R35 GT-R proving VERY difficult to upgrade

[Jeff V.]

Found this on Autoblog. If you can't even fit aftermarket wheels without jumping through hoops, then this thing is in for some big problems.

Motor Trend's Scott Kanemura sat down with Michizio Niikura, the president of MINE'S Motor Sports, the first aftermarket firm to get its hands on the new Nissan GT-R. The conversation centered on the roadblocks Nissan has put in place to stymie high speeds and limit modifications to the GT-R.

We've previously reported on how the GPS system fitted to the GT-R would remove the 111 mph (180 kph) speed limiter when the car arrives at a track, but according to Niikura, it will only work on pre-approved racetracks. However, the GPS sensor doesn't automatically remove the limiter by itself, it has to be manually changed by navigating through a series of menus on the GT-R's touch screen. While having to go to a Nissan-approved track is daft in its own right, it's even worse when you leave. After the track day, owners are required to head on over to a Nissan High Performance Center where a $1000 safety check is performed. Don't do it and the factory warranty is void.

Another rumor that began circulating after the Tokyo Auto Salon has also been confirmed: aftermarket wheels are out. Supposedly, all the GT-Rs on display at TAS had to be driven in on the stock rollers, jacked up and then fitted with the tuner's chosen wheels. Due to a sensor mounted on the valve stem, if the GT-R is driven with aftermarket rims, an error code is thrown on the dash. And although MINE'S has fitted a custom exhaust to their shop car, they've found that any modification to the intake system causes the ECU to go haywire.

While all these findings are disturbing draconian, GT-R owners here in the U.S. won't have to worry about the speed limiter/track day issue. Nissan has said that the GPS system won't be implemented here in the States, but the future of tuning the GT-R remains questionable. Top tip Zac!

[Source: Motor Trend]

From: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/07/niss ... ace-track/

[Zentelis]

Whose cars are these, anyway? I could have swore _I FUCKING BOUGHT IT_.

I guess I can understand from a warranty point of view..but damn...no aftermarket wheels? pure nonsense.

The extra $1000 "tax" to keep the warranty intact after a track-day is fucking ludicrous.

[JagdStealth]

Wow...nissan is retarded.

[aaronatstate]

While all these findings are disturbing draconian, GT-R owners here in the U.S. won't have to worry about the speed limiter/track day issue.

Everyone keeps missing this key sentence. The GPS system wont be implemented in the United States. So almost everyone on this board shouldn't have a problem. So you can't upgrade the wheels or intake system, cars got enough power for the normal person anyway.

[moffman93']

Like anyone on this board will own this car anyhow haha

[GTO Assassin]

I was wondering when Jeff would see this.

While it is pretty lame, like all things electronic and hack proof, the world will find a way around this.

Scotty

[Zentelis]

[quote=""aaronatstate""]cars got enough power for the normal person anyway.[/quote]
Who the hell on _this forum_ is normal?

[JagdStealth]

[quote=""moffman93'""]Like anyone on this board will own this car anyhow haha[/quote]

Haha, speak for yourself, been there before and will do it again.

It's stupid to try and make a car like this "unmodable"

[JagdStealth]

I think this is just a problem with Japan...Subaru. Mitsu, and Nissan have all gone out of their way to void warranties, black-flag owners, etc. for "abusing" their vehicles. Some even have tried to void warranties for speeding tickets.

GM, Dodge, and Ford love to promote their sports cars and you rarely hear about trouble from any of them...same goes for Porsche and BMW!

[synergytheory]

MINE's had already modified the ECU.

The TPMS throws an error on the dash, this is the same with many new cars (unless you get new sensors). Hardly stops you from driving the car.

And although the GPS issue won't effect the US cars, I'm sure the Jap's will have it figured out in no time (if they haven't already).

The thing that is worrying is how easily they'll void the warranty (though it's is yet to be seen). I'm not sure how Nissan has handled their other cars, but hopefully it's just in place to slow down the road race fanatics.

[TajMan]

So I put them on the same level as Mitsubishi voiding warranties? Thats about it.

When you speak of the GTR and 'difficult to upgrade', remember only 1 thing really matters:

How much boost can the stock turbos support?
How much fuel (boost level?) can the stock pump/injectors support?

Its a turbo car and just a boost controller away from a huge cheap upgrade.

I just wanna know if Nissan basically built a 475, 550, 600hp car right out of the box? Where's it at exactly?

[Jeff V.]

While it is pretty lame, like all things electronic and hack proof, the world will find a way around this.

I dunno about that. According to one of the Nissan engineers from the press ride-and-drive events, Nissan didn't just secure their ECU....they encrypted the damn thing. Depending on how it's encrypted. this could make it unhackable.

MINE's had already modified the ECU.

Got any info on that? I'd like to see what they've done to it, especially if the encryption thing is true.

The TPMS throws an error on the dash, this is the same with many new cars (unless you get new sensors). Hardly stops you from driving the car.

And on some cars, having a TPMS error can cause the stability control system to go into super-nanny mode, taking a lot of fun out of the driving. There are also a lot of people who like having a functional TPMS and don't like little yellow error lights on their dash.

If the sensors don't fit aftermarket wheels and nobody makes a compatible universal sensor, this could be a problem.

On the other hand, you could just do what some of the Corvette guys do. Toss the factory sensors in a can, seal and pressurize it to 35 psi, and toss it in the trunk

[Jeff V.]

Nevermind on the ECU hacking thing.

From the Motortrend article:

There is hope for the hot-rodders: MINE'S is rumored to be the first tuner to crack the GT-R ECU. And though Niikura-san admits his ECU modification is a work in progress, he was able to demonstrate the following during our recent visit. MINE'S gave us a performance demonstration with two GT-Rs, one stock, the other modified by MINE'S. The modified GT-R was able to run at 192.6 mph (310 kph) while the factory spec GT-R was unable to go past 111.8 mph. Niikura-san told us he's in the last stages of overcoming the boost and speed limit as well as making it possible to make adjustments to VTC (variable cam timing system), air/fuel ratio and throttle position. Since our visit, reports have surfaced that MINE'S has just released a version of its VX-ROM product designed to override the ECU's limiter function.

Regardless though, this is gonna get expensive FAST. Unless I'm way wrong, Mine's has never done a VX-ROM that can be edited by the end user. Any time you want to modify your car or tweak the tune, the ECU will have to go back to Mine's for alteration.

Standalone is likely out of the question as the ECU is so deeply interconnected to the other control modules in the car over the CAN bus.

[synergytheory]

It's a Hitachi ECU. On the MINE's ECU, the boost is increased, speed limiter removed, you have to send it to MINE's in Japan to get it re-programmed. Not much else info has been released as far as I know, see link below. Also I believe Amuse has an upgrade on the ECU also.

http://www.kanzenperformance.com/R35Parts.html

I haven't read about any bad effects of the TPMS error, there are quite a few R35's running around with aftermarket wheels now.

From what I've read, the original article lost a lot in translation.