Taken for a "quick spin" in a 650BHP Nissan GTR
Discussion
Well my tiler visited me on Sat morning as we have a small tiling job and I wouldn't use anybody else after the experiencing the amazing quality of his work the last time we used him to tile our apartment from top to bottom. I knew he had a 911 Turbo from the last time we met when I paid him and found out he was a car nut too - up until then he had just turned up in a van! 
.
So when I called him this time I asked him what car he had these days and he said "I have a GTR now". "Great", I said, "I'm a massive petrolhead as you know so why don't you come down it in today". "OK", he said, "its a lovely day, why not"...
So a bit later he arrives in what turns out to be a heavily modified 650BHP pearl white GTR with red/black interior - a perfect match for my V12V! OMG, what a car! It has a huge presence and made my V12V look tiny parked next to it. But what a pair of matching beauties they were!
We compared cars and chatted for far more time about automotive things than it took him to measure up and quote on my tiling job, and it turns out he is a retired amateur / semi pro racing driver too and has just got back from a trip to the nurburgring and his modified GTR is capable of 0-60 in 2.8secs and capable of stopping just as fast!!!
So when he's done chatting and measuring up he says, "So, do you fancy going for a quick spin it in?"... "Hell, yes" I replied!!!
I did warn him that I make for a better driver than passenger, but I can honestly say that at this point I was not expecting what his car was capable of! As we pull out of the garage he pushes a couple of buttons on the dash into "R Mode" which I knew from my knowledge of GTR's stood for "Race Mode". Still I wasn't too phased as well, I drive a V12V you know! I waved at my good lady who was stood at the side of the road and apparently at that point I still had a grin on my face like a Cheshire cat.
Then he floored it and performed a four wheel drift across two of the three (one way) lanes at the end of my street, leaving 100yrs of rubber marks which are still visible today! All I could say, well actually almost scream in a girly kind of way was "OH MY GODDDDD!!!!". He repeated the experience several times and each time all I could do was repeat the same phrase and hang on for dear life. My sunglasses actually flew off the top of my head at one point due the sheer acceleration! The car is absolutely phenomenal! Forget any badge snobbery, that is THE most mental car I have ever been in - eclipsing my very memorable drive of an Atom 330 by a decent margin.
Several mins later he drops me off in town at which point I am a still a shaking wreck and remained that way until the evening! I was mostly buzzing from the experience, but a little bit shaken too, in a good way! Then my friend who lives nearby who is also a petrolhead sends me a text. "OMG, whose is that GTR!"... "Ahh, its just my tiler taking me for a spin" I reply
What an amazing car. I actually never thought I would consider a GTR for one min, but seriously if you haven't been in one, do it. His good mate is selling an identical car, albeit 1yr older for under £40k. That is one huge pile of bang for the buck!
Made my weekend I can tell you, and he's such a nice guy and a really great tiler too.
So as an aside, if anybody wants a recommendation for a very experienced top quality natural stone tiler, who just happens to be a massive petrolhead too then drop me a PM! He is a top guy and his GTR is just properly mental!
.So when I called him this time I asked him what car he had these days and he said "I have a GTR now". "Great", I said, "I'm a massive petrolhead as you know so why don't you come down it in today". "OK", he said, "its a lovely day, why not"...
So a bit later he arrives in what turns out to be a heavily modified 650BHP pearl white GTR with red/black interior - a perfect match for my V12V! OMG, what a car! It has a huge presence and made my V12V look tiny parked next to it. But what a pair of matching beauties they were!
We compared cars and chatted for far more time about automotive things than it took him to measure up and quote on my tiling job, and it turns out he is a retired amateur / semi pro racing driver too and has just got back from a trip to the nurburgring and his modified GTR is capable of 0-60 in 2.8secs and capable of stopping just as fast!!!
So when he's done chatting and measuring up he says, "So, do you fancy going for a quick spin it in?"... "Hell, yes" I replied!!!
