Nissan Skyline GTR Black Edition

You know its legendary name. The "Godzilla" is back, with a meaner engine, refreshed styling, and more detailed interior.

The design bears a close resemblance to the GT-R Proto shown at the 2005 Tokyo Show and, in turn, has much in common stylistically with the 2001 GT-R Concept.

'We wanted to design a car that looked uniquely Japanese - it is very definitely not a European or American sports car.' says senior vice president of design Shiro Nakamura. 'We also wanted to highlight the functionality of the car - it is a car that is easy to use and easy to drive - and continue the proud heritage of the GT-R.'

The new Nissan GT-R is a muscular, distinctive looking car. Chunky, edgy, wide shouldered, ground-hugging and flat-sided, it is also one of the most aerodynamic cars in the world (Cd 0.27) as well as being one of the most distinctive.

Nissan's VR38DETT is a brand new engine specially developed for the Nissan GT-R. The 3.8-liter unit uses twin IHI turbochargers. Its maximum power is 480 PS (353 kW) at 6400rpm. This makes the Nissan GT-R one of the world's most powerful road cars and the most powerful production car ever built by Nissan. Maximum torque of 60kg/m (588 Nm) is delivered seamlessly from 3200-5200rpm.

The Nissan GT-R uses an all-new GR6-type transmission, exclusively developed for the car. The paddle shift six-speed twin clutch gearbox is highly efficient - unlike an automatic transmission with conventional torque converter, there is minimum power loss so response and fuel economy is improved. In M range (for manual transmission mode), the paddle shift gives exceedingly quick changes. Such quick gear changing maintains the turbo boost, so acceleration is one strong powerful seamless burst.

The twin clutches make a significant contribution to shift speed. There are separate clutches for the odd (1,3,5) and even (2,4,6) gears. When the car is running in an odd number gear, the adjacent even numbered gears are pre-selected and are ready to make the shift immediately in the sequential-shifting gearbox. When downshifting, a synchronized rev control 'blips' the throttle precisely to synchronize engine speed for extra-fast downshifts. Borg-Warner triple cone synchronizers are used. When R range - the sportiest setting - is chosen on the set-up switch, a computerized control predicts the driver's next gear change, based on throttle opening, vehicle speed, braking and other information.

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