Nissan GT-R - Engineering Excellence

The Nissan GT-R is one of the most impressive vehicles ever built. From an engineering standpoint, it's nearly perfect. I take a look at track times, and illustrate how the GT-R dominates on the track cars it shouldn't even compete with. Its weight to power ratio is terrible, yet it competes with cars 10x the price and even succeeds.

One thing I did not mention is the 2012 GT-R has a drag coefficient of .26, the same as a Toyota Prius. Considering the Prius is designed to be as aerodynamic as possible, and not built for downforce and racing, this is incredible.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Nissan
• GT-R
• GTR
• Godzilla
• engineering
• excellence
• perfect
• car
• faster
• than
• ZR1
• 2012
• 2008
• drift
• need
• better
• drifting
• speed
• skyline
• R35
• carbon

[rajasoumyajit]

the weight distribution of a GTR aids its cornering speeds. .getting fast times does not depend on how fast (top speed) you show .... its how fast u accelerate , brake and go around corners.. as a ZONDA n ENZO depends heavily on aerodynamic down-force, the density of air hinders with the gross handling of the cars.

and secondly when you are driving a car expensive enough as 16 GTRs .... even a madman will resort to his senses .

and finally " its the man behind the wheel ... not the machine "

[EngineeringExplained]

@rajasoumyajit Well the Nurburgring is certainly a high speed track, so aerodynamics would be in favor of the Enzo. And yes, expense affects the majority of drivers, but professionals drive cars far more expensive than 16 GTRs. A racing class vehicle's cost completely overshadows what any production vehicle may cost, so price wouldn't be an issue with these times.

[hakeembisiolu]

There are two things that you kind of forgot to mention. Handling of the GT-R is amazing as stated above in like every comment but the fact of the matter is since it is hand built most GT-R do not get 485 HP. Most get actually much more and nissan has a habit of underselling their engines. There are actually some 2010 GT-R on the road that have 530 whp stock, which is alot for all wheel drive.

[EngineeringExplained]

@hakeembisiolu This is true, and I didn't mention it. Knew it would come up eventually. And 45 hp will make a big difference, but even if you say this car had another 45 hp, it would still be at a clear disadvantage from a power to weight ratio. Basically my intention of this video was to show that you don't necessarily need a ton of power if you want good track times. Japanese engineers have figured it out. Others are a tad (or a lot) behind.

[RMS13JACOB]

@EngineeringExplained Oh no, I'm just getting into university. Have you ever heard that a formula one car could theoretically drive upside down(on the ceiling) due to downforce, or negative lift? Do you think a scaled down version of the test would provide similar to realistic results?

[EngineeringExplained]

@RMS13JACOB Yes, and yes. Definitely possible.

[joeslimon]

The GTR is pretty good, but your analysis is too heavily focused on the power/weight ratio. The GTR is quick mainly due to its torque vectoring awd setup. None of the vehicles you mentioned have awd or torque vectoring. Also, compared to the Atom, higher horsepower will prevail at higher speeds due to increasing drag forces. Which is why the Veyron can be so portly yet have a higher top end speed then cars with much better power/weight ratios.

[EngineeringExplained]

@kabamm900000 Oh wow, hey thanks, now I know...

Handaling. That's what I was missing.

[3ua]

@isdisavailable3 Source MCN, Jan 2011

[3ua]

@isdisavailable3 You must still be living in 2005.

The BMW S1000RR was less than a second slower than the Atom V8 500 around the top gear test track. Faster than the 12c, aventador, veyron super sport, zonda f, gtr '12, enzo, 458, carrera gt, apollo s, GT2, atom 300hp and pretty much any other car you can come up with. And that on stock tires and stock suspension settings while the atom was on semi slicks.

Yeah, you lost that one gramps.

[KalEl600rr]

@isdisavailable3 Practicality? My drive to work takes 10 minutes on the bike and 30 mins on the car.

And as for cornering

watch?v=VPNs3v4m7TA

and thats the slowest superbike class machine. your argument = dismantled

[isdisavailable3]

@KalEl600rr Your comparing a car to a bike? wow lol

How much less practicality do get from ur bike dude?

and it seems that ur bike is built for 1 thing, straight line speed.

the GTR has 4 seats in it that carry people in amazing comfort, has a MASSIVE boot and yet still does 0-60 in 2.9 seconds even though it was built for corning. yea mate you pretty much lost that.

[KalEl600rr]

All that science and my bike still shits on it.

BMW s1000rr ftw!

[N1ceGuyEdd1e]

GTR is #1

[MoronAntidote]

The problem is that power to weight ratio only really tells you how a car will perform in a straight line, though obviously drag coefficient plays a part. Going into a corner, better brakes allow later braking, increasing average speed. Dealing with brake fade and perfecting ABS via technology help immensely. 4WD dynamic control technology improves speed through the corners, as well as corner exit speed, with much less reliance on driver skill. Driver pushes the tech to the limit with confidence