On this episode of Ignition
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MotorTranscript
00:00 The history of the GT-R is chronicled by decades of nonstop motorsports victories.
00:07 Its utter dominance in touring car racing was so constant, it always seemed to be faster
00:11 and more capable than every other car in the field, no matter the weight penalty.
00:16 While the GT-R up to date doesn't compete as regularly, its supremacy continues.
00:21 The modern version seems to be a magic number generator, always producing acceleration and
00:26 handling results that redefine what's possible.
00:30 And now we have a version in the US built for the track to continue that history, the
00:34 2014 GT-R Track Pack.
00:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:00 What is a track pack for the GT-R?
01:02 Well, it turns out it's not a whole lot.
01:04 What you get are some brake cooling guides for the front and rear rotors.
01:08 Down here, you have the same forged raised wheels that you get on the black edition.
01:13 And they're wrapped with the same sticky Dunlop tires.
01:15 But behind them are the Bilstein shocks.
01:18 And those have been retuned.
01:19 And you also get stiffer spring rates.
01:21 Now inside, you have seats that look like they came out of a Pep Boys catalog.
01:26 But they're wrapped with a material that is extra sticky.
01:28 So it should hold you in place during sustained G-load.
01:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:40 The GT-R is constantly able to deliver superlative numbers.
01:44 And this track pack is no exception.
01:46 But it's not just the incredible speed, but how easily you can access it.
01:51 A few toggle switches lands you in launch control.
01:54 And then--
01:54 [ENGINE REVVING]
02:07 That 0 to 60 result is tied with the fastest production cars
02:10 we've ever recorded.
02:11 [ENGINE REVVING]
02:17 The braking and handling numbers are just as impressive.
02:20 [TIRES SQUEALING]
02:23 Its stopping distance is tied with the second best we've ever recorded.
02:26 [TIRES SQUEALING]
02:29 And the same goes for the figure eight lap time.
02:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:52 Now, the last time we had a GT-R, we went on and on
02:55 about how it did in normal magazine testing, 0 to 60, quarter mile skid pad,
03:01 figure eight, and all that stuff.
03:03 But now we have the GT-R track pack.
03:06 And we are on a race track.
03:08 So we're going to see how well it does here at Streets of Willow.
03:11 First, to do that, though, we have to put the diff in race mode.
03:15 We have to put the suspension in race mode.
03:18 And the traction control and stability control in off mode,
03:22 which is the best mode.
03:25 Now, let's get started.
03:26 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:29 Nothing in the world that goes down a road or through a race track
03:34 quite like a GT-R.
03:36 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:41 The rapid, just absolutely ferocious and insane acceleration out of a corner
03:48 is like nothing else.
03:49 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:53 It seems to be why this car is made, is to just explode out of corners.
03:59 Everything it does is for that goal.
04:02 [ENGINE REVVING]
04:05 You have a lot of torque that's delivered pretty early.
04:11 And you have a ton of traction, thanks to the all-wheel drive system
04:15 and the tires that are on this car.
04:18 And so when you get to a point on a corner
04:20 where you start applying the throttle, you can just go flat.
04:25 And the fun part about driving this car on a track
04:28 is just seeing how far from an apex or after an apex
04:33 you can go flat on the throttle and how quickly you'll just
04:37 explode out of corners.
04:40 It's ridiculous.
04:42 [ENGINE REVVING]
04:47 You only get a very slight amount of oversteer.
04:50 This car doesn't seem to do it.
04:55 It just wants to go fast, straight.
04:57 And oversteer isn't fast.
04:58 It's fun, but it's not fast.
05:00 [ENGINE REVVING]
05:03 This car only does fast.
05:06 [ENGINE REVVING]
05:10 Now, what you get out of the track is a lot of fun.
05:13 [ENGINE REVVING]
05:14 Now, what you get out of the track package
05:16 isn't a completely different car.
05:18 This is still the same old GT-R. They've just
05:21 tweaked a few things to make it, I think,
05:25 last a little bit longer on a racetrack
05:27 to help you drive it a little bit better.
05:31 Now, the stiffer springs, the revised dampers,
05:34 they give the car a great sense of control
05:37 through the bumpier bits.
