First Drive: Nissan GT-R SpecV
"We wanted to increase the thrill factor on a racetrack," he says. That's also why he's employed what he calls "the world's best brakes" (on a roadgoing car, of course). The six-piston Brembo carbon ceramic package boasts a unique mix of carbon and ceramic "thatching" that dissipates heat and resists fade more than any current brake assembly, even a Ferrari FXX according to Mizuno.
And to transfer that excessive braking force to the tarmac, Nissan also fitted the car with upgraded 20-in. Bridgestone RE070 run-flats that boast thicker sidewalls and shoulders and a stickier tread pattern. The result is mind-blowing, once you get some heat into those carbon-ceramic rotors and pads, which are not afraid to glow bright red under the stress. Jump on the brake pedal from around 120 mph, and the SpecV pulls up like nothing we've ever driven. You almost feel as though you have to recalibrate your brain to cope with this coupe's outrageous stopping power. One source tells that over 2 g are generated under full braking from 150 mph. Totally believable. The only downside is the price. At $50,000, you need to win a lottery just to pay for a new set of brakes. Thanks to the newly fitted fixed Bilstein dampers, the car stays flatter and more stable with less nose dive, and, strangely, or maybe not so, this combination of modifications makes the car feel a lot lighter and more chuckable.
Don't expect to see this Godzilla in the U.S. any time soon. Nissan can build only 30 units a month, all to be sold in Japan for the foreseeable future. Mizuno believes the premium price tag of $167,000 won't discourage buyers. He knows it's crucial to keep the GT-R's evolution on the public consciousness and at the top of the hit lists on influential Web sites. That's why he will turn up at the Nurburgring in Germany again in April with the SpecV in an attempt to smash Nissan's own 7-min/29-sec lap time.
As we left the track, Mizuno hinted that the least his new charger would do is to better the Corvette ZR1's 7-min/26-sec lap. "That's not hard," he said. "Be ready for a quick time." We are Mizuno-san, you betcha.