RE: BMW M4 vs. Nissan GT-R 45th Anniversary

[Cacatous]

I think I'd buy an E46 M3.

[Zumbruk]

alock said:

Most of the photos seem over-processed to me. Has someone just discovered HDR or a new library of filters they are playing around with?

It seems to me like *everything* is put through an HDR filter these days. It's really boring.

[NJC0607]

good review... and I totally agree. having driven both and owned a GTR, and curnt own the 4 series, I would say the GTR is massively more impressive than the M3 and WAY quicker in every aspect too...
there is only approx. 120kgs weight difference between the 2, but the GTR just has bags more grip and composure and carries it far better.

However, - its come to something that an M car`s only real plus point is that it is " a good daily driver" - WTF! what the hell happened there BMW? you used to the make "the ultimate driving machines" - now you make supermarket run cars... tut, tut.

As Clarkson and the boys say, it is THE best cat in the world, and has been for quite some time and just gets better every year... Nissan has done an epic job of this car and goes all the way to keeping the Godzilla mythology well and truly alive for me !

[loose cannon]

Which one has an engine oil dipstick ?

[justboxsters]

I like the Beige!

[andysgriff]

I'll stick with the GTR, BMW has never appealed to me, too many around.

[D.no]

La Liga said:

The GTR is clearly a step or two up in performance, but the reality is they're both 'too fast' for the public roads (if you want to get anywhere near pushing them hard / they're limits), and they're too heavy for the track.

Spot on (for GT-R at least - I haven't driven an M product for some time)

For my tastes at least the GT-R made it far too easy to go far too fast on the road. Yes, it has character, and the steering feel is ok (tramlining is quite shocking though on Bridgestone run-flats). On the track though, your mum could drive it to within spitting distance of your lap times. It's an easy car to drive fast. Which is great, but the harder you have to work - the greater the rewards. Ultimately then, I didn't find the GT-R to be that rewarding. Bit of a one-trick pony, albeit a bloody fantastic trick, and if outright speed is your thing there's not a lot to touch it still - especially on a cold, wet, leaf-strewn stretch of tarmac.

The GT-R does manage to disguise it's mass really well, but when you drive something a lot lighter after having got used to the GT-R, it's truly shocking how much later you can brake, and how much less cringe-worthy it is in doing so. In the GT-R you're never allowed to fully forget that your asking a lot of mass to accelerate, change direction, and decelerate faster than it really wants to - it's an irksome feeling, and one that if you have any mechanical sympathy at all, taints the experience. As does the constant cost of brake pads/discs, and tyres - which if you didn't get the irksome feeling, serves as a more tangible reminder of the forces at work.

[juicy sushi]

PZR said:

eybic said:

PZR said:

Judging by the name of the 'Takumi' on the plate, the engine on this GT-R was hand assembled by one of Nissan's female technicians.

It seems there are only 4 of them and they are all male.

Don't know how up to date that info is? Here's a bit of Nissan publicity from Spring 2015:



Sorry about the moiré pattern, but it's scanned from something not much better quality print than a newspaper...

Takumi means craftsman/craftsmanship. The name of the guy who built the engine is Tsunemi Ooyama according to that build plate. Tsunemi is a boy's name. As is Takumi, when it is actually used as a name.

[cayman-black]

justboxsters said:

I like the Beige!

Yep me too suits the GTR makes it a bit more classy.

[PZR]

juicy sushi said:

PZR said:

eybic said:

PZR said:

Judging by the name of the 'Takumi' on the plate, the engine on this GT-R was hand assembled by one of Nissan's female technicians.

It seems there are only 4 of them and they are all male.

Don't know how up to date that info is? Here's a bit of Nissan publicity from Spring 2015:



Sorry about the moiré pattern, but it's scanned from something not much better quality print than a newspaper...

Takumi means craftsman/craftsmanship. The name of the guy who built the engine is Tsunemi Ooyama according to that build plate. Tsunemi is a boy's name. As is Takumi, when it is actually used as a name.

Yes, I know what Takumi means in this context and I know now that the individual Nissan VR38 'Takumi' named Tsunemi Ooyama is a male.

When I made the original observation my initial (mistaken) impression from the name plate was that this was a female technician, as Tsunemi was more often used as a female given name in the past (we have a female family member with the given name Tsunemi) but member eybic's link put that to rest in this instance.

Thanks.

