The Nissan GTR 0-60 Time: How Quick Is It?

The Nissan GT-R, also known as Godzilla, is a properly fast sports car. It's iconic for a number of reasons, including its forbidden-fruit status here in the United States during its early years, but the biggest driver behind its popularity is its performance across several generations. The GT-R evolved over the years with all sorts of performance enhancements, but many of the most popular models were powered by the RB26DETT motor, a twin-turbocharged inline-six engine that put out a reported 276 horsepower. The most recent Nissan R35 GT-R, discontinued in 2024, was more than twice as powerful.

In its final year of production, the Nissan R35 GT-R was powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 engine that produced 565 horsepower and 467 lb-ft of torque. The transmission was a quick-shifting six-speed dual-clutch automatic with downshift rev-matching that rocketed through gear changes in just 0.15 seconds. According to outlets like Car and Driver, the GT-R could go from zero to 60 mph in just 2.9 seconds — an astonishing time when you consider its power and significant curb weight (around 4,000 pounds according to Nissan). 

Typically, to accelerate that quickly, most performance cars require much more horsepower, an ultra-light chassis, or some form of electrification. The 495-horsepower Chevrolet Corvette, for example, weighs about 250 pounds less and accelerates to 60 mph in about the same time (3.0 seconds, according to Car and Driver). The 388-horsepower Porsche 911 weighs 3,472 pounds, but takes 3.1 seconds to hit 60 mph.

If you want even more than the 565 horsepower the standard GT-R offers, there are lots of ways to get there. One is through a more powerful version of the 3.8-liter engine that was fitted to NISMO versions of the GT-R. This put out 600 hp and 481 lb-ft, so it should probably fit the bill for spec-sheet racers. The NISMO GT-R has an estimated zero-to-60 time of 2.9 seconds, the same as the real-world tested numbers of the standard model. And in practice, when testing both cars back-to-back, Car and Driver found that they both hit the 60 mph mark in the same amount of time. The extra power is likely useful above 60 mph, but doesn't make much of a difference when sprinting off the line.

At the time of writing, there are still nine examples of the 2024 GT-R on showroom floors around the United States, so if you want GT-R performance, you'd better act quickly. And if you can't get the deal you're looking for on a new one, you'll likely have to find one on the used market for the foreseeable future. No plans for a future GT-R have been announced.