Nissan GT-R review

This will vary depending on whether we’re talking about a pre- or post-2016 GT-R. That’s the year it enjoyed its biggest update, with bold styling tweaks on the outside and a big tidy up inside, a new multimedia system reducing its button count from 27 to 11. Of all the GT-R’s on-paper stats, that’s the one that’s improved most dramatically over the last 13 years.

All GT-Rs have a brilliantly driver-focused cabin, though. Just look at how everything points to the most important seat. Nissan famously tweaks the suspension depending on whether a car is left- or right-hand drive to counter the driver’s weight, sending a clear message the other three seats aren’t necessarily meant to be filled. Certainly not without some careful calculation of how you distribute your family’s weight, anyhow.

Material fetishists (and those who’ve spent decades in 911s) will find the interior of a GT-R easy to criticise, and several of its controls – not least the chunky gear selector – feel very Tonka Toy beside the precision of a Porsche. But equally these touches all endow the GT-R with a character all of its own. One that’s increasingly old-school. But as petrol performance cars look to the sunset, there’s plenty of appeal in something that isn’t too hastily embracing the future.

And the key stuff has all been nailed: big, comfy sports seats (Recaros in special edition GT-Rs), a big, legible analogue rev-counter, easy CarPlay connection in more recent models, those tactile mode switches. We’re even quite taken by the now quite archaic dot-matrix digital speedo readout. It’s certainly less distracting than an info-packed TFT layout that bamboozles you with nav and radio options when you just want to drive quickly.

That’s all saved for the central touchscreen, which will also display almost every performance parameter possible – from G readouts and steering angle to the temperatures of fluids you didn’t even know existed – all configurable within a feature that’s been a GT-R staple since the Skyline R34 of the late Nineties. Just try resisting its geeky charm.

Oh, and if you’ve gone for that zanily priced Nismo version, some of your extra hundred grand will be evidenced by genuine carbon trim panels and reams of Alcantara clothing the steering wheel, dashboard and roof.