Hi James, good review and honest. Driven in a normal way, on normal roads, some bumpy, some smooth. I owned a 2010 GTR (the model you had to test) and kept it 100% standard. I did 70.000Km in it, in rain, snow, sunshine. On the road, and about 600 laps at Spa and 150 laps on the Nordshleife. My findings where like yours, really a great car, in all conditions. It is always an occasion to drive, the feeling, the sounds. Something i would add, its boot is bigger than a BMW 5-series and it has 4 seats. So a very usable car on top of the performance it has. Great car!!
Great content, thank you. I heard reliably that Nissan's brief was; lap the Nurburgring faster than a 911 Turbo and be less than £60k in the UK. Mission accomplished by them on both fronts.
I guess I'll throw in my experiences with Nissan GTR's. I was lucky enough to own an R35 and R34 GTR at the same time. A good friend of mine owned an R34 GTR and an R32 GTR at the same time. We had taken our cars to plenty of track events and, of course, buzzing around on the street. The most fun to drive of all of them was definitely the R32 GTR. It was light and flickable, the most visceral of all of the cars' hands down. I knew I was going to sell one of my cars, but I wanted to drive them both for a while and decide which one to keep later. Although the R35 was faster, it was a boring car to drive. My mother could get in the car and go fast. There was no challenge, no real driving skill needed to make it boogie. It felt like an appliance for speed, no real involvement. The R34 was more of a drivers car. Every time I drove the thing, it was an event. They were all great cars, but I had no regrets with my decision. Happy driving everyone!
I own a factory stock R32 V-Spec, and my employer some years ago owned a stock R35 GT-R. He thrust the keys to his at me one day and told me to take him for a drive… around the twisty hills nearby. He was urging me on from the passenger seat when he thought I was being a bit too careful! 😅 My impressions - apart from the paddle shifting it felt VERY familiar. Definitely the same DNA, and absolutely SUPERB! I loved it. Wonderfully engineered machines.
Amazing review, very well done and interesting. Not what i expected from a GTR. Hopefully you can get yourself in an Evora GT430 for a review at some point.
Fantastic review :) You will succeed on here your video quality is top notch, good write up and very good representation of what it would be like in the UK. Good to see an upcoming UK youtuber
Genuinely surprised how the GTR coped down a bumpy British B road. I had a similar expectation thinking it's suspension setup would be too harsh, bottoming out, skipping across the road etc. Sounds as though it handles them quite admirably, all things considered!
Another great review James. Funnily enough I also tried driving a GTR today - fantastic car, however the words I first said to my partner after getting out of it were... "It's like having a pet lion on a leash. Powerful, huge and entertaining as it drags you around rather than you drag it. That seems fun at first but I can imagine it gets frustrating very quickly. You'll lose your license ohhhhh so quickly driving it - and that's just not fun." It's incredible but barely touching the pedal to go 70mph to me is just not fun. It's frustrating. You barely push the pedal to trundle along at normal street speeds (40mph at a guess) and then at 3500rpm WHAM you're in hyperdrive that never lets go (the closest I can explain it is like when an aircraft rushes down the runway for take off). It's not like a 911 turbo or Evo where you get a shunting push in the back as the turbos kick in - its linear and smooth but it just goes so fast like a takeoff. Doesn't feel as big when driving it; the seats and dash sort of cocoon you and your passenger but when you get out my god is it huge. It's just far farrrr too easy to go fast. Always loved GTRs, still do but sorry- not for me. Again, great review :)
LegendInThaMakin fully agree with your comments. It is very easy to go ballistic and it took me a week or so to find the groove with it. One of the pleasures of the gtr is actually learning to drive it at normal speeds. Horses for courses I guess but it can take a while for the car to get under your skin
DauntingGecko LegendIn thamakin is an American & comments like he watching a US channel. he put some on my M4 comment... well it's just odd when I'm making a comment on uk cars..why would someone in the US think the comment was 2 him or about cars he may drive !!!! XD
DauntingGecko i just found your comment a little bizzare. Its a car built to be a great track and road weapon and you're criticizing it for the things it excells at, its sole purpose. Too me it was as bizzare as saying the water is too wet, the sun is too bright. Maybe the prius comment was much, maybe you would enjoy the subaru brz or something. A nice slow car you can drive hard without really breaking laws, thats what its built for, the gtr wasnt built with that in mind.
