nissan gt-r

11.23.09

Die Neue Zero to Sixty

With the help of YouTube, a lap around the legendary (and publicly accessible) Nürburgring in Germany is becoming a new gold standard of auto performance

By Mike Spinelli Posted 05.20.2008 at 4:02 pm 2 Comments

Back in 1946, Mechanix Illustrated writer "Uncle" Tom McCahill began measuring cars' performance by how quickly he could launch them from a standing start to 60 miles per hour. That measure, evocative in its simplicity, quickly became the standard for judging a passenger car's performance, and a perfect proxy for advertisers to capture the excitement of driving in a single phrase. Zero to 60 in a scorching 5.5 seconds!

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READ MORE ABOUT > corvette, F1, formula one, nissan, nissan gt-r, Nurburgring, racing, Video, youtube

Racing the Nissan GT-R: In Any Other Car, You'd Be Dead Now

PopSci’s new automotive guru flogs one of the year’s most anticipated sports cars—the 2009 Nissan GT-R

By Mike Spinelli Posted 04.11.2008 at 4:54 pm 5 Comments

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/Racing_The_2009_Nissan_GT_R';
This is the first post by PopSci's new Contributing Editor and automotive blogger, Mike Spinelli. An automotive-focused writer, blogger, and Sirius radio host, Mike left a career in technology market research to become founding editor of New York-based automotive website Jalopnik.com in 2004. Check back each day for his blog posts on PopSci.com, and watch for his byline in the magazine as well. —Eds.

Get on the brakes right here, says the voice in my head. Move to the inside and let the car drift outward to the right. Then cut in hard and itll set you up for this next tight bit. Now get right on the speed again. The voice was that of New Zealander Steve Millen, veteran race driver and instructor of journalists gathered to sample the 2009 Nissan GT-R. Earlier, with Millen at the wheel, wed shot through the same section of Nevadas Reno-Fernley raceway -- a 200-degree banked left called the Horse Shoe followed by a quick right that opens into a nearly straight run -- while he narrated the action as casually as if over a pot of Earl Grey. Now I was doing it solo and, I might add, astonishingly well.

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READ MORE ABOUT > Gran Turismo, Mike Spinelli, nissan, nissan gt-r, racing, test drive