# New GTR - Would you modify it?



## Bajie (Dec 13, 2001)

Seriously.

If you bought the car, would you feel the need to modify it.
I must say I am really taken by the car. Like it from every angle though it seems it is dimensionally a large vehicle.
Does the car wrap around you and make you feel coccooned like the R34 does?
For those of you lucky enough to own or driven one already, where would you "improve" the car.
I know Mines, Top Secret et all are working on the cars. How many prospective buyers of their wares are there out there ...


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## Zoobcheck (Feb 13, 2004)

*Modifying it*

Hell Yes !!!

Depends on how tuneable it is, but at the very least a full exhaust system (re: lighter) & mild boost upgrade !!!


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## kismetcapitan (Nov 25, 2005)

suspension - the car does roll around a bit. Although this doesn't necessarily equal bad handling, I just really dislike the feeling of rolling - my suspension is set very hard. I could probably get a bit more grip by loosening things up a touch, but I like that flat feeling of no body roll in hard corners


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## NISMO-GTR (Jan 28, 2006)

kismetcapitan said:


> suspension - the car does roll around a bit. Although this doesn't necessarily equal bad handling, I just really dislike the feeling of rolling - my suspension is set very hard. I could probably get a bit more grip by loosening things up a touch, but I like that flat feeling of no body roll in hard corners



i hear you cant lower it, so stiffer coilovers maybe if they would be made availible??


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

TBH, if i were to buy one (which i know wont happen for at least 5+ years minimum), i'd have to drive it for a while to find out any faults or areas that need improvement. Maybe until the warranty ran out...

out of interest how long does the warranty cover the car for? I'd be mainly thinking about the gearbox.


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## Yakozan (May 23, 2005)

Sooner or later I would like it modified 
Unless i had 2 of them. then one would be kept stock and the other one would be modified..
Or maybe one of them slightly modified and the other one heavily modified.

lol.. I'll keep on dreaming :wavey:


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

Wider wheels and rubber. Remove rear seats. Remove electric motors from front seats. Decat exhausts and map to 1bar.


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## Marky_GTSt (Dec 31, 2005)

I think a nice sounding exhaust and thats about it tbh... It will be a few years before I can own one though


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## Gez (Jan 8, 2003)

From the performance figures quoted, i dont think there is much point in tuning it. I also think that the new engines are prtty much tuned to the limit so it will be interestin to see how the tuners will tackle this car. 
If i buy one i wouldnt really go further than an exhaust till the engine proves itself reliably for tuning. 

Gerry


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

No.

Save my money for replacing brakes and tires - these cars were built to be driven, not to be molested and thrown on a rolling road.


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## Lex DakarDatsun (May 22, 2002)

Agreed - mod the driver not the car


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## kismetcapitan (Nov 25, 2005)

a big part of tuning is making the car purely yours. owning and maintaining a stock car is like being a caretaker for the next owner.

downside is that, if you've put too much into your car, and I'm not talking money, I'm talking heart and soul, it makes it that much more impossible to sell on.

being a skilled driver makes a huge difference (I took several advanced driving and beginner race courses (here)after I got my license, but so does doubling the horsepower....


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## R33_GTS-t (Apr 27, 2005)

...but surely nobody could say anything against 420mm CCB front discs with 12-pot calipers?


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## Hope4Sun (Jul 28, 2003)

I'll have to see how it feels first, but most likely modification if i can make the jump to do it, is to gut the car, a few 100  lbs removed will help no end i'm sure.


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## LiamGTR (Nov 26, 2006)

Yes, but only slightly (exterior wise)


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

R33_GTS-t said:


> ...but surely nobody could say anything against 420mm CCB front discs with 12-pot calipers?


Unless the stock brakes fade after some use then there is no reason to switch to even larger brakes on standard road tires.


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## kismetcapitan (Nov 25, 2005)

Sidious said:


> Unless the stock brakes fade after some use then there is no reason to switch to even larger brakes on standard road tires.


exactly. what happens is that the limiting factor in braking becomes the tire itself. If you can engage your ABS on hard braking on perfect, dry, warm tarmac, your brakes are good enough in terms of stopping power. You would have to be on racing slicks to start showing up deficiencies in stopping distances. On stock R32 brake calipers and street tires, I have generated 1.7G in deceleration, which is getting into race touring car territory. But I'd start to fade on a track after a couple laps of braking like that.

fade can be addressed with selecting the right brake pad. only after that, does a big brake kit make sense. the entire brake system must work in harmony - be set up correctly in other words, or you could actually degrade stopping power. This happens when people just slap on giant brake rotors and calipers. You lose the brake fade, but your braking distances INCREASE because the rest of the system - lines, pads, and master cylinder selection, has to match up.


