Nissan GT-R (09 on) - Review

Review by Simon Harris on
Last Updated: 30 November 2009
Nissan's GT-R model has a long heritage. Its predecessors in the UK - officially available through Nissan dealers - were the Skyline R33 and R34 models. Both were few in number (Nissan officially imported only 100 R33s) and the market was muddied by privately imported and modified versions. This Nissan GT-R, available officially from April 2009 in the UK, drops the Skyline name and ups the ante for performance. Instead of the approximate 300bhp of the previous model there is a 480bhp 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6. In April 2008 the GT-R broke the lap record at the Nurburgring - the historic racing circuit now used my many manufacturers to help develop cars - making it one of the quickest production cars over a single lap.
4.5 out of 5

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2.5 out of 5

Running costs

The GT-R costs more than £50,000 new, but the level of performance and equipment would be far costlier on other cars in this bracket. Resale values will be very strong because the model is so scarce and fuel consumption, while high, is no worse than any other car with nearly 500bhp. The Nissan High Performance Centres arrange for collection and delivery of vehicles needing a service anywhere in the country, although servicing intervals of just 6,000 miles are very short, even for a high performance car.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

6,000 miles.

Warranty

Three years/60,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£475.00 - £475.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

1 out of 5

Green credentials

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CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

It will be a long time before high performance cars such as the GT-R are designed to be kind to the environment. The best that can be said about it is that its high power output is achieved using a relatively small engine and turbochargers, so it is a 'greener' car than many other 500bhp alternatives.

Find the exact engine and CO2