Well, I've driven it!

[akasakaR33]

Originally Posted by DCD

Yes there is. On Japanese cars you can only remove it when the GPS knows the car is inside the grounds of a race track. To remove it you have to go into the MFD items list, select number 19 and agree to the warning. You then get one of the readings on the screen saying circuit mode or something like that.

Yikes - talk about big brother. I sure hope that the tuners figure out a way around this. Although in Japan, it actually kind of makes sense, as I (almost) never go over 180 on the public roads. (only when racing those Porsches that seem to want to challenge me... what's up with those guys, anyway?)

Adam - you have PM.

Aki

[DCD]

I think it will be easy to bypass...but not worth loosing the 3 year warranty over. ECU has a memory function which records any tweaking that is done

[Dave_R1001]

Dino, do you know what happens if it loses the GPS signal?

Cant wait to read the write up

[Durzel]

Wow, I thought that GPS rumour was nonsense. Would be interesting to know how this would affect cars exported out of Japan completely.

[mifn21]

Japan has a mandatory 180km/h top speed limit, I doubt they'd shoot themselves in the foot by keeping it on export GT-Rs

[SAJ_1982]

Originally Posted by Durzel

Wow, I thought that GPS rumour was nonsense. Would be interesting to know how this would affect cars exported out of Japan completely.

I doubt this will be done on the UK Spec cars.

[Bajie]

I have lots of questions .... look forward to your articles and pictures.

Was the limiter working on your test drive.
What is the car like when driven along some of your favourite country roads while being limited. Do you still get to enjoy the in gear acceleration.

[hipogtr]

Originally Posted by DCD

ECU has a memory function which records any tweaking that is done

WTF? Soon you won't be able to start the car if you put an aftermarket air filter on.

[EndlessR]

From what I understand from the nissan meeting we attended
The speed limit is in the GPS system, if a car is exported out of Japan, Nissan GPS system will not work, so you cannot turn off the GPS speed limit.
The exported R35 will have the speed limiter on in other countries, and you can`t turn it off as you wont have access to the Japanese GPS.

However there is another company making a GPS speed limit cut, I am not sure how this will work (It may need the GPS to be accessable, ie Japanese market only. So export is a problem if you want to remove the speed limit as the GPS will become unavailabe in another country)

The other option is wait until the speed limit cut product is on the market, have it added to the car when the car is in Japan (GPS working) then export the car with the GPS speed limit removed.

Nissan also said there are two companies tuning parts what will be allowed on the car, (Nismo and ?????) and the warrantee will still be valid.

Tuning on this car and still maintaining the warrantee is a no go (unless you use parts from the 2 manufacturers above, the other company I forgot sorry)

Nissan also said there is no global warrantee, so if buy a Japanese car, then dont expect to have it paid for by Nissan UK if the engine/mission fails etc. Warrantees are available in each country for that countries cars.

Safe to say Nissan have found a way around the exporting of earlier models and have a very good deterrant, its safe to say price protection is back and now they have redemmed the old term "grey import"

Not sure if this info was of interest to anyone but thought Id post it anyway while its still fresh in my head.

[doggiehowser]

Originally Posted by EndlessR

From what I understand from the nissan meeting we attended
The speed limit is in the GPS system, if a car is exported out of Japan, Nissan GPS system will not work, so you cannot turn off the GPS speed limit.
The exported R35 will have the speed limiter on in other countries, and you can`t turn it off as you wont have access to the Japanese GPS.

Not sure if this info was of interest to anyone but thought Id post it anyway while its still fresh in my head.

Thanks Endless R for that invaluable information.

This is going to be a major problem for those of us who live in countries where the GT-R is not officially distributed and will need to use parallel importers to bring the car in. And also for those in the UK who are importing the car from Japan in advance of its official debut in the UK.

My PI has already got 20 units to be delivered over the next 3 months. Sure would love to see if the speed limit has been disabled on those cars.

ps if I am reading the reviews/literature right, the cars are "track" ready from deliver, ie no need to run the car in?

[Beer Baron]

awesome mate! Good to see it's living up to expectations.

[DCD]

I wouldn't worry about the speed limiter too much if you are importing a car to the UK. It will be easy enough to get it removed, it's only software. What I worry about it the owners in Japan!

Anyway getting back on track I have to say Nissan have done a monumental job with this car. It is without a doubt the worlds fastest A to B car, there is nothing that will keep up with the GTR. It is in every way a phenomenal car, from the unrelenting power and response of the engine to the fast and smooth gearbox. The brakes are just about perfect both on road and on track with a firm immediate bite from the pedal and a progressive power and feel as you get on them more and more. They inspire confidence as even when you are really stamping on them you know there is always more in reserve. Suspension...again I was impressed. They are firm but never make the car crash and soak bumps up only like a Bilstein damper can. The differences from R to standard to Comfort are small yet very perceptible. There seems to be no sign of body roll from the driver's seat, the GTR just tucks into any corner with a nice flat stance and immediate bite. The steering is telepathic, communicative out on the road as well as the track, as well as well weighted. Keep the VDC/traction control on standard and the car will keep all your ham-fisted driving in check. You can get away with murder on this setting. Get into R mode and things are much the same but there will be more yaw allowed before the VDC intervenes. This is the perfect setting for fast country road use. Turn the VDC off completely and even on this setting the car is a pussy cat. Power oversteer is there for the taking, you can steer it on the throttle like the best RWD cars out there but you always feel there is a stabilizing pull front the front keeping you pointing the right direction. There is a tremendous amount of grip which comes from a number of areas like the sticky Bridgestones, the close to perfect weight distribution, low center of gravity and of course the chassis. Plough into a corner under heavy breaking and it just stays perfectly straight, no tail waggling, just total composure. There is such an immediate acceleration and response from any rpm that I just cannot believe it only has 480 PS. A 600 PS R34 doesn't feel as fast. And those 1740 kg? You know they are there as you read the number on the spec sheet, but you just don't feel them. At least on the road. On track, if you start to over-drive the car then you will be reminded of the curb weight but even beyond the limit of grip the car is controllable, easy to reel in and shows very little sign of understeer....unless you really try to drive like an idiot.

And the sub 4 sec 0-100 km/h? Had a few goes at launching it. Very easy thing to do. Stick the transmission into Manual and R mode, kill the VDC, put your left foot on the brake and with the right dial in as many rpm as you feel necessary. When ready release the brake and off you go. Acceleration is savage but due to the cold temperature of both the road and the tyres I was getting a lot of rear wheel hop. I gave up after a few goes as I was beginning to feel sorry for the transmission!

So overall there are only a few negatives for me:

- Big-Brother type speed limiter
- Driving position is just way to high even on the lowest setting. I could barely fit inside with a helmet and I'm only 188 cm!

I thought I could never find a car that could reel me away from the R34. Now I have. I'm just happy it is another GTR.

Hats off to Nissan!

[Zakira]

^ Nice write up. Makes me really anxious to get mine!

[skyrocker]

Thanks for posting DCD.
Really enjoyed reading it.

Rgds,
Henk

[Beer Baron]

nice one dino. I can't wait to have a little steer myself. soon.... soon...

I finally checked one out in the flesh today and it was just as impressive as I'd hoped. How they can possibly build such a car and sell it for 8mil is beyond me. I'm sure you know having modified your own GTR and I know having modified my GTRs that 8 mil in parts doesn't get you far! let alone the actual car that those parts are attached to. So many great things on it. 380mm brakes, big mono-block brembo calipers, 20inch rims with nice tyres, awesome interior, the bilsteins... the list goes on and on.

bring on tomorrow so we can all see some in action!