No more Launch Control in 2010 GTR
11-20-2008, 08:07 AM
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No more Launch Control in 2010 GTR
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/20/n...rom-2010-gt-r/
Why didn't Nissan just fix the transmission instead of disabling LC?
It appears that GT-R owners won't have to worry about voiding their warranties if they use Launch Control -- for the 2010 model year, the car won't come with the feature. Inside Line is quoting a Nissan exec as saying "It's gone. We just don't want to deal with the warranty nightmare anymore. It'll make the 2009 GT-R really special. It'll be the only R35 with launch control."
We've previously reported cases where Nissan GT-R owners have brought their cars to the dealership with transmission trouble only to be told their warranties won't cover it. It turns out that disabling the car's VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control) too often, in order to use the Launch Control function, meant Nissan wasn't covering the repairs. The cost to fix/replace the transmission is only $20,000, so you can imagine owners weren't too upset. Apparently the GT-R owner's manual states that damage to the transmission is not covered if it is proven to be the result of using Launch Control with the VDC turned off. In fact, the manual states that the only reason you should turn off VDC is to "rock" the vehicle when stuck in mud or snow. We await Nissan's revised performance numbers.
We've previously reported cases where Nissan GT-R owners have brought their cars to the dealership with transmission trouble only to be told their warranties won't cover it. It turns out that disabling the car's VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control) too often, in order to use the Launch Control function, meant Nissan wasn't covering the repairs. The cost to fix/replace the transmission is only $20,000, so you can imagine owners weren't too upset. Apparently the GT-R owner's manual states that damage to the transmission is not covered if it is proven to be the result of using Launch Control with the VDC turned off. In fact, the manual states that the only reason you should turn off VDC is to "rock" the vehicle when stuck in mud or snow. We await Nissan's revised performance numbers.
11-20-2008, 08:47 AM
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It's not a matter of "fixing" anything. Like any gearbox, if you abuse the GR6, it'll eventually fail. LC simply accelerated the wear process on the gearbox during hard launches. Those who think they can hard launch an AWD car at high rpms over and over again and not expect any consequences were only kidding themselves.
I must say however that this does prove that Nissan is a real publicity ***** in the same way they quietly raised the price of the GT-R a whopping $7k a month or two after its US introduction just so the magazine tests published earlier would show it as being more affordable than a Z06. I'm sure the price hike was mentioned in small blurbs the following months, but I'm guessing Nissan was smart enough to realize that most people only remembered the original "cheaper than a Z06" taglines that appeared in initial reviews.
Similarly, those who aren't in the know will only remember the GT-R for it's blazingly quick 3.5 second 0-60 time which was only made possible through the use of LC. Most folks will either never notice or quickly forget that all vehicles built after the first year of production only make the run in 4.5 seconds or so.
My guess, is that maybe...MAYBE LC returns on the V-Spec. I'm guessing Nissan will be more willing to deal with a few hassles than a great deal of hassles since they only plan to sell a few V-Specs compared with the standard run in the mill GT-R. Not to mention everyone will immediately look to the V-Spec for acceleration figures over the base GT-R.
/2 cents.
On a side note, a couple of my service buddies over at Infiniti and I were joking around one day about how long it would take Nissan to remove LC after whoring it out to magazines for 0-60 figures but denying its existance to owners. Not long apparently.
I must say however that this does prove that Nissan is a real publicity ***** in the same way they quietly raised the price of the GT-R a whopping $7k a month or two after its US introduction just so the magazine tests published earlier would show it as being more affordable than a Z06. I'm sure the price hike was mentioned in small blurbs the following months, but I'm guessing Nissan was smart enough to realize that most people only remembered the original "cheaper than a Z06" taglines that appeared in initial reviews.
Similarly, those who aren't in the know will only remember the GT-R for it's blazingly quick 3.5 second 0-60 time which was only made possible through the use of LC. Most folks will either never notice or quickly forget that all vehicles built after the first year of production only make the run in 4.5 seconds or so.
My guess, is that maybe...MAYBE LC returns on the V-Spec. I'm guessing Nissan will be more willing to deal with a few hassles than a great deal of hassles since they only plan to sell a few V-Specs compared with the standard run in the mill GT-R. Not to mention everyone will immediately look to the V-Spec for acceleration figures over the base GT-R.
/2 cents.
On a side note, a couple of my service buddies over at Infiniti and I were joking around one day about how long it would take Nissan to remove LC after whoring it out to magazines for 0-60 figures but denying its existance to owners. Not long apparently.
11-20-2008, 08:53 AM
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11-20-2008, 08:54 AM
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It's not a matter of "fixing" anything. Like any gearbox, if you abuse the GR6, it'll eventually fail. LC simply accelerated the wear process on the gearbox during hard launches. Those who think they can hard launch an AWD car at high rpms over and over again and not expect any consequences were only kidding themselves.
