The Carbon-Fibre Colossus that Shamed Prototypes: Nissan’s GT‑R GT500 – A Racer’s Epitaph
Alright, strap in… this is the one you’ve been waiting for. The Nissan GT‑R GT500: a silhouette racecar that looks like it went to an ‘extremes’ convention and thought, “Pfft, not extreme enough.” Welcome to Super GT‘s top echelon—a turbocharged, carbon-fibre monocoque missile that’s been tearing up circuits since 2008, and trust me, it’s absolutely bonkers.
The Mk1 GT‑R GT500 first broke cover in 2008 with a 4.5-litre V8. Nismo’s engineers—bless their souls—decided to stick with the R35 production car as a silhouette base. But that was just the start. Under the ‘Class One’ rules from 2014, it ditched the big V8 for a screaming 2.0‑litre single‑turbo four-cylinder—the same compact ferocity that pushes over 650 bhp, despite sounding like a clever lawnmower. And at just around 1,000 kg dry? It’s lighter than most of us before breakfast, yet accelerates harder than my grandmother to the sales rack on Black Friday
Swiss-cheese small but nutritionally dense—that’s how I’d describe its aero. The GT500 gets wings, splitters, dive-planes, canards, flaps, scoliosis-inducing vanes—you name it, it’s bolted on. In 2017, regulations cut downforce by 25%, yet Nismo somehow found even more grip and improved weight distribution. You can call it clever; I call it witchcraft .
Ever wondered what happens when Japanese flair meets German discipline? Nismo partnered with DTM’s chassis maestros out of Italy and Germany. The result: a carbon-fibre monocoque tipping the scales at a delicate 126 kg, wrapped in a steel roll cage at about 32.5 kg. It’s like strapping a rhino into a kid’s car seat—but one that sends 360 kN through the sidewalls without flinching
This GT-R’s heart is Nissan’s NR20A 2.0-litre turbo straight-four—it produces a ferocious 650+ bhp with torque to rival your uncle’s stubborn diesel truck. What’s delightful is how torquey it is: punch in the throttle at 6th gear and the rear tyres scream with delight. It’s not just brute force—it’s dialled-in brutality. The engine subframe and gearbox are from the standardized DTM parts bin, limiting freedom but preserving reliability and performance .
Let me hit you with some bragging rights. From 1994–2020, Nissan racked up eleven GT500 drivers' titles, ten team championships, and 63 overall wins using various GT-Rs and Skylines dailysportscar.com+1topgear.com+1. When the GT500 V8 era ended in 2008, the GT-R hit the track, won seven of nine races and took the Drivers’ Championship in debut year—thanks to a VK45DE V8 & carbon-fibre chassis combo that threw a curve at expectations
In the turbo-four era, 2014–2015 saw back-to-back titles led by Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli. Quintarelli alone hoiked Nissan’s GT500 Championships four times en.wikipedia.org+2dailysportscar.com+2en.wikipedia.org+2. He also heads up charity efforts following the 2016–17 Central Italy earthquake—race heroes, indeed
The GT‑R remained a strong contender until retirement at the end of 2021. It scored a total of 41 GT500 race wins and an astonishing 89 podiums in 113 starts—a dominance for the ages .
Satoshi Motoyama: A three-time GT500 champion and Formula Nippon ace. In 2008, he grabbed GT500’s first crown with the R35 GT‑R—racing with Benoît Tréluyer. He'd go on to claim Nissan’s Suzuka 1–2 debut and a string of legions of wins
Ronnie Quintarelli: The Italian ticketing machine—four-time champion (2011,12,14,15). Fluent in Japanese, local hero, Olympic title hopes of GT500. Founder of earthquake relief campaigns
Then you’ve got a parade of Nissan’s up-and-coming – Katsumasa Chiyo, Daiki Sasaki, Lucas Ordoñez, etc. All these lads cut their teeth behind the wheel of GT‑R GT500
Every season North vs South, Toyotas vs Hondas, and Nissan in the middle, with full aero arsenals locked and loaded. The technical regulations update of 2017 reduced downforce, but the GT-R’s engineers answered with new wing profiles, better front dive planes, optimised weight balance—and holy moly—it stuck to tarmac like embers to logs
Keep in mind, GT500 cars lap like non-hybrid LMPs from Le Mans—this means these GT-Rs are basically prototype-level grippers in GT clothing .
The GT-R GT500 bowed out at the end of 2021, replaced by the Nissan Z GT500—the torchbearer that debuted in 2022. But the R35 GT‑R’s GT500 chapter is sealed with glory. After more than a decade of top-tier racing, the GT‑R leaves behind a legacy of turbocharged screaming and thunderous fanfare .
Even now, the production GT-R R35 is being retired globally—but that’s a different Oxford commas story .
The noise—imagine a jet engine choked down to supercar fury, wrapped in steel.
The aero—30 frenetic appendages welded to each body panel.
The pace—comfortably faster than a road-going GT-R Nismo, and faster than anything road-legal.
The drama—Nismo boss Takao Katagiri himself said they want “a race car that will shine brilliantly within the history of motorsports” Guess they hit that one out of the park.
The GT-R GT500 is not just some racecar—it’s the apotheosis of GT racing in Japan. It's the kind of machine that makes you feel alive just listening to it idle, let alone when those roaring four-cylinder turbos light up and launch it into a corner. It’s packed full of sophisticated aero wizardry and driven by some of the toughest, most dedicated tails of the racing world. It may have been pulled from Super GT, but its spirit remains embedded in every gravel chunk on Suzuka and every fan chant echoing through the pit lane.
It’s Toyota, Honda, and they all nod respectfully as this BIG NEGATIVE returns to the pits. Because when it roared past, you didn’t just watch—it felt something.
Nissan built it. The drivers tamed it. And Clarkson? I’d say it just reminded me why cars are important: sheer, unadulterated emotion on wheels.
“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.”
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Mario Andretti
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American racing legend
