Am I the only one who genuinely likes how the R35 GTR looks?

"MegaSuper" (megasuper) 05/15/2015 at 19:43 • Filed to: None

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I don’t really know what the consensus is on this vehicle; at first it seemed everyone liked how it looked (maybe it was a case of “WOW IT’S LIKE THE CONCEPT CAR BUT BETTER! ”), but as time has gone on, people seem to have no problem calling it “pig ugly” (maybe it’s those tacky LEDs they added later on haha).

A lot of Japanese car designs can be divisive, and from what I’ve read about industrial design, Japanese auto design is a bit different in that, apparently, compared to Western design, the final work is not analyzed “on the whole.” Instead, each individual piece (headlight, taillight, pillars, arches, etc) is designed by a separate team, and then everything is put together at the end. It doesn’t matter what the sum of the parts is because each individual component is “beautiful” on its own. So in other words, compared to Western design, each individual component is analyzed in isolation; if at least one thing is “beautiful” then the whole design can’t be ugly, because “Look how much time/effort/talent was put into that one taillight!!!!11!” etc.

I think you can see this in the Toyota FT-1 concept and Lexus RC-F; a lot of people are verbally outspoken about how much they despise one element (often the front ends of these 2), but adore another element (often the rear ends or rear 3/4 view of these 2).

So for the GTR, I think it has absolutely amazing lights. If you’ve ever seen one at night, there’s just something very jewel-like about how the tail lights stand out in the rain at night.

As for the lines, I think the side view is fabulous; the sloping roof, the way the shape of the vent on the door is carried rearwards, etc.

Maybe I’m crazy, but I think it looks good with a spoiler.

The grille is a bit big, but that doesn’t bother me because I’d imagine it’s necessary for cooling, plus the horizontal bar in the middle where the registration plate goes sort of breaks it up anyways.

The interior is a legit criticism, but it is sort of a track car so I suppose it fits the bill.

Anyone else? (I also like the styling of the R34 and R33, but not the R32, which I’ve heard is apparently a weird to have. Hakosuka and Kenmeri are nice too but in a less modern way. Not worse, just different.)

jkm7680 > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 19:48

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yesss

CAcoalminer > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 19:50

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The styling is definitely unique.

misfitmascots > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 19:50

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Nope

Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 19:51

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The car doesn’t look good in photos because you don’t really get to see the quality of the build and paint in the photo like you do in person. The size is also very small-ish in photos until you see it in person.

GhostZ > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 19:53

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MegaSuper > CAcoalminer 05/15/2015 at 19:58

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Nice! Is it yours?

I definitely think the color matters a lot…grey/silver/Midnight Purple are all incredible.

Even if they had Bayside Blue (which I don’t think they do), it just wouldn’t look right on this one imo.

AM > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 20:01

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If you’ve ever seen one at night, there’s just something very jewel-like about how the tail lights stand out in the rain at night.

They’re nice but I’ve seen better ;)

They may not be “jewel-like” but they're indeed very unique!

RallyWrench > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 20:05

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It does look a hell of a lot better than the concept, that just looked odd to me. I wouldn’t call them beautiful, but they definitely have considerable presence.

Stephen the Canuck > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 20:12

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I love everything about the GTR. Except maybe price, but that’s only cause it’s more than I can afford.

CAcoalminer > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 20:15

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It was mine. I sold it in 2013.

I agree that colors definitely do make a difference on this car in particular.

Bayside Blue probably wouldn’t look very good but the Deep Blue Pearl looks fairly decent in my opinion.

MegaSuper > AM 05/15/2015 at 20:15

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Those are all great examples, thanks! I love lighting design on automobiles. (I always thought it would be so interesting if there were at least one other country out there that didn’t agree that red was the best color for taillights…maybe some country that picks blue for better visibility at night or something, haha!)

AM > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 20:30

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I love unique lighting designs. Most people on here hate them but I love when cars have cool LEDs up at the front of the car for DRLs.

As for the different colour thing, I think blue tail lights would look super weird but definitely very cool.

MegaSuper > CAcoalminer 05/15/2015 at 20:33

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Oh wow! Would you mind sharing a bit about your ownership experience? General pros and cons? Any major disappointments? Naysayers say that it is unreliable, has poor visibility, and doesn’t sound that great; are any of these true? Why did you sell it, and what do you have now?

Also, is the CA in your username for California, or Canada, haha? If it’s the latter, what is the GTR like in snow? I’ve heard it’s legendary

MegaSuper > AM 05/15/2015 at 20:41

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Amen!

