What’s doubly impressive is that Nissan didn’t bring a team to get the best out of the GT-R’s tyres or brakes, even though its weight puts extreme strain on them. It was driven to a time it could maintain. I recall how it wanted to put its power down, but it’s the heat coming from it after getting out that I remember the most, rather than the drama I felt inside it.
Tied 34th – Chevrolet Corvette Coupe 3LT (C8)
Lap time: 1min 10.0sec
Road test date 22.6.22 Test number 5579 Peak power 475bhp at 6450rpm Kerb weight 1679kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 0-60mph 3.9sec 0-100mph 9.1sec Quarter mile 12.3sec at 116.9mph
No doubt expecting some stark dynamic transformation from their new mid-engined hero, parts of the American press criticised the C8 for a tendency towards understeer at the limit of grip: in our view, quite unfairly.
Sure, this is no Ferrari 458 Speciale for outright handling poise and control on the circuit. It’s large and heavy by sports car standards. It moves on its contact patches a little at fast track speeds, communicating the physical forces it’s subject to – and, because of the car’s mass and its performance potential, those forces are significant.
But the C8 can certainly lap quickly and accurately, and with confidence, commitment and plenty of staying power. While it is usually the front axle that communicates the margins of its adhesion by starting to miss apices, that doesn’t stop you finding a decent chassis balance, along with fairly benign adjustability in the dry – although that rearward weight bias and active diff make the C8 trickier to drive quickly at the limit in the wet.
Tied 34th – Ferrari F430 F1
Lap time: 1min 10.0sec
Road test date 21.6.05 Test number 4709 Peak power 483bhp at 7500rpm Kerb weight 1528kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Rosso 0-60mph 4.4sec 0-100mph 9.3sec Quarter mile 11.7sec at 125.0mph