Nissan GT-R (2017 Minor Change)

For almost the decade, the Nissan GT-R has been languishing through the supercar ranks with its impeccable performance that puts it near the best sportscars in Europe today and for the 2017 minor change, Godzilla takes a step further with its improved performance that will surpass even the past GT-R updates, even its appealing design that will strike a chord to the speedo boys. Contrary to its 9,960,840 Yen starting price, the new GT-R features major updates that is a one step further for its reputation.

2017 Nissan GT-R

At first glance, its new design looks somewhat similar to the past GT-R updates in its near-decade timeline when Nissan revived the legend back in 2007, but when you look closely to the Nissan V-Motion grille upfront, you'll know that the flagship sportscar is staying in tune in today's trends, although some might find it fishy that it looks awkwardly familiar because it looks like it was coined from the pages of video games.

2017 Nissan GT-R interior

Apart from its mildly-changed exterior, the GT-R's interior has been heavily changed from top to bottom. From the new steering wheel design, new sat-nav, new leather seats, and other changes in store, the new interior balances business and pleasure for the driver in store. It's like being dressed in a three-piece business attire while taking on men on cycling wear on the park. Sounds cheesy as it sounds but the new interior really means business.

2017 Nissan GT-R

Because the Nissan GT-R was born from the knowledge of its motorsports involvement, the elite engineers spend most of their manpower finetuning its near-perfect dynamics to deliver its driving experience to its uncharted heights. Starting with its VR38DETT engine, which has been the hallmark of the GT-R engineering excellence, which now produces 570PS of power and 637Nm of torque. This power output sounds seamlessly familiar to the old Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera but mind you, this ain't no Lambo because the engine's mounted on the front just like how past GT-R updates felt. Mated to its V6 twin-turbo engine is a brand new GR6 Dual Clutch Gearbox for better refinement and performance in a variety of driving situations, making gear changes a lot more smoother than ever.

There's more because in the past updates, the torque drops when the car starts going from a standstill under light throttle but for the 2017 minor change, expect no drop from the torque so the car can go smoothly upon initial acceleration even under light throttle.

Apart from its lavish updates that will keep drivers pushing this car harder and longer as long as they have interests on it, the GT-R still has the ATTESA E-TS all-wheel drive system. At the start, it behaves like a rear-wheel drive car but it can be balanced depending on speed, lateral acceleration, steering angle, tire slip, road surface, and yaw rate. And thanks to its refined chassis, not only it drives well on the track but also on the roads as well, balancing its sports car and luxury car character at the same pace.

2017 Nissan GT-R NISMO

2017 Nissan GT-R NISMO interior

To further up the Nissan GT-R experience, there's also a more powerful and track-honed GT-R NISMO offered for 18,700,000 Yen. Apart from its race-inspired design and performance that the world should be focused rather than the flawed GT-R LM NISMO LMP1 prototype and the GT500 car that was used on the Super GT series, the V6 Twin Turbo engine produces 600PS of power, which sounds unchanged compared to the old GT-R NISMO, but by inheriting all the updates from the base GT-R, you'll know that this car means business.

The Nissan GT-R has been with us for almost a decade now but with this latest minor change, we can see how far Godzilla can go from its newly refined performance and by comparison against Europe's finest, speedo boys can look forward to see how the latest update unfolds in the real world.

Photo: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.