Nissan shifts GT-R to next stage

Nissan Australia chief executive Dan Thompson said one of Nissan's biggest battles is to maintain interest in the GT-R. Photo / Supplied

Nissan has already given the GT-R supercar its first-year upgrade - but the more serious go-faster changes come into effect next year.

The two-door picked up 2010 engine and suspension revisions for the New Zealand market in March, with equipment improvements like auto-sensing headlights and wipers.

But the 2011 model will get more of an overall facelift, with the likelihood of a power upgrade. The revised GT-R is expected to be unveiled globally in October, the second stage in a series of model-year upgrades to keep the car fresh.

Nissan New Zealand marketing manager Peter Merrie said there had been much talk of a power upgrade next year for the super-coupe.

"All of it is speculation - we don't know what to expect," he said.

Nissan Australia chief executive Dan Thompson - in Japan for the first drive of the all-electric Leaf - confirmed next year's GT-R upgrade would be the latest in a series of model-year upgrades to boost the relevance of the company's flagship sportscar.

"Every year we will receive a model upgrade for the GT-R to keep it fresh, not just in terms of specifications but also performance," he told website GoAuto.

"We've just launched the latest change in the US, so we won't see anything new until 2011, when performance upgrades could be part of the package too."

Thompson said one of Nissan's biggest battles is to maintain interest in the GT-R.

"The first year is always an anomaly," he said. "When news [of model upgrades] starts leaking out overseas sales stop. Obviously those buyers want the latest technology."

In the current car, the GT-R's suspension has been returned to offer improved steering stability and ride comfort, courtesy of revised rebound damping, stronger rear suspension radius rod bushes and fine-tuned wheel alignment settings.

Nissan claims the suspension upgrade offers "enhanced, premium-quality ride comfort" while "still providing the driver with a feeling of direct contact with the road surface".

Rear diffusers with cooling ducts, which were previously available only on the GT-R SpecV available overseas, are said to improve rear floor area cooling performance.

Completing the mechanical upgrade are new hexagonal-mesh catalyst cells to reduce airflow resistance within the twin exhaust system, while the cooling efficiency of the transmission's heat exchanger is said to have been improved by a larger-diameter coolant pipe.

Nissan says the changes enhance low-end and mid-range engine response. Crucially, however, outright performance from the GT-R's 3.8-litre twin-turbo engine remain unchanged at 357kW and 588Nm.

Nissan reinforced the performance credentials of the GT-R at Germany's Nurburgring last year, when it clocked a record lap time of 7:26.70.

Nissan NZ continues to offer two GT-R models: the standard version is priced at $168,000, the Premium at $169,800.