2010 900 hp Ethanol Nissan GTR by Switzer Performance review and pictures

900 hp Ethanol Nissan GTR by Switzer Performance review:

When Nissan introduced the latest R35 version of its GTR Skylines in 2008, the international press was quick to nickname the car "Godzilla" - as much for the car's size as for its fire-breathing performance - and Nissan was equally quick to call the car both "perfect" and "untunable". That "perfect" label is a matter of opinion, of course, but enough GTR buyers felt the car lacked sufficient oomph that a number of tuning firms began to lay waste to the idea of an "untunable" car, building massively-powerful GTR Nissans along the way. One such firm is Tym Switzer's Ohio-based Switzer Performance, and their massively-powerful GTR is called the P800 - a comprehensively tuned 800 hp track-weapon that's as much at home on Main Street as it is on the back straight.

Of course, there are some enthusiasts who will always want more - and when one of these enthusiasts contacted Switzer about pushing the P800 GTR to the limit, the crew at Switzer Performance got to work developing the car you see here.

"The P800 is already at the limit of what we feel comfortable for the stock GTR transmission," explains Switzer. "So to go further we really needed to beef up the transmission. We contacted Dodson Motorsports in New Zealand and explained what our goals were with the car - 900 hp, more clutch area, ad smooth shifting at every speed. The new transmission is the product of several months' co-development between Switzer and Dodson, and is exactly what we needed in order to start pushing the GTR forward beyond 800 hp."

The next thing Switzer needed to address to keep "pushing the GTR forward" was fuel. "We didn't want to just deliver a race-gas package that tethered the client to a fuel drum in his garage, but we wanted to be able to turn up the boost, also." The solution? Readily-available E85.

"In a way, the solution was all around us," offers Switzer, whose shop is located deep in Ohio's farm country, surrounded - literally! - by cornfields. "E85 isn't without its trade-offs. We had to modify the fuel system to handle the fuel and significantly increase the size of the injectors, also, but in the end we had a fuel that gave us everything we needed to crank up the boost on this car and deliver over 900 hp." The E85 delivered other benefits as well: it is significantly "greener" than the pump-gas and race-gas versions of the GTR. "With most high-horsepower cars, you can barely breathe after just a few dyno runs. With the E85, we were able to run pull after pull to dial in the tune without feeling any effects of the usual emissions. It's hardly scientific, but there was a noticeable improvement in the air quality in the shop compared to race gas."

The final product - dubbed the E900 for "Ethanol fuel, 900 hp" - is a fast, capable package that offers linear power delivery and massive midrange torque with superior transient response compared to larger-turbo/race-fuel combinations, while maintaining a bit of environmental responsibility along with its blistering sub-6-second 60-130 mph acceleration.

This first P800 also sports an Amuse carbon fiber aero package, 3-way adjustable suspension, and 20" BBS wheels that are an inch wider than stock at all four corners. Switzer's new E85-fueled E900 PKG is available now. Contact Switzer Performance for more.