The first time I saw one in the flesh, what struck me most was the fit and finish. It was at a car show where I also saw the e92 m3 for the first time and that thing had misaligned panels and uncanny gaps for days. I wasn't a fan of the gtr shape and looks in picture but it was definitely better in the flesh and it exuded a sense of swiss watch quality I hadn't expected. I happened to be in a country where japanese performance cars were all over the place. We had all versions of everything in spades. Previously, only the nsx and to some extent the supra had that sense of specialness about them. The other great cars were all about the quality underpinnings, drivetrains and powertrains with more or less decent panels on them. The new gen gtr very much set itself apart from the norm and I realized then why it could set foot in the supercar playground with confidence despite some of the goofy traits. It's a special thing.
Drove one once and it was surprisingly easy and comfortable, it’s still my dream car and I’ve not checked my lottery numbers for a while so who knows 😂🤞🏼
I've driven a pretty wide range of exotic cars, ranging widely in price (up to several million dollars). I have never felt so connected to a car in an deeply visceral and intuitive way as when driving the GT-R. It's not "video game" at all! I also wouldn't call it "analog" or "mechanical." It's like no other car I've driven in its capacity to have you feeling like you know the car the moment you start driving it. You think a thing, and it just happens. You're not "inputting" and then the car does the thing. It's literally like you think it, and the car is already doing it. It is an uncanny experience like no other car I've driven. The GT-R is most striking to me in tight, bumpy curves. I have never felt a car be so "solid" and well-composed in bumpy, even negatively-banked turns. It urges you to not just double rated speeds but triple them and more. And all without a shred of tire-chirp or loss of traction. It doesn't even feel fast. I would need to get it on a track to see what it would take to get it drifting, because I wouldn't be willing to do what it takes to get it drifting on public roadways. It's like it's glued down to the road in turns. And, again, it is blissfully intuitive in turns, where that "think it and it happens" aspect really shines. One man's opinion, but this is the ultimate "driver's car" I have ever experienced, and it's basically a SEDAN! At its price-point, it is impossibly good!
Spending a couple of weeks over in Brittany recently, it was quite shocking how much better, even their minor roads are, than the state of ones here in Devon at the moment!
I prefer cars that make me feel every sensation of the speed I'm doing, not isolating me from it. They are far more fun on the streets. That equates to smaller lighter cars, not GT type cars.
I find the "hooning" is well covered in other videos, plus I have to be fairly careful about what I show. I know for a fact the police here do watch my videos
Nice review by all accounts a brilliant car all Japanese cars interior not strong point. GTR I was very interested in owning bar the running cost which can be ginormous, especially in the 2009 £34000 model I wanted, £600 month Finance, and service every 6months! Tyres £250 each and £1000 insurance.
The bit about speeds got me thinking.....I’ve never really thought about it like that until now. - but there is actually no way that you U.K. boys can ever do more than 60mph legally on a road with decent corners? I don’t know how you survive.
Hi , good day . How do you find the ride compared to CLA 45 amg . I own a WRX 2015 and a CLA 45 ...amongst these two I find CLA more comfy . And in planning to upgrade to a 2015 gtr3.. so yeah how's the ride ? More harsh then a CLA ? Thanks
I've always been intrigued by the GTR, but I've never driven one. My father pushed one on track after driving an AMG GTS, 458, 430, and 991 GT3, and said he was very disappointed. He said that it attempted to hide its weight well (thanks in large part to the very large, very sticky tires), but that once you got the car loaded up mid-corner, understeer was inevitable, and the car reached its cornering limits quickly. He said that he also disliked the driving position, and the lack of linearity when attempting to precisely modulate the throttle pedal mid-corner (though that was mostly due to the turbochargers which were constantly spooling up or down). Can you confirm any of these criticisms, James?
