The GT-R is in my hands Options

[KKR75]

Ok guys. As promised, I am now a proud GT-R owner.

a US-spec one, with special golden brown stiching on the seats, just like the cars that the UAE received 2 weeks ago.

Now, before pple start yelling for pics, I took a bunch of them, but of course I had to have forgotten the USB cable at home, so until this evening my time, I can't upload any pics (I am at work right now).

Needless to say, the car is a blast to drive. I do have a few comments to make:

1. the car makes all sorts of sounds at idle. It's all normal, and actually feels like a race car. Sounds emanating from the transmission, shafts, engine, etc... all normal.

2. it's stiff. things will rattle inside the cabin (to a certain extent of course). What I mean is, you will hear vibrations, some buzzing sounds. That's normal. It's not meant to be a luxury car. Just a word of warning to those who might think otherwise.

3. Driving in Auto transmission mode is annoying, even with the mode set to R. You look down at the speedo, driving at 20 mph, and all of a sudden u see the gear in 6th. I'm talking city driving here, of course. But most likely that's the preferred mode while wanting to cruise easily. Because manual mode is of course lovely (you have full control), but unless u shift down the gears, the car won't do it for u, so u have to remember to go say from 4th to 2nd if u slow to 5mph otherwise the pickup is awful

4. My salesman is telling me that setting the VDC mode to OFF will void the warranty. WTF ???? I am calling bullshit on that. Why would Nissan put a VDC mode OFF if that will void the warranty? He's saying that Nissan put that mode so that if you are stuck in mud / slippery terrain, u need VDC off to get going again. I'm calling bullshit on this one. Thoughts appreciated.

5. He's also saying that there's a black box that pretty much records a lot of data (actually there's also a paragraph in the user's manual about this) so that it can be analyzed by Nissan in case of a problem. God knows if they won't use all this info against u if u've abused the car in any way. Privacy concious pple, beware.

6. I received a special booklet with a printed sheet personally signed by Kazutoshi Mizuno. Naysayers about the Nissan GT-R VVIP program, here's pretty much the answer to your suspicions. See the image below for further details.

7. The engine sound note is very pretty, mild but pretty. I really, really like it. The exhaust note is mellow, it's definitely not intrusive, but it's easily hearable. I had my worries about the exhaust note, but right now, even keeping the RPMs under 3k (break-in), I'm ok with it. Let's see how long that's gonna last

Camera pictures will come this evening when I get back from work.

K.



This post has been edited by KKR75: Jun 23 2008, 07:04 AM

[Glenn]

Congratulations!!!! What are the details of this VIP program? Are there any other unique features besides the gold trim?

[KKR75]

Congratulations!!!! What are the details of this VIP program? Are there any other unique features besides the gold trim?

As far as I know, so far the only thing I know about the VVIP program:

1. Gold trimmed leather seats
2. Gold trimmed door handles
3. Gold trimmed door sills.

(the gold is actually a light browned color, very pretty. I had my doubts in the pictures, but real-life looks amazing).

4. various accessories included, like GT-R floormats, keychain, tool box (whoopidooo, nice to have, but don't really care much about all that)

Basically, the VVIP program is basically a way for Nissan to make a little bit more money on people that want the car before everyone else. That's why they call it "special".

Maybe, MAYBE other hidden items are only part of the VVIP program, but either Nissan did not publicly disclose the info, or I can't find anything else at this point. But so far, I've only owned the car for a few hours so that's all I can see up to now

Also, about that VDC warranty void I mentioned in my original post, here's a scanned copy of the user's manual, 1ST PARAGRAPH AFTER THE TABLE OF CONTENTS !!!



So it's stated right there in the user's manual.

K.

[Retromoe]

You think you can take a video of the interior while its on idle? I'd like to hear the interior sounds.

[Chuck_H]

Congrats! Looking forward to some pics/driving impressions.

I see you have an english owners manual. Feel free to post up some scans if your bored someday.

Interesting that turning the VDC off will void the warranty. Not really surprised they don't want to cover cars that have been raced. But having an easily accessible switch on the dash you can't use is interesting. If this holds true here, i can see alot of people voiding their warranties (i assume just the powertrain portion?) without even knowing it. How many will skip over that portion and not even realize it?

[Roger]

Where are you located that you have your GT-R already???

[Justice]

Well that is really cool.

[KKR75]

Where are you located that you have your GT-R already???

I am located in Beirut, Lebanon.

You think you can take a video of the interior while its on idle? I'd like to hear the interior sounds.

Unfortunately I don't have a video cam. Even if I did, I can assure you that you will not be hearing anything worthwile. The sounds are so subtle that even a camera sound wouldn't be able to pick them up. You'll have to hear them yourself 1st hand.

I see you have an english owners manual. Feel free to post up some scans if your bored someday.

Hehe I will try to do my best Owner's manual is in english (it's the US manual version, exactly what you'll be getting). The only extra is the "Owner's manual Supplement" which is written in english, and also in Arabic. (Basically talks about the Middle East market differences with US (sat nav, audio, bluetooth, etc...). Nothing special.

K.

[KKR75]

FYI, odometer at time of drive-off was 32 mi. Well within the allowed specs from Nissan.

[jmunjr]

Is tracking the car the same as racing it? What about an autocross? The drag strip? Will the warranty voidness be in the states as well?

