Remember when the Nissan GT-R was the giant-slaying upstart among supercars? The tech-heavy, inspired-by-a-video-game, inch-perfect, hand-crafted bargain among poster-worthy dream machines? Yeah, that’s more than 15 years ago now. Things change, time marches on, and prices go up. On Tuesday, Nissan announced the 2024 Nissan GT-R would cost $122,885, including mandatory destination charges, which is a far cry from the sub-$70,000 sticker affixed to it when it arrived in the U.S. for 2008.
Of course, that $69,850 price was two presidential administrations and two financial crises ago and didn’t include destination. But, inflation-adjusted, that $69,850 price tag still stays in the five-digit range (albeit just shy of $99,000) and today’s GT-R firmly fits into the six-figure category. Aside from being a 15-year-old supercar among a crowd of newer competitors, the 2024 GT-R announced on Tuesday is very clearly in the latter stages of its life, and that price is for a car that is neither a “final edition” nor limited. Step up to the Nismo T-Spec and you’ll get carbon ceramic brakes, a better interior, special-edition paint, and gold-painted wheels for a $20,000 premium on top of the base price. Taken in a vacuum that might be palatable for Nissan diehards to consider, but we’re all but guaranteed a “Final Edition” spec for collectors to hand-wring and/or salivate over.
Last, but certainly not least in any respect, is the 2024 Nissan GT-R Nismo that costs an eyewatering $220,990—a six-figure premium over the base car—that bumps power up by 35 horsepower to 600 hp along with a new limited-slip front differential. Far be it for me to tell people what they can love and aspire for, but at nearly a quarter-million bucks, the 2024 Nissan GT-R Nismo requires buyers to step over many other comparable, newer, and more compelling machines.
All of this isn’t to say that the Nissan GT-R on sale today is the same as what arrived in 2008. The base coupe makes 565 hp, up from 480 hp when it launched. The transmission has been (thankfully) upgraded, and nearly every part of the car has been massaged in the last decade-and-a-half. But, it’s still the same R35-generation GT-R that we’ve seen for so long and Nissan’s price asks—presumably the last time in this generation: “What’s the price you’re willing to put on incremental progress?”
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