Nissan + Gtr + The Island

[70RTY]

Well, that certainly does look like fun but did you see Qld SMASH NSW in the State of Origin?

[handbrake]

pilot on the way back to Brisbane had a dodgy tune of the ABC call of the game. I thought I could hear interference of a Celine Dion song from another station in the background at one stage, though that might have just been the NSW girls crying from the shame of it all.

[Horsey]

Dean Canto V8 supercar driver seemed pretty relaxed talking to me as he punched out a lazy 1:46. no idea about other times, unfortunately no data from Suzuki-san's efforts

btw this trip has ruined performance driving in Queensland for me. Phillip island is such a superb track, I don't think I will be able to go back to the paperclip....

It was a good day yesterday.

I was with Luke Youlden and we did a 1.45, 260 kph before brakes at turn 1.

He told me that was quicker than Suzuli san had done the arvo before; who said racing drivers are not competitive?

True about PI, it's like a big Lakeside.

[Snowman]

There was definitely nothing in the 1.40's today. It was quite pissing down!! But I did hear that Dean Canto did a 1.44 yesterday however.

But it was still heaps of fun and a really well run day. Was suprised that they still let us go at our own pace given it was wipers on high day and no one had helmets. But I have done a number of other manufacturers days down at the Island that weren't as good as this one so kudos to Nissan for putting it all together. The extra insight to the building of the car was great as well.

[handbrake]

It was a good day yesterday.

I was with Luke Youlden and we did a 1.45, 260 kph before brakes at turn 1.

He told me that was quicker than Suzuli san had done the arvo before; who said racing drivers are not competitive?

True about PI, it's like a big Lakeside.

yes cant wait to get out to lakeside sometime in the coming months. still looks like a goat track by comparison from what I have heard!

[Horsey]

yes cant wait to get out to lakeside sometime in the coming months. still looks like a goat track by comparison from what I have heard!

Lakeside flows, as opposed to stop / start at QR.

[White 35]

the pro drivers Dean Canto and Luke Youlden were def doing 1.45 - 1.46.

I went with David Reynolds and he was flying as well.

Pretty impressive times for a standard GTR with 2 people in the car and half + tanks of fuel...

Toshio Suzuki was posting 1.47's

[fungoolie]

What a blast! As much as the weather was crap on the Thursday I attended, it upped the fun factor as we slip slided around an incredible circuit especially since I'd never even visited PI let alone driven on it before yesterday. Such a different character to Mallalla with all it's stop start and tight hairpins.

It's also good that the only damage done to any cars was a bent rim on the Wed when someone put one into a sand trap at 150 KPH off turn 2. This means Nissan will be more likely to hold further events on a state by state basis in the future as they alluded to yesterday when questioned on the likelihood of doing it again.

I think the organisers were quite surprised at the passion and enthusiasm of the attendees and even Steve Pizzatti who does heaps of driver training for Porsche and the like commented on how he thought the GTR owners were the most passionate about their cars than any other type of owner.

[Adriano]

Curious as to why they dont encourage or allow helmets?

[fungoolie]

Curious as to why they dont encourage or allow helmets?

I know! When I saw there were no helmets in sight my heart sank as I really thought they'd be pussyfooting around the circuit or asking us to travel at "80%", (whatever that means), but when it came to the crunch we were allowed to go our hardest. (Or at least as hard as our experienced passengers would let us before starting to make uncomfortable noises!)

Edited June 20, 2010 by fungoolie

[Godcla]

I think the organisers were quite surprised at the passion and enthusiasm of the attendees and even Steve Pizzatti who does heaps of driver training for Porsche and the like commented on how he thought the GTR owners were the most passionate about their cars than any other type of owner.

I agree......But let me tell you the most passionate group of owners are the builder owners by far...." Kit Cars " etc..

They will describe every bit of their build in great detail......

But yes GTR owners are a lot more passionate about their cars then ..............I found as well.

Edited June 23, 2010 by Godcla

[MacGillaZ]

Text taken from here; http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/blas...00623-yxuz.html

All-wheel-drive comes in handy for fast laps around Phillip Island in Nissan's updated supercar.

If you walk into the bar of any pub in the next few weeks and notice a bloke in the corner quietly sobbing into his beer, chances are it could be a Nissan GT-R owner.

But not just any GT-R owner. It is likely be one of 150 hand-picked customers that had the chance this week to meet the car's architect, and its chief test driver, at the Phillip Island grand prix circuit near Melbourne.

They'll be sobbing because they've spent an enormous amount of time and money modifying their GT-R to drive faster, harder and longer. According to the GT-R's creator, Katzutoshi Mizuno, it's wasted; Nissan's performance hero is already set up to deliver its maximum performance -- on the track, or off it -- right out of the showroom.

