As promised, here the next one - the battle of the Nissans. When I heard that a GT6 garage was opening up, I was almost certain - or at least very much hoping - to find something R32 shaped with 500 or so PP there and getting a pair right from the beginning was a pleasant surprise. So I took both to their spiritual home back in Japan and did some quick testing on two of my favourite tracks, namely Suzuka and R246.
While it is tempting to state that this is a pretty comparable duo to the 450 PP pairing, this would be too simplistic. Still, some of the main issues are similar - the power advantage of the Nismo, the much easier driving dynamics of the Nissan.
Starting with the Nissan - it is a very, very straightforward car to drive, and to do so at pretty much its limits. Looking at Suzuka, you can easily carve up the first section, repeatedly, with little learning or preparation and it simply flows between the corners it a way fairly unlike R32s generally. Practically no understeer, nicely adjustable balance, a true joy. In the first section I found it very easy to take off 1 to 2 seconds off the Nismo sibling. I imagine with time and practice the advantage would get less - the Nismo is definitely not a brick when it comes to handling but if a handful of laps in a new car, on an unknown track are the task, the Nissan is the ticket, as you will most probably not put a foot wrong with it.
Where it works less well is in the second section of Suzuka, so from the Hairpin to just short of the 130R. The engine simply lets it down compared to other 500PP machinery and unless you can use drafting, it will be left behind somewhat. The final section again comes together wonderfully, with a gentle lift and no braking sufficing for the 130R (maybe even a flat throttle works), late braking into the Casio Triangle often netting you additional places and then a very easy flick through the CT for the end to the lap.
R246 is similar. On the main straight you get passed left, right and centre, unless you defend like Schumacher at his worst.
The semi curvy sections then again work really well, with great corner speeds, early throttle applications and a wonderfully fluid and pretty fast movement through the Asakasa Palace chicane. The penultimate corner into the downhill off-ramp is a piece of cake and you will be able to get it through with the needle never seeing 145kmh (or quite possibly more) from the wrong side
Before I get to the lap times, the Nismo. The engine - not hard to believe - makes its roughly 100 bhp extra clearly felt. Other 500PP machinery will hardly manage to pull away anywhere and you will easily keep up with cars up to 600 PP in most cases. Yet it is also wonderfully controllable and smooth and will not produce understeer in most cases (the setup works like a charm), that is unless you start full throttle application even before turning in in slow corners - something not particularly natural in normal circumstances
Starting with Suzuka, you also get good, fluid movement from corner to corner in the first section but not every one of my laps was perfect, with it being somewhat easier to overcook if you are pushing it. The balance and weight distribution is great but the car still has 1500kg to be moved around. The second section, unlike with the Nissan, is simply a no sweat way to pass time, the 130R requires somewhat more care and I was mostly late with the braking point for the Casio Triangle, although once inside, it gets out with no fuss, too. Partially the speed is higher, partially it is the significantly higher weight, which both hamper the car from a braking distance point of view, not that there is anything wrong with the brakes per se, or the rock solid stability under braking.
The R246 is fun but for me not quite as smooth as with the Nissan. The Baseball Stadion corner (if memory serves) requires much more work with both pedals and the steering wheel to get through quickly and the Asakasa Chicane is much more of a hit and miss affair than with the Nissan. The rest is smooth, with a slightly slower off-ramp corner entry but otherwise stress free.
Now come the times. The Nissan is generally more consistent and if you want almost identical lap times over endurance length distances, it is clearly the one to pick. On the other hand, it was always slower - at these two tracks, and in my hands - than the Nismo. In Tokyo, in spite of the very smooth laps I managed to get out time and time again the difference was around 1,5 secs a lap, at Suzuka it managed between 1,5 secs advantage in the first sector, only to lose badly enough in the rest to be around 1,5 secs to 2 secs behind overall. Do not get me wrong, it is plenty fast enough for any 550 - 600PP opposition the AI will throw at you but a handy Finn with the other Skyline will always outpace you
Both are spectacularly effective cars, though and manage to practically eliminate all the standard R32 failings completely. They are very easy to drive and drive quickly, great accessible fun, and will - at least in my hands - see much use in the years to come (at least until a GT7 arrives in some far away future
). They reflect on their makers, too - with the characteristics etched into them quite clearly - i.e. there is little doubt which one was made by which MFT
Kudos for keeping the R32 spirit alive decades after being first kindled 👍
Absolutely no memories about such a thing. Doesn't mean I haven't though, it's been quite a while already.
the freezes at suddenly disappearing track textures didn't go away.. it's either a broken update, or my HD might be giving up a ghost which I doubt as GT6 is only game with issues 