[WoREoD]

I own one of the five UK 45th Anniversary Edition GT-Rs like the one compared. It is my fourth R35: MY09; MY11; MY14 and this MY15 one.

Like somebody said earlier, I clearly cant think of what I can replace an R35 with... And although I do admire some BMWs for their performance and handling, they just don't do it for me.

I can also confirm that ride quality in Normal mode has improved since the first UK cars in 2009, with small adjustments seemingly made every year. That said, I think they had a hiccup with the MY14 in that they changed the suspension (as usual) but also introduced a new version of the Dunlop runflats with thinner sidewalls. This did make it tramline and rut-steer quite a lot, but I cant comment on whether that was every MY14 or just my one! It was almost bad enough to make me start test-driving other marques, but then the MY15 came along and with the assurance they'd upgraded the suspension again, the lure of the limited edition was too much.

Oh! And I did try to get it registered with the DVLA as "Beige" but on the final document it had been adjusted to "Gold". Either way, I love it.

[ELothian]

I bought a GTR recently as a daily for my wife. We didn't even consider an M4 as it's so often cold and wet up here - we did seriously look at the 435d xDrive which is better than the M4 for our use of the car.

I get to drive it occasionally - it is so assured in bad weather which makes for some hilarious B road driving. To my mind the test of a car is how it performs when the chips are down.

Pretty much any car can be fun on a warm dry day, but the real test is bad weather, long trips after a tough day. For this the Range Rover and GTR are top notch in my opinion! MX5 is great for summer blast but no good when the going gets tough!!

Only bad thing about the GTR is how fast you end up going if you keep it nailed for more than a couple of seconds!!

[cib24]

I never thought I would read a sentence that said someone bought a GTR for their wife as a daily...cool.

[ELothian]

cib24 said:

I never thought I would read a sentence that said someone bought a GTR for their wife as a daily...cool.

I didn't think I'd write it either. Purchasing decision was along the lines of let's get a powerful 4wd auto coupe, so a 435d makes sense. Wife decided at the last second (order form on the desk!), she didn't want it, then told me she wanted a Clio, had argument, I suggested Golf GTI or R she said no. In exasperation I showed her a GTR which she really liked!!

My close quarters combat instructor has one too which probably helped her decision!!

[juicy sushi]

PZR said:

juicy sushi said:

PZR said:

eybic said:

PZR said:

Judging by the name of the 'Takumi' on the plate, the engine on this GT-R was hand assembled by one of Nissan's female technicians.

It seems there are only 4 of them and they are all male.

Don't know how up to date that info is? Here's a bit of Nissan publicity from Spring 2015:



Sorry about the moiré pattern, but it's scanned from something not much better quality print than a newspaper...

Takumi means craftsman/craftsmanship. The name of the guy who built the engine is Tsunemi Ooyama according to that build plate. Tsunemi is a boy's name. As is Takumi, when it is actually used as a name.

Yes, I know what Takumi means in this context and I know now that the individual Nissan VR38 'Takumi' named Tsunemi Ooyama is a male.

When I made the original observation my initial (mistaken) impression from the name plate was that this was a female technician, as Tsunemi was more often used as a female given name in the past (we have a female family member with the given name Tsunemi) but member eybic's link put that to rest in this instance.

Thanks.

Yeah, sorry, I didn't see those posts until after. Tsunemi seems a pretty rare name to me, an interesting choice.

[peterpeter]

WoREoD said:

I own one of the five UK 45th Anniversary Edition GT-Rs like the one compared. It is my fourth R35: MY09; MY11; MY14 and this MY15 one.

Like somebody said earlier, I clearly cant think of what I can replace an R35 with... And although I do admire some BMWs for their performance and handling, they just don't do it for me.

I can also confirm that ride quality in Normal mode has improved since the first UK cars in 2009, with small adjustments seemingly made every year. That said, I think they had a hiccup with the MY14 in that they changed the suspension (as usual) but also introduced a new version of the Dunlop runflats with thinner sidewalls. This did make it tramline and rut-steer quite a lot, but I cant comment on whether that was every MY14 or just my one! It was almost bad enough to make me start test-driving other marques, but then the MY15 came along and with the assurance they'd upgraded the suspension again, the lure of the limited edition was too much.

Oh! And I did try to get it registered with the DVLA as "Beige" but on the final document it had been adjusted to "Gold". Either way, I love it.

it wasn't you I was chatting to in Soho recently was it? you were looking for a parking space

[WoREoD]

Not me Guv. Must have been the West London one....