Sunday, November 4, 2007

Godzirra!! (broken Engrish accent)

  • 3.8L twin turbo v6
  • 473 hp / 433 tq
  • super high tech AWD system
  • 0-60 in 3.5 secs
  • 1/4th mile in 11.7 secs
  • 7:38 Nurburgring time
  • $70,000 estimated price

For all you out-the-know non-car people, those performance statistics are utterly amazing for that price tag, especially that ring time...

So why do I hate it?? Ok, I don't really "hate" it, but something about it pisses me off. No, it's not the fact that it knocks my beloved American car off it's pedestal. It's not because I want it but can't afford it either. It's because of all the damn hype and PS2-armchair-racers.

God, I've never heard so much hype and smack talk over a car before. From Nissan claiming that they are targeting the half million dollar Porsche Carrera GT, to MotorTrend's latest "Corvette Killer" cover story, to the endless JDM fanboy comments on Autoblog... it has simply ruined the car for me. It's no longer just a new, badass world beater made by Nissan. Now it's some monstrosity used to fuel internet flame wars, power the hype machine, and bring out the insecurities of every lesser sports car owner (like me!*).

There is just too much stigma attached to the car for me to ever consider buying it. It's what every pimply, Gran Turismo playing, Fast and Furious watching teenager has wet dreams about.

Still I have to give credit where credit is due. Those performance stats are incredible, and kudos for Nissan for not reincarnating this "legend" into some flaccid underperformer.

* That ring time is suspicious. For starters, it was made with a preproduction car. Plus Nissan spent like a year with it at the ring. You give me 365 laps around the ring and I'm bound to get one really good one... :P Then there is ubiquitous cut slicks debate, hehe.

Oh, and it looks like a catfish.

2 comments:

Christopher J. Bottaro said...

Btw, I hate those "true enthusiasts... blah blah, etc etc" comments. A "true enthusiast" isn't allowed to play favorites or be biased?

My current favorite car (and thus the one I'm biased to) is the Vette. If I get a Porsche in the future, guess what, I bet my favorite will change.

The key to keep in mind here is that it's ok to play favorites or be biased... as long as you keep an open mind.

Badger said...

The title of this post is fucking BRILLIANT!