Despite word about the next-generation Nissan GT-R circulating for years, Nissan has reconfirmed that it won’t launch any time soon.
Most recently during discussions with Top Gear, the GT-R’s programme manager Hiroshi Tamura said this was largely due to his desire to make the existing GT-R more premium before it is phased out.
Tamura believes that up until two years ago, Nissan was focusing too heavily on the performance aspect of the GT-R by continually launching more powerful and track-focused derivatives. Tamura says that the GT-R is about combining a premium feel with breathtaking performance and before the R36 arrives, he wants to ensure the R35 gets that recipe right.
“I want to make the GT-R more premiere… not just fancy, but real premium, Quality. Handling quality, ride and comfort quality, NVH quality, some high quality in the body construction… we still have big opportunities here,” he said.
As the automaker is keen on chasing a more luxurious feel over performance, it seems unlikely that Nissan will send off the R35 GT-R with a Nismo RS badged model pushing out over 800 hp.
“I don’t want to say anything about the reality of an ‘RS’, because the customer expectation might be 800bhp or 900bhp. Is that OK for my philosophy on confident driving? Not just safety, but a stable feeling when you hit the gas? That connection is important to me. That’s why for an RS, it’s not so easy. bI want to show more sophistication in this GT-R,” Tamura said.
As for the next-generation Nissan GT-R, we expect to see it launched before the end of the decade and when it does, we know it’ll utilize a powerful hybrid powertrain co-developed with Williams.
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