Narain gets a GT-R, courtesy Nissan Motor India; Sadly GT-R not on sale to public

Nissan’s brand ambassador Narain Karthikeyan has got himself the best driving machine out there – a GT-R R35. Mr  Kiminobu Tokuyama, CEO & Managing Director of Nissan Motor India Private Ltd, handed over the key of Nissan GT-R to ‘Padmashri’ Narain Karthikeyan on Thursday (15th Apr 2010). An exclusive event was held at the Madras Motor Sports Club track at Irungattukottai, near Chennai.

Narain Karthikeyan has secured the drive of his lifetime with the GT-R. Narain is an enthusiast and he showed the GT-R how it feels to handle an Indian racetrack. We believe that the GT-R would have easily set the lap record had he driven it at the limit but nevertheless he did provide a demonstration of the GT-Rs abilities by putting in some hot laps.

The Nissan GT-R needs no introduction and is arguably the best supercar on sale considering its abilities and the price at which it is sold at. If you were living in Japan or USA, the standard GT-R could be yours for Rs 50 lakhs (the range starts from 45 lakhs and ends at Rs 90 lakhs for the GT-R V-Spec) but then, this is India so add an extra 110% for taxes and duties and you end up with a figure close to Rs 1 crore for the standard model. So that is the value of Narain’s GT-R. Even then, it is not a big price to pay as the R8 costs close to Rs 1.2-1.4 crores and all you get is the wow factor and a 4.2L 420bhp V8. The GT-R gets a Twin Turbo 3.8L V6 with over 480bhp. The Japanese models with launch control complete the sprint to 100km/h in exactly 3.5 seconds (3.8sec for others) while hitting a top speed of over 300km/h. With these performance figures, the GT-R is a road going race car. What’s more, the GT-R even keeps the green brigade at bay as it conforms to the SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) standards in Japan.

Sadly, Nissan does not sell the GT-R in India commercially and Narain’s was a one-off import.

Press Release

2010 04 15 : Nissan hands over GT-R Supercar to Padmashri Narain Karthikeyan

Chennai, April 15, 2010:

Mr. Kiminobu Tokuyama, CEO & Managing Director of Nissan Motor India Private Ltd, today handed over the key of Nissan GT-R – the ultimate in supercars – to Padmashri Narain Karthikeyan, the fastest Indian on wheels at a ceremony held at Madras Motor Sports Club, Irrungattukottai near Chennai.

Narain Karthikeyan, an ardent and self-proclaimed fan of performance cars – especially the Nissan GT-R, also drove the supercar on the test track for some hot laps providing a visual treat of the power of this ultimate multi-performance supercar.

Mr. Abhijeet Pandit, Vice President (Operations), Hover Automotive India and other Nissan officials were also present during this occasion.

About Nissan GT-R

Nissan GT-R* is a Multi-performance Supercar, which fulfills every requirement of the driver. GT-R comes in as an entirely new genre of supercar, which not only combines all the conditions of the ‘Supercar’ but also remains as a car whose top-level performance can be enjoyed to the full by ‘anyone, anytime, anywhere.’ The car also provides the thrill of an entirely new kind of supercar, never experienced by anyone in the World before.

The Nissan GT-R registered the World’s fastest ever laptime for a mass-produced supercar at the Nurburgring circuit – less than 7 minutes 30 seconds (clocked as on April 2009). From time-to-time, the driver can enjoy the comfortable ride given by ‘sports cruising,’ by shifting the A-range (automatic gear shifting) into Resort mode. Finally, the Nissan GT-R has the fuel efficiency and environmental sensitivity required in a 21^st century supercar.

For additional information on Nissan GTR and its features, please refer www.gtrnissan.com