# GT-R Test Drive at Tochigi Testing Facility



## Chuck_H (Jul 28, 2006)

> Japan’s Car Top magazine has been informed in detail of Nissan’s secret test drive event held earlier this month at its Tochigi proving grounds.
> 
> An unnamed test driver has spoken exclusively to Car Top magazine about an event held by Nissan to allow 30 people to test drive the 2008 GT-R at its Tochigi proving grounds earlier this month. No media representatives were invited to the event so the lucky group of people only consisted of Nissan advertising and marketing personnel as well as some racing and test drivers to help out with the program. Over the 3 day event, the aforementioned unnamed test driver was able to put the GT-R through handling and high speed tests designed to show its superiority against two other cars for comparison, a Z33 Fairlady Z and a 997 Porsche 911 Turbo. All those assembled were told that the interior of the GT-R test car was fake and that the black front mask would not be coming off for the tests. The rear of the car however was unmasked and there for all to see. The unnamed test driver went on to describe the rear of the GT-R to Car Top and a CG image of that description can be seen below. There would also be 7 different GT-R models to be released (in different markets) and there would be four colors: the silver as seen on the Nurburgring test car, the gun metal gray as seen on the car at the Goodwood Festival, white and black.
> 
> ...


7tune.com » Blog Archive » 2008 GT-R Test Drive at Tochigi Testing Facility


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## git-r (Nov 15, 2005)

Interesting read.. thanks for posting:thumbsup:


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## invincible569 (Apr 15, 2006)

WOW. Now, im getting excited. Its almost here! it's good to hear the U.S. version will be detuned. Cant wait to modify it to its full potential. Thats where the fun is.


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## TSUCHIYA-KUN (Mar 19, 2007)

good info mate, and overall very interesting


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## nismo240sx90 (Nov 16, 2005)

getting better


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## psd1 (May 15, 2004)

invincible569 said:


> WOW. Now, im getting excited. Its almost here! it's good to hear the U.S. version will be detuned. Cant wait to modify it to its full potential. Thats where the fun is.


How can you be sure the US model will be detuned? Possibly the CA bound cars, but the rest of the US has pretty decent fuel available actually...


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## gtrlux (Mar 8, 2006)

Picture is Photoshop, like every thing else from BestCar magazine . . .


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## bonzelite (May 14, 2006)

in my opinion, the USDM's "detuned" GT-R will probably assume the guise of only one model offering, whereas the JDM may get variants that are not initially offered here. so in a way of looking at it, the base model is "detuned" from the super-dooper V-Spec II Nur or whatever else may arise.


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

psd1 said:


> How can you be sure the US model will be detuned? Possibly the CA bound cars, but the rest of the US has pretty decent fuel available actually...


But the emissions laws suck.


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## bonzelite (May 14, 2006)

^^^that, too.

America is famous for getting all of the "pussy" versions of imported sports cars.


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## psd1 (May 15, 2004)

R33_GTS-t said:


> But the emissions laws suck.


Saving the world...One slow car at a time...:chairshot


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## RedBeauty84ZX (Jun 27, 2007)

R33_GTS-t said:


> But the emissions laws suck.


They are actually not that bad....and many states don't even have emission laws. Also the quality of gas we use here is actually much better then in Japan and many other parts of the world. The reason the GTR was never sold here before is because first Nissan didnt see a real market for the car in the US since the Z has done so well fitting the bill here and 2nd because they apparently would not have passed crash tests here. Japan likes to keep a lot of the _low production_ special edition versions of their cars sold only there but not because they couldnt sell them here...


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## psd1 (May 15, 2004)

RedBeauty84ZX said:


> They are actually not that bad....and many states don't even have emission laws. Also the quality of gas we use here is actually much better then in Japan and many other parts of the world. The reason the GTR was never sold here before is because first Nissan didnt see a real market for the car in the US since the Z has done so well fitting the bill here and 2nd because they apparently would not have passed crash tests here. Japan likes to keep a lot of the _low production_ special edition versions of their cars sold only there but not because they couldnt sell them here...


The RB26 is not and never will be a "Green" motor...hence it's death in Japan once they tightened thier emissions laws.

Not sure if I can agree on the gas being better in the US...at least in Japan the high test has some good numbers...


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## Northern Monkey (Sep 20, 2004)

I thought the detuning was due to the fuel that is available in the US. In that their octane rating is crap.


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## RedBeauty84ZX (Jun 27, 2007)

psd1 said:


> The RB26 is not and never will be a "Green" motor...hence it's death in Japan once they tightened thier emissions laws.
> 
> Not sure if I can agree on the gas being better in the US...at least in Japan the high test has some good numbers...


We don't use the same octane rating system as europe and Japan here. Our 87 octane (low grade) is equal to Europe and Japans 92-93 octane, and our 93 octane ratings are equivelant to 98-100 octane else where. Its also been tested and shown that the octane ratings here in the US are the bare minimum that would be delivered at the pump...most of the time the gas coming out is 1-2 octane points higher then advertised...


