Porsche and Nissan want to know if you prefer analogue or digital
Porsche and Nissan want to know if you prefer analogue or digital
8:18

Porsche and Nissan want to know if you prefer analogue or digital

Cars
[MUSIC] Many people myself included had been [UNKNOWN] the age of the digital super car. The fact that performance cars don't get manuals anymore. They get into [UNKNOWN] really. And you know natural aspiration is going being replaced by turbos and hybrids. However in 2016 a year where pretty much everything went wrong there was a little glimmer of hope for people like me. Astin announced it would be the last manufacturer to have a sports car with a manual gear box and Porsche released this. The 911R. Welcome to the analog era. Inside there's a manual gear box with a positively futuristic six feet. There is no radio and no air conditioning. There are some seats, a steering wheel, and three pedals. That's it. In the back I've got a four liter, naturally aspirated Six under engines straight out of the 911 GT3 RS and that means I've got 493 brake horsepower. 339 pound foot, it'll do nought to 62 in sub 4 obviously and nears damn it 200 miles [LAUGH] an hour. It's also 70 kilos liter than the GT3 RS. Its rear windows are plastic, the hooded wings are carbon, and its roof is made of magnesium. There's a lightweight exhaust as well, and its manual gear box saves 20 kilos over Porsche's own PDK. And there are no big city wings to force it to the road. This then is a car based in the past. Porsche went fairly hardcore with the whole lightweightness thing. So much so in fact they took out 4.5 kilos of sound dampening stuff that you would get on the GT 3RS which means it's shuffling noisy in here. This is about purity and experience. Having 500 metric horsepower attached to something that weighs barely more than 1300 kilos. It's almost as if this is what would happen if Porsche started today and though, right let's make a really special sports car. And special it is. My God, listen to the noise. [SOUND] It makes a hell of a racket, and it feels fantastic. You can feel the weight reduction as well, cuz it's so much flavorly, it dances with you. But in no way that's [SOUND] Threatening. It's very catchable. It's very easy to adjust on the throttle or just by being a good driver. Not something I know too much about. The manual gearbox, man it's so good to have a really sorted shifter in this. Because it's very short movement. You've got to put a little bit of effort into it, but man it And it feels so good. It's easy enough to heel and toe though if you're not that way in clone there is a sports mode. Which means it'll blip the throttle in a downshift for you. The brakes carbon ceramics all around the pedal is a little bit strong, a little bit tough but once you get working with it, it feels good. This isn't supposed to be a track car, this is supposed to be the kind of hardcore 911 for the road but It feels at home here. I've been around this circuit so many times in so many things. And you know, they've been fantastic. Some have been slippery, some haven't been. But this just feels like, feels like a proper car. The sensation of speed is [SOUND] phenomenal. It feels so nice. So the noise, because there's so little sound deadening, you get the 911 howl. The thing that's so missing from the new turbo charged nanny assisted digital 911s. We get that now. Listen! No, it's not as quick as it could be with PDK. No it doesn't have as much down force or as many, Technical toys, or things like that, to make it idiot-proof. The lack of weight, the steering sensation, the manual gearbox and the speed. It's throttle response, so natural, so linear. The digital world has a lot to answer for cuz people can go faster, so much faster, but cars like this [SOUND] I feel damn good. It's all lovely to unload and free of the constraints of everyday silliness, but what about the converse? What's the best the digital world has to offer? Rather have to be this. [UNKNOWN] The car that many people say is the supercar for the Playstation generation. A lot of people get irked by that but when you consider that Polyphony Digital. The people that made Gran Turismo 4 for Playstation, had a hand in some of the entertainmenty, graphicy stuff. Well, it is a bit Playstation isn't it. This R35 is without doubt one of the most competent fast cars out there. The latest version has been given a nip and a tuck, as well as arrow tweaks to help it cut through the air more cleanly than before. It's also stiffer than before, so it should go around corners faster. All four wheels are driven and the pair is helped there by a six speed joule clutch automatic transmission. Power-wise, there's five hundred and sixty two great horsepower to play with. That's twenty more than the old car, thanks in part to a titanium exhaust, and this four hundred and sixty-nine pound foot as well Performance wise, Nissan says it will do naught to sixty-two in less than three seconds, though independent test have proved otherwise Top speed, which is more than you'll even really need, is lots of miles an hour. In side there are fewer buttons than the old car thanks to a new screen, though there's still plenty to prod and poke unlike the 911. There's also a nod to luxury, leather everywhere et cetera. Though it's been done in a typical Japanese style so. It leave me a bit cold. But, it's still pretty. So this thing's all about arrow and toys and tips and trickery and stuff like that. Pretty much the opposite of [UNKNOWN] 11. So, what's she like? The give on six speed thing is supposed to be better than any that has come before. But It's not brilliant. It feels a bit too slow for what it is, and if you say drag race it against something that has a better gearbox, well, you end up finding out just how bad it is. For example, I did drag race this against our long-term Audi RS6, and while the Audi has less Power. It has a better transmission, and I'm pretty sure that's why this thing was completely mullered by it. It feels very, very heavy. You go into a corner, even with everything set to R mode, you feel all the pitch and roll. That weight does not shift around a little bit. That said, the brakes are pretty fantastic. And the steering, not to bad. It does feel a little bit fake compared to that 911. Where the Porsche has purity, this is very light. Kind of unnervingly so. The kind of thing my mum could drive, and I am not sticking her in a GTR. But, it just feels a little bit false. Yes it does the job, and there is some feedback through it, but It just doesn't feel very natural. However, this car's party piece is grip. Whereas in the 911, going into these corners at these speeds I would be all over the place. Pop it in, give it a boot full. [SOUND] And [UNKNOWN] all over the place, but you do get that turbo torque. This engine has phenomenal torque to it. It's very clever, it's a very smart car. Its all wheel drive system works. It has amazing grip. You can drive it like Complete bastard, and it will cling on for dear life. This is a very good car at going very, very quickly. Looking there I'm doing 120, 125, and now we use the breaks for having literally just I'm testing a Porsche 911 R. [BLANK_AUDIO] This ain't a patch on that. The GTR, while immensely competent and so good at going quickly, still left me feeling cold. Most of the work was done by the car, not by me. The 911 R though, Right now, it's as good as it gets. Long live the old school. [MUSIC]

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