Through three generations of the GT-R, Nissan Motorsport (Nismo) has a proud tradition of creating passionately-tuned Godzillas (the nickname given to the original R32 Skyline GT-R). You can think of Nismo as the performance arm of Nissan; much like you would the M-Division of BMW or AMG company of Mercedes-Benz, however, Nismo are traditionally much more hardcore about their performance GT-R offerings, sometimes only creating a handful of bespoke Nismo offerings for each model.
Now Nissan’s CEO, Carlos Ghosn, has officially opened a new HQ for Nismo while also announcing that the Nismo brand is set to kick up its activity and will feature more prominently in Nissan’s overall product line up. Yes, it seems we’ll be hearing a lot more from Nismo, with at least one tuned Nismo model expected to be released each year.
We’re not sure if we like that idea, because quite honestly, we’ve enjoyed the underground mystique Nismo has had thus far. Nevertheless, the good news is this new Nismo move will undoubtedly include a Nismo version of the almighty Nissan GT-R.
Nissan hasn’t announced which models will receive the Nismo upgrades and in which order, but with their limited carpark at the moment we can presume Nismo plans include the 370Z, Juke, GT-R and possibly even the Leaf EV. The 370Z Nismo is already offered in selected markets around the world.
The Nismo team will use all of its extensive knowledge and experience from racing the GT-R with considerable success in the Super GT and Global GT series, as well as feedback from competing in last year’s 24-Hours Nürburgring to make the ultimate road-going GT-R.
“It would be unthinkable for us to develop a range of Nismo road cars without including the GT-R,” said Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn at the launch of Nismo’s new headquarters in Yokohama. “The GT-R Nismo will be special and I can’t wait to drive it.”
The evolution cycle of the Nissan GT-R by its talented development team at Nissan has ensured that it constantly remains on the cutting edge of its full performance potential. Since the 2007 Nissan GT-R launched, its power and torque figures have increased with every evolution to over 400 kW that’s now on tap in the 2013 Nissan GT-R Trackpack edition. We’re in no doubt that the R35 Nismo GT-R will trump even that in creating the ultimate road-going Nissan GT-R supercar.
The truth of the matter is though, like the R34 Nismo GT-R Z-Tune from a decade ago, the Nismo model of the R35 GT-R might very also be signalling the end of the line for the current GT-R. A final hurrah for the R35 GT-R, and we certainly hope it’s a good one.