05:39 But the car rides stiffly.
05:41 It rides very stiff.
05:43 You get all kinds of bumps and impacts and crashes
05:46 and whatnot over some of the rougher parts of this track.
05:49 And this is a pretty rough track.
05:51 [ENGINE REVVING]
05:54 Like, right there.
05:55 [LAUGHS]
05:56 [ENGINE REVVING]
06:00 [TIRES SCREECHING]
06:02 [ENGINE REVVING]
06:05 Now, if those changes don't seem all that impressive,
06:08 it's because they really don't need to be all that serious.
06:13 This car is so capable in stock form
06:16 that it doesn't need a dramatic change in its hardware
06:21 in order to dominate racetracks.
06:23 It does that easily.
06:25 This car makes machines that cost twice as much of it
06:28 look dumb in terms of performance.
06:31 [ENGINE REVVING]
06:36 A lot of people say that the GT-R works so well
06:38 is because it cheats physics.
06:40 It doesn't.
06:41 It just uses physics to its advantage.
06:44 Think about it.
06:45 You have four big, sticky tires.
06:48 You have very quick torque delivery, immediate torque
06:51 delivery, and very short gearing.
06:54 Now, the short gears are going to send that quick torque
06:57 delivery to all four of those sticky tires,
06:59 and that means really good acceleration.
07:01 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:05 And the other interesting thing is this car
07:06 isn't all-wheel drive all the time.
07:09 In fact, it wants to be zero to the front, 100% of the power
07:13 to the rear all the time.
07:14 And it only sends power to the front
07:17 when it starts detecting that the rear wheels are slipping.
07:19 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:28 At times, it can feel like you're
07:31 driving a science project.
07:33 There's all these vibrations and clunks and things
07:36 happening in the drivetrain.
07:38 The sound it makes, it doesn't sound quite like anything else.
07:41 It's got this metallic howl like you're sitting in a jet plane.
07:46 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:50 Now, sure, it isn't the most organic handling situation.
07:55 It's more brutal.
07:56 I mean, this doesn't have the delicacy
07:57 that you get in some mid-engine sports cars,
08:01 or even some front-engine sports cars.
08:04 But you have to admire the technological ability
08:08 on display here, and how well this thing works
08:12 as a supercar destroyer.
08:14 That's essentially what this is.
08:16 It's a giant killer.
08:20 But to find out how fast this GT-R can go,
08:27 we'll hand it over to Randy Pobst.
08:28 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:33 Well over 100, into the turn one kick.
08:38 This new GT-R is a better balanced car
08:40 than any GT-R before it.
08:42 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:45 Into turn two, a little bit off-camber sweeper,
08:55 tiny bit of push, but the traction is amazing.
09:00 And turn four, a little rough.
09:04 Nissan soaks it up.
09:07 This is a very stable and yet still balanced car.
09:11 [ENGINE REVVING]
09:16 Into the bowl.
09:18 And this long bank sweeper, I just got my foot down,
09:22 and it just sticks, no fear.
09:25 Into the fast kink, it's really bumpy through here.
09:29 I can attack it, and the car just sticks.
09:32 Pretty amazing through there.
09:34 Down to second gear.
09:38 Just launches off the corner right before the skid pad,
09:43 heading back to the front straight away.
09:46 Little push, got the power early, got some push.
09:51 And then blasting off the corner like shot out of a gun
09:55 over the finish line.
09:57 The Nissan GT-R, an extremely accessible, well-balanced
10:01 package.
10:02 Easy to go fast in this car.
10:05 With a staggering one minute, 19 and 1/2 second lap time,
10:09 the GT-R is faster than anything we've ever lapped here.
10:13 It's simply extraordinary.
10:16 This is faster.
10:17 It doesn't matter against what.
10:18 The GT-R is simply faster.
10:20 While the modern GT-R may not be as involved in motorsports
10:25 as its predecessors were, it still
10:28 matches the precedent they set.
10:30 If there's any real description for that,
10:32 it's a history of dominance.
10:34 [ENGINE REVVING]
10:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:15 (upbeat music)
11:18 you