Mercedes Benz

  The most intriguing thing about the 600-horsepower 2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo is not its rambunctious all-wheel drive launch. Nor is it its wind-tunnel-tested Super GT body. No, the most enthralling thing about this Nordschleife-honed Nissan is its sharpness. It's tangible, and not just in one or two areas. The GT-R is a master of immediacy and speed, of inhuman thrust and admirable stick. It always has been. But in this extraordinary genetic predisposition there was a glossing-over of connectedness between human and machine. It simply is the nature of this technology-laden beast. In the GT-R Nismo, tactility is gained. That much was clear as I exited the pit at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The lane's most minute impurities jostled my hands through the Nismo's thin-rimmed helm. Four drivers -- Nismo's Michael Krumm, Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Sébastien Buemi, and brand consultants Tetsuya Tanaka and Armin Hahne -- played a role in developing the Alcantara-wrapped...

  Godzilla has been made over many times in his movie career, and now his four-wheeled compatriot is also getting a big makeover. With new looks and greater performance, the 2017 Nissan GT-R is far and away the biggest update to Godzilla since it made its debut nearly 10 years ago. "Nissan has always felt that it's nailed the R part of the GT-R's name since its 2009 launch, but has placed a bigger emphasis on the GT aspect for the 2017 update. Or as Nissan North America product planner Bob Munson puts it, ""We're trying to give the thoroughbred racehorse some more manners."" As such, the most significant changes are visual. After years of small, evolutionary tweaks, Nissan has made big changes to the front and rear of the car to bring it up to date with the company's latest styling language. This means an all-new front bumper, grille, and hood, new side sills, and a new rear bumper with a prominent diffuser and functional vents. New 20-in...

  I'd been conflicted for two days, but when I got the call, I knew which car would be our winner. I don't often get calls from co-workers on the weekend, especially when none of us is working, but when Jonny Lieberman called me out of the blue to rave about the drive he just finished, it all fell into place. Each of us has a long list of cars we like, but actually calling someone just to babble about a car is unusual. This was one of those cars. Coming off several intense weeks of endless planning meetings and two back-to-back comparisons, all of us were ready for the road trip, a chance to just drive. Great roads, beautiful scenery, spotty cellphone coverage—it had everything. Our myriad meetings hadn't been for naught. All the planning ensured testing at Willow Springs International Raceway's Big Track the previous Thursday had gone off without a hitch despite the high workload. Our driver Randy Pobst had tested a trio of serious sports sedans first before tak...

  Updating a legendary car is the sharpest of double-edged swords for an engineer. Expectations from fans are off the charts, and any flaw or deviation from the mythos will be judged mercilessly. For what amounts to an exciting engineering project at an objective level, the acceptance and success of a car such as the Nissan GT-R can often hinge on forces entirely beyond the designer's control. Even the less dramatic mid-cycle refresh can make or break a car whose legend has outgrown its actual performance. The GT-R is one of those cars, and it's been stung by its own reputation before. Last year, as you may recall, I joined a convoy consisting of a GT-R, a Porsche 911 Turbo, and a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT S up the easternmost edge of California. The GT-R did not win that comparison test. In fact, it placed last. Although it had the speed to contend with the Germans and the price to kneecap them, we were disappointed with how the car drove. In attempting to civilize the car, ...

  Throughout its 13-month loan, our GT-R Black Edition was in constant motion -- whether as a participant in signature events like our Best Driver's Car (November 2012), in comparison tests against supercars such as the Porsche 911 Turbo S (June 2012), or as a foil to other high-performance machines. One of my most memorable drives was a freeway blast to Chrysler's Arizona Proving Grounds to meet up with the new Shelby Mustang GT500 for our 200-mph attempt (August 2012). The GT-R was not only a high-powered editorial engine, but a social media motor as well. Our hundreds of Tweets, Instagrams, and Facebook updates generated tens of thousands of hearts, likes, and followers, making it far and away the star of the MT garage. "For obvious reasons, it was a hit among the staff. At the outset of our loan, I promised to treat the GT-R as our Stanley Cup, and cycle all but the rawest Motor Trend staffers through it. Those many nights and weekends ensured we logged some ser...

  It doesn't get much faster than these two. The Audi R8 and Nissan GT-R tear relentlessly at the pavement with four driven wheels and an uninterrupted supply of thrust courtesy of twin-clutch transmissions. Want a quicker all-wheel-drive car? Your options are the Lamborghini Aventador ($400,000) and Bugatti Veyron (add a million). The GT-R, then, with its 545 hp and $116,710 price, would seem a bargain. A Track Pack adds brake cooling ducts, retuned shocks, higher spring rates, and a rear seat delete, on top of the forged wheels borrowed from the Black Edition. New for the R8 this year is a twin-clutch transmission and a V10 Plus model. The latter hones the car with ceramic rotors, a smaller fuel tank, fixed rate shocks, manual seats, and carbon-fiber trim pieces. That's a total weight savings of 130 pounds. Oh, and it makes 25 hp more. The engines sit at different ends and the price difference is substantial, but we couldn't resist the temptation of pitting these t...

2021 Nissan GT-R Lineup Ditches Track Edition, Slimming Godzilla Lineup Text To say the R35 Nissan GT-R was a big deal when it first came out would be a gross understatement. The front-mid-engine, all-wheel-drive coupe was relatively hefty, yet somehow drove around a track like a much lighter car. The same grippy AWD system and smart traction control programming that made that possible also facilitated the GT-R's whiplash-inducing acceleration, which at the time was a fairly new thing. With its arsenal of computers and sensors, the GT-R seemingly defied physics. But that was well over a decade ago, and supercars have come a long way since then. Though still impressive, the Nissan GT-R is no longer the giant slayer it once was. When Nissan teased its lineup through 2023, the absence of a GT-R left us wondering if Godzilla's reign had finally come to an end. But the King of the Monsters lives to roar another day—albeit without the Track Edition trim level. "Nissan announced ...