2009 Ferrari 458 Italia vs 2014 Nissan GT-R Nismo Review/Comparison
"Yokohama versus Maranello, Godzilla versus Big Ben (Racing Horse), 4wd versus Rwd", Tuner versus Purebred"
Today we have two immensely popular supercars online going
toe-to-toe, head to head, face to face, back to back, mano e mano, hand-to-hand. This week should stack up to be an interesting duel as both have similar performance and a cult following at their feet.
The 2014 GT-R Nismo is a tuned version of the already mighty GT-R. As a successor of sorts to the old R33/4 Nismo tuned cars, this has quite the reputation to uphold as a master of the mountain passes and of the circuit. With the fastest production car record on the Nurburgring, 0-60 times of below 3 seconds, and high downforce parts with sticky tires, this GT-R is already guaranteed a spot as a future classic.
The Ferrari 458 Italia is the successor to the successful F430. It succeeded in royally smacking the 430 Scuderia when it came out and cemented itself as the ultimate mid-engine Ferrari, until the 488 came out and smacked it. The car features a radical new design, while being evolutionary at the same time. At certain angles you can see the 430 and Enzo peeking through, yet it invented Ferrari's new love-it-hate-it design language that we see today. The car features 570hp out of the beautifully sounding V8, and revs to 9,000 rpm, making it my favourite engine in a mainstream supercar. My favourite engines are from some other cars... (Zonda C12, Mazda RX-7 etc.)
First round today, I took them down to Cape Ring South to get a good feel and record some times.
The Nissan GT-R felt very front-heavy, combined with the super high downforce made for some frustrating understeer in long corners. The acceleration made up for some of that though, blasting out of them and down the straightaways. Overall once I got used to it I tried to brake a little earlier to slow down the car so I could turn more freely with less air pushing the GT-R into the tarmac. Overall even without traction control off it wasn't a very engaging drive, feels like typing up a document rather than driving a purebred supercar. There's no emotion and it feels soulless and mechanical, almost like turning the easy mode on for the game. Not enough risk-reward for driving it I guess.
On the other hand, the Ferrari 458 is one of the most engaging drives in the game. The nose is so planted that you can just line up your apexes perfectly. The car with TC on is very fast and responsive in the corners, mild understeer but easy to fix. Without TC it's a whole different beast. Powersliding everywhere, begging you to tame the bucking horse. Drifting the car once you get the hang of it is very fun, and it can be a deadly weapon in the right hands. It's my most driven car in GT6 and one of my first purchases. I loved it in GT5, and the GT6 physics engine really does this car so much justice.
COMFORT SOFT LAP TIME - CAPE RING SOUTH
Nissan GT-R NISMO: 1:21.620
Ferrari 458 Italia: 1:21.450
+0.170
After pushing both cars to their limits, and not being able to go any faster, I counted the fastest laps and the performance is similar, but the Ferrari has the slight edge, so this round is the Ferrari's.
I took them both down to the 4-km drag-strip. Both cars launch equally and have enough space to reach their top speeds just before the finish line. The GT-R obviously got off the line quicker, but the 458 caught up, having a slight advantage in top speed.
SPEED TRAP - EIFEL FLAT
Nissan GT-R NISMO: 45.633 at 330 km/h
Ferrari 458 Italia: 45.028 at 333 km/h
So the winner again is the Ferrari 458, with only a slight edge.
The Nissan has a lousy paint chip roster, nothing too special and not many options, my favourite was the Premium Red or whatever it was.
The Ferrari has a whopping 26 to collect, with some really nice metallic paints with fancy-sounding names. My personal favourite is the Rosso Scuderia chip.
For customization I'm giving it to the Ferrari again. Not too many choices but they add something to the stock car,
the GT-R looks fine and in my opinion doesn't need a new rear wing or whatnot because it's already pretty much an aero kit by itself.
For tuning I'm giving this one to the GT-R. It has a few more uses than the 458 like drag racing and top speed, while both are useful for the track,
the GT-R is still just like a huge pocket knife. The GT-R wins this one.
For sound, I'm giving this one to the Ferrari. Maranello really works their magic with their V8's and V12's. The GT-R has a nice turbo whistle and whatnot, the Ferrari however has so much more drama and emotion when it revs up to 9,000rpm that
it creates half the driving experience for me.
So what are you looking for, a high profile exotic or a high-power Japanese supercar tuned to humiliate said exotics? Design is a subjective thing, and I think the 458 is the most beautiful modern Ferrari in existence right now. The shell is functional and dramatic, aside from cars that are built purely for function like the 12c or GT-R. Now, there's nothing ugly abouth the GT-R, but they definatly didn't care about any fancy coachbuilding companies designing their ultimate sports car. In terms of functionality though, the GT-R does this in spades. Everything on the GT-R works,and it does a damned good job at it too,
so I think I'm going to leave this round as up to you readers. I declare this round a tie.
The never-ending war of the GT6 community, is the GT-R overrated? is Ferrari 458 overused? my answer is to use whatever car suits your playstyle. I think the GT-R would have the upper hand in online tuned races because of it's higher specs and traction. But surprisingly the 458 has been good to me in a few 650pp races with GT-R's in them.
So do you prefer 4WD or RWD? it's up to you. (Personally I prefer RWD, but it's a tie)
Ah 458, you may inherit my JPEGs and my virtual garage, and I may have paid money in asphault 8 just to use your sweet engine, and alas GT-R, you may be my favourite underdog on youtube comparisons, and you may change the lives of so many gamers like ourselves through GT Academy, but I must pick the Ferrari 458 Italia as my champion here today. Hark, O mighty Godzilla, I may have belittled you today, much to my dismay, but mehaps someday a lesser form of yourself may rise to the occasion and take revenge for Italy's actions on thy battleground. You will always be my favourite tuner.
So thy winner and thy vote be reserved for thy Ferrari 458 Italia of MMIX ('09)
And thy verdict be:
DO NEVER FORSAKETH MINE 9,000 RPM'S!!!!!!
(While I secretly enjoy this car minus the engine and wish it was in GT Sport)
. Had a lot of fun doing this, a nice way to enjoy GT6 in a different manner.