Your father is full of shit, I tracked and owned most the cars you mentioned..the gtr did the best for me on track and by far a better car to live with around town
@@ant208 that a GTR "did best" isn't a refutation of any of the problems I described. Any car with enough horsepower and sufficiently sticky tires can be quick around a track. The problem is that the GTR seems to fail at all of the little things that make driving so enjoyable.
Godzilla is a very apt name for this creature, the ONLY Nissan offering I would give a rat's ass about. Nissan's mainstream offerings are cheap, utterly unreliable POS. But this is special.
I notice that you have a habit of complaining about the size of modern day cars after watching a few of your videos. Yes we get it, its a boat compared to your baby stroller lotus. Thing as most modern day coupes are that size now.
DauntingGecko first of all what does my age have to do with anything? I personally dont care for the gtr myself, i just took notice that he always calls these cars big and it was odd to me cus most cars are bigger today than the once were. Civics, camrys, everything is bigger, everything is this size now.
James Martin well yeah. I guess that explains it. Never been to the uk but i do know you guys have exotics. I know cars like the huracan, 458, & mclarens are really wide. How do they manage on your roads and weather? All i know is around here, especially with how trucks and suvs are everywhere, the gtr isnt considered all that big. Mustangs, camaros, they all big like that.
James Martin from the US and I consider those cars huge too. To the OP I'd say it's fair for a reviewer to have a preference, in James' case lightness. It's my own too so his perspective is one I'd like to hear. That a lot of newer cars are getting bloated doesn't change that. There are a few cars that aren't huge like the Miata ND or GT86
Michael Cohen cough... clio. I was in my MiL ka (the more recent one) and I was behind a 3 series estate from the late 80s early 90s era, and the ka towered over it. Such a strange sensation. I have a GTC and pulling up behind the new clio in the car park a few months ago, I had to double take that it was in fact a clio, that was dwarfing my car. A little tear was shed for the old Williams clio.
@@JayEmmOnCars I have only recently discovered you on youtube and I have been smashing your vids over the last week, just watched this one and although not that boring your new videos are really awesome and do make this one look boring :) p.s. that xj220 one will never be topped!!!
Hi James, good review and honest. Driven in a normal way, on normal roads, some bumpy, some smooth.
I owned a 2010 GTR (the model you had to test) and kept it 100% standard. I did 70.000Km in it, in rain, snow, sunshine. On the road, and about 600 laps at Spa and 150 laps on the Nordshleife. My findings where like yours, really a great car, in all conditions. It is always an occasion to drive, the feeling, the sounds.
Something i would add, its boot is bigger than a BMW 5-series and it has 4 seats. So a very usable car on top of the performance it has. Great car!!
Great content, thank you. I heard reliably that Nissan's brief was; lap the Nurburgring faster than a 911 Turbo and be less than £60k in the UK. Mission accomplished by them on both fronts.
I guess I'll throw in my experiences with Nissan GTR's. I was lucky enough to own an R35 and R34 GTR at the same time. A good friend of mine owned an R34 GTR and an R32 GTR at the same time. We had taken our cars to plenty of track events and, of course, buzzing around on the street. The most fun to drive of all of them was definitely the R32 GTR. It was light and flickable, the most visceral of all of the cars' hands down. I knew I was going to sell one of my cars, but I wanted to drive them both for a while and decide which one to keep later. Although the R35 was faster, it was a boring car to drive. My mother could get in the car and go fast. There was no challenge, no real driving skill needed to make it boogie. It felt like an appliance for speed, no real involvement. The R34 was more of a drivers car. Every time I drove the thing, it was an event. They were all great cars, but I had no regrets with my decision. Happy driving everyone!
