If you added a few decals and put on a helmet,

you'd have a World Rally Championship racer.
Unlike most cars in the world, the Limited Edition Nissan GTI-R
may one day be a World Rally Championship (WRC) winner.
The WRC is a series of international races which challenge both
man and machine under the most demanding driving situations.
Cars and crews sometimes run 18 hours a day for 12 continuous
Days ore more. Down rock-strewn desert paths. Where the sun is your
only compass. Alongside frozen, snowbound roads carved from some
Ice-Age mountain. Through swamps and mud and 200-kph traffic jams.
And at times, trough the air.
The WRC is not for the squeamish. Only the fittest survive. Barely.
Enter the Limited Edition Nissan GTI-R. This serious driving
machine was engineered and built to win WRC races. Period.
We gave the GTI-R everything. A 220-PS power-plant. Full-time, 4-wheel
drive. A performance-tuned chassis. A wind-slicing shape. A true
sports car cockpit. Everything. One of the more interesting points about
WRC racing is the fact that specifications of the GTI-R you can buy
must match those of the GTI-R that run in the WRC. Almost identically.
The WRC allows very few modifications. Very few.
Which means the Limited Edition GTI-R that was born and bread
to compete on the worlds most prestigious rally courses can be yours
to drive every day.
To Nissan, WRC races are the perfect environment to test the latest
technological advancements. And to re-engineer and refine what has
been learned in numerous research and development laboratories
across three continents. Again and again. Nissan then applies this
accumulated knowledge to its cars and trucks around the world.
So when Nissan races, the real winner is you.
With a 2.0 litre, turbo-charged, inter-cooled, fuel-injected,
16-valve engine, the GTI-R doesn't need wings to fly.

In the competitive world of WRC racing, might is right. A fact
which bodes well for the GTI-R.
Beneath it's huge air louvred intake, a lean, muscular power-plant
purrs. Lion like. It sends a pretty powerful message: 220 PS/6400 rpm.
29 kgm/4800 rpm. Top speed: 223 kph. 0-100 kph in 6.4 seconds.
An engine, above all, needs to breathe. Especially when your
tachometer remains near the red line from dusk to dawn. Our T3 Garret
turbo charger powers air into the high-capacity intercooler at a pressure
rate of 550-mm HG. Its powerful, low-inertia compressor eliminates any
"turbo-lag" and provides high torque output across the power band.
As the name implies, an intercooler cools the compressed air from
the turbo charger. And as you can see, GTI-R's intercooler is huge: 350 mm
x 295 mm x 60 mm.
Cooler air occupies less space than warm air. More air means more
more oxygen for better combustion. And better combustion means more
power. Lots more.

Newly designed air-channels within the intercooler direct air flow

to the 4-valve throttle chamber smoothly. This chamber shortens the
time air must travel between the intercooler and the intake manifold.
And soon thereafter, the cylinder. Where 4-valves, in sync
with a sophisticated electronic port injection system enable the GTI-R to
breath even easier. Of course, dual overhead camshafts are also involved
in this high-revving operation.
With all this combustion pressure and resulting power output,
things can get hot. Located at the bottom of the cylinder block, oil
jets bathe churning pistons with oil. Thereby, reducing surface friction
- keeping temperatures down and power output up. Further cooling
methods include sodium-filled exhaust valves.
It will come as little surprise that the GTI-R's power/weigh ratio
is 5.17 kg/PS - nearly double most high-performance automobiles.

A fact which will become quite evident when you put your foot
down an the gas pedal. And fly.
We'd like to identify a few unidentified flying objects.
We built the Limited Edition GTI-R to fly. Therefore we gave it

proper landing gear. For instance, our Atessa full-time 4WD system.
Automotive enthusiasts understand the principles of 4WD quite
clearly. However, Nissan's Attesa system differs from other systems in
several notable ways.
Traditional 4WD systems only provide the best traction when
combined with a Limited Slip Differential (LSD). However, LSD is not
conductive to tight cornering. Which in effect, takes a great deal of fun
out of high-performance motoring.
This is where Attesa comes in to play. By mating viscous couplings
to the LSD, the limited slip function operates automatically only when
it is needed. As such, the exact amount of toque required to each wheel
is allocated millie-second by millie-second.
The result is a near-perfect balance between front and rear wheels
under all driving circumstances. And here, we cannot overemphasize
the word "all".
A performance-tuned chassis also provides extraordinary road-gripping
abilities. You'll find: A front McPherson suspension system.
Rear parallel link struts. Stabilizer bars. Firm damping. And anti-dive,
anti-lift geometry configuration. GTI-R is, in a word, nimble.
Beefy 195/55VR-14 radials also enable this ballistic road machine
to hug the ground during high-performance maneuvering. And When
you really lean into a corner, shifting through the power band is silky
smooth and ultra-fast thanks to double cone synchronization on our
5-speed transmission. Obviously, you think fast when you drive GTI-R.
You stop fast, too.
With large, front ventilated disc brakes. Resistance to heat is formidable.
So brake fade is virtually nil.
In summary, GTI-R can handle most any road. And can take you
where you want to go.
Even if that includes a relaxing, five-day safari in East Africa.
Where the only road signs are sticks pointing toward sunrise.

High-performance instrumentation for easy
take-offs and landings.
When you fly first class, you travel in style. Case in point: GTI-R's sport
cockpit. Autobahn-minded enthusiasts, take note.
Settle into the form-fitting bucket seat. Grab the positive-grip, tilt
steering wheel. Buckle up and get ready for lift-off. Now you're prepared for
some serious high-performance driving. And one glance at the dashboard seconds
the emotion.
Its panoply of easy-to-read meters and gauges include: Turbo boost.
Oil temperature. Oil pressure. Tachometer. This is no ordinary command center.
Switches and dials are ergonomically placed, too. They fall naturally to hand.
Long, cross-country trips are all the more enjoyable with split-fold down rear
seats. You can fit everything from scuba diving gear and golf clubs to suitcases
for those extended holidays in the mountains. With somebody special.
The SR20DET
(click for a bigger picture)
Dakar brochure
Go back here!
Back to the GTI-R Homepage
Copyright©: Thomas Bosaeus 1998-1999 - Ray Williams
1999 on
|