What Does It Take to Film a Nissan GT-R? Another Nissan GT-R

Nissan developed the 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO to be the pinnacle of the iconic nameplate. For maximum performance, the engine was upgraded, its aerodynamics further enhanced, and weight was shed through the meticulous use of exotic materials.

But when the time came to document the newest Nissan super sports car in its natural habitat, on the track, there was one problem. How to film it?

Enter Mauro Calo, a professional precision driver and automotive video expert known for his work on big-budget blockbuster movies and automotive TV shows. He has the perfect car to chase and film the 2020 GT-R NISMO—another GT-R.

While Nissan helped locate a suitable GT-R to be transformed into a purpose-built camera car, Calo was already working on the design. Once the car arrived, he and his team fitted a bespoke tubular structure that was welded to the chassis and able to hold the weight of the professional carbon-fiber gimbal camera mounting system.

Until Calo realized his ambition of developing the ultimate high-speed camera car, the vehicle of choice for this type of filming would be a high-performance SUV. However, SUVs lack the speed or agility to follow the world’s fastest performance cars on track.

Thanks to its low center of gravity, adjustable sports suspension and four-seater configuration, the GT-R is the perfect base car to accommodate a camera rig of this type.

“When I started to think about developing a high-performance camera car, I quickly realized that the Nissan GT-R was the only car that would meet my criteria,” said Calo. “It has supercar performance, with outstanding all-wheel drive handling and stability. It’s famously reliable, and it can seat the team I need to operate the camera system. There were no other contenders.”

Not many GT-R customers regularly use all four seats, but a typical shoot requires a full camera crew. With Calo at the wheel, a gimbal operator, a focus puller and a director can be in the car at the same time.

“I knew already, from driving it on photo and video shoots, what a great car the Nissan GT-R is,” Calo said. “But since I adapted my Nissan GT-R to be a high-speed camera car and have been using it to film some of the world’s fastest cars on track, my respect and appreciation of its performance, reliability and stability has only increased. It amazes me and the teams I work with every time we use it.”

This Limited Edition Nissan Skyline Kyosho Model is Only Available at the Japanese Post Office

Diecast car collectors, listen up: Nissan has just released a special, limited-edition scale model of its Skyline 2000 GT-R to commemorate Godzilla’s 50th anniversary. The catch? You can only buy it at the Japanese Post Office.

That’s right. You can only buy it at the Japanese Post Office, specifically the post offices located in Kanagawa and Yamanashi prefectures, and some 45 other post offices around Japan. Made by Kyosho, this 1/64 scale model of the KPGC10 is special because it comes in a silver body color and with no rear wing.

And since this is done in collaboration with Japan Post, the Kyosho diecast car comes with 10 sheets of stamps, and one frame stamp. The stamps, worth 63 yen each feature various GT-R models throughout the years.

If you happen to know anyone who’s in Japan, it begins sale on February 15. Limited to just 5,000 sets, the SRP is 4,600 yen per set. You can buy them online on this site.

Watch the 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO Smash the Tsukuba Circuit Record for Production Cars

The 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO broke the lap record on the Tsubuka Circuit last December. Driven by Tsugio Matsuda, the 600-horsepower factory-tuned sportscar smashed the existing production car track record by setting a time of 59.3 seconds.

The circuit, made famous by Japanese motoring show, Best Motoring and the Playstation video game series, Gran Turismo is a common proving ground for street-tuned cars. The previous lap record around the 2.070-kilometer circuit was 1:00.2 set by a Porsche 911 GT3.

See the GT-R NIMO break the lap record in the video below.

Nissan's Having Some Trouble Selling The Ultra-Limited GT-R50 by Italdesign

It looks like Nissan’s having difficulty looking for billionaires who’re willing to fork out 990,000 Euros (~ P 60 million) for an Italian bodied GT-R. A year after it was previewed, there’s still remaining stocks for the ultra-limited 50-unit run.

Despite saying in their release that “customer demand for the production version has been strong” and a “significant deposits already taken,” there’s still some personalized Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign left without owners. No exact number was given by Nissan, but it’s likely to be just a handful at this point. Regardless, it is a far cry from other limited edition supercars which sell out in mere days or hours after order books were opened.

Subject to certification and homologation in which the customer is located, delivery of the Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign should start between late 2020 and the end of 2021 (this is a year later than planned). Powering each GT-R50 by Italdesign is a NISMO-tuned 720-horspower hand-built 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6—the same engine that powers the NISMO GT-R GT3 race car.

Nissan collaborated with Turin, Italy-based Italdesign to create the model, based on the latest Nissan GT-R NISMO, in commemoration of the 50th anniversaries of the GT-R in 2019 and Italdesign in 2018.

The Nissan GT-R NISMO is Now Immortalized in LEGO

Here’s an interesting gift suggestion for all GT-R and NISMO fans out there: the first-ever LEGO set featuring Nissan’s supercar. Unveiled at Nissan’s headquarters in Yokohama, the 298-piece Nissan GT-R NISMO is part of LEGO’s Speed Champions line.

“The Nissan GT-R and the LEGO brand are both renowned and loved by fans of all ages throughout the world, and we are honored to be the first-ever Japanese car manufacturer to partner with the LEGO Group. Many of our Nissan customers can trace their automotive passion back to when they built LEGO cars as children. With this partnership, everyone can be a `takumi’ – the specialized craftsmen that build the GT-R. And, it’s the GT-R’s 50th anniversary this year, so what better way to celebrate than to share the GT-R with Nissan and LEGO fans around the world,” says Asako Hoshino, executive vice president at Nissan.

Even Mr. GT-R himself—Hiroshi Tamura gave his approval of this new LEGO set: “The GT-R has been part of my life since I was 10 years old. Working with the LEGO Group was like awakening my inner 10-year-old self to rediscover what makes the GT-R so special to me. It’s amazing how much the LEGO Group’s attention to detail reminds me of our own craftsmen.”

Sadly, for those who’re hoping to make this into a last-minute stocking stuffer this Christmas for Nissan fans, this Nissan GT-R NISMO set won’t be available until January 2020. Still, good things happen to those who wait because this is part of LEGO’s revamped Speed Champions line which is now 25 percent bigger than in previous years.

The 2020 Nissan GT-R's Price Went Up by a Whole Terra

If you’re in the market for a brand-new Nissan GT-R, we have some good news and some bad news for you. Let’s start with the good news first: the order books for the Model Year 2020 (MY2020) GT-R are now open. The bad news: the price just went up by a whole Terra.

Now, if you can’t imagine how much that is, we’ll spell it out for you: the Nissan GT-R will now set you back P 8.9-million—that’s a whopping P 1.550-million increase from the MY2019 model which we were lucky enough to test before.

The remaining question is: what do you get?

Well, not much actually. If you’re power hungry, you’ll be disappointed to know that the maximum outputs from the 3.8-liter VR38DETT engine remain the same: 570 horsepower at 6,800 rpm and 633 Nm of torque from 3,300 to 5,800 rpm—and that’s despite the revised engine tweaks done for 2020.

What is new are the wheels. For 2020, the GT-R gets Ray forged wheels wrapped in meaty tires: 255/40 R 20 for the front and 285/35 R 20 for the rear. Oh, and at the back, four burnished exhaust tips set the 2020 GT-R apart from previous year models.

Inside, the only change has to do with the available colors for the semi-aniline leather. Gone is the Ivory color option and in its place is Hai Gray. The other color choices—Saddle Tan, Red Amber, and Black Samurai remain.

Thanks to Paolo Sy for the info.