here at all...

 

Possibly the stupidest and most shallow comment I have ever heard in my short experience on these boards.

I am not going to take sides in this thread but you have to get the facts right if you are going to insult the car. Is it front heavy? Absolutely, but the AWD bias takes heavily to the rear wheels. The AWD was far from a tacked on after thought as you make it seem.

 

I didn't mean to insult the car...I just said that it was front heavy. It is an OK car, just not my personal cup of tea.

What I wanted to point out was that it may be just a little early to annoint it ruler of the realm.

 

The Nissan is a great car and the europeans need to worry and get thier act together. Ferrari can only make the soul factor go so far. I love the new Ferraris but they have to wake up. Ferrari's days of waiting lists may be over.

 

I guess one of the signs of the times may be if this thing outdoes F, L, and Bentley C in the rapper videos.

 

7:25 Nissan GT-R V-Spec ($90k-$110k?)
7:27.82 Pagani Zonda F Clubsport ($1.2mil?)
7:28 Porsche Carrera GT
7:32.02* Porsche 997 GT2 2008
7:34 Koenigsegg CCR
7:38.54 Nissan GT-R
7:40 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
7:40 Bugatti Veyron 16/4
7:42 Porsche 997 GT3
(...)
7:47 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
(...)
7:55 Ferrari F430 F1
(...)
7:56 Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale [1][2]

How's the Nurburgring for a real world track, James?

[1] http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/08/nissan-gt-r-v-spec-lap-times-stun-observers/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordschleife_fastest_lap_times