Nissan GT-R

While the subtle changes to the exterior of the Nissan GT-R have made it look fresher than before, the almost negligible changes to the interior will make you believe that it is a much older car. Compared to the sports cars of the present era, the Nissan GT-R is still living in the analogue era, with its old-school cabin having an all-black theme with a plethora of physical buttons and dated gauges.

The driver’s cockpit of the Nissan GT-R remains unchanged, with the car getting a three-spoke multi-functional steering wheel and an old-school instrument console behind it with dated-looking analogue gauges. While this might look unappealing to some, many hardcore fans of GT-R still prefer to have the analogue feel of these gauges, and rightfully so. The car gets hand-stitched semi-aniline Nappa leather seats and carbon fibre inserts in the lower centre console, giving the cabin a proper sporty feel.

The centre console has an almost slightly slanted design, with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system placed between physical buttons for the audio system in the upper centre console. The lower centre console here gets traditional physical buttons for the dual-zone automatic climate control below the sleek-looking rectangular AC vents, along with buttons for various drive functions below it.

The cabin of the Nissan GT-R is bestowed with additional features like active noise cancellation, active sound enhancement, 11-speaker BOSE audio system, cruise control, powered and heated front sports seats and aluminium sport pedals.

Despite being more than a 15-year-old design, the Nissan GT-R still looks relevant and aggressive, with the most recent facelift in 2023 bringing the car back to the limelight, making it look sleeker and even more aggressive than before. Nissan made prominent changes to the fascia and bumpers of the car, which has made the GT-R hide its age pretty effectively.

At the front, the Nissan GT-R now gets a sleeker grille, which continues to get a honeycomb mesh design for its inserts. The bonnet also looks redesigned with smoother contours and added scoops in the middle for better aerodynamic efficiency at higher speeds. The angular and sleek-looking headlamps continue to have LED projectors and lightning-shaped daytime running LEDs. The front bumper also has been redesigned with new futuristic-looking LED fog lamps and a revised air dam in the middle of the bumper, which also has a new splitter below it.

The side profile of the Nissan GT-R looks almost unchanged, with the only major change here being a new design for the 20-inch RAYS black-coloured alloy wheels. The front fender here has a distinctive beefy design, which also accommodates air vents to channel air while being at higher speeds. The GT-R also gets a tapering roofline, flush-type door handles and black-coloured side skirts.

The rear profile of the Nissan GT-R continues to get the unmistakable quad-rounded all-LED tail lamps, which have become the most iconic design highlights of the GT-R family. The design of the rest of the boot lid also remains unchanged, with the GT-R getting a mildly redesigned rear bumper with a sportier-looking diffuser at the bottom.

The Nissan GT-R has always been known for being extremely precise and dynamic on fast stretches and corners, courtesy of its sport-tuned Bilstein DampTronic suspension setup, comprising of double-wishbone with aluminium upper links and lower arms at the front and multi-link with aluminium upper links at the rear, both of which get stabilizers. With 20-inch RAYS alloy wheels equipped with 255/40 ZRF 20 tyres at the front and 285/40 ZRF 20 tyres at the rear, the Nissan GT-R has 6-piston Monoblock Calipers on 15.3-inch ventilated rotors at the front and 4-Piston Monoblock Calipers on 15-inch ventilated rotors for stopping duties.

The iconic engine powering all four wheels of the Nissan GT-R via an all-wheel drive system with a patented rear-mounted transaxle is a 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V6 petrol engine. Offered solely with a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, this bonkers engine produces 570 PS of maximum power and 637 Nm of maximum torque, which still makes it one of the most powerful V6 engines ever made. The drivetrain of the Nissan GT-R also includes a 1.5-way mechanical limited-slip differential.

While not having the most sophisticated safety features on offer, the Nissan GT-R is adequately equipped with all the safety features which are considered essential for a sports car, including front, side and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, vehicle dynamic control, traction control, hill start assist, reverse camera, front and rear parking sensors and tyre pressure monitoring system.

The Nissan GT-R is one of those purist cars for sports car enthusiasts, which still has an old-school charm in its design, driving dynamics and performance, which have remained almost unchanged in so many years, making the GT-R a modern icon in the sports car world.