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## MeLLoN Stu (Jun 9, 2005)

Given half the chance, it'd be modified as soon as I got ahold of it. 
Different wheels for starters, I hate the standard wheels on them. 
Pretty sure there'll be scope for a boost upgrade, so that too just for the hell of it, and the induction side of things assuming it's not as free flowing as aftermarket stuff, same goes for the exhaust, out with the cats 
Bodywork wise I'd love to see something different on the front end, nothing too far from the norm, but the standard look is missing something imo, perhaps the lack of vents at the frontal sides, not sure, something bothers me about it though. 
I'd also like to see some nice aftermarket alternatives for the centre console, as I absolutely detest the one they came up with. 

All hypothetical at this stage of course, but I'm sure there'll be a healthy scene in aftermarket parts for them in the future.


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## Booty-licious (Nov 8, 2001)

of course...it would be rude not too


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## R32 Combat (Jan 29, 2004)

Nissan spend how much developing this car???

Leave it as it is.

You can put what ever brakes on it you like, you won't stop it any faster....


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## bkvj (Feb 13, 2006)

definately, if i could afford the car and modify it i'd go all out. i think i'd like it in white, with some 19'' black TE37 Time Attack wheels, nismo aero (so subtle, maybe custom z-tune ish front wings?), up the powers, but still keeping the car low on lag, strip it partially, roll cage, ohlins suspension and a nice big break kit (carbon) to finish it off. 

then waste the rest of my money on track time and 24 hour races:chuckle:

aaah...dreams.


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## usagtrpilot (Aug 19, 2005)

I would hope that a decent aero-kit come out.


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## whoflungdung (May 7, 2005)

Well I would put it like this...........

Do Bears Sh1t In The Woods?


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## Cris (Sep 17, 2007)

kismetcapitan said:


> exactly. what happens is that the limiting factor in braking becomes the tire itself. If you can engage your ABS on hard braking on perfect, dry, warm tarmac, your brakes are good enough in terms of stopping power. You would have to be on racing slicks to start showing up deficiencies in stopping distances. On stock R32 brake calipers and street tires, I have generated 1.7G in deceleration, which is getting into race touring car territory. But I'd start to fade on a track after a couple laps of braking like that.
> 
> fade can be addressed with selecting the right brake pad. only after that, does a big brake kit make sense. the entire brake system must work in harmony - be set up correctly in other words, or you could actually degrade stopping power. This happens when people just slap on giant brake rotors and calipers. You lose the brake fade, but your braking distances INCREASE because the rest of the system - lines, pads, and master cylinder selection, has to match up.


I've seen reviews where the car is stopped by stamping on the brakes (ie triggering the ABS) and the stopping distance measured. Better calipers, disks and pads shortened the stopping distance.

Brake line should make no difference to the calipers. They either bulge or they don't. Changing the disks/calipers won't affect this.

I'd agree on master cylinder sizing though this should be addessed by multiple smaller calipers. Any half decent kit should have similar piston areas to the one being replaced. Easily worked out too.

I'd say that ceramic disks would be nice for the R35!

I'd also bet that dumping some of the emissions/noise stuff would yield a few ponies. Likewise a "remapping" of the GPS speed limiter thingy would be on the cards.


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## Godspd (Dec 12, 2001)

Marky_GTSt said:


> I think a nice sounding exhaust and thats about it tbh... It will be a few years before I can own one though


Totally agree..some HKS would do the job I would think...

YouTube - HKS exhaust w/ FI test pipes


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## Lith (Oct 5, 2006)

kismetcapitan said:


> suspension - the car does roll around a bit. Although this doesn't necessarily equal bad handling, I just really dislike the feeling of rolling - my suspension is set very hard. I could probably get a bit more grip by loosening things up a touch, but I like that flat feeling of no body roll in hard corners


I suspect you'd have to be going very quick to get the "roll" effect you see on the videos - they seem to corner exceptionally quickly. Even Ferraris are seen to roll a bit under duress.

I agree with your comments on modifications though, I'd do enough to make it a bit more mine - I wouldn't go any bigger/wider on the rims and tires though. They're not exactly small!!


