It was a huge deal when, in 2008, Nissan announced that the then-new R35 GT-R set a sub-7:30 at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It was a time that beat the almighty Porsche 911, and it caused something of a crisis in Stuttgart. The next GT-R, whenever it comes, and in whatever form it takes, is going to have to do the same thing.
In an interview with Motor1 at the New York International Auto Show, Ponz Pandikuthira, Nissan USA’s chief product planner, tells us what he wants from a new GT-R. “Number one, it has to be a very authentic car,” he says. “Imagine if you did a front-wheel drive electric car and called it a GT-R. Good luck, right? It needs to be authentic to its roots, and it needs to have a Nürburgring performance record.”
“That’s what established the car’s cred,” he continues, “that it beat a Porsche 911 on its home turf. That needs to hold good.”
Photo by: Robin Trajano | Motor1
That’s quite a tall ask, given the rate at which the 911 has improved in the intervening years. Right now, Porsche’s fastest stock 911 is the GT3 RS, which set a 6:49.328 back in 2023. And note that since the GT-R’s lap in 2008, the Nürburgring put in place an official lap-time policy for the Nordschleife, stipulating that the lap must be measured over the full 12.94-mile circuit. Previously, lap times typically omitted a the short pit straight for a 12.8-mile lap. On a more directly comparable lap to the GT-R’s original record, the GT3 RS did a 6:44.848.
So, the new GT-R would have to be absurdly fast, to beat that…. let alone whatever the coming turbocharged GT2 RS could manage.
Pandikuthira also adds the next GT-R has to be electrified in some capacity. “Those big horsepower cars are simply not going to meet emissions standards,” he says. “So it’s a matter of where the tech catches up with us. Battery tech, motor tech, and it may take us a few years, but GT-R will be back, without a doubt.”
The wait will be long, since Nissan doesn’t have a new GT-R in development currently, and typically, it takes about four years to go from idea to reality. But, Nissan’s new CEO Ivan Espionsa, a self-described “car guy” has said he wants the GT-R back, so it could simply be a matter of time.
Time in which the 911 is going to keep getting quicker and quicker, so Nissan’s going to have to dig deep.
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