Nissan GT-R Goes Underground

Nissan GT-R Goes Underground

By Peter Nunn

TOKYO -- Deep underground, the guests and media throng were waiting. Then, suddenly with lights ablaze and engines roaring, two Nissan GT-Rs sped past in the semi-darkness, sending a flurry of excitement through the crowd lined up against the wall.

A film? Some kind of fantasy? Nope, this was the “Tokyo Underground Night Nissan GT-R X Shutoko Yamate Tunnel,” a full-on media whiz-bang staged on the eve of the new Nissan GT-R super coupe that went on sale in Japan this month.

It’s not every day a new car gets to be launched at night in deep mid-winter in a yet-to-be-opened roadway tunnel in Tokyo, but then the new GT-R is no ordinary car.

While 2007 has been a classic year for new Japanese performance cars, with new Evos, STIs, Type Rs and IS-Fs all lining up for duty, one name stands head and shoulders above them all, and that’s the GT-R.

Time was when the GT-R was a hard-core sport coupe designed and built for Japanese domestic racing. Launched with little fanfare and barely known outside its native Japan, the GT-R nevertheless built up a cult following as strong as anything the Corvette could muster in America or the 911 in Germany. For countless young Japanese fans, the GT-R was the dream car. 

The modern-era GT-Rs -- meaning the R32, R33 and R34 series built between 1989 and 2002 -- vaulted the car into superstardom. A powerhouse, high-tech, twin-turbo 4WD coupe, capable of almost unlimited tuning, the GT-R grew to become the hero of road, circuit, PlayStation and cyberspace, a legend for enthusiasts right across the planet.

Now, after an inordinately long six-year wait (and not a little carefully orchestrated hype along the way), the brand-new R35 GT-R has gone live and Nissan has a new global sports icon to shout about: a fully focused high-performance machine that truly can go head to head with the Porsche 911 Turbos and Audi R8s of this world.

In America, Nissan plus performance has traditionally meant the Z car and Sentra SE-R. However the 2009 GT-R, which will be sold through exclusive dealerships starting in June 2008, is a much, much bigger deal than that even though because of its specialist design and build it’s only ever going to be available in small volumes.

Still, as a halo car to raise Nissan’s image and lure more people into Nissan’s dealerships, the GT-R is golden. To date, the GT-R’s received ecstatic reviews from the auto press which in turn only fuels the fervor around the car even more.

In America, the GT-R will start at $69,850 for the Base model, while the $71,900 Premium version adds standard Bose audio, heated seats and side airbags.

That makes it hugely more affordable than the Porsche 911 Turbo it was benchmarked against. There again, the GT-R doesn’t have the Porsche badge and all that stands for…

Right now, Nissan’s biggest problems with the GT-R seem to be meeting demand and making sure the car really isn’t overhyped.

Back in Tokyo, deep underground in the unlikely surroundings of the brand new Yamate roadway tunnel, nobody seemed to be too worried about that. It might be chilly December, but to the jostling media crowds, the GT-R was hotter than July.

Photos

1 - Nissan COO Toshiyuki Shiga poses with the unveiled Nissan GT-R aside Japanese celebrity Ryoko Yonekura.

2-3 Nissan held the party for the Nissan GT-R's introduction in the yet-to-be-opened Shutoko Yamate Tunnel.

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.