Nissan clearly put a lot of work into the 2015 GT-R NISMO, the even-higher-performance GT-R model that debuted in Tokyo this week, in order to make it stand out from the already crazy regular GT-R. Most of that work was carried out in the crucible of the demanding Nürburgring circuit, where the automaker was unabashedly gunning for a lap record. Now, as we noted in our overview of the GT-R NISMO, Nissan’s lap-time hunting netted it quite an impressive lap time.
The GT-R NISMO laid down a 7:08.679 lap time, which Nissan claims is a new record for a volume production car. There is one minor caveat, which mostly has to do with how one defines a volume production car; Porsche’s 918 Spyder recently posted a lower lap time, but only 918 examples of that car will be built; we presume Nissan is planning to build more GT-R NISMOs than that. Also, the record-breaking car was equipped with “track options,” which we believe constitute the Track package Nissan is readying for the ’15 GT-R NISMO. It includes aerodynamic tweaks, weight-saving measures, and a uniquely tuned suspension, but as you can see from the photos of the camouflaged, record-breaking GT-R, it might not be in final-spec form.
Regardless of the Porsche’s time or Nissan’s no-holds-barred approach to assembling performance-enhancing option packages, what is most important is that this kind of performance is available for regular folks to purchase. Sure, in this case, our example “regular person” would need a pile of cash, as the non-NISMO GT-R Track Edition already retails for more than $100K. But the point is that even cars such as the roughly $52,000 Corvette Stingray bring a lot of performance to the table. Let’s just say it’s a good time to be an enthusiast.
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