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NISSAN OFFERS TO TEACH PORSCHE HOW TO DRIVE.....

Nissan has this morning issued a lengthy statement rebuking claims by rival carmaker Porsche that its GT-R lap times of the Nurburgring were false. The Japanese manufacturer is clearly angry at accusations that it cheated and has made a thinly veiled suggestion that the people over in Stuttgart don’t know how to drive. Porsche claimed that it had acquired a US-spec GT-R but was unable to get anywhere near Nissan’s reported lap time of the ‘Ring.

Today’s press release by Nissan made its thoughts on the matter clear: ‘…we offer performance driving courses for prospective and current GT-R owners to help them get the best performance from their car. We would welcome the opportunity to help any auto manufacturer with understanding the full capabilities of the GT-R.’ Nissan also goes into great detail about how ‘production specification vehicles with production specification tyres’ have been used for all testing, including the ‘Ring attempt.

‘For the April 2008 test [the 7.29 lap time], the GT-R carried an additional 50kg of weight due to the Marelli data recorder and video camera equipment. In addition, the test was witnessed by ‘Best Motoring’ magazine from Japan who reported the test in their July 2008 issue, which included a DVD program of the session,’ read the statement.

Nissan says it offers two tyre choices for the GT-R - Bridgestone POTENZA RE070R and Dunlop SP SPORT 600 DSST CTT - and for the tests conducted at the Nurburgring where the lap times of 7:38 and 7:29 were recorded, the Dunlop tyres were used.

Kazutoshi Mizuno, Chief Vehicle Engineer and Chief Product Specialist for GT-R, said: ‘We have used circuits like the Nurburgring and Sendai extensively during the development of the GT-R. The fastest lap-time was never the objective but a simple parameter for us to measure the GT-R in a consistent way against other world class supercars.

'Testing a car with specialized parts such as unique tyres or suspension has no meaning for us. The GT-R was designed from the start to be a supercar that could be driven anywhere, anytime and by anyone. For us, testing the car in standard production specification is far more relevant than creating a one-off vehicle that our customers cannot buy.'

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