Nissan GT-R R35

What it actually is

Under the bonnet sits the VR38DETT, a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 hand-assembled by a single master craftsman, a takumi, in a clean room in Yokohama, with his name plate fixed to the finished engine. It drives all four wheels through Nissan's ATTESA E-TS Pro system and a rear-mounted six-speed dual-clutch transaxle, which is a big part of why the thing launches and corners the way it does. It was, and largely still is, a genuine supercar-killer at a fraction of supercar money.

The power climbs every few years, so the year matters

The launch cars from 2007 made around 480 PS. A small step took that to 485, then the first facelift in 2011 lifted it to 530, a mid-life tweak in 2013 to 550 PS (545 hp), and the big 2017 facelift to 570 PS (565 hp), where the standard car stayed to the end. So a 2017-or-later car is meaningfully stronger and better finished than a 2009 one, even though they look similar at a glance. Want the most power without going NISMO? Buy the 2017-on facelift.

Two facelifts worth knowing

The 2011 update brought the 530 PS engine, LED daytime lights and slipperier aero. The 2017 update was the big one: the 565 hp engine, the V-Motion grille, and a proper interior redo that cut the button count from 27 to 11, moved the paddles onto the wheel and added a bigger screen. If cabin quality matters to you, 2017 is the line in the sand.

The editions, and which actually go faster

Most trims are about kit and looks, not speed. Premium is the base; Black Edition adds Recaros and forged wheels; the T-spec, 50th Anniversary, Skyline and Takumi editions are collector-appearance packages that make exactly the same power as the standard car of their year. The one that genuinely goes harder is the NISMO, from 2014, with 600 PS, GT3-derived turbos and serious aero, for a serious premium. Two names people muddle: the hardcore early car is the SpecV (2009, about 110 built, the lightest R35), not a “V-Spec”; and the 50-unit, 720 PS halo is the separate GT-R50 by Italdesign, not the broadly-sold 50th Anniversary Edition.

Buying and running one

For most people the sweet spot is a 2017-or-later car: the most power, the best cabin, and the fewest early-car gremlins. Whatever the year, budget for the running costs, because this is a supercar underneath. The dual-clutch box wants regular fluid changes, tyres and alignments add up, and reckon on a few thousand a year to keep it right. Two specific checks: the early 2009 to 2010 cars are the ones with the transmission “bellhousing” rattle (a revised part cures it, so make sure it has been done), and those same early cars had launch-control-related gearbox failures that led to a class action and a software fix, so confirm the updates are in. A modified car with no history is a bottom-end gamble on a very expensive engine, so buy the documented, sensible one.

The end of an era

Nissan finally wound the R35 down after eighteen years, the last cars leaving Japan in 2025 and roughly 48,000 built all up. There is no direct replacement in sight, which is exactly why clean, standard, well-kept examples are worth holding onto.