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## Fuggles (Jul 3, 2001)

Two bucket seats, strip it out, roll cage.
But then the chances of me owning one is probably pretty slim


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

I'd put a GTROC sticker in the back window for starters. 

Then......

I'd remove the rear seats and speakers, as the rear seat is all but useless anyway what with the lack of leg room.

Infact, thinking about it, a full on strip and weight reduction job would be about enough to realise every bit of potential the car has to offer. I'd do that Sumo 350z stylee though, and replace all the original interior (minus the rear seats) and trim after weight reduction. Leaving it looking entirely stock with the only tell-tale the missing rear seats.


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## m6beg (Apr 21, 2003)

I am deffo getting one of these baby's. Very soon i hope  


Mick


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## JDMist3hfastar (Feb 23, 2007)

Id probably just put some chrome fender flares and spinnaz on for starters. Maybe I'll get real crazy and put on some mad tyte underglow! 

For real though, a black GTR with some time attack TEs and an exhaust would probably be the extent I'd mod one. Maybe a re-flash too once they came out with one.


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## akasakaR33 (Oct 10, 2005)

JasonO said:


> I'd put a GTROC sticker in the back window for starters.
> 
> Then......
> 
> ...


Rumor is, that is what the Spec-V will be like, right? No rear seats.

I've seen/heard the car in motion, and personally, would not do anything other than 1) replace the muffler - the car is TOO quiet - more quiet than the standard muffler the RB cars came with and therefore not very sporty, and then 2) put on a clear mask to the front end so when I took it to the track would not have to worry about rock chips.

And I'd have to go to the track alot, to improve myself, as the car is already quite superb...


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## Andy Hornsby (Mar 22, 2003)

White one for me, first job would be to powder coat the wheels matt black!, second, air filters and exhaust/downpipes, (make it sound mean!). That would be it..........................so pritty much the Mines car!!


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## Daz (Aug 14, 2001)

m6beg said:


> I am deffo getting one of these baby's. Very soon i hope
> 
> 
> Mick


And I expect a visit when it arrives ! :clap:


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## rasonline (Mar 24, 2005)

it's obvoius that some people would feel the need to modify it.. maybe just because they can, maybe because they want more power to really thrash the Porsche brigade, etc.

Personally i would only go for minor modifications if possible to the engine.. squeeze out a few more kilowatts that mass production doesn't allow for.


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## rasonline (Mar 24, 2005)

R32 Combat said:


> Nissan spend how much developing this car???
> 
> Leave it as it is.
> 
> You can put what ever brakes on it you like, you won't stop it any faster....


i'm sure that's what they said about the original R32 which sold at a loss i do believe.


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## tokes (Jul 16, 2006)

I'm done school in a few years here, so I'm hoping to pick one of these up new once I graduate.

I think if the gearbox and engine proves itself to be reliable I'd move up to a large set of turbos. Something HKS GT-RS sized, with the exhaust/fuel/IC to match. Think of how much faster turbos will spool with an additional 1.2L over our little RB's!


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## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

don't need to it'sjust done a 1-60 in 3.3 secs !!!


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## ybioul (Nov 23, 2007)

I am 100% sure I will.... and already see some stuff done.... I've always havily moded my cars(AUDI A4 AVANT, 996 bi turbo, my current one an AUDI RS4 V8)

no reason to change my passion of transforming a close to perfect car in a perfect car in my eyes....


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## whoflungdung (May 7, 2005)

its too late...........










well, if you think modding it is wrong???


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

whoflungdung said:


> its too late...........
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is not a modifed car. That is a works team race car - and rebuilt by a team of professionals who know how to make a GTR faster at competition level. Could also be simply because they provided much of the technical input in the development of the road car in the 1st place.


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## whoflungdung (May 7, 2005)

Sidious said:


> That is not a modifed car. That is a works team race car - and rebuilt by a team of professionals who know how to make a GTR faster at competition level. Could also be simply because they provided much of the technical input in the development of the road car in the 1st place.



Have I left the planet    

Is this not the new GTR modified for racing   

I believe the saying is.....

you say Tomato, I say tomato :chairshot :chairshot :chairshot


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## JasonO (Jun 29, 2001)

Jim,
That's the GT500 GTR Race car, it's a GTR in silhouette only.

The carbon is nice, but a tad rough cosmeticaly.


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## tweenierob (Aug 5, 2003)

I cant wait to modify!! 

Will i be the devil? 

