EVO: Litchfield Nissan GT-R On The Track

EVO magazine takes a Litchfield Nissan GT-R to the track.

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This isn’t your typical drag race. It’s relatively common to upgrade a Nissan GT-R to well over 1,000 horsepower. While that’s a remarkable feat, it’s a tougher challenge to make that power work on a race track. Litchfield takes things a step further. It’s one thing to set up a car for scary quarter-mile times and even full-mile sprints. It’s another thing altogether to make over 1,000 horsepower work on the track. Jethro Bovington of EVO magazine took a Litchfield-modified Nissan GT-R to the track, in less than ideal conditions.

The latest Nissan GT-R comes out in three different trims, GT-R Black, GT-R Premium, and the GT-R NISMO. Of the three trims, the NISMO stands out with over 600 horsepower, compared to 545 horsepower out of the GT-R Black and GT-R Premium.

What Litchfield does is take the base power of the car, and slowly increase the power through six different stages of tuning. Stage one begins with a grocery list that brings the older GT-R’s power rating of 500 horsepower, up to 570 horsepower.

While adding power is important for faster track runs, Litchfield also took the liberty of working on more race-oriented parts such as the brakes, suspension, and wheel and tire package to make sure that the Stage Six (over 1,000 horsepower) can actually work on the road.

More cars: Track Day Ridealong In A 2015 Nissan GT-R NISMO

It’s scary that this kind of power is available on the market today. A Nissan GT-R capable of 545 horsepower already needs a driver that has some experience with handling cars with speed. The NISMO from the factory brings the total to 600 horsepower, with even more punch and added acceleration. Litchfield went outside of the box and built the car of Forza 6/Gran Turismo dreams.

Would you be daring enough to drive that if you could get your hands on one?

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