Debris from the previous night’s revelry (a
2-1 win for Belgium over Algeria) is still scattered across the centre of town
early the following morning, with tricolour flags hanging limply in the mist.
Without the pressure of Eau Rouge looming over me, I enjoy trickling slowly
through the empty streets, listening to the clunks and whirrs from the
transmission. The steering is noticeably lighter and more direct even at low
speed than the standard car’s, giving a greater clarity to the feedback. It’s
helped by the fact that the wheel rim feels physically harder and less padded
in your hands, I imagine due to the thinner nature of Alcantara as opposed to
leather.
It's
possible to monitor every aspect of the Nissan GT-R Nismo's performance
The two front Recaros are beautiful and
also subtly different, with the squab for the driver’s chair having an insert
to support slightly splayed legs. Sitting in the back of the GT-R is not a
particularly comfortable experience for anyone over the age of about two, but
it’s worth attempting just so you can enjoy the glorious sight of the bare
carbon backs to the Recaros. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the
way the glossy weave flows over the hip bones of the seats is almost indecent.
The only thing I’m slightly disappointed about is that the adjustment for the
backs of the seats is electric – surely in a Nismo you should be trying to save
all the weight you can?
The
prodigious power is transferred via a six-speed dual-clutch auto gearbox
Our destination for the day is the
Nürburgring, our journey neatly linking the two tracks where a GT-R will
compete in 24-hour races this year (the Ring of course was also where the
Nismo, in N-Attack trim, set an extraordinary 7:08.679 lap in September 2013).
But before we head for Germany it seems wrong not to have a quick drive around
the roads that made up the old Spa circuit. I love retracing old road circuits,
making a mental set of pace-notes for each corner and trying to imagine what it
would have been like to race on them. The scariest bit is undoubtedly the Masta
kink, because the approach seems to be all downhill so the speed would be
phenomenal, and if you got it wrong then the run-off is a chip shop. No doubt
the resulting slick of mayonnaise would be enough to bring out a whole host of
furiously waved stripy yellow-and-red flags.
As the road forks right and back towards
the modern circuit, you drive along a one-way stretch that is a visibly banked
section of the old track – the old Stavelot corner. It doesn’t feel like it’s
been resurfaced since the ’70s and the Nismo moves stiffly over the
imperfections. I’d noticed how firmly suspended it was in town earlier, the
whole car thumping over manhole covers and pattering loudly across stretches of
pavé like a race refugee. Clearly the engineers haven’t been shy about the
set-up.
Red
touches continue inside, with Nismo-branded rev-counter
After the banked corner comes a set of long
straights, linked by corners that would no doubt make Blanchimont look like
child’s play. With nothing around, the straights offer a chance to pin the
throttle open and enjoy the heady rush of 592bhp reeling in the tarmac like
it’s a table cloth being whipped away from under you. The staggering way the
GT-R gains speed is still mentally hard to process, but with the huge increase
in body control there is less squat under acceleration than with the standard
car, so it actually feels slightly less intimidating because you feel in
sharper control.