Rob


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## BigFas (Nov 7, 2007)

to be fair, it'd be rude NOT to modify, if only cosmetically  How many standard R32 / 33/ 34's are there? Not many i would guess


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

whoflungdung said:


> Have I left the planet
> 
> Is this not the new GTR modified for racing
> 
> ...


Yes you have left the planet!.... Only joking.

To call a GT500 racing car a modified car is like confusing a professional heavyweight boxer to a night club bouncer.


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## DaleHarrison (Nov 16, 2005)

Only modifications I'd make in the first year of ownership would be slight cosmetic ones. Other than that I think I'd leave it alone (probably due to me spunking half the value of my house's re-mortgage on one! LOL)


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## 09SpecV (Dec 21, 2007)

Don't think i'll be interested in modding, after spending the money on the motor i certainly want the back up and services of the dealership so i'll be thinking of that warranty....well maybe a decat to give that exhaust note some aggression


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## Trevor (Jul 2, 2002)

*Weight reduction is the key to tuning the new GT-R*



Fuggles said:


> Two bucket seats, strip it out, roll cage.
> But then the chances of me owning one is probably pretty slim


Fuggles said one of the comments that really makes sense to me. For real tangable performance benefits, forget engine tuning like on the previous generation cars, its weight reduction that is the way to go with this car. Can you imagine how much better it would feel, stop and handle if weight reduction of say 180kg's was attempted! 

Use of CF seats, Titanium exhaust, magnesium wheels, etc, these things could really make a huge difference. Nissan no doubt still have fantastic engineers at their disposal (this car is proof) but they had to work to a very strictly to a tight budget to allow it to sell for the equivalent to £35K in US ($70k usd). That means very little in the way of expensive materials such as titanium and carbon fibre have been used, thus there is plenty of scope for improvement here.


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## mindlessoath (Nov 30, 2007)

i would provide my gt-r with lower and more stiff suspention.

i would provide more cooling for oils, trans oil, engine oil etc. 

i would add more sticky tires with a long life (i dont want to have to water my tires down after each lap 

the car is stiff as is, but i would add more stiff under body carrage. mabe wider anti roll bars (depending on the balance).

adding oil and liquids cooling would alter the weight distrabution so i would have to do something to counter that.

take out the seats and replace them with 10lbs carbon fiber seats. remove the rear seats. remove the intereror and noise dampening junk (this is going to be only a track car!).

if needed i may increase the brakes, but well see what it can do, im not adding much power, just releasing the power...

by adding intake and strait exuast without cats.

if limited by a limiter i will have to piggy back the ecu and run a new spedo, and tac, remapping whats neccessary (mabe mines would have this sorted by then)... else this really isnt need for my track battles, going 156mph isnt needed on most of my tracks.

carbon fiber will have to be custom made because adding added chassie strength will add weight. alot of the body cant be turned into carbon, so windows will have to go (like in the vspec prot0).

wish they would sell an MR GT-R without all the junk at a cheaper price.


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

Lower this, strip that, yet no one here has driven or pushed the new GTR hard enough to realise any of its flaws.

All I see is speculation that the new GTR needs to be modified, no real evidence of anyone testing the car to demonstrate what can be improved.

Suggesting bigger brakes was irational enough, but now suggesting to indescriminately strip weight off the car without considering the impact on front/rear & left right corner balance.

Lowering and stiffen springs? Slapping on the most affordable or prettiest coilovers will give un-known damping characteristics and changes the wheel travel of the car, it will also affect handing balance issues of its own unless the damper and spring is specific to the car and the roads/tracks that it will be subjected to be used on - all you will do is shift its suspension performance to suit a different type of road other than what the standard car was rudementally tested and highly regarded on.

The difference between the likes of Nismo, or even Mines & MCR and the average GTR dreamer is they have the resources and the professional drivers to test and disect the GTR, and with a clear design goal. They do not just modify a formidible car just for the sake of modifying!


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## tokes (Jul 16, 2006)

Steve said:


> don't need to it'sjust done a 1-60 in 3.3 secs !!!


And what do you think an R32/R33/R34 GTR with some GT2530's, a triple plate clutch, and 500 WHP will do?


