As one of Japan's most celebrated performance cars, the Nissan Skyline GT-R has developed an immense racing pedigree that includes over 200 race wins, five consecutive championship wins in the All Japanese Touring Car Championships and the unofficial lap record for a production car at the world-famous Nurb�rgring. Every aspect of the Skyline GT-R, from the aerodynamics to body rigidity, has been fine-tuned through competitive racing and 11 years of intense testing, producing one of the best race-bred coup�s on the market.
Stretching back to the mid-60s, the history of the Nissan Skyline GT-R began in earnest on 3 May 1965, when Prince, a Japanese car maker taken over by Nissan in 1967, entered a Skyline saloon in the second-ever Japanese Grand Prix.
The Skyline's standard four-cylinder engine had been replaced by a potent pushrod, carburettor-fed straight-six. Much to the delight of the home crowd, the 'humble' four-door Skyline was seen to overtake a Porsche 904GTS.
It ensures optimum traction and stability in acceleration, braking and cornering but without the penalty of unwanted understeer. In normal driving conditions 100 per cent of the Skyline's torque is directed to the rear axle.
Speed sensors on all four wheels, longitudinal and lateral g-sensors, along with a throttle opening sensor and a brake light switch, analyse the vehicle's traction and stability as well as the driver's intent every one-hundredth of a second.
Via a 16-bit processor, the system is able to send command signals to the central transfer unit or the Activity LSD (an intelligent, electronically controlled limited-slip differential), to within 10 one-thousandths of a second, sending up to 50 per cent of the engine's torque to the front wheels.
This ensures the car remains stable, even on low friction surfaces or during an oversteer moment when exiting a bend. Mechanically, the system uses hydraulically actuated multi-plate wet clutches in both the central transfer unit and the Active LSD. Drive is transferred to the front wheel via a chain, which drives the forward shaft.
The Skyline GT-R employs four-wheel steering to eliminate any excessive understeer, This system, called SUPER HICAS, features active control of the vehicle's rate of yaw to adjust the rear wheel angle in order to improve stability when cornering.
