The fire hose extends by around 65 feet and has an on-off handle for "burst mode." Click on the above photo for more images.
(Credit: M&M Automotive)What happens when you mix a fire engine with a 193 mph supercar co-designed by the makers of Gran Turismo? Well, if these pictures are anything to go by, you get the fastest, coolest emergency vehicle in the world. Apart from Thunderbird 1, of course.
The Nissan GT-R ultra-rapid response emergency vehicle was modified by M&M Automotive to offer some serious firefighting abilities. Its two rear seats were removed to make room for a 13-gallon tank secured by a roll cage, while in the trunk, there's a medium-pressure (20 bars) extinguisher system and winding device for a 65-foot hose. According to Nissan, the car will dispense both water and foam, and can fight fires for approximately two minutes on a single tank.
The car was built specifically to patrol the iconic Nurburgring race track in Germany's Eifel region, where hundreds of amateur drivers try their luck on the high-performance circuit every year. Accidents are, understandably, quite commonplace, so having a fast emergency vehicle on hand is a smart idea. Ordinary fire engines would take ages to reach an accident, but, despite carrying an extra 440 pounds of firefighting equipment, the GT-R can lap the twisty 13-mile Nordschleife circuit in less than eight minutes.
Car geeks the world over will tell you the GT-R is the perfect car for the job. Not only is it ludicrously fast, but it also has all manner of high-tech gizmos to help the driver arrive in a hurry.
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• Have we hit a wall on tech in our cars?
The 2009 Nissan Z Coupe brings a GT-R aesthetic to a silhouette that is distinctly Z.
(Credit: Nissan Motor Co.)The 2009 Nissan Z has finally been revealed and we've got the official photos to prove it. But how much can you tell by looking at a photo? As it turns out, a lot actually.
The most obvious changes are the new boomerang-shaped headlamps, which match the design language established with the 2009 Nissan Maxima. The Z takes the concept a step further by mirroring the design with boomerang shaped taillights, as well. I didn't think that I'd like it, based on the spy shots, but they look pretty good in the official shots.
The new Z features a more sharply sloped roofline and a shortened wheelbase.
(Credit: Nissan Motor Co.)Other more subtle changes include a more aggressive downward slope on the roofline, which somehow manages to echo the roofline of the Nissan GT-R, while maintaining a silhouette that is even more reminiscent of the 1970s Nissan/Datsun 240Z than the outgoing model. The front air dam and hood also have notes of GT-R musculature. The new Z also appears to have a slightly shortened wheelbase, which may make this it more eager to rotate than the old Z.
As iconic as the old Z is, I've always thought that it looked very German in its design, with its conservatively athletic looks and well-defined edges. This new Z's whole aesthetic is more techno-organic and instantly recognizable as Japanese in a way that only giant robots and cars like the GT-R and the Acura NSX can be. It's as though someone stretched the skin of a GT-R over the bones of a classic Z.
Like the outgoing model, it is officially known as the "Z Coupe" in all media materials, but a quick zoom on the high-res photography reveals that this is the 370Z, powered by the VQ-series 3.7 liter V-6 that currently motivates the Infiniti G37. So, we can expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 330 horsepower and a fat torque curve.
The interior gets new cabin tech, but not much else changes.
(Credit: Nissan Motor Co.)Moving on to the interior, we see more of an evolution of the previous model's aesthetic. The bones of the interior configuration remain the same, but the areas where the driver is in direct contact with the vehicle (the steering wheel, the center stack, and the shifter assembly) have been revised with a more organic design. A push button starter looks to have a permanent home on the center stack.
The LCD in the dashboard appears to be the same 7-inch touch-screen unit that we've seen in the new Maxima and across the Infiniti line, which means that hard-drive navigation and Nissan's Music Box audio storage will most likely be making their way to the Z.
The 2009 Z Coupe (370Z) will be officially unveiled at the 2008 LA Auto Show. We'll have more details as our coverage continues.
Porsche claims that Nissan cheated its way to the GT-R's lap time.
(Credit: Nissan Motors)Known as the Green Hell or more simply the Ring, the Nurburgring Nordschleife is considered the longest and most challenging racetrack in the world. Automotive manufacturers and speed demons place a high premium on Nurburgring lap times. So when the Nissan GT-R shattered the Porsche 911's record with a blistering 7:29:03 lap time earlier this year, a few feathers were ruffled in Stuttgart, Germany.
So what did Porsche's engineers do about it? Well, they went out, purchased a brand new GT-R, and drove it back to back with a 911 Turbo and a 911 GT2 in an attempt to duplicate Nissan's results. After testing, Porsche is claiming that Nissan somehow cheated and that the GT-R's true lap time is some 25 seconds slower. What gives?
Is the 911 GT2 still King of the Ring?
(Credit: Porsche Cars North America)According to Porsche, Nissan's lap vehicle was no mere production vehicle, but rather a "wonder car." More specifically, Porsche is claiming that the GT-R in question was equipped with semislick racing tires, instead of stock tires as Nissan claims. Official video of the GT-R's lap was filmed in vehicle and, of course, the tires can't be seen.
Nissan hasn't released a comment.
Update 10/03: Says Nissan, "The final word from us is that it was done on absolutely standard tires which are available to customers in the showroom. They're not trick tires - absolutely standard tires, normal road tires."
Nismo Club Sport chassis package
(Credit: Nismo)When the Nissan GT-R was released, Nissan's engineers famously stated that the vehicle was the apex of Nissan performance, its systems so well integrated that any traditional go-faster mods would in fact make the car slower. According to sources at gtrblog.com, Nissan's Nismo tuning division didn't get the memo since it just released the Nismo Club Sport Package for the Nissan GT-R in Japan.
The Club Sport package actually consists of three smaller packages, a chassis package, a sport seat package, and exhaust package.
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(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)
It must be Christmas, because a 2009 Nissan GT-R showed up in our garage. Just like how we spent 1973 transfixed by commercials for the Vertibird Rescue Ship toy, we slathered over every specification sheet and photo of the new GT-R since the concept was shown at the 2005 Tokyo Auto Show. And in each case, we finally ended up at the controls of one. The GT-R is definitely the biggest, baddest toy on the block.
The GT-R is essentially a race car made for the street. Production cars don't generally squeeze 480 horsepower out of a V-6, or have the transmission mounted at the rear axle. And the incredibly rigid suspension feels as if it was made for a race car. The car looks impressive and brutish, a theme that carries into the cabin and the driving feel. The Corvette Z06 has some scary competition in the GT-R.
Take a look at what is probably greatest high-tech instrument panel ever designed. Get a first look from the floor at the 2007 LA Auto Show.
Click the image to view the gallery
The automotive press covered the hell out of the Nissan GT-R's exterior and engine specs when the supercar launched in Tokyo last month. What you didn't see was some of the cool interior gadgetry that comes as standard on the redesigned road rocket. We got an exclusive look at some of the GT-R's cabin tech today at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show, where the car is making its North American debut. Check out our exclusive photo gallery here
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