Larry Dominique, Nissan North America vice president in charge of product planning, says he wants to see how the regular GT-R plays out and save the Spec V for when the buzz dies down and demand starts to fall off.
With sports cars, that can start as early as the second model year. But the GT-R is somewhat of an exception given its legendary status and limited volumes. The U.S. allotment is an average of 1500 GT-Rs a year for five years, but Nissan is skewing production higher in the first year, to 2400 units. Dominique suspects the U.S. may need 2400 in the second year as well. The third model year is when the numbers are expected to drop off and the Spec V will make its timely entrance as a 2011 model.
Volumes for the Spec V will be even smaller than the limited run for the GT-R. And if customers are clamoring for the higher-performance version from day one, Dominique says he is fine with years of anticipation.
Initial rumors had the Spec V lapping the grueling Nürburgring in 7 minutes and 25 seconds, but with a base production GT-R (480-hp, twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-6) on regular tires making the loop in 7 minutes and 29 seconds, we probably need to rethink the Spec V figures as its engine will be tweaked to pump out horsepower somewhere in the 512 to 550 range.
Nissan execs tell us the GT-R itself is not a money-maker for the company, but as more products share its unique platform, it will be.
In addition to the Spec V, the platform will yield products for Infiniti, Nissan’s luxury brand. We likely will get our first glimpse of what’s to come with a new full-size Infiniti concept slated to be unveiled in less than a year. It will reflect the brand’s new design language for the second generation of Infiniti products. And, presumably, it fills the division’s need for a flagship as Nissan continues to roll out its luxury brand globally and aims to make it a true tier-one luxury marque.