(That one bloke crying hysterically in the corner? He's the Australian customer who has spent son of rajab knows how much plumping his 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 up from its already awe-inspiring default power setting of 357kW to a jaw-dropping 450kW, all for naught according to Mizuno.)

Mizuno was in Australia this week to help Nissan Australia launch the freshened-up version of its supercar-on-a-beer-budget.

Apart from a slight price increase and the introduction of a little more luxury including revised satellite navigation, and auto wipers and headlights, there's little to show that this MY10 car, as it is known, is any different to the MY09 vehicle launched in April last year. Nissan, though, says it has tweaked the suspension to help improve general ride comfort.

Pricing now starts at $158,800 plus on-road and dealer costs, up $3000 on the sticker price of the launch car. The more luxurious -- or less harsh, depending on how you want to look at it -- Premium model now starts from $162,800 plus on-road and dealer costs, also up by $3000.

Even anoraks will have trouble spotting the new cars. Externally, the only indication you'll get that it's the new model is when one overtakes you, as the rear diffuser now houses cooling ducts adopted from the more hardcore, race-focused GTR SpecV that's not sold in Australia.

Other than that, you'll need a set of spanners and calipers, and a lot of time crawling underneath the car or wedged in under the bonnet to see what's new.

Some of the cooling hoses have changed diameter to better help the GT-R control heat in various components, the exhausts get better internal slipstreaming to help the engine breathe easier and improve low- and mid-range response, and spring damper rates are tweaked to improve road feel, handling and even comfort.

Yes, and the transaxle gearbox gets a slightly bigger cooler pipe to help with heat issues.

(The cars on launch were continually monitored with laser temperature sensors each time they crawled back into Phillip Island's pit lane. Heat tolerances in components are that strict that if, say, one of the six-speed dual-clutch gearboxes hits 140 degrees Celsius, technicians on stand-by know to immediately jack the car up on a hoist, and dump and replace all the transaxle's oil.)

Our test cars have already been hammered around the grand prix circuit the previous day, with one customer's off-road excursion at the sweeping, 180-degree turn two resulting in a $20,000 rebuild of one side of the GT-R, including a dinged 19-inch alloy wheel, brake rotors, caliper and pads, and two buckets of coarse Phillip Island litter courtesy of the gravel trap that caught the car. It will need a spritz to restore the stone-pitted paint to its former glory, too, but that's for another day.

Conditions for our test drive of the ''new'' GT-R are pitiful; rain is coming in horizontally as the almost gale-force squall sweeps in unchallenged from Bass Strait. It's all panning up to be as much fun as being caught in a front-load washing machine on a cold cycle.

After a few warm-up exercises including braking and swerving that only shows how little grip we're likely to have once ambition builds, we get three laps.

Instantly, there's an appreciation of the GT-R's all-wheel-drive grip that keeps the supercar tracking true around the curves.

It's at this moment that the crux of Mizuno's argument against owners modifying the GT-R for more performance start to make sense.

According to Mizuno, the GT-R is built from the tyre up. Every other thing connected to that thin, rotating strip of liquorice is designed to maximise mechanical grip based on the car just how it is. (There's also electronic grip, provided by devices such as the anti-lock braking and stability control systems, but they only step in once mechanical grip runs out.)

Mizuno says owners who modify their cars only upset that balance, slowing it down. Increasing the engine's force only increases forward and lateral slip on the tyres, and therefore offers less grip. Less grip means less ability to maximise performance. In other words, you've done your dough.

Critics of the GT-R's 1800kg-odd bloat are also reminded that the GT-R needs this weight to perform optimally for the customer.

Mizuno says the combination of vehicle weight and aerodynamics produce up to a 4500kg load on each of the GT-R's tyres, creating an ideal environment for maximising mechanical grip in almost any situation.

I need it now. The GT-R wriggles uncomfortably as I roll on the throttle a little too heavily out of Lukey Heights. It's worse down the main straight, where a slight shake at 200km/h indicates that the car is starting to aquaplane slightly, and I back off in respect. Best leave the hard drive to an expert, then. Luckily, we have one.

Toshio Suzuki is the chief test driver of the GT-R program. He's spent the last six years doing little more than travelling the world, and most of it sitting behind the wheel of his high-speed two-door office on wheels, right from the moment the first prototype hit the test track.

He's also the man that sparked the bitter war of words with German sports car maker Porsche, after he piloted what was said to be a production version of the GT-R through the Nurburgring faster than the previous record, a time set in a 911 Turbo. To say Porsche wasn't happy is a bit of an understatement.

I jump in the passenger seat beside him, there's a nod and brief introduction, and we're away for our hot lap of the drenched island circuit.