Another good one I just thought of was the Carrera GT…didn’t it have a brake light bar-type thing that connected the two buttresses? Almost looked like a laser beam from some angles.

I remember seeing on here that some states in the US allow you install ACCELERATION lights hahaha what an idea!

And I mentioned the blue because apparently, there is a bit of an overlap between green and blue in the Japanese language, so some traffic lights in Japan actually go red-amber-blue (and some of these units apparently made their way to Washington State, but I’m not too sure.) That wouldn’t make any sense for brake lights obviously, but it goes to show that sometimes color is a matter of opinion/perception, haha!

Matvei > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 20:43

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Japanese traffic lights still go green. They just call it blue because blue and green in Japanese are sometimes interchangeable.

MegaSuper > Matvei 05/15/2015 at 20:50

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Yeah I get the background of it linguistically, but the pictures that were posted on Oppo (or maybe it was main Jalopnik) showed a billboard explaining the lights, and the bottom one was genuinely blue. I think it’s sort of a “cart or horse” thing: Since they don’t make the distinction in the language, it doesn’t matter if the manufacturer sends them a “green” or “blue” bulb, as the physical “reality” follows the linguistic one.

Anyone interested in this should read this article for sure; it looks like we’re both right actually:

1) Japanese traffic lights do have to be “green” per international treaties

2) HOWEVER, a 1973 law in Japan states that the “go” signal must be the blue-est possible shade of green.

3) You’ll see in the article that then turn arrow is green, but the non-turning lane light appears to be blue (maybe it doesn’t light that way though): http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/02/2…

I wonder what the case is in Russia? AFAIK there’s a similar green-blue merger in Russian as well.

scoob > CAcoalminer 05/15/2015 at 20:52

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Is it true it’s “boring”? That it’s fast but not fun?

AM > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 20:54

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Yes indeed it did

I’ve never heard of acceleration lights before, those sound cool!

Honestly if brake lights were any colour other than a shade of red I'd probably end up rear ending a lot of cars.

AM > CAcoalminer 05/15/2015 at 20:57

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I wanna know the same thing as Scoob.

Matvei > MegaSuper 05/15/2015 at 21:11

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No, Russian fully distinguishes between blue and green. However, there are different words for blue and for light blue.

MegaSuper > Matvei 05/15/2015 at 21:17

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Oh cool, like Italian then!

TheOnelectronic > MegaSuper 05/16/2015 at 02:15

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I’ve always thought it was a gorgeous looking car. Maybe I’m just weird.

MegaSuper > AM 05/16/2015 at 03:43

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Me three!

Ultra-Valet > MegaSuper 05/16/2015 at 07:33

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No I definitely really love the design.

NJAnon > MegaSuper 05/17/2015 at 10:09

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I saw many photos, but seeing it realtime a few months back confirmed my disdain for the design of the newest Skyline. Just because they designed the pieces in isolation doesn’t give them an excuse for not putting every piece on a table and saying “hey does this make sense?”

It still looks like two halves of a car;

The backend of the skyline we know, and the frontend of an Infiniti. WTF?

MegaSuper > NJAnon 05/17/2015 at 20:59

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So I guess you would have preferred if the headlights were wider than they are tall, like the R32-R34? Yeah I guess I can understand. Some people (myself included) aren’t crazy about the super-tall headlights on modern Ferraris. Maybe it’s a pedestrian-impact standards thing...

Ironically, when you say “the frontend of an Infiniti”, the regular non-GTR Skyline IS an Infiniti; what’s sold as the Nissan Skyline in Japan is the Infiniti G35/G37 in North America + UK. So maybe they saw no shame in it because the older GTRs are based upon family cars anyways.

NJAnon > MegaSuper 05/18/2015 at 10:56

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The closest example I can use (which still baffles me) is the Lexus LF-A. The whole car looks like it was done by a team at Lexus. But somehow in classic “japan style” (no offense to any japanese) they knew that they could make the new skyline look like a BMW Isetta and folks wouldn’t care because they see the “GTR” badge on the door panel and buy it.

Yeah I know about the cross global naming but that doesn’t excuse the design of “two halves”.

For me, skylines and RX-7s and Supras & 350Z’s gained appeal for performance AND their design.

CAcoalminer > MegaSuper 05/24/2015 at 20:35

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Sorry that I’m replying so late but I got busy and just now remembered that I needed to reply to you.

