SECRET TEST DRIVER FOR GT-R REVEALED - Mohammed Ben Sulayem in exclusive test drive of Nissan Super-car

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (13 January, 2008) – Nissan can now reveal that the Middle East motor sport hero, who was one of the first to test the legendary Nissan GT-R before it was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show earlier in 2007, is none other than the famous Middle East Rally driver Mohamed Ben Sulayem.

Nissan invited Rally driver Ben Sulayem to test drive the Nissan GT-R super car at an undisclosed race track location in Japan in late 2006, ahead of its official launch in Japan last year. In the presence of Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, who also tested the super car, Ben Sulayem took the advanced super-car through its paces and tested the GT-R thoroughly on the highly technical mountain test track. His initial findings and comments on the car came parallel to the claimed ultra-high capabilities and performance of the legendary Nissan GT-R by Nissan. The verdict was according to Bin Sulayem clear – nothing is normal about the new GT-R.

“High performance cars have a tendency to handle best only when driven by experienced drivers yet the GT-R has the handling, transmission, traction and performance to enable anyone to drive this car with ease. This makes the GT-R stand out from other super-cars – it enables performance from anyone,” explained Ben Sulayem.

“Nissan sees the Middle East as key growth market and is proud to build on this association by bringing in a leading motor sports driver to test the Nissan GT-R. We are very proud to see such a positive response from Mohammed Ben Sulayem and are pleased to see the high level of Nissan engineering, design, performance and comfort shine through the GT-R, demonstrating that there is a little bit of GT-R in every Nissan,” said Toru Hasegawa, Managing Director of Nissan Middle East.

Nissan would like to see the GT-R as a world-class super-car, and therefore equipped it with a powerful and brand new V6 3.8-litre twin turbo engine, producing some whopping 480 hp (Japanese specs), a wide torque spread, good fuel economy and low emissions. The engine powers an independent transaxle 4WD system – according to Nissan a world first - that continuously adjusts torque front-to-rear and vice versa. A new six-speed paddle shift dual-clutch gearbox featuring the exceedingly quick gearshift plus full automatic function for ease-of driving. The big ventilated Brembo disc brakes should offer immense stopping performance.

The Nissan GT-R’s lightweight body, which uses a new combination for the first time (Nissan's 'Premium Midship'), features die cast aluminium, carbon fibre and advanced steel and has a class-leading aerodynamic drag co-efficient of just 0.27 Cd, one of the world's slickest cars.

Dampers, gear shift and VDC-R (Vehicle Dynamic Control) are all manually adjustable, by simple switches on the dashboard. The GT-R includes a multi functional instrument display, designed by the people who did the graphics for the Sony PlayStation Gran Turismo game.

Nissan says that the Nissan GT-R was born with a challenger spirit as one of the most accomplished and technologically advanced high performance car ever made, and hopes it will be able to compete with the other German, American and Italian competitors.