![Nissan GTR 2010 modification](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1xl_GdcgLxsWhUcH87J2XGFc9m712Xiecfxqc2ySCvM3z5RHvbChqNawSyR8pTF9HGEE7ZznCch3xyDk9xiSYbYqarDqdvkhN3gXkGsP6VO8MJ0xFStjDH9Nnpol9bg8FrwomfKU-Jg/s400/Nissan+GTR+2010+modification.jpg)
![Nissan GTR 2010 Modif Wallpaper](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuaH2k7tL3o133kfiHtspdPx7r9st9RevzE-bFdA9bV8v4qJ_3x89dKpDpMXTYYEU8al17KLrdATIaa96y7ibf7S2wOOqaKFDpqJFnut66H9_qa3RChD_pQu8dbSxvsMiogubznnyplA/s400/Nissan+GTR+2010+modif+wallpaper.jpg)
![modification of Nissan GTR 2010](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjogzl8GDzF-Xkgsb_dRt3iWkQJZBG4VYngjA7npSGrCL3g-eWMiwRi9rq8JK2o0yLmz6OZziQhcZKIFw5AYVdFH4HdzG1MiUh8yQWLgEbjiEPpUefCkZ3klmuWzSOiFdLPxe-4WJ4i-xA/s400/modification+of+Nissan+GTR-2010.jpg)
![Modification of Nissan GTR 2010](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6mJeREEQUg3jBircr8k_EA3F3D054UQXZiWK0mXb0sdjoR_jsSv4m5Wf2Q-oCZpUKdM1tHzpPvPHgaaJTw2z6NimYuRwKGz8rnXCz-f5OhJwnAj-0IeL-gNujaVX6nK3Ijj19Rj2kHQ/s400/Modification+of+Nissan+GTR+2010.jpg)
First and foremost, we should cover what's new for 2010. The big news is bye-bye launch control. We found the GT-R's penchant for grenading transmissions humorous (from a distance), but alas, farewell. However... maybe it's still there? Maybe Nissan was only telling people launch control had been deleted? We found a very deserted stretch of road, put the transmission and suspension into R mode, turned the VDC all the way off, planted our left foot on the brake pedal and pushed the throttle with our right. Instead of the tach zinging up to 4,500 rpm, fuel cutoff happens right around 2,000 rpm. Launch control is deader than last Thanksgiving's turkey. That's not very soulful.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMEaWNaa2fGBcofAMaRX2MLsBogZWZg3WYnEI4DCwP-jqebIIogCAU08_kwN0Cd-7_i6Z7lx3symhL385QzGi7T-nRjuORY2nreg18F7oVyoZsnS3G6goyZq0B18O0cxu_H5ZNWyP_jg/s400/Nissan+GTR+2010.jpg)
![Nissan GTR 2010 Silver](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhwa2sLeqeuSHifBu4ED6pmRihrA19nIdBm6ndP74N_Wiw2PE0XjmIBBRX-2bAa6A-t4XUgG9uOw7Vvv6REOIBH84wN_jPhGD0IpUM7DXp2SIemNRBxYaKx7PfZdfcnRtZTizz5ac0AY/s400/Nissan+GTR+2010+Silver.jpg)
You cannot fit your hand between the front and rear thrones.
As far as looks go, let's face it: You've been staring at the GT-R through your computer screen for as long as I have. Not a single body panel was changed for 2010, so you either love it, or you're indifferent. I will say this, Godzilla is huge. I knew the Nissan was a big boy, but it's nearly ten inches longer than a C6 Corvette; its wheelbase is fifteen inches longer than a Porsche 997. But hey, we were able to fit a case of wine and a large pizza in the trunk, so I'm sure owners aren't complaining too much about the GT-R's dimensions.
![Nissan GTR 2010 modification picture](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuddcEQq-UGXe6KfoLUOqS-Y-xNL46gSd8RYFamzsYF2irB2lvtcW0unDr_jMeNrm-bYAngcENCigLZUHQyJxJ_EgSvU6RYBZtP4cyCxqDMJNHDM7Q4a7-dTUpRypxVjY_iE58oJtUsEU/s400/Nissan+GTR+2010+modification+picture.jpg)
So then, how's it drive? In a word, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. From a standing start, the forward thrust is obscene. Pornographic, to stick with our earlier metaphor. 60 mph happens in less than four seconds (thanks to launch control delete, the GT-R no longer hunts in the 3.2/3.3-second Enzo/ZR1 woods) and the quarter-mile is annihilated in less than twelve. Trap speed? 120 mph, give or take. Top speed? North of 190 mph.
All these numbers are as quick or quicker than a $200,000+, all-wheel drive, paddle-shifted, 552-horsepower Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 or a $280,000 502-hp Ferrari F430 Scuderia. But forget about the numbers, the price tags and the competitor's badges. Instead, concentrate on the massive brutality taking place and hair-splitting wail of the turbos at full clip. You get to watch the scenery deform all around you as the buzzing builds to full cresendo. After giving one pal a quick blast up an empty freeway, he didn't want to shake hands because his palms were so sweaty. The GT-R is a face-puller, a neck-snapper, a pulse-pounder. Especially when you're banging off shifts in half a second with one of the world's finest paddle-shifted dual-clutch gearboxes. And that's in default. Pop the transmission into R-mode and the shifts are over and done with in two-tenths of a second. Bloody hell, indeed.