I own a factory stock R32 V-Spec, and my employer some years ago owned a stock R35 GT-R. He thrust the keys to his at me one day and told me to take him for a drive… around the twisty hills nearby. He was urging me on from the passenger seat when he thought I was being a bit too careful! 😅
My impressions - apart from the paddle shifting it felt VERY familiar. Definitely the same DNA, and absolutely SUPERB! I loved it. Wonderfully engineered machines.
Good review. Lotus did have a hand in developing the chassis of the GTR :)
+KangoV That's correct
I never knew this. Very interesting
Amazing review, very well done and interesting. Not what i expected from a GTR. Hopefully you can get yourself in an Evora GT430 for a review at some point.
I've watched two videos of yours, and I'm subscribed. It's so nice to get a proper independent car review channel from this side of the Atlantic.
Thanks Aiden! Hopefully you enjoy the other videos I do, you'll probably enjoy the other JDM cars
Fantastic review :) You will succeed on here your video quality is top notch, good write up and very good representation of what it would be like in the UK. Good to see an upcoming UK youtuber
+BarbecuedPossum Thanks!
hmmm... off to the classifieds.
Genuinely surprised how the GTR coped down a bumpy British B road. I had a similar expectation thinking it's suspension setup would be too harsh, bottoming out, skipping across the road etc. Sounds as though it handles them quite admirably, all things considered!
Hi James. I love how u do comparison. When you get the chance I would love to see a review of Lotus Evora 400 vs Jaguar F-Type. :)
Another great review James. Funnily enough I also tried driving a GTR today - fantastic car, however the words I first said to my partner after getting out of it were...
"It's like having a pet lion on a leash. Powerful, huge and entertaining as it drags you around rather than you drag it. That seems fun at first but I can imagine it gets frustrating very quickly. You'll lose your license ohhhhh so quickly driving it - and that's just not fun."
It's incredible but barely touching the pedal to go 70mph to me is just not fun. It's frustrating. You barely push the pedal to trundle along at normal street speeds (40mph at a guess) and then at 3500rpm WHAM you're in hyperdrive that never lets go (the closest I can explain it is like when an aircraft rushes down the runway for take off). It's not like a 911 turbo or Evo where you get a shunting push in the back as the turbos kick in - its linear and smooth but it just goes so fast like a takeoff. Doesn't feel as big when driving it; the seats and dash sort of cocoon you and your passenger but when you get out my god is it huge.
It's just far farrrr too easy to go fast. Always loved GTRs, still do but sorry- not for me.
Again, great review :)
DauntingGecko if its too fast for u, drive a prius.
LegendInThaMakin - what an odd immature comment. Any way, enjoy your school holidays doing wheelies on your bike...
LegendInThaMakin fully agree with your comments. It is very easy to go ballistic and it took me a week or so to find the groove with it. One of the pleasures of the gtr is actually learning to drive it at normal speeds. Horses for courses I guess but it can take a while for the car to get under your skin
DauntingGecko LegendIn thamakin is an American & comments like he watching a US channel. he put some on my M4 comment... well it's just odd when I'm making a comment on uk cars..why would someone in the US think the comment was 2 him or about cars he may drive !!!! XD
DauntingGecko i just found your comment a little bizzare. Its a car built to be a great track and road weapon and you're criticizing it for the things it excells at, its sole purpose.
Too me it was as bizzare as saying the water is too wet, the sun is too bright.
Maybe the prius comment was much, maybe you would enjoy the subaru brz or something. A nice slow car you can drive hard without really breaking laws, thats what its built for, the gtr wasnt built with that in mind.
Love it, my favourite car that I’ve driven and what I’d buy if I had £40k ish to spend
The first time I saw one in the flesh, what struck me most was the fit and finish. It was at a car show where I also saw the e92 m3 for the first time and that thing had misaligned panels and uncanny gaps for days. I wasn't a fan of the gtr shape and looks in picture but it was definitely better in the flesh and it exuded a sense of swiss watch quality I hadn't expected. I happened to be in a country where japanese performance cars were all over the place. We had all versions of everything in spades. Previously, only the nsx and to some extent the supra had that sense of specialness about them. The other great cars were all about the quality underpinnings, drivetrains and powertrains with more or less decent panels on them. The new gen gtr very much set itself apart from the norm and I realized then why it could set foot in the supercar playground with confidence despite some of the goofy traits. It's a special thing.
