Attn: R35 GT-R owners. Help please.

[Darkane]

So I'm coming down to the point where it's time to buy a big boy car.

How would you rate the overall "Fit" of the car?

I'm a bigger guy (6'3" 225lbs) and most cars with sloping roofs just don't fit me right.

There are seat lowering adjustments? Will the seat on the lowest setting make for bad blind spots?

Since this is an auto car, I finally don't have to worry about toe/heeling. ALMOST every car I've driven my knees are to close to the steering and put my hips out of square to much to be able to toe/heel correctly.

Has anyone dyno'd this car in calgary? In theory only the power under the curve should be affected at our elevation, but the turbo's 'should' see 95% power or so at boost. Albeit they will work much harder.

Any pre-mature turbo failures because of this?

This may be more suitable to the GT-R forums, but I don't want to go be a douche over there yet.

Discussions.

Finally if someone can find me or knows of someone with a white one who is thinking of selling it, let me know. I might start a thread offering a finders reward.

Thanks.

[rage2]

You're a little bigger than me, I'm 6'2" 200lbs, and I fit fine. There's no (usable) back seats, so there's tons of room to move back. Legroom wasn't a problem for me at all. Don't remember blindspots, I just passed people before changing lanes haha.

The car is retarded fast in Calgary, even bone stock. Feels way the hell faster than a NA 500hp car. I'd say it's making full sea level power.

[shadowz]

I'm 5'10 and I feel like I'm in a huge car, my buddy who was driving me is 5'9 and he had the seat pulled up half way.

Sent you a PM btw

[Darkane]

Originally posted by rage2
You're a little bigger than me, I'm 6'2" 200lbs, and I fit fine. There's no (usable) back seats, so there's tons of room to move back. Legroom wasn't a problem for me at all. Don't remember blindspots, I just passed people before changing lanes haha.

The car is retarded fast in Calgary, even bone stock. Feels way the hell faster than a NA 500hp car. I'd say it's making full sea level power.

That's good news.

I was thinking of the perf. package C63 in comparison, but now I know the Gt-R should have much more pull here.

I figured the car would be close to full power here, the spool time would be off a little.

How did it compare to the 996 Rage? I also have a 997.1 911 on my list, but that guy is the 3.6 with 480 HP.

[Darkane]

Originally posted by shadowz
I'm 5'10 and I feel like I'm in a huge car, my buddy who was driving me is 5'9 and he had the seat pulled up half way.

Sent you a PM btw

Responded.

[Sorath]

Gtr is retardedly fast at our sea level. Lots of room and trunk space. Definately get the accessport with tcm so it fixes the clunking transmission. Not a big fan of parking that car in public. You see alot of greasy prints on it after

Depending on what year in Calgary on airboys dyno. Stock gtr makes 420awhp. With down pipe. Y pipe and tune. You will be around 480


Edit: oh after rage posted. I would recommend getting new tires. As the oem ones don't feel too good

[Skyline_Addict]

R35 is a huge car. You will fit fine.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Darkane
I was thinking of the perf. package C63 in comparison, but now I know the Gt-R should have much more pull here.

I figured the car would be close to full power here, the spool time would be off a little.

How did it compare to the 996 Rage? I also have a 997.1 911 on my list, but that guy is the 3.6 with 480 HP.
The GT-R will murder a C63 Black Series in Calgary. It's something like 100hp difference to the ground, and it feels that way haha.

Comparing to the 996TT, both cars are extremely easy to drive fast. The GT-R feels more nimble in the dry because the 996TT (really, all 911's) love to understeer especially coming out of corners because there's no weight up front, so you feel like you're running out of grip. The GT-R gives you this invincibility feeling on the street because it's got so much grip in every situation and you have to be doing something incredibly stupid to go over that limit on the streets.

[Darkane]

Originally posted by Sorath

Gtr is retardedly fast at our sea level. Lots of room and trunk space. Definately get the accessport with tcm so it fixes the clunking transmission. Not a big fan of parking that car in public. You see alot of greasy prints on it after

Depending on what year in Calgary on airboys dyno. Stock gtr makes 420awhp. With down pipe. Y pipe and tune. You will be around 480


Edit: oh after rage posted. I would recommend getting new tires. As the oem ones don't feel too good


Can you elaborate on the clunking tranny? I thought as the model years increased so did the smoothness of the Transaxle. Is this true?