I must say however that this does prove that Nissan is a real publicity ***** in the same way they quietly raised the price of the GT-R a whopping $7k a month or two after its US introduction just so the magazine tests published earlier would show it as being more affordable than a Z06. I'm sure the price hike was mentioned in small blurbs the following months, but I'm guessing Nissan was smart enough to realize that most people only remembered the original "cheaper than a Z06" taglines that appeared in initial reviews.
Similarly, those who aren't in the know will only remember the GT-R for it's blazingly quick 3.5 second 0-60 time which was only made possible through the use of LC. Most folks will either never notice or quickly forget that all vehicles built after the first year of production only make the run in 4.5 seconds or so.
My guess, is that maybe...MAYBE LC returns on the V-Spec. I'm guessing Nissan will be more willing to deal with a few hassles than a great deal of hassles since they only plan to sell a few V-Specs compared with the standard run in the mill GT-R. Not to mention everyone will immediately look to the V-Spec for acceleration figures over the base GT-R.
/2 cents.
On a side note, a couple of my service buddies over at Infiniti and I were joking around one day about how long it would take Nissan to remove LC after whoring it out to magazines for 0-60 figures but denying its existance to owners. Not long apparently.
I must say however that this does prove that Nissan is a real publicity ***** in the same way they quietly raised the price of the GT-R a whopping $7k a month or two after its US introduction just so the magazine tests published earlier would show it as being more affordable than a Z06. I'm sure the price hike was mentioned in small blurbs the following months, but I'm guessing Nissan was smart enough to realize that most people only remembered the original "cheaper than a Z06" taglines that appeared in initial reviews.
Similarly, those who aren't in the know will only remember the GT-R for it's blazingly quick 3.5 second 0-60 time which was only made possible through the use of LC. Most folks will either never notice or quickly forget that all vehicles built after the first year of production only make the run in 4.5 seconds or so.
My guess, is that maybe...MAYBE LC returns on the V-Spec. I'm guessing Nissan will be more willing to deal with a few hassles than a great deal of hassles since they only plan to sell a few V-Specs compared with the standard run in the mill GT-R. Not to mention everyone will immediately look to the V-Spec for acceleration figures over the base GT-R.
/2 cents.
On a side note, a couple of my service buddies over at Infiniti and I were joking around one day about how long it would take Nissan to remove LC after whoring it out to magazines for 0-60 figures but denying its existance to owners. Not long apparently.
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11-20-2008, 09:18 AM
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I don't think this was a bait and switch in any way. I don't think they did enough R&D to figure out how many launches you can do with the LC and didn't expect people to beat the car up with such frequency. Drive it on a road course all day and it's fine....violent launches in an AWD car are dangerous.....go launch a GSX, EVO, STI, etc. 20 times all out in one hour and tell me what happens.
How many road courses require hard launches? This is a road course car, not a dragstrip car. If AWD was so foolproof at the dragstrip, why aren't Top Fuel cars AWD? This all makes sense to me...the GTR will still own on a road course any day of the week
The only improvement I could suggest is failsafes to let you know when there is imminent tranny damage about to occur or has occured
How many road courses require hard launches? This is a road course car, not a dragstrip car. If AWD was so foolproof at the dragstrip, why aren't Top Fuel cars AWD? This all makes sense to me...the GTR will still own on a road course any day of the week
The only improvement I could suggest is failsafes to let you know when there is imminent tranny damage about to occur or has occured
11-20-2008, 09:21 AM
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11-20-2008, 09:31 AM
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Hmm...perhaps. Even without LC the GT-R is already faster than most cars. But I could potentially see a few buyers who might be angry that their car doesn't run the same 1/4 mile time the magazines were able to muster because they're too afraid to use LC and void their own warranty on their own car. LC simply makes a hard high rpm launch possible by allowing the engine to be revved before the first clutch is engaged. On the street, most people don't resort to high rpm clutch dumps. If anything a 5-60 mph time is a more accurate representation of what goes on on the street and I'm sure in that regard, the majority of owners will be satisfied. At least they better be in Nissan's case.
11-20-2008, 09:40 AM
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The GTR needs a true manual transmission. It's alot more fun than a high-tech automatic without much of the issues.
Without launch control, they really don't have much to brag about to the typical consumer; sadly, most people don't know or care about lap times. They believe 0-60 is indicative of everything
Last edited by skaterbasist; 11-20-2008 at 09:44 AM.
11-20-2008, 09:53 AM
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Ofcourse, that was speaking in general. They are tough cars that don't have many issues on the track. Porsches and Corvettes are king of that.
I didn't mean to imply that every Z06/ZR1 (or any car in existence) ever produced will be 100% issue free.
I didn't mean to imply that every Z06/ZR1 (or any car in existence) ever produced will be 100% issue free.