Suzuki is wearing his full race kit, including protective facemask, so it's difficult to read his expressions as we leave pit lane to join the main straight.

If anything, conditions have worsened. The wipers slap away at the windscreen as rain hammers against it, and the wind continues to buffet us.

Suzuki doesn't hold back. He nails the throttle up to turn one, and is heavy on the brakes as we bleed off speed and the nose starts to pitch in.

The big left-hander, turn two, has caused the most concern for Nissan's instructors all day. Suzuki feathers the throttle as the GT-R tries to run wide as we lose front-wheel grip while following the slippery race line, the anti-lock brakes clattering away like a hammer drill.

By Siberia, Suzuki is starting to play with the GT-R, flicking out the supercar's tail and holding it in a prolonged drift.

As we sweep up past Hayshed, a large Cape Barren goose waddles out onto the left side of the track. Suzuki is straight on the brakes, holding line as we sweep past it and slow for the difficult right-hander.

The GT-R maintains a good, solid racing line as we turn the final left-hander into the straight, hitting 240km/h as we flash past the pits sending a huge rooster tail of spray into the air, to start the cool-down lap. We're still in rain that has now, at least, eased to a light patter.

He's just lapped the circuit in a time that is within 20 seconds of a time you'd expect at full noise on a dry track.

Luckily for me, we both came out in the wash. More importantly, so did the GT-R.

Some how I don't believe that documented improvement in laptimes around several race tracks has made a car worse, but maybe the truth was lost in translation ...

Edited June 23, 2010 by MacGillaZ

[09GTR]

Text taken from here; http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/blas...00623-yxuz.html

Some how I don't believe that documented improvement in laptimes around several race tracks has made a car worse, but maybe the truth was lost in translation ...

Actually, I was one such person having a conversation with Mizuno-san about mods, and whom is supposedly crying in my beer, and I can confirm I spoke Japanese...maybe my Japanese isnt what it used to be!

Anyway, my car is definitely better for the mods. The Greddy turbo kit is just days away now...

ja mata

[handbrake]

Yes, Mizuno was always going to say mods will spoil the car. wouldnt look good if he said "yeah well there is lots of room for improvement in the car but we though we would just stop there"

plus they were after bullet proof reliability (which the car has if you dont abuse it senselessly).

I havent cried in my beer once yet post mods. I sure as hell needed one though after the first time I gave it full boot.

More importantly, Greddy turbo kit

[LSX-438]

and a lot of us have done our best to reduce that 400kg+ per corner which is apparently so important too. Is this just marketing spin because it sounds plain wrong to me. And why would someone with such supposed engineering genuis be involved in marketing BS anyway? Confuses the hell out of me, i dont get it.

Anyone seen this article:

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2010/sport...ybrid-gtr-19791

In the wake of US President Barak Obama's statement earlier this week, concerning America's reliance on fossil fuels, cars like the GT-R would seem to be on death row. Asked whether ethanol, a renewable fuel distilled from crops and waste products, could extend the GT-R's life, Mizuno was unequivocal.

"Ethanol is no use. GT-R engine uses high [combustion chamber] temperatures, so ethanol [is] no good, in that case."

Mizuno had previously explained in a press conference that the GT-R's combustion chambers typically reach 1100 degrees Celsius, whereas conventional car engines usually range between 800 and 850 degrees.

[handbrake]

yes he did sprout some weird stuff about weight and engine combustion. I recorded the whole session so I should compress and upload to youtube so you can have a listen Duncan!

[rehab2010]

See you guys there in the morning session. Fun day ahead.

As for eastern creek, Nissan did one at Eastern Creek for the GT-R launch. It was a great day out but media only. This Phillip Island one will be even better with Mizuno-san attending so southerners are getting it good.

It's not our "fault" The BEST racetrack is in Victoria

[09GTR]

It's not our "fault" The BEST racetrack is in Victoria

Haha...PI is very very good, but I can assure you this car is built for the one and only Mount Panorama. If you dont believe me, join us in November.....

[rehab2010]

Haha...PI is very very good, but I can assure you this car is built for the one and only Mount Panorama. If you dont believe me, join us in November.....

hehehe, of course, Mt Panorama is unreal, but it sucks for it not being a full time track.

I won't have my R35 by November this year, but I will for sure try it one day, with my R35

Have fun.

[handbrake]

Mizuno san spoke for about 30 minutes.

not the most enthralling video but here it is anyway....

about 30 minutes all up so don't watch it unless your only other option is waiting for paint to dry.

just for the record most of the voices/laughing in the background you can hear are not mine, I tried to stay quiet to improve recording quality but Mizuno-san kept asking me questions.

Maybe he could sense I had just installed my Willall Turbo upgrade the week before?

excuse the crappy camera work, I was trying to pay attention and be subtle.