Nissan’s new GT-R was easily one of the most talked about supercars in 2008, but not always for the best of reasons. The GT-R quickly drew a large fan base for reaching some seemingly impossible performance bench marks, but also generated notoriety for its explosive transmission.
The 2009 GT-R came equipped with a launch control system, but owners quickly realize that feature was more of a bragging point than a useful item. The use of the launch control system essentially voided the car’s factory warranty, and usually ended up in the complete failure of the transmission.
However, Pfitzner Performance Gearboxes has recognized the gearbox’s weak point, and is developing a remedy. In conjunction with Samurai Speed and Titan Motorsports, Australia-based PPG is working on a GT-R transmission upgrade that will allow the use of launch control without destroying the gearbox. The new setup uses beefed-up hardware (PPG’s setup on the left, Nissan’s stock parts on the right) which should prevent any failures.
The upgrade is being benchmarked for a heavily-modified 600+ horsepower GT-R, so the new pieces should have no problem dealing with the car’s stock performance figures. No word on pricing or availability as of yet, but 2009 GT-R owners hell bent on using the launch control feature should definitely look into PPG’s upgrade.
12/30, 1:59 PM
posted by:
hummah
Nissan must have known people would up the performance of the GT-R. They should have engineered the tranny based on 800+ hp clutch dumps…
12/30, 2:17 PM
posted by:
marcba221
Then they wouldn’t have been able to keep the price as low as they did. Plus for every GT-R with a broken transmission due to launch control is one less they have to pay for and one more transmission they get to sale.
12/30, 2:25 PM
posted by:
dinkodesign_com
didn’t nissan already take care of the traction control by just taking it out in the new models?
12/30, 3:03 PM
posted by:
Mr. Piston
They made it this way because they don’t want people to tune it any further.
12/30, 3:31 PM
posted by:
hummah
They should have ditched the whole dual clutch setup for a regular manual. The old Skyline transmissions could take 800hp all day and even more with some cryo-treated gears.
12/30, 4:19 PM
posted by:
Get Real
Countach supercar owners from 20 years ago share your sadness at new car quality.
12/30, 4:49 PM
posted by:
yarddog82abn
What’s so hard to place a by-pass system as soon as you press the button? You press the button, you lunch, the system is off, and the trans goes in to sport or performance mode…
12/30, 7:08 PM
posted by:
A4
you cant do clutch dumps in the GT-R if theres no clutch pedal, this playstation with wheels is a great technological achievement but past that id rather drive something more exciting like a Z06. If i want practicality im going to get an RS4 at that price point, no matter how many of you call me crazy for it.
12/30, 7:09 PM
posted by:
A4
(true clutch dumps, not “launch control”, a fancy name for a neutral drop.)
12/30, 9:47 PM
posted by:
NismoSentraKen
===>>I’d get in an //RS4 at that price point too A4 lol
12/31, 12:10 AM
posted by:
Bankruptcy2009
A4 you just don’t get it. The GT-R is an incredible car. And if they make it 600+ Horsepower nothing will catch it!
12/31, 6:04 AM
posted by:
The Stig
I wonder how many GT-R owners will be getting the shaft.
12/31, 9:11 AM
posted by:
injunraiv
Not too surprising to me…
asian engineering guaranteed quality
BTW, 37K trouble free miles on my 400 horse GTO so far…
12/31, 10:45 AM
posted by:
Z06ified
Nissan screwed up here big time. They should have caught this problem in testing and fixed it before production. They probably knew about the problem, and chose not to fix it, probably for cost reasons.
When GM tests any new Corvette, they beat the piss out of dozens of test prototype cars (test mules) until they fail. Then they analyze the part that failed, find out why it failed, revise it to make it stronger, and test again. The car isn’t released to production until it can hold up to major abuse on a road course, drag strip, autocross, even a 24-hour endurance race. All this testing and durability engineering is why the Corvette has been a very durable and reliable track car, since the C5.
Nissan hasn’t done the same kind of testing and durability engineering – hence broken GT-R trannies.
12/31, 3:32 PM
posted by:
jmayhew
The 911 Turbo has more torque and a launch control feature but there’s no reports of regular cataclysmic tranny failure for those.
01/01, 6:24 PM
posted by:
scratchy
911 Turbo doesn’t have launch control , the GT2 has.
01/13, 10:28 PM
posted by:
LS7
GT2 is also RWD, which is a lot more forgiving on the training.
AWD + Launch Control = Breakage
Same reason why Lambo deletes it in their cards heading to North America. Easy lawsuits.