2015 Nissan GT-R Premium Review

LOS ANGELES — You have to be a little bit defiant to drive a 2015 Nissan GT-R. It’s likely that you’ll be the only GT-R in your neighborhood, and it’s not as if very many drivers will be pulling alongside and giving you the high sign.

The Nissan GT-R just doesn’t get any respect. So let us engage in a little defiant commentary.

Bruising, not cruising

From the moment the Nissan GT-R set a record lap time at the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife in 2008, the whining hasn’t stopped. From every quarter have come complaints that the GT-R doesn’t track effortlessly straight and true on a bumpy freeway surface, plus the rear suspension sure does feel harsh. And what’s that clicking and whirring from the six-speed dual-clutch transmission? Sadly, it appears that these critics don’t actually understand what the GT-R is about. Perhaps what they’re looking for is some kind of Honda Accord, only one that looks like a BMW.

From the first, the Nissan GT-R has never made a secret of being anything other than a street-legal track car. The DOHC, 3.7-liter V-6 features twin IHI turbos to help pump out the power, and the engine is matched to a special quick-shifting dual-clutch transmission designed to withstand the torque loads. Nissan’s ATTESA E-TS all-wheel-drive system helps turn the power into forward motion instead of just tire smoke. The brakes are dead serious, with racing-style floating rotors matched up with six-piston calipers in front and four-piston calipers in the rear. The forged-aluminum RAYS 20-inch wheels carry wide tires, 255/40ZRF-20 front and 285/35ZRF-20 rear. And the all-singing, all-dancing electronics let you tune the transmission, suspension, and general vehicle dynamics to your needs.

Does all this sound like a Honda Accord to you?

Cruising, not bruising

Nevertheless, Nissan has done its best since the GT-R’s introduction to the U.S. in 2009 to make the car more street-friendly. And although the 2015 Nissan GT-R Premium remains a track car through and through, it is now quiet and comfortable enough to please even the faint of heart. Part of the reason is that the newly introduced GT-R Nismo can remain a hardcore product, so the Premium can get warm and fuzzy.

Just as different is the general demeanor of calm within the cabin thanks to the Bose audio system’s noise-cancellation technology. The turbos still announce their presence, and the clicks and whirs of the rear-mounted, dual-clutch BorgWarner transmission still remind us of the sounds made by a racing-type dog-ring gearbox, yet the general noise level has noticeably diminished, which is welcome simply because it takes the edge off those trips where you’re on the road for half the day.

But for all this, the 2015 Nissan GT-R also hasn’t changed with respect to the way it looks. Despite the adaptive LED exterior lights and the carbon-fiber interior flourishes for 2015, this remains a car that is defiantly brutal and ugly. You’ll find only the usual monochromatic Nissan styling treatment within the cabin, and nothing visually reinforces the unique character of the car, whether the master color is black, ivory, or red. As for the exterior of the car, it looks best when it’s painted up in racing colors, like one of the GT-R entries in the Pirelli World Challenge.

No doubt if the Nissan GT-R looked more like a Porsche 911, people would line up to say good things about it. But for now, we usually feel defiantly alone when we’re at the wheel of this car. Of course, once in a long while, someone in a Japanese-label car will swerve closer for a better look and give us the high sign, just so we know that there’s someone else out there who gets what the GT-R is about.