DRAG: GTR vs Turbo S

[DD GT3 RD]

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/t...602-1fhc0.html

Video on the site.


EXCLUSIVE: We hit the track in Porsche's ferocious 911 Turbo S and the Nissan GT-R underdog.

Porsche and Nissan have been bickering over a 21km stretch of road for the past few years, but we aim to settle their argument - or at least part of it - on a piece of bitumen just 400 metres long.

Or 402 metres, to be exact. Drive is at the Sydney Dragway - where quarter-mile times are king - to find out whether the Porsche 911 Turbo S or Nissan GT-R is quickest in a straight line.

As automotive spats go, the war of words between Germany and Japan has been one of the best in recent years

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Flat out: Nissan takes on Porsche
Porsche 911 Turbo S vs Nissan GT-R





Porsche and Nissan have been trading insults and accusations since 2008, after the Japanese brand dared to take its R35 GT-R supercar around Germany's Nurburgring Nordschleife - car makers' favourite performance benchmark - in 7 minutes 29 seconds.

Nissan threw the first jab by joyously declaring the time faster than that achieved by a Porsche 911; Porsche punched back by insinuating cheating - saying it couldn't replicate the times with a GT-R it had purchased; Nissan then struck below the belt by publicly telling Porsche its engineers were welcome to try its performance driving course for current and prospective GT-R owners. Ouch.

If you were looking to pair two cars for a comparison, you would struggle to find a better match than the 911 Turbo S, which arrived late last year, and the GT-R, just launched locally in updated - read more powerful - form.

Both have twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engines (the Porsche's flat, the Nissan's in a vee configuration). Both produce 390kW. Both send that power to the road via all four wheels. And both have launch control systems for fastest getaways.

Based on claimed performance figures, the Nissan would be expected to be first to cross Sydney Dragway's quarter-mile timing beam.

Nissan says the 2011 GT-R will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.0 seconds flat, thanks to tweaks to the supercar's engine, exhaust and launch control. That wipes a not inconsiderable six tenths off the previous version's time.

The Turbo S will take 3.3 seconds, according to Porsche, though the German car maker is consistently cautious with its claims; we've recorded times 2 or 3 tenths of a second faster than Porsche's claims previously.

So to the startline, with Drive's technical expert, Mark Short, in the Porsche, and myself in the Nissan.

With all-wheel-drive, there's little point spending any time in the burnout area. Both cars roll to the staging area, edging to the sensors that engage the first set of amber staging lights, closely followed by the second.

The race controller is instructed to hold the start sequence until he hears both cars holding high revs - the sign that both launch control systems have been engaged.

Which is a simple process whether you're 'dragster' is German or Japanese.

'Shorty' flicks the Sports Plus switch in the Turbo S, then holds the brake pedal first with his left foot, then fully depresses the accelerator pedal to bring up 5000 revs on the tachometer.

In the GT-R, three setting switches - suspension, gear shift and traction control - need to be flicked upwards for 'R' mode - before adopting the same procedure as the Porsche with the brake and gas pedals. The Nissan, however, chooses 4000rpm as the optimum engine speed for launch.

Consistent starts rather than reaction times are our goal, so Shorty and I agree to release our brake pedals on a green light rather than try to pre-empt it for another popular dragstrip measurement - driver reaction time.

With both six-cylinders piercing the cold early-evening air, the staging lights extinguish ... an amber light illuminates, and dies ... and then ... green!

Both the Turbo S and GT-R bog down on the super-sticky launch area, not long ago sprayed with a fresh layer of anti-slip resin known as VHT Trackbite.

But it's the Nissan that hesitates a moment longer, giving the Porsche the early advantage.

The Turbo S crosses the dragstrip's 60-foot mark in 1.82 seconds, a tenth ahead of its nemesis. While the two pump out identical peak power figures - 390kW - the Porsche 911 Turbo S produces more torque - 700Nm versus 612Nm - and it arrives much lower in the rev range. That's part of the reason the Porsche feels punchier in everyday traffic - and why it performs so well in this test.

Once the GT-R hooks up, however, its acceleration is ferocious, whipping the driver's (in this case, helmeted) head back against the headrest.

Dragway's don't record 0-100 times unfortunately, but there's no doubting which car is quickest on this night.
Porsche's contender reaches the 1/8th-of-a-mile mark in 7.19 seconds at a speed of 163km/h. The Nissan takes another half second, travelling 10km/h slower.

The GT-R pegs the 911 back as it roars through the higher ratios of its six-speed dual-clutch gearbox but by the quarter-mile finishing line the gap is still six tenths of a second - exactly: 11.04 versus 11.64.

Further runs produced slight variances in the times, but only the Porsche improved its time - with an 11.02 - as it proved to be consistently quicker.

More telling was that the Porsche was also travelling much faster at the end of the drag strip - 207km/h versus the GT-R's 194km/h.

Of course, there are multiple measures of performance beyond simple standing-start acceleration runs.

And for another dose of perspective, it's worth bearing in mind that for each of those extra six tenths the Porsche is faster ... you'll effectively have to pay $42,417.

So in terms of which car delivers the best bang for your buck, there's no argument.

[DD GT3 RD]

In Miles Per Hour

Turbo S - [email protected] mph
GTR - [email protected] mph

[RD4LLe92m3]

Wow 128!

[Yukohama]

geez definitely both fast cars, how do they compare on the track though?

[DD GT3 RD]

997 Turbo S GT-R (Mk II)

Nordschleife 7:41.23 7:24.22
Hockenheim Short 1:10.90 1:10.00
Sugo 1:37.75 1:34.65
SportAuto wet handling test 1:37.10 1:35.00
Nurburgring GP (3.7 km) 1:39.31 1:39.62
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Club 1:22.90 1:21.55

[ItalianStallion]

The GT-R really underperformed since there are plenty of examples of 11.0-11.2's at a higher MPH but then again, the Porsche also underperformed since there have been 10.7 ET's bone stock.