With 0-60 MPH times in the 3.2 second range and ¼ miles times of 11.5 seconds, it makes you wonder if the GT-R isn’t putting down more than the 480 hp Nissan claims. We’re not the only ones who are curious. Car and Driver magazine ran five Nissan GT-Rs to see how much power they really are making.

When Car and Driver first tested the GT-R, they thought the car might have been unofficially tweaked - perhaps a slightly hotter computer tune - to achieve the stellar performance numbers they were seeing.

The first GT-R they tested ran from 0 to 60 MPH in 3.3 seconds and hit the ¼ mile in 11.5 seconds. They didn’t have to time to dyno test it, but this set the benchmark for how fast it was. Later, they tested two more GT-Rs, both being slower in the ¼ mile than the first “manufacturer” car they tested. The second car was 0.6 seconds slower and the third car was a significant 1.1 seconds slower. Again they missed getting these cars on the dyno, but they clearly performed much worse than the first car.



Next came car #4. This car performed its speed tests about as well as car #1. Then they strapped it to a four-wheel-drive dyno. They car put down 415 rwhp which translates to about 519 hp at the crank if you consider a 20% loss of power in the AWD drivetrain of the GT-R

A call to Nissan about cars #2 and #3 ended up in Nissan saying they were early production cars before final computer tuning was done. They claim car #4 is more accurate.

Finally a fifth GT-R showed up. This car performed as well as #4, hitting the ¼ mile in 11.6 seconds. A quick trip to the dyno once again showed a very similar 420 rwhp (520 hp at the motor).



In the end, it looks like owners of the Nissan GT-R are getting a little extra oomph for their money. Which is always a good thing.

Be sure to check out the full article at Car and Driver: What’s the GT-Rs Real Horsepower?