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Godzilla.<\/p>\n
We motorhead media types drool at the mention of the Nissan GT-R\u2019s nickname. Yet few of us get a chance to experience it. The $101,000 machine is rarely found in press fleets. My chance to ride Godzilla came this summer. I was expecting tail-wagging aggression, window-rattling roars \u2014 a menace with fiery upshifts and a disturbed disposition.<\/p>\n
I got none of that. Godzilla? Sure, Japan\u2019s most powerful sports car deserves comparison to Japan\u2019s most fearsome B-movie reptile. But in truth the Nissan GT-R is more cyborg than monster.<\/p>\n
Call it the Terminator.<\/p>\n
Like the original Terminator Model T-800 from 1984 (which is how long it seems the aging GT-R has been around) \u2014 not the sleek, advanced, liquid metal, \u201cMimetic polyalloy\u201d Terminator T-1000 of later sequels. This beast is Schwarzenegger. Big, heavy, awkward at slow speeds. You can hear the gears meshing. Its feels analog, not digital.<\/p>\n
As the auto tranny downshifts from 3rd to 2nd into a red light, the car lurches to a stop. But then, oh, what a launch.<\/p>\n
With an electronic, torque-managing, all-wheel-drive system and twin-turbo power, the GT-R is a rocket off the line. The sensation resembles Cedar Point\u2019s Top Thrill Dragster roller-coaster. No slip. No wheel spin. Just nail it and you\u2019re pulled on invisible rails. The engine is a muted roar \u2014 an angry vacuum cleaner.<\/p>\n
No tail-wagging drama like a Dodge SRT Hellcat. No thunderclap like a Z06 Corvette. No barking upshifts like a BMW M3. Just relentless, robotic power from the 3.8-liter V-6 mill. Godzilla meet Terminator.<\/p>\n
The GT-R\u2019s layout is more sports coupe than sports car. The lip doesn\u2019t drag out of my driveway like a Corvette or Porsche Cayman. Indeed, the GT-R feels like an\u00a0Audi RS 5<\/a>and Corvette Z06 had a love child. At\u00a0almost 4,000 pounds<\/a>\u00a0its chassis is Audi-solid, AWD, well-engineered.<\/p>\n Face-to-face the GT-R appears a big athlete with nice jewelry. Mike Tyson wearing earrings. My 2016 45th Anniversary Edition GT-R celebrates its first, early-\u201970s ancestor. The color is a gold-like hew called \u201cSilica Brass\u201d (for the 50th anniversary edition maybe GT-R will get actual gold). A big, Mitsubishi Evo-like goatee fills the face. Horizontal LED lights adorn the cheeks below elegant, LED-tubed headlights. Flush door handles flip outward, opening the car at your fingers\u2019 command. The GT-R is 10 years old now, but the fashion details keep it hip.<\/p>\n Like an RS 5, the 2+2 interior will technically seat four. If the rear passengers are five-year-olds. Sitting on their knees. In the posh suede and leather driver\u2019s bucket, my seat back hit the rear seat (at least rear passengers get the best concert seat in the house between two giant Bose speakers). Tidy rectangular modules organize the dash holding circular instruments and vents \u2014 all trimmed with carbon and stitched leather.<\/p>\n The console-mounted starter button is even Audi-like, except for one detail. It\u2019s red. Like the button to launch a nuclear warhead. WARNING: TOUCH THIS BUTTON AT YOUR PERIL.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s talk about that because I know what you\u2019ve been thinking since the first paragraph:\u00a0Why would I pay $101,000 for a Nissan??!!!<\/em><\/p>\n One hundred grand for a car with the same badge as the Sentra? Seriously? Heck, a nicely-equipped, 450-horse V-8, AWD RS 5 costs $70K and when I roll up to the country club, the valet will say: \u201cCan I park your Audi for you, sir?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I understand. And that\u2019s why that red button matters. Because the GT-R is not an overpriced Nissan \u2014 it\u2019s an\u00a0underpriced\u00a0<\/em>supercar.<\/p>\n Like the aforementioned, 650-horsepower Z06, the Nissan is that rare mainstream breed that can do things supercars can \u2014 for\u00a0half<\/em>\u00a0the price. Want a lively AWD coupe to cruise to work? Save $30K and buy the silky RS 5 or a base 450-horse Corvette Stingray. Want to terrorize Porsche Turbos and Ferraris at Waterford track days? Buy a GT-R.<\/p>\n Consider the numbers.<\/p>\n