Wednesday 21st October 2009

Part II: GT-R/ Kazutoshi Mizuno Interview

Part II of PH's exclusive video interview with the Nissan GT-R program chief

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Nissan GT-R project leader Kazutoshi Mizuno caused something of a stir in the first part of this exclusive PistonHeads interview. We think you'll find Part II is just as stimulating, with some surprising insights into the philosophy and outlook of this remarkable engineer.

If you haven't seen Part I yet, check it out here.

Meanwhile, we'll hand you over to Mizuno san once again for some more GT-R fever. Enjoy..

Q7) Is the increasing use of electronic control systems in performance cars a welcome trend, or does it reduce the enjoyment for the driver?

Q8) When you develop a car from scratch, there have to be compromises. What was the biggest compromise that affected the development of the GT-R?

Q9) Can diesels ever be a good thing in motorsports, and can electric road cars ever be fun to drive?

Q10) What are your thoughts about the need to reduce the environmental impact of motoring and motorsport?

Q11) There have been lots of rumours about future GT-R developments, including the Spec M version with more comfort. What can you tell us about that?

Q12)  We know about your personal commitment and passion for the GT-R, but where does this passion come from. Were you inspired by cars as a boy, and which cars inspire you now?

[Niffty951]

That was soo much nicer to watch. You really saw a lot more of the man and the idea behind the car. I really did find myself falling for his dream of the GTR.

I loved his idea of each supercar being the dream of someone and so to them nothing else comes close. You can respect others but don't have any interest in owning them.

The GTR is not my world, not my dream. For me its too digital and has too short a lifespan so you accept that half the car has to be replaced every 50,000miles. It's the price you pay for so much performance with so little cost.

For me Porsche is my dream but truly I now understand and respect the GTR where before I think I judged it too harshly. The GTR brings access to speeds that could not be bought for twice the price anywhere else. A wonderful dream!

Edited by Niffty951 on Wednesday 21st October 10:34

[Alfa Male]

You could notice that the English was getting harder for him towards the end of the interview. Well done though and I would love to see this format continued.

[Niffty951]

Here's an interesting one, on the basis of what he's said what do you think the dreams of other supercar manufacturers are?

Porsche: Racing cars you can drive to work. Every day.

Ferrari: Exclusivity. The ultimate in WOW factor, cars that make you go Ahhhh.

Aston Martin: Elegant violence. The Hannibal Lecter of cars.

Lamborghini: Flamboyance. Your wildest dreams made real.

TVR: White knuckled fear. Adrenalin junky? This is heroin on wheels.

You could go on and on with this. I bet Jeremy Clarkson would be amazing at this. He is... Mr. One liner!

Edited by Niffty951 on Wednesday 21st October 10:47

[nonuts]

What a nice guy, well done chaps

[TB Rich]

Alfa Male said:

Well done though and I would love to see this format continued.

Agreed. This is a very very important point

[fastgerman]

Niffty951 said:

Here's an interesting one, on the basis of what he's said what do you think the dreams of other supercar manufacturers are?

Porsche: Racing cars you can drive to work. Every day.

Ferrari: Exclusivity. The ultimate in WOW factor, cars that make you go Ahhhh.

Aston Martin: Elegant violence. The Hannibal Lecter of cars.

Lamborghini: Flamboyance. Your wildest dreams made real.

TVR: White knuckled fear. Adrenalin junky? This is heroin on wheels.

You could go on and on with this. I bet Jeremy Clarkson would be amazing at this. He is... Mr. One liner!

Edited by Niffty951 on Wednesday 21st October 10:47

I'm liking what's happening with the way public perceive the cars that I like these days. For example, Porsche (911's anyway) are not seen as the bankers choice, it's Aston Martins. BMW M cars are now cool and Audi's aren't! I'm a big BMW and Porsche fan :-).

I would say Porsche (911) and Ferrari have similar requirements in their design and build but Porsche put a little more emphasis on efficiency and durability and Ferrari a little more on passion.

Lamborghini just want to out do Ferrari for the real 'look at me' buyer and Aston used to be the gentlmens choice. Now, the bankers choice!

