Steve

With only 20 miles separating us from North Lake Tahoe, it's obvious that I hadn't secured the hood of our Super Silver Nissan GT-R after poking and prodding inside the engine bay. The left side of the bonnet is raised about a quarter-inch and flapping slightly at speed, so we pull off into a newborn subdivision to slam it shut. I step back inside and catch a glimpse of a silver Corvette in the side view mirror. The telltale air intake on the front bumper confirms that the man behind the wheel is an aficionado; it's a C6 Z06 and there's no doubt the driver knows what the GT-R is.

"That's the third one I've seen today," our new friend points out, "What's going on?" I explain that we're doctors of journalism heading out to Reno/Fernley Raceway to wring out the GT-R with the rest of the hacks. "That thing is so over-hyped. Let's see what it can do." With only a few seconds to calibrate my moral compass, he begins counting down. "Three, two, one, GO!" He takes off with a minimum of wheel spin and I lay into the throttle about a half second too late. The GT-R bogs slightly off the line (no time for launch control) and then rockets towards the horizon in chase.

My lame launch put us about ten feet off the Z06's bumper, and with the throttle pegged to the floor, the rear-mounted, dual-clutch gear box runs through the ratios in full automatic mode. Our necks are jolted back at each shift and we can feel our spines forming a valley in the suede-covered buckets. You know the stats; you can do the math. The Z06 is around 3,100 pounds and comes packing 505 hp. The GT-R is down 25 horsepower and is almost 700 pounds heavier. But in defiance of the laws of physics, the distance between us never changes. And it continues down our imaginary quarter-mile before we brake simultaneously and make a quick left into a row of homes to talk shop and take a few photos. "The guys on the 'Vette forum aren't going to believe this," Rich says as he snaps away on his disposable camera. "It's way faster than I would've thought."

This same scenario will be played out in a hundred different cities at a hundred different traffic lights when customers finally begin taking delivery of the 2,000 Nissan GT-Rs bound for the U.S. this summer. After years of speculation, spy shots, rumors, lies and nail-biting anticipation, the GT-R is finally here, and make no mistake, it's epic.

We started our trek outside Incline Village on the northern side of Lake Tahoe and made our way through the sparsely populated towns that dot the Nevada landscape. The mixture of minimalist urban areas, mind-numbing desert expanses and undulating roads provided us with just enough time to get acquainted with the GT-R's road-going civility and techy toys before we arrived at the track.

First impression: "This thing is chunky." You can deride the GT-R's styling if you must -- and it certainly isn't pretty -- but it's purposeful. Nissan spent two years in the wind tunnel refining the GT-R's shape to achieve a Cd of .27. Every crease, bulge and kink is there for an explicit purpose. The "aero-blades" on the fenders optimize airflow around the tires and the front fascia, vents and C-pillar work in concert with the underbody diffuser and spoiler to provide maximum down force at speed.

But the GT-R's shape proves the old adage that beauty isn't skin deep. The 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 is, in Nissan's own words, a tour de force. Making 480 hp at 6,400 RPM and 430 lb.-ft. of torque between 3,200 and 5,200 RPM, the engine works double duty – pure efficiency and utter insanity. The VR38DETT is hand built by a single technician in a climate-controlled clean room after the bores are plasma-sprayed to reduce friction and increase cooling. The symmetrically independent intake and exhaust plumbing is shortened for efficiency and the dual IHI turbos are practically married to the exhaust ports on the block. And with a thermostatically controlled oil cooling system, complete with a scavenger pump maintaining oil pressure to the turbos, no amount of lateral Gs will keep the slippery stuff from getting where it needs to be. All that, and it still gets a ULEV rating.

To read the full review click here: First Drive: 2009 Nissan GT-R - Autoblog