I suppose that wouldn't help me with a '09 however.


Originally posted by rage2

The GT-R will murder a C63 Black Series in Calgary. It's something like 100hp difference to the ground, and it feels that way haha.

Comparing to the 996TT, both cars are extremely easy to drive fast. The GT-R feels more nimble in the dry because the 996TT (really, all 911's) love to understeer especially coming out of corners because there's no weight up front, so you feel like you're running out of grip. The GT-R gives you this invincibility feeling on the street because it's got so much grip in every situation and you have to be doing something incredibly stupid to go over that limit on the streets.

Good to know.

Alrighty I think I know where I'm heading now.

Thanks boys.

[max_boost]

Had no idea you were so big lol 6'3 225! :eek:

[Sorath]

Tranny still makes a clunking sound when you're starting the car. But when you make turns at low speed the car jerks alot. After flashing the tcm mod. It no longer does that

mine was a 2011, so yours being an 09 will definately do it

[Darkane]

Originally posted by max_boost
Had no idea you were so big lol 6'3 225! :eek:

I'm fat though right now lol.

Gotta get back around 205-210 10%.

[Darkane]

Originally posted by Sorath
Tranny still makes a clunking sound when you're starting the car. But when you make turns at low speed the car jerks alot. After flashing the tcm mod. It no longer does that

mine was a 2011, so yours being an 09 will definately do it

Thanks.

[bigbadboss101]

Post pictures DD. The car that you might be buying and of yourself. We want to know what our fitness guru looks like!

[dawwgy]

Just bought a White 2013 BE a couple weeks ago... I am only 5' 10" and fit with plenty of headroom. The seats dont lower as much as I would like (Last car was a G37s that lowered quite a bit) but there are plenty of other adjustments, blind spots arent bad at all on lowest setting. As I sit right now the back of my seat is touching the front of the rear seat, so if you have really long legs this may be an issue.

What model year were you looking for and price range? I would avoid MY09's if possible ... saw a white 2011 recently with 40k for $60k. but for that price I'm guessing something is up (its about $10k or more less than comparables)... its on Autotrader now, private seller. If anything get the diagnostic report done from Nissan as a condition of sale, it will tell you how hard the car was driven down to how many times Launch Control was used, and time spend driving in certain oil temperature ranges!

Any other questions feel free to ask, Been doing research on this car for several months now leading up to my recent purchase!

Good Luck, you will love the car at this altitude!!

[ercchry]

Originally posted by bigbadboss101
Post pictures DD. The car that you might be buying and of yourself. We want to know what our fitness guru looks like!

forgot the /nohomo... or maybe not? :eek:

[Darkane]

Originally posted by ercchry


forgot the /nohomo... or maybe not? :eek:

:rofl:

I'm no fitness Guru, more of a diet guy.

Warcaster is the fitness dude.

Besides I'm way to fat and hairy for pics right now. It's winter! hah

[Darkane]

Originally posted by dawwgy
Just bought a White 2013 BE a couple weeks ago... I am only 5' 10" and fit with plenty of headroom. The seats dont lower as much as I would like (Last car was a G37s that lowered quite a bit) but there are plenty of other adjustments, blind spots arent bad at all on lowest setting. As I sit right now the back of my seat is touching the front of the rear seat, so if you have really long legs this may be an issue.

What model year were you looking for and price range? I would avoid MY09's if possible ... saw a white 2011 recently with 40k for $60k. but for that price I'm guessing something is up (its about $10k or more less than comparables)... its on Autotrader now, private seller. If anything get the diagnostic report done from Nissan as a condition of sale, it will tell you how hard the car was driven down to how many times Launch Control was used, and time spend driving in certain oil temperature ranges!

Any other questions feel free to ask, Been doing research on this car for several months now leading up to my recent purchase!

Good Luck, you will love the car at this altitude!!

Thanks for that. Yeah I saw the white one for 60k.

Tried contacting him. No e-mail response and phone seems to be disconnected.

Agreed, it is below market value as well.

The car is definitely going to the dealer for a black box report. If the VDC was off at any time and the seller lied about it, well now I'll know

[94boosted]

Originally posted by dawwgy
If anything get the diagnostic report done from Nissan as a condition of sale, it will tell you how hard the car was driven down to how many times Launch Control was used, and time spend driving in certain oil temperature ranges!



