Nissan gave birth to the first Skyline in 1955, at this time, the plan was not to propose to our Japanese friends the thrill of a sportscar but the comfort of a luxury 4 doors sedan...It is after 11 versions and almost 34 years later that the Skyline started to be noticed for its performance, reasonable price and close to unlimited tuning potential...its name...the R32!
Nissan had found the right formula and from there, decided, from one version to another, to improve their car until reaching a magic number...34...and most precisely the R34 GT-R!
It is unfortunately at that very same moment that the Japanese car manufacturer began slipping down, hit by financial difficulties, and the future of its masterpiece was more uncertain than ever.
Hopefully the sun started to rise again for Nissan with the help of French car manufacturer Renault, under regency of Carlos Ghosn. The Skyline fans are now hoping and dreaming about an R35 capable of challenging top European cars. However, for obvious business reasons, Nissan decided to make a “user-friendly car”, very far from an R34 sportscar. It is this car, the Skyline 350 GT, which I will test for you today.
At first look, it is quite hard to find any resemblance between the R34 and the R35, and we actually move from a true sportscar enthusiasts machine to a sport coupe aimed at a different target audience: early 40s executives looking for sex-appeal.
Yes, this Skyline is more of a marketing product which goal is to help its manufacturer out of the gap rather than a car made and designed with the passion of motorsports in mind.
Actually, the point of view towards this new Skyline will vary depending on two possibilities :
1) You are a Skyline fan (historical)
2) You are a casual driver
Writing an article on a new Skyline is a difficult task because of the myth that it represents. As an automotive enthusiast I think that the R35 Skyline doesn’t have anything of a Skyline except its name. To me the R35 isn’t a Skyline and will never be.
So for this test I’ll take off my « fan » cap and go for the casual driver state of mind. Let’s not call this a Skyline but a 350GT.
Ever since the merger with Renault, Nissan has adopted a different strategy and now plans on proposing cars with a more « western feel » (American / European) and that's not quite the same when compared to what the Japanese were used to see in the Nissan showrooms.
This new spirit is a mix of modernism and refinement and the 350 GT is one element of this new family.
The design of the 350 GT is classy and elegant. The shape of the headlights seems to naturally follow the style of the hood. The large radiator grill is positioned above a pretty agressive and sports-like front bumper.
When looking at it from the side the GT appears as elegant as simple, and the only drawback would come from the back where the rear bumper just looks too big and thus give the car a « heavy » feel from behind. The style of the exhaust pipes doesn't make it any prettier.
However, we have to admit that the 19 inch alloy rims are superb and give the 350 GT a more « powerful » personality.
Time to take a look at the specs. For this version, Nissan decided to use the 3.5 litres V6 engine known as VQ35DE DOHC (24 valves). With this you’ll enjoy either 280 BHP (automatic transmission) or 298 BHP (6 speed manual transmission).
The 363Nm of torque is definitely not too much to move this 1550kg sports coupe.
As you can see these specs are good but the car doesn’t provide that « kick in the ass » feel that you could expect with this much power. Accelerations are strong but the overall engine feel is very linear and in the end the car feels pretty heavy.
The performances remain good with a 0-100km/h acceleration in a bit more than 6 seconds and a top speed of 240km/h for those who want their license to be taken away from them.
The main electronic safety system in the 350 GT is called VDC (Vehicle Dynamics Control), excellent traction is guaranteed in all conditions, and of course all types of airbags are part of the whole package.
As a whole, the design and the performance of the car are good, the downside comes from the interior... The style is fine and nice to look at, no the real problem lies elsewhere: the choice of the materials and the ergonomics. First of all, many parts of the interior are fit with “cheap” plastics from the gearbox shifter to the steering wheel and its design is totally outdated compared to the rest. The GPS and on-board CPU are pretty complicated to use and to get used to... a touch screen would have been much easier to deal with. As a 2+2 sports coupe, the 350GT is supposed to accept rear passengers without any problem and...it does! Even though there is not much space, any man or woman of average size will be able to sit comfortably and enjoy the good quality of the seats. At the front, things are different, seats are comfortable... fine, electric commands are nice and useful -but- their positions are simply going against all notions of common sense! The commands are situated in the left part of the seat and hit my leg and the more I drove the more I could feel it, not the best feeling for a comfortable cruise around town...
Last but not least: the electric system on the front seats to help rear passengers get in and out more easily. Sure, the idea is good, but it would have been better if the seat would come back to its initial position when finished. Instead, you have to do it yourself. My advice? Let people at the back get in and out on the passenger’s side!
As a conclusion I’d say that the Nissan 350GT is far from perfect but I have to admit it is a nice piece of a sports coupe with good performance. It is just too bad for this car to have such an unpleasant interior (ergonomics and materials). Last thing I would like to mention is the feel of the car (very similar to the Fairlady Z 350), here we clearly have a car aimed at an older customer range than the previous Skylines and while this could help Nissan find buyers on one side it might as well make others look for something different.
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