ls911

*** Nissan is fine for some





Porsche is all good for me







Feel the love

nazhat

I do feel it, thanks

DanJK

"However, the GTR hits much closer to Porsche's target audience."

Ben, you can't be serious.

Like LeMans is to the Fast and the Furious. Not even close.

ls911

We have to all keep in mind that Ben is currently sick and under some serious medications. This meds are allowing him function but not at full capacity, not even close.
I'm confident that in time he will be well again, relative terms.

Ucube

The fact that Nissan chose the 911TT as the development and testing benchmark for the new GT-R is a tremendous tell. It says it all about whom they regard as atop the sports/GT car hierarchy. Godzilla has no one else in its sights except the 911, and it has arguably succeeded in its objectives. The GT-R has made a big splash, but it remains to be seen whether it can win the hearts of other contingents. In the illustrious 40 years of the 911, surely this isn't the first time the throne has been so called "threatened." Surely there were (and still are) many cars posting better specs and numbers, and yet the 911 has continued to thrive. How can a car with relatively inferior performance numbers (and the engine in the wrong place, for goodness sake) still compete in the marketplace? Purely brand prestige? Countless fanboys with deep pockets? OK...

There needn't be panic in Stuttgart over the GT-R's performance specs. The 911 designers and engineers have all seen and been through this before in the past 40 years. Has the 911 always had the best track lap times? Certainly not. So how in the world has it continued to win the hearts of automotive journalists and enthusiasts alike? It's gotta be magic, right?

Ben, as for your comment that the GT-R hits much closer to the 911's target audience than the Vette? I'll chalk that up to your flu meds. That's akin to saying the STi is remotely close to the M5's target audience.

NOBY

I think this one is a snap better then z06

"
The newest supercar from Japan has finally received firm U.S. pricing. Nissan’s GT-R will go on sale in Japan early next month, and U.S. sales will kick off in June of 2008. Until then all we can do is drool and daydream. Oh, and pinch our pennies.

Not that the GT-R is a bank-buster. In fact, for the performance, the only thing that’s getting busted is the Chevrolet Corvette Z06’s reputation as performance per dollar champion. Coming in at a cool $69,850 the base GT-R slides in nearly $2,000 under the base Z06. The Premium trim GT-R, which adds Bose audio, heated seats and side air bags and more, rings up at $71,900 - a far cry from a fully-loaded Z06 3LZ, which will run you $77,545.

It’s not just the Corvette that’s getting spanked in the performance per dollar comparison - in fact the Z06 is the closest competitor. For comparison consider the Porsche 911, which starts at $72,400 for a stripped RWD-only version, and runs to over $120,000, or the Mercedes-Benz SL-class, which you won’t find under $90,000 new, and can climb to over $180,000. Those cars can barely keep up with (or not keep up at all in the SL’s case) the much less expensive GT-R. On the other hand, cars like Audi’s S5 come in significantly cheaper (the S5 starts around $50,000) and offer about two-thirds of the performance of the GT-R, with around 354hp compared to the GT-R’s 473hp, putting it in a similar league in terms of value, but still far behind the GT-R in absolute performance.

Stats and figures on the GT-R are unchanged - which means you can get a car that’ll
"

ls911

Those who are in the market for an SL are looking for something totally different than a Nissan GT-R can ever offer. Again it is apples to oranges as it with the comparison to the 911's.
The GTR will appeal to its own crowd/type much as European cars and American muscle does.
A simple BUT very flawed way to look at it is to compare it to everything in its price range and say it beats it, so it is the best.
The GT-R bust your ***** power can not be denied and it is impressive to say the least. For pure money to power ratio it stands alone and will have its own following.
But many car enthusiasts are not just looking at or desire those stats alone, impressive as they may be. I (as many) would gladly pay more for style, class, and heritage to mention a few.

Jackel

post #128!



I think Ben is onto something. The folks on here (and there are many) that can blow $100,000 + on a CAR are 100% correct in utterly ignorging the new GT-R. For the other 99% of the population (including me BTW) this new car is VERY relevant. I love the leather, fit and finish, looks, etc. of my Porsche way more than my old Corvette. That said, if it weren't for snow (my 996 is AWD) I would get pretty tired of getting smoked by new Vettes that cost as much as my used Porsche! If you have the money, only a fool (IMHO) would prefer the GTR to a 997 TT! Then again that is like comparing a GT Mustang to a Z06 Corvette. One is TWICE the cost of the other!! Of course if I have the money (that I want to spend on a car, mind you) I would prefer to buy a 997TT. But, when the time comes that I've saved enough for the "new" car, if I have only enough for either a N/A 997 or a GT-R which do you think I'll choose??

That is what (I think) Ben is getting at. 110% the performance of a 997TT at 50% of the price, that is awesome. And it is AWD for a 50 state Daily Driver to boot.

BTW, I LOVE my Porsche, but I am not part of the religion...

Gotta give credit where it is due. Even if it were a Hyudai you have to see the potential of this car...

ls911

Mr Jackel

I also love my Porsche and !'m no part of the religion either. Put I am part of the passion, as many here are.
The issue here is that this thread got off track and started comparing two cars that are not in the same league nor have the same following and passion (religion as some will call it).
Ben is correct in the fact that Nissan has put out a beast. But this does not mean Ferrari, Porsche or any other high end European manufactorer has to go back to the drawing board. They are playing against eachother in a different league. But Toyota and Honda should take note.

Porsche_Smile

gtr is nice.... but lacks the prestige of the porsche

akim47

i thought there'd be a lot better response here given there are so many "performance" enthusiasts. what's up with the elitist "its not a porsche" view... and some of these comments coming from ppl who probably paid $40K for a used 996? i'd give credit where it is due

i have friends in the industry (one at costworth) who cannot stop talking about what a great car the gtr really is. the motor is spec'd to handle 1000 hp. nissan is also being very selective in terms of aftermarket performance. i believe top secret was one company that was selected do far.

in any event, a great car... and while not the same as porsche, u cant say there is no heritage in the gtr... nissan has created a storied line of great sports cars in the skyline since 1955... most ppl just trace it back to the R32 Gt-r (1989ish)

akim47

and ill add, if i had a choice of cars, id take a 997 C2S over the gt-r.... i do still prefer the p-cars =)

washington dc porsche

I've always been a fan of the Skyline's performance, which has been compared to the 911 TT since the first day I was introduce to them back in the mid 90's. The problem for me has been the way it looks. Maybe seeing the '08 in person will change my mind but as of now I'd take the RS8 and it's "Starski and Hutch" stripe over the looks of the new Skyline.

According to folks from my old Nissan club, mark ups on the GTR are going to start @$15k above MSRP just cover the dealer cost to sell and service them.

porschedog

I can't help but note how the auto media keeps comparing it to a Porsche. However great it may be, and, after owning a small fleet of Z-cars, I have much respect for the engineering efforts of Nissan, the fact is that it can never actually Be a Porsche. One has soul, the other does not.

It will be an outstanding car for sure, but will it be one that stirs our spirits? Maybe yours, but I'm not going to rename my slowly-growing GT3 fund the GTR fund.

Simply put, in my opinion, There is No Substitute.

tooloud10

Soul = fancier badge on front