:eek: Seriously? I wish I knew that a year ago, the thought of buying one and then having the tranny fail because previous owner launched it every week scares me about these cars.

How bad is the maintenance? Is it true that every 20,000km or so they have to flush the tranny with $100/L fluid? Besides that anything else unusually expensive?

PS: Congrats on the car :thumbsup:

[Kramerica]

Originally posted by 94boosted


:eek: Seriously? I wish I knew that a year ago, the thought of buying one and then having the tranny fail because previous owner launched it every week scares me about these cars.

How bad is the maintenance? Is it true that every 20,000km or so they have to flush the tranny with $100/L fluid? Besides that anything else unusually expensive?

PS: Congrats on the car :thumbsup:

Dunno about the flush intervals but the GTR does have its own special little flower tranny fluid that costs like $500 or something each time you change it.

[dawwgy]

Originally posted by 94boosted


:eek: Seriously? I wish I knew that a year ago, the thought of buying one and then having the tranny fail because previous owner launched it every week scares me about these cars.

How bad is the maintenance? Is it true that every 20,000km or so they have to flush the tranny with $100/L fluid? Besides that anything else unusually expensive?

PS: Congrats on the car :thumbsup:

Thanks, love the car so far! Its a BEAST!!!

The Launch control has been improved every model year, the worst, obviously, was ModelYear 2009 when transmissions were blowing from improper, and too frequent launches! I have yet to use the LC yet! waiting for it to warm up!

As far as maintenance, its really not that bad:

With regular driving, no track use:

Engine Oil changes & Misc = $200 every 6,000 miles

Transmission & Differential Fluid Changes = $2,000 every 18,000 miles

Tire Change = $2,000 / set (tire life should be somewhere between 8,000 miles and 20,000 miles depending on many factors including how you drive, the roads where you live, weather conditions)

Annual POS (including alignment) = FREE

Brake pads & rotors = $6,000 / set (every 24,000 miles)


There is an amazing writeup here that really helped me on deciding on the 2013 vs a 2009-2011 ... Nissan improves this car every year ... quite a bit in some aspects.

http://www.gtrlife.com/forums/topic/60900-the-official-gt-r-faq/

[94boosted]

^ That's some good info. I'm sure if you didn't buy your tires, pads & rotors from the dealer there are some substantial savings to be had as well. I mean unless the rotors are CC (which I don't think they are on this car) a two peice 14" iron rotors with aluminum hat is like $400-600ea.

[CSMRX7]

Something to note is that if you are planning on modding you are not going to see the same gains as sealevel with the stock turbos. They run out of steam quite quickly, so the bolt on power levels will be a bit low.

I know that I could not see the same boost levels that they see at sealevel with the mods that I had.

[Orbie]

Not sure if you are still looking for input or not, but I'll put in my two cents. I'm surprised more of the long term owners aren't chiming in. Mine is a '10, bought new in '09 so I can't really comment on the used purchase aspect, however if I were to look for one now I would get the '13 or upcoming '14 no question. As someone mentioned before Nissan improves the model every year, and the latest models really blow stock '09-11 models away. There is a Nissan video on YouTube showing a '12 racing an '09 (when the '12 first came out) and the difference was surprising high 11's to almost 11 flat 1/4 miles. There are also numerous chassis, TCM, cooling, suspension and power improvements as well.

Launch control has improved every year. People think the latest LC5 can just be flashed onto the older model cars to get the same performance but its not true. Alot of people have tried on gtrlife but there is something additional on the '12 and above cars that isnt touched by a simple TCM flash that prevents the great launches of the newer cars. The one thing it does help is shift smoothness, that is well documented. A warning though the GR6 is clunky by nature and generally always makes strange sounds, it takes a while to get used to, but there's no denying its performance at speed under load.

In terms of fitment you should be fine, I'm 6'1" but longer in the legs and I'm fine with the seat all the way back. But my brother is 6'3" longer in the trunk and he has some problems fitting. So your build plays a role.