TVR isn't in the same league as the above.

[Munter]

I can't help feeling that quite a lot of his answers are "corporate message" answers. More so in these videos than the previous ones. From my little understanding of the Japanese culture thats nothing odd, but his reluctance to identify any flaws/compromises, and even to discuss competitor products.

[Godzill-R]

But but a lot of you are missing a very very important point and that is that the GTR out run so many top supercars on the Top Gear and Nurburgring circuit.
On Top Gear track it was faster than Any Porsche out there including the mighty Carrera GT, Lamborghini LP 640, Ferrari Scuderia F1, so this guy Mizuno is a God and he knows something that a lot of us don't simple as that.
Please understanding ok.

[Godzilla]

Disappointed only one of my questions made it to the man (about 6 v 7 speeds on the gearbox).
I have to say he seemed to be borderline evasive on some of them and I can quite understand the need not to offend such an important man, especially a Japanese one!
(For those of you who want to know, my questions - coming from an owner's perspective - are on this page http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f... )

I agree that the format is an excellent one and of which PH should be proud and will hopefully continue to use.

[spookey]

In respect to his engine choice??? that engine was totally designed developed tested and homologated in the UK. Without Nissan......they may have specified the package constraints expected BHP and torque and imparted upon us the expected limits required in terms of oil surge C of G ect but it was not there doing. I wonder how much of the other car systems were not done by Nissan!

[Niffty951]

^^ Well that amazing gearbox for one (not that we 'as Brits' probably want to take the rap for that failure)

[Chris-R]

Godzilla said:

Disappointed only one of my questions made it to the man (about 6 v 7 speeds on the gearbox).
I have to say he seemed to be borderline evasive on some of them and I can quite understand the need not to offend such an important man, especially a Japanese one!
(For those of you who want to know, my questions - coming from an owner's perspective - are on this page http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f... )

I agree that the format is an excellent one and of which PH should be proud and will hopefully continue to use.

Yes, sorry we couldn't get more questions in, but time was limited and Mizuno san did spend a lot of it making sure we understood his answers. I didn't intend to skip the more arcane ones, but under the circumstances it seemed more appropriate to concentrate on the 'big picture' stuff. Maybe next time we'll turn the screw harder!

Thanks for the feedback on the format. If it works, that's really down to the depth of experience and knowledge of our community contributors. Either way, we're going to stick with it to see where it takes us. Look out for Steve Marvin from Renaultsport getting a video grilling next week.

[PiB]

I agree with most of the criticisms people have made about how Mizuno san answers the questions but +1 to him, Nissan, and PH's for creating the video. He makes some good points and reveals his interesting philosophy towards car design. You can't deny the GTR performs.

I wasn't really that interested in the GTR, in part due to cost, but also because the Exige/Elise is more interesting to me for some reason however this video is making me think twice. I think it would really help the sports car market if the all the head engineers at manufacturers would step forth and do open interviews like this and forced to field any question.


It seems to me generally you produce a "comfort version" (M?) first for the masses and then make more aggressive handling versions - All the M cars, Porsche's cars, the Scud Ferrari, Lotus). Interestingly, in this case Nissan went the other way - I suppose to gain media attention for competing with the "Exotics" (we'll call it) then create the comfortable coupe for sale with the positive media from the first performance version.

To a previous poster:

LIght cars handle good on snow too - don't even try with Z rated tires even in the GTR of course. Z tires have very very little grip in snow. All weather or Winter tires make a big difference and I think better than Z's in heavy rain.

Why exactly does a light weight car in snow conditions not benefit like in the dry? Mass plays just as much of a bugaboo.

Thanks for the video ph!

Edited by PiB on Saturday 24th October 06:18

[Gadgeroonie]

i really enjoyed that

i can see that the british way to produce a sportcar using light weight will always be limited by the mass of the vehicle - ie much more power and you will never get the tyres to make traction, you need more weight !

i also felt that he did not answer the last question truthfully, i'm sure he does admire some of the competitors cars. Perhaps a better question would be "which cars have you owned over the years"

got to admire the mans dedication and hard work

i think i could own one !