Excellent review!
The hakosuka skyline is an absolute dream for me.
I owned one and it was mental.👌
Drove one once and it was surprisingly easy and comfortable, it’s still my dream car and I’ve not checked my lottery numbers for a while so who knows 😂🤞🏼
I've driven a pretty wide range of exotic cars, ranging widely in price (up to several million dollars). I have never felt so connected to a car in an deeply visceral and intuitive way as when driving the GT-R. It's not "video game" at all! I also wouldn't call it "analog" or "mechanical." It's like no other car I've driven in its capacity to have you feeling like you know the car the moment you start driving it. You think a thing, and it just happens. You're not "inputting" and then the car does the thing. It's literally like you think it, and the car is already doing it. It is an uncanny experience like no other car I've driven.
The GT-R is most striking to me in tight, bumpy curves. I have never felt a car be so "solid" and well-composed in bumpy, even negatively-banked turns. It urges you to not just double rated speeds but triple them and more. And all without a shred of tire-chirp or loss of traction. It doesn't even feel fast. I would need to get it on a track to see what it would take to get it drifting, because I wouldn't be willing to do what it takes to get it drifting on public roadways. It's like it's glued down to the road in turns. And, again, it is blissfully intuitive in turns, where that "think it and it happens" aspect really shines.
One man's opinion, but this is the ultimate "driver's car" I have ever experienced, and it's basically a SEDAN! At its price-point, it is impossibly good!
Spending a couple of weeks over in Brittany recently, it was quite shocking how much better, even their minor roads are, than the state of ones here in Devon at the moment!
I prefer cars that make me feel every sensation of the speed I'm doing, not isolating me from it. They are far more fun on the streets.
That equates to smaller lighter cars, not GT type cars.
scanspeak00 a pergeot 106 you want then, 30 feels like 90.
Great video.
10 years on amazing car wow
Nice review James...would like a bit more hooning around though
I find the "hooning" is well covered in other videos, plus I have to be fairly careful about what I show. I know for a fact the police here do watch my videos
@@JayEmmOnCars 😬
Glad you liked it.. no arguing that these are an awful lot of car for the money
Bayside blue R34 GT-R ❤
I have one , I’d agree with everything you’ve said . 👏👏👏
would you get really board with this car long term? bit like a fast audi" clinical with no feel"
Nice review by all accounts a brilliant car all Japanese cars interior not strong point. GTR I was very interested in owning bar the running cost which can be ginormous, especially in the 2009 £34000 model I wanted, £600 month Finance, and service every 6months! Tyres £250 each and £1000 insurance.
If I was after a good value performance car ,,, this would be it ,,, cheers Shane uk 🇬🇧
GTR's are amazing! definitely worth the price
Disappointed we didn't see this car put through its paces and shown what it's made for. Your still a great car reviewer though 🖒😀
Check out my later GTR vs B Roads video
The bit about speeds got me thinking.....I’ve never really thought about it like that until now. - but there is actually no way that you U.K. boys can ever do more than 60mph legally on a road with decent corners? I don’t know how you survive.
Speed limit is 70mph on a dual carriageway and occasionally you find one with a bend lol
Hi , good day .
How do you find the ride compared to CLA 45 amg .
I own a WRX 2015 and a CLA 45 ...amongst these two I find CLA more comfy .
And in planning to upgrade to a 2015 gtr3.. so yeah how's the ride ? More harsh then a CLA ? Thanks
Similar to the CLA
What is rhe story on the number plate?
Mr Emm: excellent haircut you look great
Its size is deceptive. I have one and its pretty much the same length as our 2019 A class hatchback.
