Just how much power does the Nissan GT-R actually have? The official Nissan figure tells us the car has 352kW (see below), or around 480bhp. Nissan’s reported 7:29 Nürburgring lap time has generated enough hype, histrionics and humdrum to whip internet forums into a lather the world over. To be honest, a lot of the criticisms of the GT-R’s Nordschleife lap time, such as the alleged misrepresentations by Nissan (different start and stop points, rolling start), were made by uneducated Americans who only started hearing about the Ring when their auto makers decided corners were actually here to stay. The published video of the GT-R’s lap follows the same start and finish conventions as any other “officially” published Nordschleife Time Attack lap, yes, even including the rolling start.
However, it seems, not all stereotypes are created equal as this article on the New York Times blog explains. Albeit, ironically, using 400m of dead straight tarmac to prove its point. A fairly basic estimate of horsepower can be calculated by using a car’s weight and its drag strip trap speed (the speed with which a car crosses the line). If we take the NYT at their word a GT-R weighs 4000lbs (1814kg) and can reach a speed of 122mph (196kph) on a traditional quarter mile drag strip (400m). Crunch the numbers and you end up with a figure of around 565bhp (420kW). That may explain why Nissan reckons the GT-R can get around the Ring faster than a Corvette Z06 (7:43), which weighs significantly less and has an official power figure above the GT-R’s.
Again, assuming all these estimations to be correct, or at least within the realms of plausible acceptability, why would Nissan underquote the GT-R’s power figure so dramatically? The GT-R does look to be a completely awesome piece of machinery, but, gee, there’s enough quizzical faces and bluster surrounding the car to put the Bold and the Beatutiful to shame.
Source: New York Times via autoblog