Really.
We know that this car is faster round the Nuerburgring
than a Porsche 911 Turbo, which costs twice as much.
We know it's faster across Japan than the bullet train.
But what we don't know, 'cause last week I was on the public roads
and it was fitted with an electronic speed muzzle,
is what it's like when you really put your foot down.
So, when the race was over,
I stayed in Japan for an extra day to see if I could find out.
This is the Fuji race circuit.
There's no speed limit here. No traffic either.
And best of all, no need to be worried by the Nissan speed governor.
On normal roads, all Japanese cars are limited to 112 miles an hour.
But the GT-R satnav system knows when it gets to a racetrack...
and simply turns the limiter off.
First of all, I must apologise for the sunglasses.
This is because yesterday I picked up a hideous eye infection.
And I really don't think you want to see it.
This, though, I think you do want to see. Flap your paddle gearbox into manual.
We put the gearbox itself into race mode, the suspension into race mode.
We put that button down to engage the launch control.
Left foot on the brake. Build up the revs.
Here we go!
God!
It's hard to say how much power the GT-R develops,
because each engine, as I said last week, is hand built.
Each one is therefore a little bit different.
But I think they put a million horsepower in this one,
because the acceleration is just blistering. It's just savage!
God! Face-ripping!
With the launch control engaged,
I did nought to 60 in three and a half seconds.
And flat out, it's even more impressive.
Partly that's down to the million horsepower 3.8 litre twin turbo V6.
And partly it's down to the shape of the body.
It looks like a discordant mess, like Stravinsky designed it.
But every crease and every angle, even on the door mirrors,
is there to channel air to that big rear spoiler.
The result is absolute stability and a top speed of...
Well, since this track has the longest straight
of any Grand Prix circuit, let's find out.
160 kph there.
90!
220...
Come on! 240!
Into sixth gear at 250 kph.
260... 275...
I'm on the brakes.
It will eventually do 193 miles an hour
and that's impressive for a car that's quiet and comfortable,
a car with four seats and a boot.
And it's especially impressive
when you think it wasn't really built for straight line speed.
Mostly it was built to mash your mind in the corners.
The axles are assembled on hydraulic rigs that replicate the weight of the car,
so the geometry is bang on
before the suspension is bolted to the body.
It uses its yaw sensor and G-sensor to measure actual yaw rate,
and can then adjust the DampTronic shock absorbers
and the four-wheel drive system every hundredth of a second
to bring the car into line with a pre-ordained target.
I don't understand any of that, but I do understand this.
The GT-R can corner so fast and so violently,
each wheel has a special knurling on the rim to stop the tyres coming off.
It is extremely hard to explain how this feels.
Agony is probably the best word.
The on-board readout is telling me that in that last corner
I generated one and a fifth more sideways gravity.
I wish my collar had a knurled rim. It would stop my head coming off!
When you really get going at this kind of speed,
you expect to feel detached from the action,
like you're playing a video game, just pressing buttons.
But incredibly, it feels mechanical.
It feels analogue, it feels human.
It feels fan-bleeding-tastic!
I thought when I drove the Mitsubishi Evo-10 the other day
that there was no way the GT-R could be worth twice as much money.
I just thought there's no way it could be twice as good.
But it is.
And some!
They haven't built a new car here. They've build a new yardstick.
Now at this point I was going to tell you
about the incredible brakes and the turbo whistle
and how Lotus secretly developed the spine of this car.
But before I had a chance, I had a bit of a problem.
My neck's just gone.
What I need is painkillers.
Honestly, I hate to cause a fuss because I think...
You hopeless old fart. A Datsun broke your neck!
It was already weakened, from endlessly craning down to listen to you.
Amazing rescue service they've got there, isn't it?
I was very pleased to see that someone had brought a lawnmower.
And a bin lorry.
The dustbin lorry did put the fear of God into me.
Much like I did with them actually when I took my sunglasses off.
"Oh, look at his eye! It's disgusting!"
I'll tell you the problem. You know a lot of modern cars now
have those headlamps that swivel
-when you turn the steering wheel? -Yes
Do you know why the GT-R doesn't have that?
Save weight?
No, it's because the motors in that sort of headlamp can't keep up
with the speed that thing changes direction.
Honestly, it's just unbelievable. It corners faster than electricity.
Wouldn't it be great to know how fast it would go round our track?
Yeah, problem is, you think it's in Japan.
But it isn't. We've flown it 9,000 miles so it can be here today
in the hands of our tame racing driver.
Now, some say that he isn't allowed by law within 100 yards of Lorraine Kelly.
And that he's never seen an episode of Top Gear,
because he's a huge fan of Midsomer Murders.
All we know is he's called Bergerac.
And he's off! Now remember, this £53,000 car
has monstered a 300g McLaren round the Nuerburgring.
But I doubt it will do that here, because this is a power circuit.
Very tidy through the first corner.
Stig's neck, of course, made of weapons grade titanium.
And he's still all over Elton John. Let's hope he showers afterwards.
That is planted around Chicago. A little wiggle on the way out.
Hammerhead, will the big V6 upfront drag it wide?
Not a chance.
Look at that! The Stig, four-wheel drifting for Japan
even though he thinks it's a fictional place.
Okay, the follow through. Bang up the double clutch gearbox.
Sounds like a fighter jet through the tires!
Second to last corner, digital car and analogue animal in perfect harmony.
Gambon...
Super tidy and across the line!
Now...
Now, I was expecting it to be around here.
The Ferrari 430, the Murcielago 1,22, 1,23.
It did it... 1,19.7.
That's a £53,000 four-seater saloon car.
And it's quicker than Carrera GT, McLaren SLR...
Genuinely staggering.