Ohio-based tuner Switzer has released one of the first R35 GT-R aftermarket tune packages to the public. Called the P700, this tinkered and meddled Nissan has some pretty impressive figures for a first try.
With initial outputs of 626 horsepower and 683 lb-ft feeding through to the four wheels via what is called a “range of series of sensible, high-performance bolt-on” modifications, one wonders where this tuner’s holy grail will end up.
Using premium unleaded, this 12o horsepower and 250 lb-ft increase still is part of a completely street legal car, and has apparently been produced with reliability and drivability high up on the list. Not pushing the boundaries at all.
Something tells me that this much more mainstream, more popular iteration of the GT-R has a few more tricks up it’s ultra-cool, techno encrusted sleeve.
I read at the same time that Switzer has also produced an aptly-named Porsche 997 ‘Sledgehammer’ with power output sitting in the lofty, thousand horsepower echelons.
I could almost hear the Japanese tuners like Blitz and Nismo try to mask their chortles. In the land where 1000 horsepower street cars are a yen-a-dozen, and your average Hiroshi seems to be able to tune about 10,000 horsepower out of their Grandma’s Datsun Sunny with no more that a spanner, dirty rag and a big spoiler. Give these guys an R35 and I fear the world will cease to exist as we know it.
Somehow now, that ‘Sledgehammer’ name seems a bit try-hard. For the sake of researching this, I tried to look up the date the first street Skyline hit 1000 horsepower (I can remember a bit of a furore over this quite some time ago), but i was inundated with thousands of examples of this seemingly common occurence. Google procured countless images R32, 33 and 34 skylines with plumes of smoke behind them, facing the wrong way going around the corner. It’s almost not a big deal.
Don’t get me wrong here, this brand of car proves to be one of the most annoying on the road, usually driven by idiots whose stupidity goes beyond their own grasp of understanding.
However, GT-R seems to be one of those special icons in the car industry,a truly passionate special language that a select few speak, and dedicate much of their life (and earnings) to.
There is a massive heritage and pedigree there behind that GT-R badge. It seems the car that Nissan provides to the public is only a beginning, a first step in a long journey. Over time, multiple turbos and intercoolers the size of an average man, and spoilers visible from space will continue to breath more and more life into this car, and show why it is so special and unique.
