NAGTROC

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It was the one condition we agreed to when Nissan handed us the keys to this white pre-production GT-R. “You can do whatever you want,” Nissan engineer Bruce Robinson told us. “But no testing. We’ll get you a production car for that in a few weeks”

“No problem,” we said. “Cross our hearts.”

But drag racing isn’t testing. Well, sorta. And last night we went drag racing. Sacramento Raceway grudge night. The place was packed. And the 2009 Nissan GT-R was the star of the show.

The crowds around the car were four deep most of the night. Everyone wanted to know how we got it, how much it costs and of course, how fast it could go. We popped the hood, opened the doors and let anyone who wanted to sit behind the wheel. Every camera phone ever sold seemed to be pointed at the car.

And when it was our time to make a pass the stand packed like John Force had come to town with his funny car.

We made three runs down the quarter mile, hoping to match the 11.5 second run we recorded a few months ago when we tested a JDM-spec GT-R in Japan. But no dice. Even with the car’s fuel tank nearly empty and temperatures in the high 40s the best we could do was 11.8 seconds at 118.5 mph.

We were a little disappointed, but 11.8 is sick fast and the track’s regulars were impressed. “Not bad for a Japanese car,” said one Camaro owner, and everyone was talking about how incredibly quick the GT-R shoots off the line with its launch control.

Even the joker that had earlier dismissed the car as gussied up 350Z, came by to tell us how wrong he was. “Man,” he said between drags of his Marlboro red. “That thing gets it done. I had no idea is would run 11s. Sweet ride.”

It is a sweet ride. You don’t know what a hard launch is until you’ve set the launch control on a GT-R, brought the revs up and lifted your left foot off the brake. The car comes out of the hole like it’s been rear-ended by the Earth and first gear is over by the time your eyes refocus. Incredibly, even with the GT-R’s advance all-wheel drive system I was getting quite a bit of wheelspin off the line. Now that’s power. And it’s probably the reason we ran an 11.8 instead of an 11.5.

Well, that and I’m just not as good a driver as our Senior Road Test Editor and new daddy Josh Jacquot. He told me to short shift second to keep the engine out of the rev limiter, but my right hand just wasn’t quick enough on that paddle shifter. At least I didn’t crash the thing.

But the best part, besides being the first in the world to take GT-R to an American drag strip, was meeting all the Inside Line readers that showed up to meet us and check out the car. They were there by the dozens and I personally thank them for the support. We’ll have a video of it all up later.

Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 705.8 miles

[source edmunds]

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