On maintenance, the car is generally more expensive but nothing like everyone makes it out to be. Generally $200 an oil change, POS services are free but only for the first three years (and the alignment is not cheap), the tranny fluid flush is only based on mileage not time. It took me three years to get to the mileage so while it is expensive, hitting it every three years makes it nothing (BTW its closer to $1000 not $2000 like some are saying). You can also think about bringing your car to shops like Vex to get other fluids for the tranny. I believe they use Motul and its just as good and cheaper. Generally alot of services done at other tuning shops than the dealer will be cheaper. I'm also still on my first set of tires too, however that will change depending on your driving style, if you track it you'll be changing it even more frequently. If you can, get the dunlops, they are much better than the bridgestones. Almost all the fast GTR track times you see in the magazines are posted on the optional dunlops, I'll be swapping when my tires are done. There are also two alignment settings Nissan uses on these, street and track, the dealer should ask you which you want upon delivery and each POS. Street will extend your tire life.

Finally power, I didnt baseline my car before mods, but while the car may make great power stock, mods don't tend to have the same impact here as at sea level. Its still impressive though, my car with only midpipe and Cobb (conservative tune) made 480awhp and 505 awtq at airboy/Vex. Downpipes would put you over 500 easy. But increasing boost will max out your fuel pumps at our altitude, so you'll need to upgrade those and possibly your injectors as well.

Hopefully that helps, PM me if you have any other questions.

[Darkane]

Originally posted by Orbie
Not sure if you are still looking for input or not, but I'll put in my two cents. I'm surprised more of the long term owners aren't chiming in. Mine is a '10, bought new in '09 so I can't really comment on the used purchase aspect, however if I were to look for one now I would get the '13 or upcoming '14 no question. As someone mentioned before Nissan improves the model every year, and the latest models really blow stock '09-11 models away. There is a Nissan video on YouTube showing a '12 racing an '09 (when the '12 first came out) and the difference was surprising high 11's to almost 11 flat 1/4 miles. There are also numerous chassis, TCM, cooling, suspension and power improvements as well.

Launch control has improved every year. People think the latest LC5 can just be flashed onto the older model cars to get the same performance but its not true. Alot of people have tried on gtrlife but there is something additional on the '12 and above cars that isnt touched by a simple TCM flash that prevents the great launches of the newer cars. The one thing it does help is shift smoothness, that is well documented. A warning though the GR6 is clunky by nature and generally always makes strange sounds, it takes a while to get used to, but there's no denying its performance at speed under load.

In terms of fitment you should be fine, I'm 6'1" but longer in the legs and I'm fine with the seat all the way back. But my brother is 6'3" longer in the trunk and he has some problems fitting. So your build plays a role.

On maintenance, the car is generally more expensive but nothing like everyone makes it out to be. Generally $200 an oil change, POS services are free but only for the first three years (and the alignment is not cheap), the tranny fluid flush is only based on mileage not time. It took me three years to get to the mileage so while it is expensive, hitting it every three years makes it nothing (BTW its closer to $1000 not $2000 like some are saying). You can also think about bringing your car to shops like Vex to get other fluids for the tranny. I believe they use Motul and its just as good and cheaper. Generally alot of services done at other tuning shops than the dealer will be cheaper. I'm also still on my first set of tires too, however that will change depending on your driving style, if you track it you'll be changing it even more frequently. If you can, get the dunlops, they are much better than the bridgestones. Almost all the fast GTR track times you see in the magazines are posted on the optional dunlops, I'll be swapping when my tires are done. There are also two alignment settings Nissan uses on these, street and track, the dealer should ask you which you want upon delivery and each POS. Street will extend your tire life.

Finally power, I didnt baseline my car before mods, but while the car may make great power stock, mods don't tend to have the same impact here as at sea level. Its still impressive though, my car with only midpipe and Cobb (conservative tune) made 480awhp and 505 awtq at airboy/Vex. Downpipes would put you over 500 easy. But increasing boost will max out your fuel pumps at our altitude, so you'll need to upgrade those and possibly your injectors as well.

Hopefully that helps, PM me if you have any other questions.

Very nice. Thank you.

Yes I'm more like your brother it seems. I have a long torso and short (Relative to my torso) Legs.

My brother has a G35, and although I fit not to bad, my head is pretty much rubbing on the headliner. I'm going to go sit in a GT-R probably today or tomorrow and I can judge.

Thanks for the responses! Keep em coming.

