PH drives Nissan's 1,390hp drift GT-R
PH bags first go with Nissan's insane 190mph drift record GT-R
Wait, I have to get in the car with Dan?
This is the very GT-R Spec-D built specifically to do one job - be the fastest drift car in the world. Back in April on a wide, smooth runway in the UAE it became exactly that when Japanese drift champion Masato Kawabata gave it a huge bung at nearly 220mph. And hoped for the best. The result was an average speed of 304.96km/h - or 190.6mph - over the prescribed 50m at a constant drift angle of at least 30 degrees.
You can argue the point of such stunts. But not the guts required to do it.
Nursery slopes drifting in the 370Z
Darren 'D-Mac' McNamara and brother Graham from Prodrift Academy are running the car at this press event on behalf of Nissan and, frankly, the burden of responsibility appears to weigh heavily on their shoulders. Darren demonstrated the GT-R at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and when the car, built and owned by Nissan Middle East, has done its rounds it will end up in the Nissan museum, never to turn a wheel again. Convincing Japan it was a good idea to let the likes of us loose in it before that happens has required some serious lobbying on the part of Nissan GB. Quite simply there is a hell of a lot at stake. Other than Darren, who does this for a living, my early arrival at the live military base chosen as a venue means I'll be the first outside of Nissan's chosen few to drive it. Gulp.
The real thing awaits...
Engine-wise the VR38DETT gets a GReddy stroker kit to increase capacity to 4.0 litres, GReddy fuel rails, turbos and intercooler and a Motec ECU. And nitrous. It had to have nitrous. At full chat power is claimed as 1,390hp and well over 1,000lb ft, put to the rear wheels via that six-speed sequential, an aluminium prop shaft, OS Superlock diff with an 80 per cent locking ratio and, overall, a healthy disregard for tyre life. It is, in short, Godzilla with considerably sharpened teeth.
GReddy upgrades unleash insane power
Before I'm allowed anywhere near it I have to prove my drifting ability - or expose my lack of it - in a GT Academy 370Z. The dusty surface means this has absolutely no problem breaking traction on power alone and getting it sideways isn't difficult. Holding it there is a little more of a challenge, there being a knife-edge between sideways glory and backwards ignominy. A lack of lock doesn't help. But I get the nod and am led over to the GT-R.
Darren looks very nervous. He runs it up and down the runway a couple of times, demonstrating how wildly it'll spin its wheels in a straight line in every gear. The boost, when it comes, is savage, the wheelspin it inspires provoking a cacophony of wastegates, dump valves and god knows what from under the bonnet. Although it's a proper sequential he's asked we use the clutch, just to be nice to the car. Beside the shifter is a big hydraulic handbrake. "Don't be touching that," he says, firmly.
"If you bin it the firing squad awaits..."
Once up and down the runway is all the acclimatisation I get and then it's into the drift circuit. I say circuit. It's four cones about 100m apart, to be taken as an oval or figure of eight as confidence inspires.
The pro drifter's office space
I pitch it in showing second gear on the display, squeeze the throttle and brace myself for mayhem. The turbos boost, the stripped cabin fills with noise and ... hang on, I'm doing it! The acrid taste of tyre smoke fills my throat and the GT-R rotates smoothly into what feels like a surprisingly languid drift. I'm hoping it looks a little more spectacular from the outside as we circulate the four cones; clouds of smoke wafting across the airfield suggest it might be.
Inside it's a weird mix of incredible noise, heat, smell and taste combined with an almost slow-mo sense of the car swinging one way and then the other. I'm getting cockier on the throttle, holding the revs, enjoying the insane surge of boost and letting the angles get bigger as I attempt the transitions into a figure of eight. Ooh, crap, that's definitely a spin coming ... no ... hang on ... actually there's another half turn of lock, more power, more tyre smoke, more angle and more fun. Sneer at drifting's image all you like. In the thick of it, in a car built to do the job, it's as fun as anything you can do on four wheels.
But can it make the roundabout at the Savoy?
Smoke 'em if you got 'em
In the traditional format of these things final fling is the ritual humiliation of a ride alongside the pro. And Darren is only too happy to oblige. We chunter around the return loop to bring the temperatures back within limits and then suddenly the mood changes. Third - bang, squirm - fourth - bang, squirm - fifth into sixth and, dear god, that's 140mph sideways in a seemingly endless drift back onto the runway, held in a huge arc with the back of the car entirely consumed by tyre smoke. As we transition back the other way and hold a similar angle while now travelling in a straight line the interior fills with enough smoke to make my eyes sting and my throat tingle. But Darren's still on it. Looking back the tyres have been alight for a good half-mile. And as we return we have to prop the doors open with our legs to help clear the smoke out of the car.
Silly, silly stuff. But at the same time a huge honour. And truly spectacular fun. What a machine. And a few years hence I'll be the weird Englishman lurking in the Nissan museum pointing to this beast and telling anyone who'll listen "I've driven that thing!"
Drifting like a pro (because that's what Darren is)
Watch the record here
NISSAN GT-R SPEC-D
Engine: 3,969cc V6 twin-turbo with nitrous injection (GReddy upgrade package)
Transmission: 6-speed sequential, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 1,390 (with nitrous)
Torque (lb ft): 1,032 (with nitrous)
0-62mph: Not quoted
0-186mph: 18.69sec
Top speed: 190.6mph (sideways...)
Weight: 1,480kg
MPG: Not many
CO2: A lot
Price: c. £500,000
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