Absolute power corrupts absolutely, so they say. So it is if you’re behind the wheel of the Nissan GT-R Track Edition, a 542bhp motorsport-derived bicep with a hand-built engine and performance that shames many hypercars.
Brutally quick, the GT-R Track Edition is Japanese performance at its absolute best, and one of the most advanced and desirable supercars currently on offer, so we caned it round Silverstone circuit to see how well it lives up to its race-inspired nomenclature.
Designed to sit halfway between the ‘regular’ GT-R model and the tear-inducing Nismo version, the Track Edition GT-R keeps the same powertrain and the same interior as the standard model, but receives the full Nismo treatment on its suspension and chassis setup.
Adjustable Bilstein dampers, forged aluminium double wishbone front suspension and a rear anti-roll bar are just some of the motorsport division’s upgrades, along with the same glue bonding along joins in the body as the GT-R Nismo to stiffen the outer shell.
The rear seats have been chucked out as per usual for a track-oriented car, while on the surface the Track Edition benefits from a new front spoiler, plus built-in carbon fibre air ducts and brake-cooling channels dotted around the body.
Unlike the Nismo, the Track Edition uses the standard powertrain from the regular GT-R, which wrings a maximum of 542 ponies at 6,400rpm from its twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 engine. Although it’s not quite as powerful as the bonkers Nismo, it can still cover the 0-62mph sprint in an almost unthinkable 2.7 seconds, before hitting a top speed of 196mph.
All four wheels are driven with power transferred through independent transaxle four-wheel drive and a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, while Nismo-spec lightweight wheels complete the package.
In short, although it bridges the gap between race and road, it’s decidedly more in the ‘race’ camp, and given that the regular GT-R is almost too raw for everyday use, the Track Edition certainly lives up to its name and takes things one step further.
You’re more than welcome to try driving it on a public road, but just be prepared for the flurry of speeding tickets that are likely to come your way, such is the narcotic effect of all that power tempting you to push the pedal further into the carpet.
Better give your chiropractor a call and tell him to be on standby as well; roll over the slightest irregularity on the road and you’ll emerge from the cockpit a mumbling wreck, clutching the remnants of what used to be your lower spine.
But the GT-R Track Edition isn’t designed to be comfortable, nor is it designed to be forgiving. It’s made for flat tracks and not bumpy B-roads, so much so that the tyres come filled with nitrogen to provide more consistency in tyre pressure through temperature changes in the rubber.
It’s indicative of what the GT-R is all about, an obsessive attention to extracting every inch of raw potential. Every nut, every bolt and every spot weld serves this higher purpose, all key members of Nismo’s cult of performance.
The result is absolutely, phenomenally ballistic. Floor the throttle and prepare to be walloped with the full force of 632Nm of torque, which comes on near-instantaneously and causes your keister to pucker up so tight you couldn’t pull a needle out of it with a tractor.
Raw power, heaps of torque
With so much raw power and so much traction, it feels less like the car itself is moving and more like it’s rotating the earth underneath it as the road desperately tries to scamper away in awe of the sheer brute force of the twin-turbo V6.
At 1,720kg it certainly isn’t light, but thanks to its super-stiff suspension and chassis it corners like little else on four wheels, diving towards the apex like a laser-guided missile and then exploding off towards the horizon when the throttle’s reapplied.
The numbers on the speedometer start to lose all meaning; 0-62mph happens so quickly that by the time you’ve figured out what’s going on you’ve already passed 100 and you’re hurtling towards the next turn at close to 150mph.
Stamp on the brakes, shift down before the corner and listen to the sound of this 542bhp Godzilla’s atomic breath spitting out the chrome-tipped quad exhaust pipes before tucking the nose in against the rumble strips and feeling the chassis chew up and spit out the laws of physics.
Despite its supreme road-holding ability – it’s able to generate up to 1.02 Gs in corners – like all good performance cars it’ll let you get tail-happy if you try hard enough. Turn in quick, be brave with the throttle and the GT-R will reward you with a healthy dose of controlled oversteer which will settle back down to its neutral state just as soon as the corner opens up again.
It’s this fine balance between sledgehammer and scalpel that makes the GT-R Track Edition such an addictive machine. Despite all of its power, it never feels unmanageable or hard to handle and, if anything, it’s encouraging.
While detractors might like to tell you that it’s this user-friendly quality that makes the GT-R feel a bit video game-like, there’s nothing wrong with a car that inspires confidence and which practically begs to be pushed further, faster and harder.
Given that the GT-R Track Edition straddles the line between a more everyday approach to the supercar and pure track-oriented insanity you might think that it would feel like a bit of a compromise. On the contrary, it proves that sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too.
The interior’s nice to look at and be in, all red and black leather with carbon fibre detailing, and there’s even an eleven-speaker Bose sound system in the event that you get bored with the engine’s soundtrack (you won’t).
Yet when you put your foot down you still get the same unbridled power delivery. Sure, it’s 50 horsepower down on the full-bore Nismo version, but 542bhp isn’t be scoffed at and, given the handling upgrades, it’s still nowhere near what you’d call pedestrian. For the most part, it’s still best suited to a race track rather than a public road.
Something that will be compromised whichever way you spin it is your bank balance. Although it’s not as costly as the GT-R Nismo, the Track Edition version tested here still commands a price of £89,410, including the optional white paintjob which costs an extra £850 alone.
Still, considering the fact that this thing will beat hypercars like the Porsche 918, Koenigsegg Regera and the Lamborghini Aventador in a sprint for a fraction of the price, it’s not half bad.
The only other way to experience such a rush of acceleration and adrenaline would be to jump out of a plane with no parachute and sure, for the money you could buy a small aircraft to do just that. All the same, it’s probably fair to say that the GT-R Track Edition is a much more fun option.