I did warn him that I make for a better driver than passenger, but I can honestly say that at this point I was not expecting what his car was capable of! As we pull out of the garage he pushes a couple of buttons on the dash into "R Mode" which I knew from my knowledge of GTR's stood for "Race Mode". Still I wasn't too phased as well, I drive a V12V you know!
I waved at my good lady who was stood at the side of the road and apparently at that point I still had a grin on my face like a Cheshire cat.Then he floored it and performed a four wheel drift across two of the three (one way) lanes at the end of my street, leaving 100yrs of rubber marks which are still visible today! All I could say, well actually almost scream in a girly kind of way was "OH MY GODDDDD!!!!". He repeated the experience several times and each time all I could do was repeat the same phrase and hang on for dear life. My sunglasses actually flew off the top of my head at one point due the sheer acceleration! The car is absolutely phenomenal! Forget any badge snobbery, that is THE most mental car I have ever been in - eclipsing my very memorable drive of an Atom 330 by a decent margin.
Several mins later he drops me off in town at which point I am a still a shaking wreck and remained that way until the evening! I was mostly buzzing from the experience, but a little bit shaken too, in a good way! Then my friend who lives nearby who is also a petrolhead sends me a text. "OMG, whose is that GTR!"... "Ahh, its just my tiler taking me for a spin" I reply
What an amazing car. I actually never thought I would consider a GTR for one min, but seriously if you haven't been in one, do it. His good mate is selling an identical car, albeit 1yr older for under £40k. That is one huge pile of bang for the buck!
Made my weekend I can tell you, and he's such a nice guy and a really great tiler too.
So as an aside, if anybody wants a recommendation for a very experienced top quality natural stone tiler, who just happens to be a massive petrolhead too then drop me a PM! He is a top guy and his GTR is just properly mental!
Edited by AdamV12V on Sunday 9th June 21:42
I've just come from a 600 bhp GTR myself, to my Vantage S manual. Loved that car, but, so far at least, I don't miss it. Whilst owning it I desperately missed the manual transmission - plus, there are very few places in the UK that you can even feel like the GTR is trying. Too fast for most UK roads, frankly
I had one of the first UK cars back in 2009. Managed to buy it when we had a reduction in VAT to 15%.
It was a black Black Edition car and to be honest was a good car. Came out of a 911 for that but I have to say that the build quality wasn't the same as the 911. It was a good car, don't get me wrong, it's just that you could tell where the money was saved.
Have to hand it to Nissan though, they sent all sorts of goodies out, even got a GTR race helmet and a full day at Silverstone doing time attack, drifting and then got to drive the then unreleased GTR round the track!
It was fast but it was also uninspiring to drive. It was too easy and as such uninvolving. As far as a high speed weapon, you can get no better for this side of 100K. CPR was around at that time and after about 6 or 7K you had a 650bhp monster that would mash your brain to the back of you head on take off......phenomenal piece of kit. Good mate of mine still has his and if anyone doubts the performance f these cars and you are in NW of England at any time, give me a shout. Just don't try to race one, this thing absolutely leaves my DBS for dead......totally obliterates it.
I sold mine after 12 months not because of the car, it was mainly down to the dealership and especially the warranty. Nissan seems to look for any excuse to wriggle out of its warranty. If you even changed the exhaust, warranty void (this was a necessity as they sounded pants in normal guise). Servicing was 6 months or 6K miles and these boys knew how to charge!
Having said all of that, the GTR was itself a good car but I know which car I would rather be in. Cost aside, the Aston is a nice place to be. It's the only car I've had where you feel peaceful, cosseted in fine leather and stimulated by the glorious noise of that V12 engine.
Hard to describe how you feel in Astons. I can understand why many call AM owners for banging on about the marque but after owning one you kind of get it - if that makes sense. Just a pity IMO that manuals are dying out. Still, at my age I suppose its time to think about an automatic
It was a black Black Edition car and to be honest was a good car. Came out of a 911 for that but I have to say that the build quality wasn't the same as the 911. It was a good car, don't get me wrong, it's just that you could tell where the money was saved.
