Nismo

The Nissan GT-R is one of the best cars I’ve ever driven, and it continues to be a favorite among gearheads around the world. To celebrate the illustrious history of the GT-R brand, Nissan and LEGO will soon release a model based on the modern day GT-R NISMO.

The newly-updated-for-2020 Nissan Versa is no longer the least expensive new car on sale in the United States, but it does retain the title of least expensive new Nissan. On the other end of the spectrum, the 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO is the most expensive Nissan in the company’s lineup, and the most expensive GT-R to date.

Nissan has announced the 2020 GT-R NISMO as part of its celebration of 50-years of GT-Rs. Compared to other GT-R models, the NISMO uses carbon fiber on the front and rear bumpers, front fenders, hood, roof, side sill covers, trunk, and rear spoiler.

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, sport compacts were all the rage in the car world. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to lust after an Integra Type-R or a Civic Si. While they were still economy cars in many ways, they were designed to be special and a joy to drive.

If you have enough scratch sitting around to afford the 2017 Nissan GT-R NISMO, you could have an epic 911 GT3 RS for only $1,000 more. That would be an easy decision for me, all 911 GT3 RS all day.

More power isn’t really something the 600 hp GT-R NISMO needed, which is a good thing since the 2017 version didn’t a boost in that department. What the 2017 GT-R NISMO did get was improved handling and more aerodynamics, which are always welcome on the track.

Nissan has set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest drift ever. The car that pulled off this epic drift was a heavily modified Nissan that started life as a “normal” 2016 GT-R. The car was massaged by GReddy and NISMO to make an insane 1380 hp.

Nissan will have a presence at SEMA when the show kicks off early next month. At the show, the automaker will be showing off one of the hottest sports cars ever made in a special hopped up form.

At this past weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, a world record was set that wasn’t all that fast, but it was mighty damn skillful. Renowned stunt car driver Terry Grant got into the Guinness Book of World Records when he got behind the wheel of the GT-R powered Nissan Juke Nismo RS and drove it up the very challenging 1.16-mile course, averaging a very respectable 30 mph along the way – on two wheels.

A few years back, Nissan took their Juke crossover and completely revamped it by giving it the drivetrain found in the GT-R. The new Juke-R 2.0 is even more of a badass, sporting an upgraded engine – based 3.8L twin-turbo V6 from the GT-R NISMO –  tuned to push out about 608hp – a 26% increase over the original Juke-R’s 480hp engine.

Odds are you… nor I… will ever get a chance to actually drive Le Mans, which is going on as I write this. So we’ll have to make do with this video of a Nissan GT-R tearing up the Circuit de la Sarthe, in advance of the 2015 Le Mans.

Look, we’re all hurting. It’s been a long time since we got to see Clarkson, Hammond, and May act like asshats, play with cars, mock each other, and amuse us perfectly. If they were still making Top Gear they’d probably racing a Ferrari FF down a frozen mountain against Hammond riding a yeti by now.

I wasn’t that thrilled by the ads which ran during this year’s Super Bowl, but the one spot that won almost universal praise was Nissan’s emotional clip about the bond between a child and his dad who races cars for a living.

Hop aboard for the ride of your life, as Nissan factory driver Harry Tincknell takes us around the track in the NISMO LMP1 car that will be raced at Le Mans 2015. The Nissan LMP1 GT-R LM NISMO might be a front-wheel drive car, but this experimental ride certainly seems up to the task.

I can rattle off a laundry list of issues I have with the Nissan 370Z. For starters, the car is overweight, overpriced, and underpowered in my opinion. I could go on, but those are my big complaints.