I'll be the first to admit that the Nissan GTR is not my type of car. But I'll give respect where respect is due. Yesterday, after a great time joining up with buddies at C&C and playing a round of golf, I'm driving back home on the freeway.... I'm in the 430 spider with the top down in 60 degree weather. It's around 3:30 PM. I'm in lane #2 and I see a black "Godzilla" in lane #1. I ease my way through traffic to get to its side to lasso the beast. Look over with a slight nod, and the driver responds with a pleasant smile.... All I have to say is that with 3 short spirited runs, Godzilla got away from me, and it wasn't even close. I yelled over to him and asked what he had under the hood. He responded, "Stock!" Then rode off into the sunset. Is the 430 really that much slower than a GTR??? Time for a UGR lambo I suppose....
Not a fair comparison. The gtr is a current model. Should be compared to, say, the italia. According to publications, the gtr does 0-60 in 3.2 seconds, while the italia does it in 3.0. With no turbos.
Against an older GT-R (the 485hp car), a roll-on race should be close. A newer GT-R with 530-545hp is significantly quicker. A tuned GT-R is in another league entirely. You had the top down which didn't help the aerodynamics at expressway speeds. With the top up, you may have fared a little better.
Newer GTRs can do 0-60 in under 3 seconds, quarter mile in the low 11s, plus stupid amounts of lateral grip... they are twin turbo all wheel drive. They are the best band for the buck supercar out there at ~$100k. If all you want is performance the GTR or a 997 Turbo S is the way to go. But neither have the cache of a Ferrari. I'm not a particular fan of the GTR but you have to give them respect because they can run.
I see, didn't know the newer GTR's had that much HP. I really didn't think the GTR would walk away from me so easily. I've gone up against the new F10 M5 and had the slighter edge, so I was surprised at the GTR.
I just got a new F10 M5 yesterday. ( I have driven BMW's for 8 years as my DD and look forward to the M5, they did a great job with this car) Car has 30 miles on it . I have to do the break in for 1200 miles but will share a comparison vs. my 08' F430 F1 coupe. I was actually thinking the M5 would be a bit quicker than the F430, we shall see....
Would love to hear your side by side comparison. I've driven BMW's all my life since high school. I just sold my E60 M5 a couple months ago regretfully - all around best modern 5 seater saloon there is. I couldn't move on to the F10 due to their break away from the NA V10 and the design, but it's still a beast! Congrats - what color?
Last fall I was on a spirited run with a large group of cars. I was in my 360 Spider, which I was just getting used to at the time. Directly ahead of me was a tuned GTR. As we hit the straightaways, he was considerably quicker. But I caught him at each corner or bend as he jammed on the brakes in order to awkwardly wrangle the GTR around. This went on for miles. The guy behind me in a Lotus told me he didn't think he saw my brake lights more than once or twice the whole time. The GTR guy was going for the gold and I was just having a good old time shifting up and down. They really are just a rail - like a Corvette. Great straight line car.
Most Nissan drivers don't have what it takes past 140 mph, at least not in my experiences running against them in my 360. The cars are faster, but the car, the driver or a combination of both just don't like see past 140-150.
I will certainly do a comparison once the M5 is broken in... I know, the V10 was/is a beast (friend had one) but I am impressed with what they have done with the F10 M5. Fuel economy is improved, and the Double clutch is great, much smoother than the E60 tranny. I have not had a chance to push this car since it is brand new but from the reviews, its still a beast. I know, the V10 has more bark than the F10 from the exhaust but they have come up with some great aftermarket units to fix that, Akropovic, Eisenmann, and RPI to name a few...although, wait, this is my daily driver, I'm not supposed to be modding it, we'll see What I like thus far.. Interior quality is really good. I opted for the full leather which really dresses up the car Improved graphics on the main screen. With the USB connection the artists album pic appears on the screen while listening to music The new M5 seats are amazing. The seats are extremely comfortable and provide good support (My F430 Daytonas I am not a huge fan of so the M5's seats feel wonderful) Double clutch tranny is silky smooth, great for a DD when you just want to drive around town I opted for the B&O sound system which is a nice upgrade, not sure its worth $3500 but I love music so I went for it. The speaker grills are good looking as well Alacantara headliner gives a nice touch Don't like... Exhaust, needs more grunt Why did they not use the M6 steering wheel with larger paddles/why?? Back seat leg room is really small, the front seats are bigger than an E60, I suppose this is why Overall is this car is a big step ahead for me over my 2009 BMW 750li
A GTR will walk away from a 430 any day..even the older models. Superior torque plus dual clutch which alone is good for almost an extra 100 bhp vs the F1 tranny. But their transmission overheats easily esp on track. Usually no more than 3 laps and they have to cool off.
Almost an identical thing happened to me yesterday afternoon. I was cruising home on the freeway with the top down on my '06 f430 when a GTR pulled up along side of me and revved his engine a couple of times. I just smiled and waved so he hammered it and took off like a rocket. I thought that he was crazy for doing that on a nice Saturday afternoon and this early in the month when the LEO's are usually everywhere looking for out of date inspection cars. Sure enough I saw him a few miles later on the side of the road having a very pleasant chat with a member of law enforcement
An older and certainly new model GTR will smoke a 430 spider in any kind of drag race. The newer Gtrs are about a full second faster in the 1/4 so its really no contest. Keep in mind that Ferraris are not cars made for drag races and the GTR was designed from the ground up to do this. Interesting enough, I had the chance to drive a colleages new GTR last month. The car has amazing acceleration, especially off the line with its 4 wheel drive. The car feels heavy but the handling defies laws of physics and is amazing. The downside of this car is that steering feel is numb, the engine sounds like a truck, the interior and seats are Nissan grade and the design is hardly Italian in style. I am sure the GTR is great track car and is good band for the buck fast car. With that said I would NEVER buy because it is not very fun driving, especially at legal speeds on public roads. What a make a Ferrari different than other sports cars is that is can be as engaging to drive at slower speeds as it is driving all out.
Where I live, it's not just the beginning of the month ticketing for expired registration, there's a lot of CHP towards the end of the month when they need to meet their quota.
Your manhood is not threatened. The GTR is fun quick and has a good transmission, but is far from nimble, lacks a spirited sound, and the interior is cheesy. Torque is not everything, far from it.
This is why you do not want a GTR: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNOJ0R6C88Q]Nissan GT-R gets AIRBORNE then crashes on Backroad !!!!ORIGINAL!!!!! - YouTube[/ame] Driver came out OK, but lots of nice plastic parts to hand carry out of the corn field when he failed to make the landing.
I just got a M3. Looked at the M5 and thought it was a great car. A little too big for what I wanted, so I passed. The one thing I noticed is that the M5 seemed to have so much torque that the computers were always intervening on agressive throttle. Kind of reminded me a Mercedes AMG. It was wet that day, so that may be the reason. I just installed an Akrapovic exhaust to up the volume on the M3. What a beautiful exhaust.
I have both, the Beauty(f430) and the Beast(GT-R) sometimes you want to ride the Beast and other times the Beauty, is for sure no comparison from this two cars
I have had my 430 on tracks with a GTR. It's no contest. But if power was my main reason for buying a sports car, I'd get a Viper or ZR1. I bought my 430 new in 2005. It was the be all, end all then. Now it's yesterday's news. I think I'll keep it though. Dave