![Nissan GTR 2010 Modif](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4diJPb2Ic7PmYDa5PqBTtCz-CnaLJGpuVqgwdvCMpFgMIckBTxs97hLlQT6HjMq0k8s4qhPMq3ZXOjD5_TD0c2BAKTqJOuM9wJF0msfRT5m5vzU8RdraVByaKtveQEP9nZsf7OXEgn_A/s400/Nissan+GTR+2010+modif.jpg)
3,829-pound cars shouldn't change direction like Barry Sanders in his prime.
If I may quote McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray after he climbed out of the Bugatti Veyron for the first time, "One really good thing, and I simply never expected this, is that it does change direction. It hardly feels its weight. Driving it on a circuit I expected a sack of cement, but you can really throw it at tight chicanes." Replace the word "circuit" with "stomach churning canyon road" and those are my sentiments exactly vis-à-vis the 2010 GT-R. 3,829-pound cars shouldn't change direction like Barry Sanders in his prime. Yet this one does.
![Nissan GTR 2010 Interior Modification](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDcGyIgPC4F7I0W-Juo9xR6gM6mDzQnKZI0uD4g2yojC1VQWRNi2Za3YfE61ASPBh46jTjYo47c1zBwQ2vkUu2XF1vzbgujZhASgwUGLxtAhwGUhgPlsKkyx008jacQiqL1w6hTwg6SM/s400/Nissan+GTR+2010+Interior+Modification.jpg)
Ah, but here it comes. Here's the part of the story where I'm supposed to tell you that yeah, you can hoon a GT-R harder and faster than a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. But the Italians are works of art, a living, breathing symphony filled with arias pointed right at the heart of an automobile where man and machine become one via harmony, divine intervention, etc. The GT-R? Nothing but a Silicon Valley automaton, precisely but passionlessly going about its servile duties while totally disconnected from the world around it and driver within. Well guess what? I'm not saying that – or anything resembling that. In fact, I'm going to say that those who complain about the GT-R's supposed soullessness simply aren't pushing it hard enough. Because once you do, you hear the angels sing. New rule: All observations concerning the GT-R at less than 80 mph or 5,000 rpm (whichever comes first) are meaningless. Under that and Godzilla's not even breathing hard.
When the gloves come off (transmission's in R-mode, suspension's in R-mode, VDC's in R-mode, nitrogen-filled tires are nice and warm and tacky) not only can the new GT-R rundown the aforementioned farm animals, but it's just as rewarding to drive – if not more so. Why? You can brake later, you can hold the road longer and you can blast out of corners quicker. Isn't that why we drive? Like many great cars, the GT-R seems to shrink when pushed, and the harder and meaner, the smaller it gets. Italian exhausts sound a thousand times better, but the GT-R is simply the better supercar. You'll be continually shocked that such a heavy, civilized and inexpensive car is not only capable of, but eager to rotate on its axis, accelerate like a rally car over busted pavement and keep its driver cool/comfortable after hours of use and abuse.
One caveat: during all of our testing we left the VDC on (except for our ill-fated attempt at launch control) and in R-mode for several reasons. The first being that Nissan strictly forbids operating the car with the VDC defeated unless you're stuck in snow or mud – it straight-up voids the warranty – and we didn't feel like returning a handful of broken half-shafts and shredded gears to the good folks at Nissan. The second reason being that most of our evaluative drives were on two-lane public roads with the high possibility of oncoming traffic and blind corners.
The GT-R inhabits the same plane of existence as Porsche's legendary 959.
That said, the VDC in R-mode has such incredibly high limits that we were able to register full back-to-back 1g lateral acceleration pulls in two different directions (as indicated by the g-meter oscilloscope) again and again and again. The car almost never lets go. And if it does step out (journo-speak for, "I entered the corner too hot, mashed the brakes while chopping the wheel and staring at a squirrel"), the sensation is akin to a hand reaching down from the clouds, grabbing hold and gently performing a quick course correction – the same way you used to play with your Hot Wheels. There's no sudden loss of power, no cruel nanny coming in like a guillotine. Just a little bit of wiggle, and you're back in the game, pushing the edge of the envelop, gunning for an M6, Ducati Monster, Dodge Viper and a few Ferrari F430 Spiders (yes, we did). Over the course of five days, five tanks of high-grade gasoline and more than 600 miles, we experienced the full force of the VDC saving our butt exactly once. And yeah, it was when we were trying to pull away from the damn Ducati.
![Nissan GTR-2010](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipc1T2geGjpHXyfT0NJXaKwAdcFu5WytAPG3Hg1WLsaMkcOwp2IO6_GWK1gz28U6qi1g7qSzje8dh7neeTi6VJ5I8-VhGOfiqZttIhqhVChnN31Hmsi4W3gPVf1OXfLyZeffANXL9l4L0/s400/Nissan+GTR-2010.jpg)
Let's look at the 2005 winner for supercar bang-for-the-buck: the Corvette Z06. It makes about identical power compared to the GT-R, but weighs 700 pounds less. Yet the GT-R is faster, both in a straight line and around corners. Stops better, too. Neat party trick, no? Yes, laying fat, smoky strips of incinerated rubber a hundred feet long is fun, but it's old fashioned, and in many ways, it's making the best of a compromised situation. On the other hand, the GT-R inhabits the same plane of existence as Porsche's legendary 959. Better driving through science. Of course, the Nissan GTR 2010 Modification is faster, more nimble and worlds less expensive than my favorite Porsche. Now I'm not blind, deaf or numb. A certain number of imperfections do add flavor. But that's hardly the only way to build character. Might I suggest a 485-hp, twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 coupled to a fancy-pants AWD system and a dual-clutch tranny from hell? For my money, that's about as soulful as a car gets.
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