Nissan GT-R Handling Test: Godzilla turns and stops as eagerly as he charges

Nissan's white lie about what's happening in its GT-R superstar's engine room and explained the science behind its magical acceleration, we set about scrutinizing Godzilla's chassis dynamics by putting it through our braking and figure-eight tests. Here again the fearsome monster laid down some fairly heroic numbers.

Nissan GT-R (By Frank Markus / Photography by Evan Klein)

The GT-R's brake hardware isn't overly exotic. The 15-inch diameter vented and drilled steel rotors, 1.3 inches thick in front, 1.2 in back, are of a floating two-piece design that helps to dissipate heat and prevents transferring it to the hub and bearings. Brembo calipers clamp with six pistons each in front, four in back, and use radial mounting to the uprights to reduce caliper flex (this race-inspired setup orients the mounting bolts parallel to the plane of the rotor, rather than perpendicular to it). The result: stops from 100 mph in just 280 feet, and from 60 mph in 105 feet. That ranks the GT-R in a three-way tie as Motor Trend's fifth best 100-0 stop in a regular production car.

100-0 mph (feet)
Dodge Viper SRT-10	274
Mosler MT900 Photon	275
Porsche Carrera GT	277
Ferrari F430 F1 (std launch)	278
Nissan GT-R	280
Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupe	280
Porsche GT2	280

And if you thought the VR38DETT twin-turbo V-6's dyno readings of 507 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque were impressive, our computers suggest these Brembos are providing over 1200 horsepower worth of braking at the beginning of that stop. The PlayStation screen's braking-g trace plateau was around 1.20 g indicated, though our test gear pegs the peak g loading at closer to 1.35g. Most impressive.

Early reviewers have been almost unanimous in their praise for the Nissan GT-R's steering feel, proclaiming it unusually communicative for an all-wheel-drive car -- especially one wearing big fat 255/40R20 meats in front burdened with 55 percent of the total weight. It's certainly no Porsche in terms of steering feel, but it's darned close to the BMW standard when threading up the Angeles Crest Highway (or drifting on Mt. Fuji, one imagines). Nissan attributes this (and the GT-R's handling in general) to the high-precision six-point mounted front and rear subframes. Structural rigidity at the rear is improved as a running change to all GT-Rs concurrent with the launch of the cars bound for the U.S. According to Nissan senior project engineer Bruce Robinson, this change improved steering feel and allowed the spring rates to be backed off just a bit, improving ride quality slightly.