‘Godzilla’ gets look in

By Alastair Sloane

Nissan's fire-breathing twin-turbo GTR Skyline, popularly known as "Godzilla", will go on sale at the carmaker's dealerships in New Zealand if there is enough customer demand.

Nissan has imported two models in an effort to gauge the potential popularity of the vehicle which dominated, until it was outlawed, the annual Bathurst race in Australia in the hands of expatriate New Zealand driver Jim Richards.

"We want to measure what sort of reaction there is to the car," said Nissan marketing executive Peter Merrie.

"If we find that there is market for it - and it will be small - then we will bring it in for our dealers. "

Merrie said Nissan hadn't decided whether the GTR would be sold through selected dealers only. "That's possible but we haven't looked at that yet."

The high-performance coupe will cost more than $100,000. "But not too far over that figure," said Merrie.

It is powered by a twin-turbocharged, straight-six, 24-valve 2.6-litre engine which produces 208kW of power and about 400Nm of torque, or pulling power.

But the car's strength is its limpet-like traction and pin-sharp steering, courtesy of its electronic four-wheel-drive system with a limited-slip differential and four-wheel steering.

The two-door, four-seater has adjustable spoilers front and rear and is equipped with Formula One-style Brembo brakes, which keep its weight of 1540kg under check at speed.

The GTR is considerably more expensive than other Japanese supercars the Mitsubishi Evo VI ($63,000) and Subaru 22B ($57,000), with which it is often compared.