The 2010 Nissan GT-R
Exotic sports cars are the stuff that dreams are made of. As a younger man, I was in love with the Porsche 959. Some kids adorned their walls with shots of the Lamborghini Countach while others fell head over heels with the Ferrari F40.All amazing cars equipped with equally amazing price tags. Nissan has a car in its stable that offers near-supercar performance with a price tag under the six-figure mark. It is the 2010 NISSAN GTR and it’s awesome.
The first cars I mentioned above were beautiful and powerful machines that were not easy to drive. If you didn’t know what you were doing, you would be hurt - quickly. The 2010 Nissan GT-R is just as fast, if not faster than those cars. It won’t overheat, it can be driven by anyone, and it has plenty of room in the trunk for groceries and golf clubs.
The second group of cars I mentioned are beautiful and powerful machines that are some of the fastest production vehicles on the planet. They have abundant levels of performance and stellar price tags to match. The GT-R is neck and neck with these cars and is tens of thousands of dollars cheaper. The 911 starts at $130,000, the Murcielago starts at $354,000, and the 430 starts at $186,000. The base price of a 2010 Nissan GT-R is $80,790. From a purely fiscal standpoint, this is not an affordable car. From a purely car enthusiast standpoint, it’s the most affordable high-performance exotic car on the planet.
I am going to start a rumor that the R stands for Ridiculous.
So it’s an affordable high-performance sports car, how does it drive?
I sit in the comfortably supportive seats, push the start button and put the car in gear… I can choose to leave in a growling hurry, or in an Altima-esque glide. Most of the time I choose the growling-hurry, but it is nice to have the glide available as well. The GT-R also lets me choose if I want to shift for myself, or let it do all the work. I appreciate this option, but I prefer to tell the car which gear it should be in, and switching on R mode so that these shifts happen in as fast as a fifth of a second. When I click the + or - paddle, the shift happens and it happens right when I tell it to. Downshifts into corners and upshifts on the way out are precise and make twisty roads a truly enjoyable experience.
The screen is displaying one of many customizable views which show you, amongst many other things, how insanely or sedately you are driving.
When on said twisty roads, the other items keeping the fun-o-meter set to six-flags include the 485 hp/434 lb-ft of torque twin-turbo V6, double-wishbone front/multi-link rear suspension, 15” Brembo brakes, and the all-wheel drive system. To put it simply, when I am driving the GT-R I can enter turns faster yet retain more confidence than with almost any car out there. I point it in the direction I want to go, hit the gas, and it does what I ask - no questions asked from mighty nitrogen filled Bridgestones (wrapped around 20x9.5/20x10.5 lightweight alloy wheels) or the Bilstein shocks. Some cars provide tail-out fun, but the GT-R is serious business and keeps the party moving, flat and composed, in the right direction.
The GT-R isn’t just at home on the curvy stuff. When the light turns green and I punch the throttle, the straight-line acceleration is stunning. My right hand has to move quickly to keep up with the effect my right foot is having on the car. The shifts come fast and each one throws me back into my seat. Thanks to the gear display I now feel like the Count from Sesame Street… One, two, three, four, five, six - all six gears shifted through on that blast, ah-ah-aaah.
The Nissan GT-R has all the conveniences you would expect in a modern car. It has comfortable leather and suede heated front seats that are power-adjustable. The navigation works great as does the hands free Bluetooth system. The nine-speaker Bose sound system is crisp both high and low, and the keyless fob never needs to come out of my pocket.
The exhaust note is never shouting at me, but is loud enough when driving quickly and subdued when puttering around town. The trunk even has a surprising amount of room. It has all the features I would want in a daily-driven vehicle, but it also has so much more. The only area lacking on the inside are the rear seats which are pretty much unusable for humans yet perfect for a small to medium size dog on one seat and a backpack with camera equipment on the other.
This example of the 2010 Nissan GT-R has a base price of $83,040.00, because it is the Premium trim. The Super Silver paint job is $3,000 and the carpeted floor mats, with metallic GT-R logos, run an additional $280. The as-tested price for this car is $87,320.00. I imagine this is the only time I will ever write this, but for a shade under $90,000 you get the best automotive bargain on the planet
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