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## psd1 (May 15, 2004)

RedBeauty84ZX said:


> We don't use the same octane rating system as europe and Japan here. Our 87 octane (low grade) is equal to Europe and Japans 92-93 octane, and our 93 octane ratings are equivelant to 98-100 octane else where. Its also been tested and shown that the octane ratings here in the US are the bare minimum that would be delivered at the pump...most of the time the gas coming out is 1-2 octane points higher then advertised...


Hmmm, Ive lived in the US, Japan and Europe and dont believe that. I'm no RON/MON/FRG genius but I think your wrong. Guess if I had the time to do some homework I could post the results...

This is in fact the New GTR thread, so I guess it's irrelevant anyhow.


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## RedBeauty84ZX (Jun 27, 2007)

psd1 said:


> Hmmm, Ive lived in the US, Japan and Europe and dont believe that. I'm no RON/MON/FRG genius but I think your wrong. Guess if I had the time to do some homework I could post the results...
> 
> This is in fact the New GTR thread, so I guess it's irrelevant anyhow.


You don't have to believe it, its common knowledge. We use an average of the RON and MON to determine our octane rating. 

"In Europe 98-octane gasoline is common and in Japan even 100-octane is readily available at the pumps, but this octane nomenclature is misleading to Americans as foreign octane ratings are derived entirely differently from our own... So, like every other measurement system it seems that everyone else uses a different scale than we do, but unlike most other instances where we have had the good sense to create different units of measure in this case we all use the same name...
Japan and Europe use a system called RON or Research Octane Number to determine the octane rating of their gasoline, while stateside we use a system called AKI or Anti-Knock Index to determine gasoline's octane rating... Interestingly, to further complicate things it would seem that our own AKI system is actually derived from the average of the RON system and another more complicated system referred to as MON or Motor Octane Number... So, to recap our methodologies for measuring gasoline's octane rating are different, but share some common elements...
So, with the commonality of RON in mind a good rule of thumb is as follows, multiply the foreign RON Octane rating by 0.95 and you will have the US AKI equivalent.

( RON Octane Rating x 0.95 = AKI Octane Rating )
98 RON Octane x 0.95 = 93.1 AKI Octane (US measure)
100 RON Octane x 0.95 = 95 AKI Octane (US measure)

So, as you can see the 93 or 94 octane fuel we are all paying an arm and a leg for is actually quite comparable to the higher octane fuels found in Europe and Japan. The people whom have to worry about low octane rating are our friends out west in places like California that are subjected to substandard 91 octane.
91 AKI Octane (US measure) = 95.5 RON Octane"

In other words our 93-94 "premium" fuels are equivelant to the 100 octane at the pumps in Europe and Japan. Like I previously said though, the rating at the pump is the bare minimum they are legally allowed to put out, often its 1-2 points higher then advertised. The only place in the US where you may have an issue is california where 91 is considered premium and 93-94 octane is hard to find....

Also i'm not sure how common this is in Europe but here there are a few gas stations that offer above "premium" fuels usually around 100 octane(US). Especially gas stations near drag strips and race tracks...


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## Northern Monkey (Sep 20, 2004)

But we still dont have a comparable RON/AKI rating to Japans high levels...!!

No matter how much scientific evidence you throw at it.


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## gavman (Apr 12, 2006)

RedBeauty84ZX said:


> So, as you can see the 93 or 94 octane fuel we are all paying an arm and a leg for is actually quite comparable


not in price matey
don't even go there

nothing worse than americans bleating about paying a fraction of what the rest of the world does for petrol

for the record it's about $9 a gallon here


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## bonzelite (May 14, 2006)

i have heard that for some reason the USDM octane ratings are "actually" or "really" higher than the stickers indicate on the pumps. for example here in socal, the 91 premium is 'really" 93 or 94 octane. 

there is a Union 76 station in Pasadena where you can buy 100 octane fuel, however. there are a few of them scattered throughout the LA basin. it's about nearly double the$$$ per gallon of what the other ratings go for here. 

and yes i hear the other poster about how Americans bemoan their "expensive" gasoline. it's the cheapest gas in the world here, from what i understand.


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## psd1 (May 15, 2004)

bonzelite said:


> i have heard that for some reason the USDM octane ratings are "actually" or "really" higher than the stickers indicate on the pumps. for example here in socal, the 91 premium is 'really" 93 or 94 octane.
> 
> and yes i hear the other poster about how Americans bemoan their "expensive" gasoline. it's the cheapest gas in the world here, from what i understand.


I dont know why the oil companys would go to the expense of selling a 94 Octane fuel at a 91 price...doesnt make sense to me at all...never heard that before either.

U.S. has the cheapest fuel? Check prices in Venezuela...

New GTR should be interesting.


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## Northern Monkey (Sep 20, 2004)

Check prices in Dubai. Been working out there a month ago, it makes you sick what they pay, or more to the point what they dont pay!!!


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