This is the new Nissan GT-R Track Pack.
It costs 84,450 pounds.
That's 10,000 pounds more than the standard GT-R. And it will
only be available in the UK and Japan.
It doesn't take long to list the modifications over the
standard GT-R because, well, there aren't many differences.
It gets the RAYS alloys first seen on the V-Spec car, which
save a total of 10 kilograms.
The suspension is different, as are the dampers, but we
don't know by how much.
There are no rear seats.
The fronts have what Mizuno-san calls magic cloth
and the rest of us just call, well, sticky fabric.
There are front and rear cooling ducts for the brakes,
which reduce temperatures by up to a
claimed 100 degrees Celsius.
Now, look, I don't want to come across like I'm being an
ungrateful sod, but when I saw the words "Track Pack," I was
thinking, well, half cage, big brakes, sticky tires, bucket
seats, because that's what you need on a circuit.
But the Track Pack offers none of those.
Is this is a marketing exercise, or is it really the
answer to all the GT-R Track addicts' dreams?
But there's another side to this, too.
When Nissan launched the GT-R in the UK, it was
under 50,000 pounds.
And now it's heading right towards 997 Turbo territory.
Now, I know you guys from the comments pages are getting a
bit fed up with me doing GT3 videos, so I'm going to match
it against a Turbo S this time.
A lot more expensive, 129,000 pounds, and not specifically
designed for a circuit, but you know what?
It's got a turbocharged engine.
It's got a paddle shift gearbox.
It's got four-wheel drive.
It's actually on paper a much closer rival to
the GT-R than a GT3.
I know it's not designed to go on a track, but it's a Porsche
Turbo so it's going to be a bit handy, isn't it?
So the 911 Turbo S. Would you believe it?
530 horsepower and 516 foot pounds.
Not an obvious track car and probably not an obvious rival
to the GT-R Track Pack, but you know what?
I've got a bit of a soft spot for these Turbo S's.
They are quite handy.
So let's try and think about this car driven as you would
on an evening track day.
And that's the way you're going to use
this car, isn't it?
It's got the bucket seats, so off we go.
I've got the gearbox in Sport Plus, so I get
a snappy gear shift.
It's a little dulled compared to the GT-R's, though.
I love the fact that it's so crisp in the GT-R. You pull
the pump, and you really like stuff's happening.
It doesn't so much in this thing.
What have we got here?
It's still slightly slippery here at Brands Hatch.
I've got a little bit of front-end push.
I get on the gas, and that back axle still wants to throw
me around a bit.
Good Lord it feels fast.
Coming down the main straight, that's 131 miles an hour.
I don't think I've ever done that down the main straight in
a racing car here.
Extraordinary, braking hard, Paddock Hill, what a corner,
cambers and dips.
You know what?
This car feels really nicely balanced because it's a
slightly damp day.
Its Bridgestone REO50s are rather nice.
And because it's a rather damp day, its Bridgestones are
feeling rather quite nice and grippy.
They're clawing about.
This is a neutral car.
Look, everybody.
I've got the dampers in normal mode.
I like this.
I really like this.
It's a nicely balanced car.
Hang the throttle, doesn't want to rotate itself.
And it's just got so much performance.
But do you know what?
I'm almost completely unaware of what's going on in the
engine bay.
There's just this vague noise, and then I'm away.
It isn't a great communicator, but my Lord is it
impressive and fast.
Steering's not alive the way it is in the GT3, but I'm
really impressed by this.
You could honestly do a few track days in one of these and
not feel in any way that you're missing out.
I think if you carried on pounding around for too long,
things might get hot.
It's nearly 1,600 kilograms.
But it's got ceramics, this car.
Ceramics are standard, don't forget.
Mighty fast, watch this performance.
Tail wants to wag now and again, but I'm being a good
boy, I'm trying not to drive like a yabbo.
So I'm carving the straight line, all right?
