Could we see the new Nissan GT-R next year?

Tuesday, 16 February 2021

Nissan shows off the Z Proto, the concept that shows off the next-generation of Z-car.

Rumours of the next Nissan GT-R have been flying since about a minute after the R35 generation debuted in 2007. In the 14 years since, we’ve heard approximately nothing regarding concrete details for the R36 GT-R and, unfortunately, this isn’t changing now.

A new report from Best Car Web claims the new generation of Nissan’s flagship will debut sometime around November 2022, and it has some sound reasoning.

It says Japan’s CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards are proving to be a thorn in Nissan’s side, as the current GT-R sucks a fair bit of fuel to power its twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6.

The current GT-R is still a beast on the road but it’s nearly 15 years old. That means it can nearly sit its own driver’s licence test.

Additional local noise regulations coming into effect in 2022 will further hurt the sports car.

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While the next-gen GT-R is still technically unconfirmed, Nissan sports car fans will get their fix soon with this, the new Z car.

* New Nissan Z car to get automatic option, hybrid a possibility

* Nissan Ariya to spawn all-electric GT-R?

* Nissan 400Z could under-price and outpower Supra

* Infiniti Q50 Red Sport is flawed, but fast fun

To help navigate these hurdles, Nissan will apparently reuse the entire drivetrain of the R35 but add a 48-volt mild hybrid system to hush it up and keep that fuel consumption in check. There was no mention of previous ‘all-electric GT-R’ rumours.

That’s all Best Car Web had to say on the subject but the report did say the R35 generation will get a ‘Final’ edition, with 720 horsepower (537kW) produced by a worked version of the 3.8-litre V6, massaged to GT3 race-specifications.

Expect it to cost a lot of money and be built in small, limited numbers.

In other Nissan sports car news, the forthcoming Z redux will indeed get a 3.0-litre biturbo V6, allegedly the VR30DDTT found in the current not-for-NZ Skyline and the Infiniti Q50 Red Sport. It will make 298kW/475Nm, as previously rumoured, and be mated to a six-speed manual.

An automatic version is on the way too, along with an entry-level 224kW/400Nm model.