Nissan Australia is sending Godzilla off into the sunset with a bang.
The first 2022 GT-R T-Spec has arrived in Australia and has been complied for local roads, resplendent in Midnight Purple.
The R35 GT-R won’t be sold locally after 2022; a victim of new side-impact regulations specific to Australia.
They came into force for new vehicles introduced to Australia in 2017, but will apply to all passenger cars from later in 2021.
The GT-R doesn’t meet the new rules, and Nissan isn’t going to make structural changes to its low-volume halo for a market as small as Australia. It’s not clear if the GT-R structure could actually be changed to meet the rules at all.
Just 937 cars have been sold since it launched in 2009, an average of less than 100 per year.
It’s not clear when the current R35 GT-R will be replaced with an all-new model, although reports from Japan suggest an R36 will succeed it at some point.
Fewer than 50 GT-R models in total will be arriving for the car’s final model year in Australia. The GT-R T-Spec and GT-R Nismo SV will join the Premium, Premium Luxury and Nismo variants.
The T-Spec helps bridge the gap between the Premium variants and the Nismo, offering a range of aesthetic and performance tweaks.
It’s perhaps best distinguished by its gold forged 20-inch alloy wheels, wrapped in Dunlop SP Sport Maxx high-performance tyres.
The T-Spec also gains the carbon ceramic rotors of the Nismo models, which measure 410mm at the front and 390mm at the rear compared to the standard Brembo’s 390mm/380mm set-up.
There’s a carbon-fibre spoiler down back, while the seats, steering wheel, shifter and much of the dashboard are finished in dark green and complemented with a quilted Alcantara headliner and suede A-pillar trim.
Sitting at the top of the range is the Nismo SV, which gains a clear-coated carbon-fibre bonnet, red exterior accents, and 20-inch Rays aluminium forged wheels.
The 2022 Nissan GT-R is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 engine producing 419kW of power at 6800rpm and 632Nm of torque at 3300rpm. Power is sent to all four wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Nismo models receive a tuned version of the twin-turbo V6 with 441kW at 6800rpm and 652Nm at 3600rpm.
Pricing
- 2022 Nissan GT-R Premium: $193,800
- 2022 Nissan GT-R Premium Luxury: $199,800
- 2022 Nissan GT-R T-Spec: $256,700
- 2022 Nissan GT-R Nismo: $378,000
- 2022 Nissan GT-R Nismo SV: $393,800
All prices exclude on-road costs.
MORE: Everything Nissan GT-R