Let that be known by people that complain about me
drifting the whole time.
I'm going to let it cool down a bit and have a think.
It's a mighty impressive car, mighty impressive.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The Track Pack does feel more like a track car because it's
a bit sparser inside.
But it doesn't feel like a GT-3 or anything
like that to me.
It still feels quite normal.
Again, slightly greasy at Brands Hatch.
This is my evening track day, British springtime.
What else do you expect?
Again, I'm going to try to behave and not pull massive
skids everywhere because that's immature and not the
way people behave in cars like this, or so I'm to believe on
the comments pages on YouTube Drive.
So here we go.
Behaving sensibly.
So I'm going to put transmission into Race, and
I'm going to have the stability in Race and not turn
it off completely.
This stops me doing skids everywhere.
First of all, the car feels bigger physically bigger.
The steering's wonderfully sharp though.
It just changes direction.
Oh, and I'll tell you what.
Immediately, I'm getting a feeling that the back axle
wants to move around on me.
But it's got a lot of mechanical grip.
What you have to do is get the car into the corner, get on
the gas, and let the clever drifts kind of
sort it out for you.
But it is quite leery.
You can see I'm having to make some steering corrections
where I just wasn't in the Porsche.
Pulling ahead on the main straight, 127 before I feel I
have to brake.
So heading into Paddock Hill, I love this corner.
Look at it just cascade away from me.
The car feels big.
Yellow lights on the dashboard.
Oversteer in the middle there.
Again, through Druids, there's a bit of a dry line appearing.
Once the rubber gets up to temperature, these are the
same tires that you get on the standard GT-R. But every time
I try and get on the gas, I'm getting oversteer where I
wasn't in the Porsche.
It's a bit more of a handful than the 911 around here.
What I have to ask myself now is, would a standard GT-R feel
much different?
Well, this car's got some geometry changes on it.
Apparently, on the Track Pack, you can either have the
cambers and toes set for Road or Track.
This one's been set for Track.
And I suspect that when you get it really
dialed in, it is quicker.
But like anything, a faster racing car is a more nervous
racing car, isn't it?
So there is a bit of nerviness about this one.
The seat, well, it's got this sort of magic
cloth stuff on it.
But I have to say it's still not a proper bucket seat, and
I'm falling out of it a bit more than I am in the Porsche.
And where's the harness belts?
I always thought you should have harness
belts in a Track Pack.
Maybe this car's challenging the conventions of what a
track car should be.
Brakes are pretty good it's interesting these new brake
ducts in the front end, for the rear brakes as well,
they're hidden underneath.
It's supposed to give you 100 degrees C
less when you're braking.
I can't vouch for that, but I can tell you that I'm not
getting too much brake fray.
This is a short circuit.
It's heavy on brakes.
It's drying out the whole time.
Pretty mighty thing, you know.
It's a pretty mighty thing.
My problem is this.
It just reminds me how bloody good the standard GT-R is.
It just reminds me how good the standard GT-R is.
Typically, now I've said that the Porsche was easier to
drive, the GT-R goes and sets the faster lap time.
Always the case.
But these were one in traffic and drying conditions, so
they're not worth taking too seriously.
But there's the time anyway.
What you need to know is that both cars are silly fast.
If this was the only GT-R, I'd say it was astounding.
But it's hard to make sense of the Track Pack.
It's certainly sharper around a circuit.
That's not in any doubt.
But if you took a standard GT-R and added 10,000 pounds
worth of modifications, that car would be even faster, and
I suspect even better.
That's the problem with small-volume specials.
They're often undone by the brilliance of the car on which
they are based.
You see, I'd still have a standard GT-R. But if I had
the money and I was looking for a fast road car that would
handle the occasional track session, I wouldn't have
either of these two.
The Turbo S is pant-wettingly fast on road and track.
But I'd take a plain 997 Turbo with folding bucket seats and
a manual gearbox, proving that it's a funny old world.