Pros:

unique exhaust note

distinctive styling

terrific seats

confidence inspiring handling

massive trunk (for the segment)

strong brakes

bulletproof engine

quick shifting transmission

sensational stereo

configurable screens (I loved being able to pull up any gauge or reading that I wanted)

Cons:

unnecessarily harsh ride

copious amounts of road noise at highway speeds (around 70 mph) (this could apparently be fixed a bit by changing to non runflat tires)

needed a longer 6th gear or a 7th one (the engine was turning 2,500 rpms at 70mpg in 6th)

some interior surfaces used low quality plastics

the transmission made it difficult to pull away from a stop light smoothly

not very communicative steering

odd brake feel (they didn’t seem to have a strong, reassuring bite right at the top of the pedal)

Overall, I actually really like the GT-R but it really does have a few quirks that you need to get used to, especially the pulling away from a stop procedure. As for reliability, I can’t really comment for certain, as some people have had issues with the transmissions, but I never experienced any issues in my 13,000 miles of driving the car. In fact, I actually thought it was very well built and would probably last for quite a few thousand miles if maintained properly. Concerning visibility, I think it is by far one of the best sportscars in that regard. Yes, you do have to get used to the decently sized c pillars (I think that’s what they are called) but it honestly isn’t bad at all as the side mirrors are good sized and easy to adjust to compensate and the rear window is massive. However, I am 6’5’’ so that might make a difference. But this brings up another point, I could actually fit in the GT-R comfortably even at my height which is something that shouldn’t be overlooked. As for the sound, not it isn’t as thrilling as a C7 Z06, Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc. However, it is a really unique sounding vehicle that is aurally pleasing, at least to my ears. You get an interesting growl that is mixed with the fascinating whoosh of turbos. Honestly, I think most people who complain about it are just being dramatic as it definitely doesn’t sound like a vacuum cleaner.

Concerning selling it, I sold it because I was looking for something new. I like to experience new and different things and decided the time was right to move on.

The “CA” in my name is California but I actually live in Texas. My username is a nickname that I received long ago in high school.

As for how the car is in snow, I would have no idea as we rarely get very much of it here.

CAcoalminer > scoob 05/24/2015 at 20:51

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In my opinion, no. Yes, it is more approachable and, subsequently, not as difficult to drive quickly as other sports cars but I wouldn’t say it is boring. Not everyone wants to be scared half to death in order to experience the abilities of what their car is truly capable of.

In short, if you like cars that make loud, exquisite noises and require your full attention all the time then, yes, you might view the GT-R as boring. However, if you want a car that is terrific on challenging backroads but can also handle DD duties, then you probably won’t. Personally, I already have “challenging” vehicles, so the GT-R was a nice change of pace to those cars.

MegaSuper > CAcoalminer 05/24/2015 at 21:52

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Thanks for remembering, I really appreciate it! Sounds overall like it’s a great vehicle!

Last questions if you don’t mind my asking:

1) Is the real-world MPG better or worse than the official rating?

2) How much of a concern is scraping the bottom of the car on steep-ish driveways/entrances? Does it have any kind of “Front end lift” button? If not, what’s actually underneath the front of the car? Is there a shield/guard or is anything important exposed?

CAcoalminer > MegaSuper 05/24/2015 at 22:56

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You’re welcome.

It really was a terrific vehicle and for less than $8,000 you can fix the two major issues- road noise and harsh ride. Things you’ll need:

Litchfield suspension kit- $5,000

Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires- $1,500

Dynamat Extreme or Hushmat- around $350 if you do it yourself or $1,200 installed by a shop

In addition, if you end up buying a CBA GT-R (model years 2009-2011), you will probably need to upgrade the transmission software to LC5 with a Cobb AP. This apparently takes care of the awkward takeoffs and makes the shifts crisper.

However, if you buy a DBA GT-R (model year 2012+) then you can avoid the worry of any kind of transmission issues from what I’ve heard.

As for your question about gas mileage, if you drive the car normally, you should be able to match or slightly beat the EPA figures. For instance, I usually saw around 16-18mpg in town depending on traffic and how many times I had to stop. Also, on the highway, I would regularly see around 23mpg. In fact, on a fairly hilly highway that I would often drive I would still average around 20 mpg.

As for front end clearance, you should be a bit concerned about scraping the front end on steep driveways/entrances and no it does not come with a front end lift system. Thankfully, there are plastic pieces that protect vital components like the engine and transmission (see the image below). In addition, you could always install a skid plate like this one . However, I wouldn’t worry about it very much as scraping is almost inevitable when using a car like this for normal activities.