Quite a number of Porsche owners have gone out and purchased a new GT-R since it’s launch in the US in the middle of this year. There’s various reasons to do this but hopefully, some do it because they are open minded and are interested in driving fast over what badge is on the front of the car.

Chris over at NAGTROC owns both a 700hp 997 turbo and a new GT-R and has had the chance to run both cars at Thunderhill Park Raceway on the same day in the same conditions and has had the chance to measure it with a TraqMate GPS recording device.

In his first day out at this track in the GT-R he managed a laptime of 2:05 which was two seconds faster than his previous best in the 997.

The same day in the same conditions in the 700hp 997TT he managed a 2:07 in the Porsche but in an untimed session (due to the TraqMate becoming unplugged) may have managed a 2:05 or 2:04.

Overall he rates the chances of a standard 997TT vs a standard GT-R to be slim to none at that track. Interesting indeed. A few more photos after the jump but check the link on NAGTROC for the rest.

Source: NAGTROC via GTRBlog.com

GTRBlog.com (18/03/2008) - Nissan Australia had a GT-R preview on display at Cockle Bay wharf near Sydney’s Darling Harbour starting 7am this morning. GTRBlog.com was there on the scene early to catch the car before it was stashed in the glass container.

More pictures are available at GTRBlog.com

GTRBlog.com(13/03/2008) - In a leaked internal company wide memo today Nissan Australia has called upon all staff to keep a lookout for “intelligence” relating to the sales activity of so called grey imports of R35 GT-R’s into Australia. Nissan Company Secretary Colin Buckley has even go so far as to setup an email address and reward offering for any intelligence leading to the stopping of “potential damage” and “stolen customers".

The memo also mentions that the window of opportunity for grey imports will close as soon as Nissan Australia secures full volume certification which they expect by early 2009.

While we appreciate a large influx of GT-R’s would adversely affect Nissan Australia’s sales of the car there is another side to the situation they seem to be missing. The grey import cars already in the country are drumming up exceptional amounts of free advertising for Nissan. Something their marketing department must be having great difficulty harnessing as they have made no public announcements of support for these cars. Will Nissan be there when the Donut King crosses the finish line of Targa Tasmania 2008? Will they kick themselves for not even offering a token sponsorship for what is the GT-R’s motor racing debut this side of the world?

With the first Australian road registered grey import GT-R expected before the end of the month Nissan Australia has yet to announce pricing to the motoring enthusiast community for the Australian delivered model. Many of who are expecting to pay up to a massive $150,000 AUD+ ($140kUSD) for the car. Compared to the cost of the car in overseas markets it isn’t hard to see why some punters are taking a more DIY approach to getting their hands on one.

Can’t wait to see how the grey imports vs. Nissan Australia thing plays out over the coming weeks

GTRBlog.com(29/02/2008) - GTRBlog.com was at the Melbourne Motor Show this morning for the official Australian launch of the R35 Nissan GT-R. Nissan Australia CEO Shinya Hannya set expectations of first deliveries in early 2009 while remaining tight lipped on pricing. Nissan PR was overheard mentioning that they would struggle to release the car in 2008 but the mention of that alone gives hope for them actually meeting the 2009 deadline.

To mark the launch Nissan had a silver Japanese Spec GT-R on display which we will feature in an upcoming photo gallery but for now enjoy these preview images.