Nissan's four-wheel drive sports car was renamed in 2007 as its latest redesign (the R35) became available. No longer called the Skyline, the new GT-R was equipped with a twin turbo 3.8 liter engine capable of producing over 450 horsepower. The VR38DETT engine is built in a clean room by hand, and tends to vary slightly in power levels because of this hands-on approach. The body is constructed from both carbon fiber and cast aluminum, and the front-to-rear downforce balance was carefully engineered during the design process. The R36 GT-R model is due by 2023.
Auto Racing
A month after sales of the GT-R began, Nissan announced its intentions to use it the Japan Super GT Series with their new car. The race model for this series was equipped with a 4.5 liter V8, the engine used in their Fairlady Z GT race car from the previous year that produced almost 500 horsepower. A total of five GT-Rs competed in the Super GT Series that year, winning seven out of the nine races that year.
The 2007 model set one of the fastest laps ever recorded at the Nürburgring in a stock production car, at 7:26.7 (this time has been contested by a number of drivers and manufacturers).
Nissan GTR • Engineering Excellence by Engineering Explained
Tuning the GT-R
Just like previous versions of the car, many tuning companies wanted to get their hands on the car to create their own improved versions. The VR38DETT engine, however, is a sealed engine, preventing a lot of personal modifications from being done. The formerly "untunable" ECU has been hacked by a select few tuning firms, such as COBB Tuning, Mine's, and HKS.