Thursday, December 4, 2014

Can You Really Drive a Nissan GT-R Every Day?

That's the million - err, $100,000 question isn't it? Can you really drive a Nissan GT-R every day? You know, to the grocery store, to pick up the kids from school, to grab a burrito? I wanted to find out, so Nissan gave me a brand-new, 2015 GT-R to drive around every day for a week.

With any GT-R, the initial impression is pretty clear — it's big, it's comfortable, and it will give you neck problems if you push on the gas hard enough. The thing is blisteringly fast from a standstill. Even at higher speeds, the 3.8-liter V6 pushes it more than I was even willing to.

But forget that impressive power. Forget the 0-60 time. Forget the torque meter and the lap timer. Is the Nissan GT-R really an "everyday supercar" as most people claim? I wanted to find out for myself.

Acquiring Socks

I had to go buy socks. Normally that's a pretty easy thing to do. Go to the store. Park as close as possible. Acquire socks. Exit quickly. But I'm driving a $100,000 supercar. That means I had to park pretty darn far for these socks.

It's not so much that the GT-R won't fit in normal parking spots, or navigate through parking lots. Even when parked out of every possible human being's way you still expect to walk out and see a giant scratch or dent. Or some a-hole leaning up against it taking pictures. So much anxiety.

And then the gym. I watched it through the window in-between sets.

Mission: Fast Food

Americans love getting fast food. So for the sake of science, I planned to make a quick drive-thru run in the Nissan. But as I pulled up to the entrance, those daunting curbs, that sharp corner, that tall window; I gave up. I went to Chipotle down the street instead.

I felt ashamed. Mostly because of the idea of fast food, but also because I didn't have enough confidence in myself to make it into that tight space. I just didn't want to risk a scratch or ding to the rim. Mission: Failed.

To the Park

My initial plan was to get my 17-pound shitzu, and strap her in the passenger seat. Then I remembered that I don't want Nissan to hate me, so I didn't do that. Instead, I drove the park sans shitzu to meditate on the spirit of the GT-R/play on the playground. It was quite lovely, actually.

Lo and behold, the GT-R doesn't have a problem parking in some grassy areas. Again, as long as your park it as far away as humanly possible. I didn’t hoon it, Nissan, I promise.

Junk in the Trunk

The GT-R is a big car, which is sort of weird when you look at the rest of Japanese car culture. It's got American-sized, comfy leather seats, a back seat fit for amputees, and a ginormous trunk. Ginormagantuan.

I managed to fit a fold up tent, a fold up chair, and a pack of beer in the back with some room to spare. I mean, it took some finagling, but they all fit pretty snuggly. Not bad considering most other supercars in this price range don't have that much room to boot.

Tongue-in-cheek review aside, I sincerely think you can drive a Nissan GT-R every day. To an extent. Unlike Jalopnik's Doug DeMuro - who did a similar review with his Ferrari 360 - the GT-R is actually a more practical choice, for about the same price. Go figure. It drives easy, it gets decent enough mpg (16 city/23 highway), and if you take some Xanax you should be fine with leaving it out in public. Just make sure to take her out to her natural habitat - a track - every once in a while.

8/10, would drive every day again.

As read on: http://news.boldride.com/2014/11/nissan-gt-r-review/63113/