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## Joeingo (May 11, 2006)

i would like to swap out that auto floppy paddle deal for a nice 6-speed, but then again, ill probably never have a new gtr


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## mindlessoath (Nov 30, 2007)

Sidious said:


> Lower this, strip that, yet no one here has driven or pushed the new GTR hard enough to realise any of its flaws.
> 
> All I see is speculation that the new GTR needs to be modified, no real evidence of anyone testing the car to demonstrate what can be improved.
> 
> ...


totaly understand that. my comments go with massive testing. im giong to improve on the car and im taking notes from the future vspec version. it will take forever to pickout the right suspention and tune the suspetion correctly. you cant just crap it all together.

this is not rice! im not sure if you direct your comments toward myne... but i fully acknowledge there is a proper weight distrabution, and prepair to make the adjustments to fix the placement of added and decreased weight. not only that, but adding weight requires removing weight for that very purprose.

i see alot of tuners out there that just slap shit on the car, it doesnt matter what it is, and they dont tune it for track, or take anything to mind, except that its cool, and they think it will make it produce faster results - WRONG! and your right.

in the other comments you make about issues with the car and finding faults... well reviews are already out, we have seen many video's and tuners out there that know what they are doing will know what they want to do to this car. once they get it its a differnt story, of course, you wil go from the flow chart you have to annother one... tuning and modifying cars isnt easy, most of these people just have a wish list and its not all going to improve anything. thats where trial and error comes in and tuning. you spend alot of money doing these things, and proving what works and what doesnt, so its a learning experiance and others find out for other tuners.

nissan had a budget to work with, they made a proper car, they are making new cars every year to beat the latest supercars so nissan stays on top... tuners and modders will also.


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## Trevor (Jul 2, 2002)

Sidious said:


> Lower this, strip that, yet no one here has driven or pushed the new GTR hard enough to realise any of its flaws.
> 
> All I see is speculation that the new GTR needs to be modified, no real evidence of anyone testing the car to demonstrate what can be improved.
> 
> ...


Changing the brakes for Carbon Ceramic is rational if your planning on tracking the vehicle and have the means to pay for it. Quite a few high end manufacturers are now fitting carbon brakes.

Who said anything about not corner weighting the vehicle as part of weight reduction?


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

Trevor said:


> Changing the brakes for Carbon Ceramic is rational if your planning on tracking the vehicle and have the means to pay for it. Quite a few high end manufacturers are now fitting carbon brakes.
> 
> Who said anything about not corner weighting the vehicle as part of weight reduction?


The primary benefit of carbon ceramic brakes is the reduced unsprung weight, which would benefit less forgiving types of road or if you need to ride the kerbs on a track, the secondary benefit is the increased endurance. 

Additional stopping power is dependent on the pad compound and the grip of the tires and the braking balance of the whole car. Durability is down to thermal management of the entire brake system (larger rotors, cooling, stronger caliper etc) Simply incorporating CC brakes will not make you champion of twating about between A road roundabouts.

So unless you plan to race your road legal GTR for hours aggressively, ceramics will not provide much of an improvement to the car. 

When you reduce weight, some part within some section of the car has lost weight which will affect the corner balance of the car. Reducing weight improves acceleration in most cases, but everything such as braking stability, handling & grip will depend on balance of the weight. Sometimes you have to ADD weight to make a car faster in a racing situation.


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## Trevor (Jul 2, 2002)

Sidious said:


> The primary benefit of carbon ceramic brakes is the reduced unsprung weight, which would benefit less forgiving types of road or if you need to ride the kerbs on a track, the secondary benefit is the increased endurance.
> 
> Additional stopping power is dependent on the pad compound and the grip of the tires and the braking balance of the whole car. Durability is down to thermal management of the entire brake system (larger rotors, cooling, stronger caliper etc) Simply incorporating CC brakes will not make you champion of twating about between A road roundabouts.
> 
> ...


Spending hours aggressively racing is a little bit of an exaggeration especially with heavy cars and twisty tracks. I've seen friends cook huge brembo brakes on Ferrari 360 Modena's with just a few hot laps on a challenging track and that car only has 400 bhp and 1250kg's. Carbon ceramic brakes do not fade like this, the 360 Challenge Stradale is testment to this. There is no doubt some of these GT-R's will see quite a bit of track action and they are pretty heavy - Carbon brakes would help a lot as would well considered weight reduction including CF seats, titanium exhausts, etc. Carbon brakes should be on the options list really.

I do agree with you that unless you do it properly you can damage all the hard work and millions of pounds development budget the manufacturer put in and end up with a worse car than you started with.


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## Kyuubi (Dec 3, 2007)

Hell No!!..I'd leave it at is.. It's like trying to altar a priceless painting imo.. lol
Beside's there's still the other models that will be released next year.."spec-v" and "evo"..(i think thats what they're called.)


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