Nissan GT-R wins category in Japan’s COTY awards

The Nissan GT-R has taken home the 'Most Advanced Technology Award' in this year’s Japanese Car of the Year (COTY) awards ceremony, held over the weekend in Oiso, Japan. The diminutive Toyota iQ was picked the favourite among the judges, taking home the overall COTY award. For the Most Advanced Technology Award, the judges picked the GT-R because it delivered "powerful performance and clean emission" levels. The jury was also impressed by the car's advanced body structure combining carbon, aluminum and steel, in addition to its impressive dual-clutch transmission and the world's first independent transaxle 4WD. Some of the highlights mentioned include the steel unibody monocoque chassis, carbon-fiber front substructure and rear diffuser, all-aluminum front double-wishbone suspension, and the rear-mounted dual-clutch transmission. Despite all this advanced technology, the GT-R has not yet shown off its true potential, with the much more potent Spec-V edition in development.

Nissan GT-R in depth

AUTOMOBILE Magazine Names the 2009 Nissan GT-R Automobile of the Year

AUTOMOBILE Magazine has given the 2009 Nissan GT-R the "2009 Automobile of the Year" award.

The magazine's editors applauded the GT-R for "delivering high-intensity fun and astonishing performance". They also claim that the Nissan GT-R is the first Japanese supercar to seriously threaten the other supercars in the world with its neck-snapping acceleration, super-accurate steering, and incredible value.

The magazine also gave the 2009 Design of the Year award to the Audi A5 and named Takeo Fukui - President, Honda Motor Company, Man of the Year.

Nissan GT-R Spec-V to be revealed by end of Nov.

It was previously reported that we’ll get to see the Nissan GT-R Spec-V at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. Guess what? It wasn’t there. According to new reports, the GT-R Spec-V will most certainly be on hand at the 2008 NISMO Festival that starts on Nov. 30th.

The official release date is set for January 2009 with the first deliveries beginning in February 2009. Nissan will only make 10 units a month, thus we don’t expect many of them to make it to our side of the world. Pricing is estimated to start at 15,000,000 yen ($153,625 USD).

The Nissan GT-R Spec-V will make around 580-hp and is rumored to drop weight by 200-lbs. Yesterday, we heard rumors of a 600-hp Nissan GT-R LM. Whether or not the LM Edition is a rumor - we’ll leave that up to you. However, we’ll just tell you that it’s rare that an automaker will create a special-edition model that boosts output by just 20 horses over another special-edition model.

New details about the upcoming Nissan 370Z

The Nissan 370Z will make its debut at next week’s LA Auto Show and though no official information was released so far, if you check the show’s website, you’ll see that there are a few details about the upcoming coupe, conforming the rumors that showed up some time ago.

Nearly every piece and component of the 370Z has been rethought and redesigned, including a shorter wheelbase, greater use of lightweight body materials, larger engine with 26 more hp, a new 7-speed automatic transmission and the world’s first synchronized downshift rev matching system for the 6-speed manual transmission. Performance has been enhanced with a more rigid body structure, better power-to-weight ratio and a new 332 horsepower 3.7 liter DOHC V6 engine with Variable Valve Event and Lift Control.