Cars, like dogs, age at an accelerated rate compared to us humans.
It’s a sad fact, but man’s best friend isn’t as long-lived as we are. And so it goes with cars, which get purulent and start growing fuzz after being left without updates for just a couple model years.
After nearly a decade on the market, you’d think Nissan’s GT-R should be covered in mold and ready for the compost heap, but that’s not the case. Even though it has achieved senior citizen status in car years, this is a machine has withstood the test of time thanks to an unending stream of improvements.
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Like storing veggies in the crisper drawer, Nissan has made a slew of significant enhancements for the 2017 model year to keep this car fresh.
As before, a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 ignites the firestorm. For 2017, it delivers 565 horsepower and 467 pound-feet of torque. Compared to 2016, those figures have increased by 20 and 4, respectively. You can thank tweaked ignition timing and extra boost for those gains.
SEE ALSO: Next-Generation Nissan GT-R Will Have Hypercar Performance
Once again, a six-speed dual-clutch automatic is the sole transmission, which isn’t news, but the tuning is. This gearbox has been reworked to deliver smoother shifts and quieter operation. I can confirm that’s it quite civilized, though it will still bang through the gears when you want it to.
These nuts-and-bolts enhancements should help the GT-R keep pace with rivals like the Porsche 911 Turbo and Audi R8, all for much cheaper. The example we just tested cost roughly $113,000, about $50,000 less than entry-level versions of those German models.
Powertrain improvements are perhaps the biggest changes Nissan’s GT-R has received for 2017, but there are plenty of others. To learn what these are, you’re going to have to watch the Feature Focus video posted above.
Leave a Reply