Have to hand it to Nissan though, they sent all sorts of goodies out, even got a GTR race helmet and a full day at Silverstone doing time attack, drifting and then got to drive the then unreleased GTR round the track!
It was fast but it was also uninspiring to drive. It was too easy and as such uninvolving. As far as a high speed weapon, you can get no better for this side of 100K. CPR was around at that time and after about 6 or 7K you had a 650bhp monster that would mash your brain to the back of you head on take off......phenomenal piece of kit. Good mate of mine still has his and if anyone doubts the performance f these cars and you are in NW of England at any time, give me a shout. Just don't try to race one, this thing absolutely leaves my DBS for dead......totally obliterates it.
I sold mine after 12 months not because of the car, it was mainly down to the dealership and especially the warranty. Nissan seems to look for any excuse to wriggle out of its warranty. If you even changed the exhaust, warranty void (this was a necessity as they sounded pants in normal guise). Servicing was 6 months or 6K miles and these boys knew how to charge!
Having said all of that, the GTR was itself a good car but I know which car I would rather be in. Cost aside, the Aston is a nice place to be. It's the only car I've had where you feel peaceful, cosseted in fine leather and stimulated by the glorious noise of that V12 engine.
Hard to describe how you feel in Astons. I can understand why many call AM owners for banging on about the marque but after owning one you kind of get it - if that makes sense. Just a pity IMO that manuals are dying out. Still, at my age I suppose its time to think about an automatic
amazing cars,as has been said too big though ,early cars were very very high maintenance as well,people bought them for 55k ,not knowing the running costs were proper supercar costs.
From 11 onwards nissan improved the service requirement so they now warranty the clutch for standing starts and only need an annual service now.
The standard 2013 model does 0-60 2.5 seconds and 0-100 in 6.7 ,and having given the dbs a good runout this weekend I can't see where you can use that performance,so god knows where you can use some of these tuned up beasts
From 11 onwards nissan improved the service requirement so they now warranty the clutch for standing starts and only need an annual service now.
The standard 2013 model does 0-60 2.5 seconds and 0-100 in 6.7 ,and having given the dbs a good runout this weekend I can't see where you can use that performance,so god knows where you can use some of these tuned up beasts
Cockernee said:
AstonTony said:
Just a pity IMO that manuals are dying out. Still, at my age I suppose its time to think about an automatic
Or reversing camera's 
Just because I don't see posts that hide and reverse into
Just had the diffuser replaced so looking good again.
Maybe a chauffeur would be safest bet as I enter into my dotage
I have also gone a bit deaf as well so need to turn the volume button up on the old exhaust system.........
I remembered reading this a while back.... Makes 650bhp look a bit under-powered...!!
https://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/blog/post/201...
https://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/blog/post/201...
Very old thread, but I had to add my first experience in a GTR. A few weeks ago, a friend who had driven my '72 Pantera about a year ago, finally broke down and bought a lovely '74 Pantera. The first day after it arrived, he asked me to accompany him down to a Pantera parts supplier in Orange County, about a 40 mile ride down the freeway. He had not had the GTR very long (I think it's a 2016), and we left early in the morning to head down. I have never paid much attention to the GTR since it just doesn't "tickle" my fancy in the aesthetic department. I had never been in a GTR, so I was anxious to see what it was like even as a passenger. Well, after the ride down about a half hour, I was thoroughly convinced that it was the WORST ride I had ever been in a motor vehicle. Terrible ride, abominable transmission, horribly noisy (and not in a great engine sounding way), generally unpleasant experience. As a matter of fact, I told him I would never ride in it again when we had to go some distance it was so bad. I was so stunned that I went back to read reviews of the car by different auto magazines and discovered that even in very favorable reviews, the ride, the noise, and the clunkiness of transmission shifts was always mentioned as negatives but they were always so enamored with the performance parameters of the GTR, they could overlook its flaws. I couldn't nor would I. My 48 year old Pantera is silk compared to this piece of junk, and my 2010 600hp Jag XKR while it bit slower offers so much more pleasure than the GTR, I honestly can't see how anyone could drive this car as a daily driver, it was so unpleasant. WOW!
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