Geez, they are pushing it here. Are they trying to scare us out of a purchase? I am concerned this car is going to be fragile and the only way they could address it is with all sorts of requirements and restrictions. "Your car broke down? Oh well it isn't covered because you drove it over 500 miles since you last had it serviced. Also we noticed you exceeded 1G while turning and braking. We don't actually allow you to match our performance numbers."

[dexgtr]

As far as I know, so far the only thing I know about the VVIP program:

1. Gold trimmed leather seats
2. Gold trimmed door handles
3. Gold trimmed door sills.

(the gold is actually a light browned color, very pretty. I had my doubts in the pictures, but real-life looks amazing).

4. various accessories included, like GT-R floormats, keychain, tool box (whoopidooo, nice to have, but don't really care much about all that)

Basically, the VVIP program is basically a way for Nissan to make a little bit more money on people that want the car before everyone else. That's why they call it "special".

Maybe, MAYBE other hidden items are only part of the VVIP program, but either Nissan did not publicly disclose the info, or I can't find anything else at this point. But so far, I've only owned the car for a few hours so that's all I can see up to now

Also, about that VDC warranty void I mentioned in my original post, here's a scanned copy of the user's manual, 1ST PARAGRAPH AFTER THE TABLE OF CONTENTS !!!



So it's stated right there in the user's manual.

K.

Unbelievable.... I'm not saying its not true... But that is unbelievable... This has to be first in automotive history.... Pressing a button on the dashboard voids the warranty on your car. That will never hold up in a court of law...

[KKR75]

So as I was saying, page "GTR-2" of the Owner's Manual talks about warranty, that includes the VDC OFF mode (a copy was scanned in my previous posts).

Reading page "GTR-5", it says:

PRECAUTIONS BEFORE DRIVING
------------------------------------

VEHICLE DYNAMIC CONTROL (VDC) OFF MODE

Make sure VDC is on before driving the vehicle. The VDC OFF mode should only be used to help free a vehicle stuck in mud or snow by temporarily stopping VDC operation and keeping torque on wheels.


--- END EXTRACT ---

There you have it, people. But of course, if you press down the button for a second or so, it shuts off VDC without even warning you on the MFD or odometer about the VDC OFF precautionary measure.

So, RTFM before driving !!!!!!

K.

[trumperZ06]

FYI, odometer at time of drive-off was 32 mi. Well within the allowed specs from Nissan.

CONGRATS

The stiffness in the suspension may go away after ~ 1200 miles or so.

We experienced the same thing with two Q 45's (touring models)...

The ride was very stiff & bouncy, until the suspension settled in.

[lindros2]

The warranty void when "VDC off" is normal.

Case in point: my Acura RL has a software glitch where pressing VDC once will disable VDC (yellow triangle w/ "!" point).

Pressing it again sometimes does NOT turn it back on.

The legal verbiage above is to protect Nissan from things like this (and many other things of course).

This post has been edited by lindros2: Jun 23 2008, 09:01 AM

[IvoryGT]

Im almost certain that if anything should happen, as in clutch going bad or other parts being serviced proved to be going bad, they will look in the black box and see if you've been driving with the VDC off and void your warranty and your parts claim.

It's a protection for Nissan, considering replacing any part on this car will most certain cost a lot. They don't need your to create problems by not following manual and still claim warranty.

[Roush05]

This is pretty funny. Here is one of the best track cars ever made but if you take it to the track the warrenty is voided. Doesn't sounds like Nissan is too confident in their first American Supercar.

Agreed. This would never stand up in court. An owners manual is not a legal contract anyway. I will use the car with the VDC off and if it blows the clutch in the first month I will sue to have it replaced. This is like getting an insurance policy that excludeds accidents. Give me a break.

[dexgtr]

This is pretty funny. Here is one of the best track cars ever made but if you take it to the track the warrenty is voided. Doesn't sounds like Nissan is too confident in their first American Supercar.

Agreed. This would never stand up in court. An owners manual is not a legal contract anyway. I will use the car with the VDC off and if it blows the clutch in the first month I will sue to have it replaced. This is like getting an insurance policy that excludeds accidents. Give me a break.

Well said......

[holyrollerboy]

4. My salesman is telling me that setting the VDC mode to OFF will void the warranty. WTF ???? I am calling bullshit on that. Why would Nissan put a VDC mode OFF if that will void the warranty? He's saying that Nissan put that mode so that if you are stuck in mud / slippery terrain, u need VDC off to get going again. I'm calling bullshit on this one. Thoughts appreciated.

5. He's also saying that there's a black box that pretty much records a lot of data (actually there's also a paragraph in the user's manual about this) so that it can be analyzed by Nissan in case of a problem. God knows if they won't use all this info against u if u've abused the car in any way. Privacy concious pple, beware.



Congrats on your GTR ! Look forward to your experiences....

The "black box" thing is common place even in the motorcycles....one of my bikes that had minor problem (gasket leak they fixed it). The tech mentioned that I had it pass "redline" 27 times and had a top speed of 110 mph or something....I ride with him sometimes so that wasn't a problem.... he fixed it...but it made me realize that they know the history once they plug into the dreaded "black box" I guess. Nissan is no different it seems... Anyone that is a mechanic / tech... true ?

[KKR75]

I'm home. So here are a few pictures. Exterior shots only from the front, I just realized no one took any from the rear. Oh well.

Oh yeah.... you might see "Paris" written on the storefront of a shop. But not I'm not in France, I'm indeed in Beirut, Lebanon





This post has been edited by KKR75: Jun 23 2008, 10:29 AM

[KKR75]

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