[zipdoa]

Originally posted by Darkane


Very nice. Thank you.

Yes I'm more like your brother it seems. I have a long torso and short (Relative to my torso) Legs.

My brother has a G35, and although I fit not to bad, my head is pretty much rubbing on the headliner. I'm going to go sit in a GT-R probably today or tomorrow and I can judge.

Thanks for the responses! Keep em coming.

IMO you'll probably find the GT-R tight. Especially if you have developed your latissimus dorsi.

[EK69]

This thread made me curious so I looked up the price of 2013 gt-r
:eek:
:cry:
Go go beyond ballers :nut:

But looks like a damn nice car :thumbsup: :drool:

[Darkane]

So it turns out I fit quite nicely in the GT-R.

Excellent.

[dawwgy]

Originally posted by EK69
This thread made me curious so I looked up the price of 2013 gt-r
:eek:
:cry:
Go go beyond ballers :nut:

But looks like a damn nice car :thumbsup: :drool:

EK69: While the car IS expensive, they do hold their value better then any car out there I can think of... I think they were awarded best resale value a year or 2 ago ... that was my justification on spending that much on a the 13 GTR Black Edition anyways :rolleyes:

Darkane: DO IT ... Buy one! I have yet to see a GTR on the road since I bought mine earlier this month! Took a buddy for a drive in mine and loved it so much he bought a 13 as well! you will not regret the purchase!!! :thumbsup:

[Orbie]

Originally posted by dawwgy

Darkane: DO IT ... Buy one! I have yet to see a GTR on the road since I bought mine earlier this month! Took a buddy for a drive in mine and loved it so much he bought a 13 as well! you will not regret the purchase!!! :thumbsup:

dawwgy, even though they generally are quite rare still here, you probably haven't seen one because its still dead of winter. Unfortunately most of them are stored away. I used to drive mine year round, but realized you can't control all the other cars on the road, even though your car may be plenty capable. After a few close calls I started driving my other cars in winter, but I still pull it out on nice days like we've had lately. Come spring and summer you'll see a bunch on the road including the alpha 9's. Love the white btw, did you get 3m on yours? Just a warning if you do, keep it as clean as possible to offset the yellowing. Its pretty much a given it will yellow, but you can slow the process. Ive replaced various pieces on mine generally once a year.

[dawwgy]

Originally posted by Orbie


dawwgy, even though they generally are quite rare still here, you probably haven't seen one because its still dead of winter. Unfortunately most of them are stored away. I used to drive mine year round, but realized you can't control all the other cars on the road, even though your car may be plenty capable. After a few close calls I started driving my other cars in winter, but I still pull it out on nice days like we've had lately. Come spring and summer you'll see a bunch on the road including the alpha 9's. Love the white btw, did you get 3m on yours? Just a warning if you do, keep it as clean as possible to offset the yellowing. Its pretty much a given it will yellow, but you can slow the process. Ive replaced various pieces on mine generally once a year.

Yeah, I'm driving mine now since the roads have been fairly clear since i got mine 2 weeks ago, but if it snows hard again anytime soon i have an 08 infiniti G37 coupe for my winter "beater" ... but once spring hits I'll sell the G37 and before winter I will defintely have a winter car for bad road condition days... like you, i dont trust other drivers!

I am going to check out Xpel instead of 3m, the dealer installed 3m was yellowing so it was removed from the hood, but still resides on some other parts of the car for now. I hear the Xpel does not yellow over time, and places like shadow tint will warranty 'yellowing', so I hear, so I may just do most the car with it instead of 3M.

Thanks for the advice though! :thumbsup: cant wait to see fellow GTR owners cruising around come spring!

[Canmorite]

Drove on in Vegas last weekend at the track, they are SO much fun. I'm 6'1 and my helmet was just about scraping the headliner.

Definitely a car I want to pick up in ~5 years :thumbsup:

[jibber]

If you're planning on getting the car serviced or need parts from an R35 Certified Nissan dealer in town, just drop by and see me. I always give beyond members great discounts and deals! Even if you need something for your G37, give me a shout.

I would rather deal with the members myself to make sure everything gets taken care of properly. So, if you ever need anything call or ask for me and be sure to mention beyond so I can get you hooked up. Just come to the Sunridge Nissan Parts Department and ask for Mike.