Motor Australia – September 2019

BYDYLANCAMPBELL+ ILLUSTR ATIONSBRENDONWISE

HIGHTECH
It’sgottahaveallthe
lateststuff.Screensgalore
inside,activeaerooutside,
electric-onlyPHEVrange,
rear-wheelsteering,truetorque
vectoring.And,forrelevance,
it must debut Nissan’slatest
autonomousdrivingkit.

d motorofficial f motor_mag^129

35 NISSAN GT-R once felt bewilderingly digital and

puterisedtodrive,butafter 12 yearsonsale,comparedto

rivalsit nowfeelsdelightfully‘analogue’.

clearlytimefora new-generationGT-R.Butasmuchas

lovetotellyoua carbonfibremonocoque,twin-turbo2.5-

V6,twin-clutch,hybridall-wheel-drive 911 Turbofighteris

tlyenroute,allsignspointtowardsthatnotbeingthecase.

ssanbigwigsandengineersareoftenaskedabouta new

, andtheanswersarealwaysthatthey‘wantto’.Butthe

tlydifferentresponsesastowhatitcouldbearenotvery

ativeofa caractuallybeinginthethickofR&D.

ortscarsoftentumbledowntheprioritylist,too,when

s isrequiredelsewhereinthecompany.Nissanneedsto

aulalmostitsentireglobalportfoliobeforeit eventhinks

seriouslyabout anewGT-R.In lateJuly,Nissanreporteda

somewhat disastrous first fiscal quarter result, with global

profits downastaggering 99 percent.Itannounced12,500

jobs would be cut at 14 loss-making factories overseas by

theendofMarch2023,andthatglobalproduction– andthe

modelline-up– wouldbecutby 10 percentbytheendof

fiscal2022.USsalesaredown,theportfolioisaging,

therelationshipwithRenaultisinneedofrepair

andinvestorsarequestioningwhethernewCEO

Hiroto Saikawa is the right man forthe job.

Therehave alsobeena seriesof scandals in

thelasttwoyears,nevermindthewholeCarlos

An R36 could be based on the R35, using the same powertrain,

potentially mated to a hybrid system to bring the GT-R back

to the cutting edge of tech again. But it could make even

more sense to just skip the hybrid stage and go straight to

full electric. Acceleration would be unbelievable – as would

handling – if Nissan’s engineers harnessed the power of true

torque vectoring possible with multiple electric motors. If such

a car does materialise, a concept could appear out of nowhere

(much as the R35’s did), but keep in mind the first R35 concept

was unveiled in 2001 and a production car not arrive until 2007.

A ballistic electric powertrain would transform the GT-R into

a performance pioneer again, and elevate it to another plane of

speed and ability. For most other sports cars, we wouldn’t quite

like the sound of full electrification, but the GT-R has always

been about pushing technology to its limits.

A BALLISTIC ELECTRIC

POWERTRAIN WOULD

TRANSFORM THE GT-R

INTO A PIONEER AGAIN

Ghosn thing... Plainly, things are a bit rocky at Nissan right now.

While this should be the moment Nissan announces its plans

for reinvention as a leader in technology, it would probably be

wise to focus on electrification, full autonomy, ride-sharing and

other ‘mobility solutions’. Unfortunately, a new halo sports car

is not quite the hero Nissan needs right now.

Instead, it sounds like the R35 will kick around for a few more

years, judging by recent comments from GT-R Chief Product

Specialist Hiroshi Tamura, the father of R35. Tamura-san said

Nissan could develop a revised R35 for 2022 or 2023. And what

might that look like? If we had to guess, we’d say new front and

rear bars, new wheels, more power and new infotainment.

More carbonfibre, too, and further weight saving. Maybe a new

ESP system, TFT instruments and, if we’re really lucky, rear-

wheel steering. We’re just speculating, but that would mean the

R35 would remain on sale until potentially 2025 or 2026. Which

is just mind-boggling.