It looks pretty wide though no?
Now I want a Monster Energy drink D:
great review please do the bmw 1m please please please
If I could get my hands on one I would!
I've always been intrigued by the GTR, but I've never driven one. My father pushed one on track after driving an AMG GTS, 458, 430, and 991 GT3, and said he was very disappointed. He said that it attempted to hide its weight well (thanks in large part to the very large, very sticky tires), but that once you got the car loaded up mid-corner, understeer was inevitable, and the car reached its cornering limits quickly. He said that he also disliked the driving position, and the lack of linearity when attempting to precisely modulate the throttle pedal mid-corner (though that was mostly due to the turbochargers which were constantly spooling up or down). Can you confirm any of these criticisms, James?
Your father is full of shit, I tracked and owned most the cars you mentioned..the gtr did the best for me on track and by far a better car to live with around town
@@ant208 that a GTR "did best" isn't a refutation of any of the problems I described. Any car with enough horsepower and sufficiently sticky tires can be quick around a track. The problem is that the GTR seems to fail at all of the little things that make driving so enjoyable.
Pirates haha 😂. Should be pirate mode.
No hooning about?
When the civic overtakes the gtr
Are those tyres noisy or not.
GTRs tend to be noisy cars in general
i need that number plate lol
ShaDoWhUnTeR ellis cheap as chips... £799 from dvla
You would have forgiven it, because it’s called Godzilla. 🦖
Godzilla is a very apt name for this creature, the ONLY Nissan offering I would give a rat's ass about. Nissan's mainstream offerings are cheap, utterly unreliable POS. But this is special.
‘All complete horse shit’
Excellent review…..
Old fashioned? A gtr?? Jesus
Time moves fast in the car world
Godzilla in a Godzilla who would of thought?!
godzilla lol. you do know that this title does not belong to this Skyline!
Godzilla became synonymous to all Skylines from R32 onwards up to this R35 due to the popularity of the Godzilla term.
Just make things more exciting dont woffle on
Good review, but never got the fascination with these big ugly cars.
I notice that you have a habit of complaining about the size of modern day cars after watching a few of your videos. Yes we get it, its a boat compared to your baby stroller lotus. Thing as most modern day coupes are that size now.
LegendInThaMakin - Are you 12 years old? The GTR is massive, much bigger than most cars on the road.
DauntingGecko first of all what does my age have to do with anything? I personally dont care for the gtr myself, i just took notice that he always calls these cars big and it was odd to me cus most cars are bigger today than the once were. Civics, camrys, everything is bigger, everything is this size now.
James Martin well yeah.
I guess that explains it. Never been to the uk but i do know you guys have exotics. I know cars like the huracan, 458, & mclarens are really wide. How do they manage on your roads and weather?
All i know is around here, especially with how trucks and suvs are everywhere, the gtr isnt considered all that big. Mustangs, camaros, they all big like that.
James Martin from the US and I consider those cars huge too. To the OP I'd say it's fair for a reviewer to have a preference, in James' case lightness. It's my own too so his perspective is one I'd like to hear. That a lot of newer cars are getting bloated doesn't change that. There are a few cars that aren't huge like the Miata ND or GT86
Michael Cohen cough... clio.
I was in my MiL ka (the more recent one) and I was behind a 3 series estate from the late 80s early 90s era, and the ka towered over it. Such a strange sensation.
I have a GTC and pulling up behind the new clio in the car park a few months ago, I had to double take that it was in fact a clio, that was dwarfing my car.
A little tear was shed for the old Williams clio.
""Yawn ""sorry has it finished I fell asleep half way through. Boring bored bored bored. Clarkson wannabe
But was it the most boring video...... ....
.....
in the world?
@@JayEmmOnCars I have only recently discovered you on youtube and I have been smashing your vids over the last week, just watched this one and although not that boring your new videos are really awesome and do make this one look boring :)
p.s. that xj220 one will never be topped!!!