Video: ride onboard Nissan’s fearsome 550bhp+ GT500 racer

When Top Gear was granted a passenger ride in Nissan’s 2013-spec, GT500 GT-R racer, we experienced quite a lot of pain. We did not experience the speed, nor it’s fine balance, nor any quantifiable enjoyment. Just pain.

We suspect this one is no different. It’s video footage filmed by Nismo of its 2015-spec GT500 racer driven around the glorious Fuji Speedway. The driver in question is GT Academy winner and friend of Top Gear, Lucas Ordonez.

The year is crucial. The 2013 car we had a ride in featured a manic V8 that was so loud it physically hurt. It was a 3.4-litre Vee, producing somewhere in the region of 500bhp.

Last year however, the Super GT regulations changed, which were carried over to this year’s car. It’s now running a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engine, producing north of 550bhp. It weighs just 1,020kg. It has a four-plate carbon clutch. It has big brakes, a six-speed sequential gearbox and is driven by the rear wheels only. And like its predecessor, it looks... hard.

It also sounds absolutely bananas. Click on the video above, turn it up loud, and watch as Ordonez goes on a little Sunday run. And if you want to find out why the 2013-spec car hurt so much, click here.

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