michael Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 http://carsguide.news.com.au/site/motoring-news/story/porsche_accuses_nissan_of_cheating_at_nurburgring/ Porsche has accused Nissan of cheating in the GT-R's record bid at the Nurburgring racetrack. Porsche has just run its own back-to-back tests with the Japanese company's GT-R supercar and says it could not get within 25 seconds of Nissan's claimed record time of seven minutes 29 seconds in April. It also found its 911 Turbo and GT2 were both quicker than the GT-R. "This wonder car with 7:29 could not have been a regular series production car," says August Achleitner, the 911 product chief for Porsche, speaking to the CARSguide at the Australian press preview of the latest 911 Cabrio. "For us, it's not clear how this time is possible. What we can imagine with this Nissan is they used other tyres." He believes the time achieved by Nissan with ex-Formula One driver Toshio Suzuki would only be possible with a semi-slick race-style tyre. Achleitner says Porsche took a standard GT-R, running on regular road tyres, and ran it around the Nurburgring within two hours of its own cars, on the same day with exactly the same weather conditions. He says there was no tweaking of any kind and the GT2 and Turbo both ran on regular Porsche road tyres, the Michelin Sport Cup. "We bought the car in the US. We drove a GT-R with new tyres," he says. Achleitner was initially protective of the exact lap times, which were run during a program when Porsche also compared its upcoming four-door Panamera with a range of potential rivals. But he eventually revealed his team clocked the GT-R at 7 minutes 54 seconds, with the 911 Turbo managing 7:38 and the GT2 getting down to 7:34. The laps were not run by Porsche's usual hot-lap specialist, former world rally champion and race winner Walter Rohrl, but one of the company's chassis development engineers who is an expert on the Nurburgring. Achleitner says the back-to-back comparison was run because Porsche was concerned by Nissan's claims for the GT-R, which is heavier than the 911 with similar power. "The Nissan is a good car. I don't want to make anything bad with my words," he says. "It's a very consistent car. But this car is about 20 kilos heavier than the Turbo . . ." In the end, Porsche believes its testing has achieved the right lap times for the Skyline GT-R and benchmarked it against its own 911 heroes in the right context. "For us it has been clearly the result. This technical puzzle now fits together. With the other numbers we had problems to understand it," he says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 you know i read something like that somewhere else, there going to investigate because the figures seriously dont add up, the porsche should be doing the same time or faster....... but then again the skyline does have a lot of funky technology to help it corner faster and harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian R Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 i be honest i dont really think nissan cheated, they spent a lot of time and money developing the skyline and ran tonnes and tonnes of tests to make it the best it could be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 that's very interesting, I always thought "their figures don't seem to add up" myself but had no way to prove it one way or another - you know when something doesn't seem right and all you can do is shrug it off as one of those "claims" that seems weird but is hard to dispute... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 exactly that chilli, i have had the good fortune to have been taken for a spin in the new R35 at a motorshow and i wont say that its slow, because its fast properly fast but the 911 turbo feels literally the same.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 i be honest i dont really think nissan cheated, they spent a lot of time and money developing the skyline and ran tonnes and tonnes of tests to make it the best it could be. Your right, porsche of course didn't do those things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Your right, porsche of course didn't do those things ok now i dont know what to think lol, thanks for reminding me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyT Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Harks back to the TG IOM episode Porsche, BMW 6, AM V8. Porsche had the least power and got = 1st. The development of the car has been 40+ years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Nissan blamed it on press Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesmark Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Why do they not get a race going. Nissan in the R35 (using the driver that got the time) Vs Porsche (with their best driver) Then disbelievers will be silenced or proved correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 The laps were done by a Porche chassis specialist. For me the usual Porche driver should drive the Porche and Nissan should have there own driver who accomplished the original time. They are two very different cars and expecting the Porche chassis specialist to put down the same time is crazy, the fact he got close speaks loads for the GTR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Why do they not get a race going. Nissan in the R35 (using driver that got time) Vs Porsche (with there best driver) Then disbelievers will be silenced or proved correct. My thoughts exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CoolsBlue Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 top gear said that each gtr r35 has a hand made engine and a specially tailored gear box so each one puts out different powers...porsche needs to accept that nissan has the title... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgen-Jm-Imports Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 porsche are getting worried of the GTR not that i am biased Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesmark Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 top gear said that each gtr r35 has a hand made engine and a specially tailored gear box so each one puts out different powers...porsche needs to accept that nissan has the title... What 20 seconds+ difference in engine and gearbox? Do not read too much into the different power figures. Not saying it is not true but not 20+ seconds different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazboy Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Funny how the GTR is faster on every track in independent tests. Anyway, it's not like Porsche have to try and justify why the TT costs twice as much as the GTR is it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxluc Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Yep ... I think Porsche is a little bit concerned that the GTR scatches at their ego. Porsche has to admit (numerous tests in magazines can justify) that the GTR is the better handler on various road conditions due to the fact that it gets its power better on the ground. It makes me laugh that Porsche wastes their time testing a GTR on the Ring ... they should concentrate on developping their cars instead of analyzing what other manufacutres have done better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daston Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 I think Porsche have nothing to worry about at all, I mean if you were to ask your local golf club "would you swap your 911 for a nissan" they would reply "of course not dear boy" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbleapple Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 top gear said that each gtr r35 has a hand made engine and a specially tailored gear box so each one puts out different powers...porsche needs to accept that nissan has the title... Well if Top Gear said! TBH I bet Nissan are not cheating but merely 'twisting' the figures slightly.... As far as I see it Porsche are specialist 'sport' car developers... Nissan on the otehr hand... well most of their cars are driven in Bradford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Maybe Porsche are just trying to provide pub ammo for their fanboyz to fight back with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieP Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Funny how the GTR is faster on every track in independent tests. Anyway, it's not like Porsche have to try and justify why the TT costs twice as much as the GTR is it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecoup Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 mmm 2 gtr's or a 911 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 2 things stand out for me; Achleitner says the back-to-back comparison was run because Porsche was concerned by Nissan's claims for the GT-R, which is heavier than the 911 with similar power. Eh? 911 Turbo = 480bhp? GTR = 550bhp? Not that similar, although that should work in the GTR's favour so another reason it shouldn't have been slower. We bought the car in the US Won't it have been setup for US fuel, which isn't quite as potent as ours, so it wouldn't have been at its full potential? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 My take on it is that I find it really hard to care about this non-issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.