Nissan says R36 GT-R getting front-engined hybrid setup, due in 2018 at the earliest

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Current car still has potential for more performance

Nissan Chief Creative Officer has shed some light about the next generation GT-R (R36).

In an interview with Top Gear magazine, Shiro Nakamura spoke briefly about the new GT-R and reconfirmed the model will adopt a hybrid powertrain with the combustion engine sitting in the front. He went on to specify the supercar "will also be a front-engined 2+2 seater coupe" and the R36 will indeed "be a hybrid, but not mid-engined."

Asked by TG whether the unofficial renders which emerged online are accurate, Nakamura said that none of them actually comes close to the real deal. He did admit the Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo concept will influence the GT-R's front and rear fascias but not significantly as the concept was envisioned with a mid-engine layout.

Shiro Nakamura said the next generation Nissan GT-R won't come out sooner than 2018 because the company believes the current model still has potential for more performance and the added oomph will be implemented in an upcoming facelift already spied testing.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/11501308...engined-hybrid

[mugencivic4dr]

Top Gear UK is Adamant the R36 Nissan GT-R Will Be a “Front-Engined 2+2 Hybrid”

Japan is a very special place. On one side you have all the old folks that like to play with bonsai trees as a pastime activity, on the other side we have all the “Only in Japan” things we know thanks to that wonderful invention called the Internet. But this is autoevolution and bonsai trees are of no importance.

Japan matters to us, first and foremost, because of its wonderful and highly-technologized automotive industry. Right off the top of any petrolhead’s head, four names come to mind: Nissan GT-R, Honda NSX, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO and Subaru (Impreza) WRX STI. Let’s go a little through all of the aforementioned cars.

First of all, the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X will go out with a bang - the Final Concept boasts with a whopping 437 horsepower. As for a viable successor for the rally-bred contraption, not much is known about the EVO XI or whatever Mitsubishi will call it. While the Subaru WRX STI is relatively new and has nothing to prove at the present moment, the NSX is even fresher.

The 2016 Acura NSX debuted earlier in January at the Detroit Auto Show and Jerry Seinfeld placed an order for one on the spot! Animated by a twin-turbo V6, three electric motors and a 9-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, the hybrid supercar is expected to push “over 550 horsepower.”

That’s 50 horsepower short when compared to the $149,990 2015 Nissan GT-R NISMO, that’s if the Honda-owned brand won’t go over that 550 HP mark. All in all, this comparo is just enough for us to understand where the upcoming R36 Nissan GT-R will be heading towards in terms of out and out muscle.

It’s hard to put a number of the next generation GT-R’s specs, but more than one high-ranking Nissan official confirmed that the legendary Godzilla it’s going hybrid.

With this bit of info already known, it’s not surprising to see the Nissan R&D team benchmark R36 prototypes against the 2016 Acura / Honda NSX. So it was already known that the R36 is going hybrid, yet Top Gear UK comes up with a story titled “New GT-R will be front-engined 2+2 hybrid”. Yaaaawn...

Speaking to Shiro Nakamura, Nissan’s chief creative officer, the British automotive publication found could come with only a mild “GT-R will always be a front-engined 2+2-seater coupe.” Again, nothing new here, which is a little disappointing coming from Top Gear. But that story hides one very interesting detail.

When asked about the various R36 rendering that popped up on the Internet, Nakamura replied: “Yes, I've seen them. Not one of them is close [to how the car will look],” which implies that the R36 Nissan GT-R will be extremely different from the outgoing R35-gen in terms of exterior styling.

Last but not least, this bit of intel may also interest you: the R36 arrives in "2018 at the earliest.”

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/to...rid-91769.html