ALL NEW GT-R

After years of speculation, concepts and general teasing by Nissan, they've finally unveiled the new GT-R, or R35 GT-R if you want to use its model code too. Judging by these pics and the info we've been given,  it was worth the wait. The styling is muscular and aggressive with angular lines and trademark round lights at the rear. The front has a two-tone mid section, with plenty of room to feed the two intercoolers.

Powered by a twin turbocharged 4.7-ltr V6, performance looks set to be stunning, with a rumoured 0-60mph time of well under four seconds and a top speed of 180+mph. Inside, the design is modern and angular, with well placed controls and a multi function steering wheel with paddle shifters for the six-speed semi-auto 'box. This is where things get interesting. We're told it's got an "independent rear mounted transaxle integrating transmission, differential and all wheel drive transfer case", So that means it's got the gearbox at the back and has two prop shafts: one between the engine and box and one between the transfer box and front diff!

Three models will be available in Japan: the base GT-R (costs the equivalent of £33k) which comes with Nissan wheels and Dunlop tyres, the GT-R Black (£34k) which comes with Rays wheels and Bridgestone tyres and the GT-R Premium (£36k) which has the Rays rims and Bridgestones, plus extras including heated seats, Bose audio system and a Thatcham Cat1 alarm/immobiliser. We're still waiting on word of a UK launch date or prices, but we expect it to weigh in at around the £50 - £60k mark by the time it reaches the UK. Considering the performance and high tech engineering of the car, it would still make it pretty good value. Now known simply as the Nissan GT-R (Skyline has been dropped), there's an awful lot of expectation with this model, but let's be honest, given Nissan's previous efforts, it's going to be damn good.