Home / Social media / News / Wanna see an iconic Calsonic R32 GT-R doing Godzilla things? Now's your chance!

WANNA SEE AN ICONIC CALSONIC R32 GT-R DOING GODZILLA THINGS? NOW'S YOUR CHANCE!

Ok, so this isn’t that Calsonic R32 GT-R, it’s a stunning recreation of the iconic car that dominated racing in its heyday. The original Calsonic GT-R is too valuable to be thrashed around in anger, and so it resides at Nissan’s Heritage Museum in Japan. The car has an awesome history, and for those that didn’t have access to the races back when the car was kicking ass, it gained even more notoriety thanks to being an option in a few different Grand Turismo games. In the game, it was properly fast and it was one of the cars that everybody wanted. In real life, the Calsonic GT-R is a legendary figure in motorsport history, renowned for its dominance in Group A racing during the early 1990s when it earned the Godzilla nickname. Introduced in 1990, the Calsonic was designed to outperform its competitors in the Japanese Touring Car Championship - and it did just that. The car made an immediate impact during its debut in the 1990 JTCC season at the hands of local drivers Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Toshio Suzuki - they took the car to the top podium spot for 5 of the 6 races. Hoshino clinched the championship title, but only because he covered more distance over the season. The success story continued in subsequent years; in 1991, the Calsonic GT-R secured three more victories and in the 1992 season newcomer Masahiko Kageyama joined Hoshino, and together they achieved another three wins. The pinnacle of the car’s fame came about in 1993 when the duo won four races, with Kageyama earning the championship title. The most impressive thing is that an R32 GT-R racked up an amazing 29 consecutive race victories from 1990 to 1993, with the Calsonic GT-R contributing to over half of these wins. If there was a way to add in all the wins that it’s had over the years in all the games the car is in, it will surely have some sort of record.

Nissan designed it as a high-performance car with cutting-edge technology, featuring that now iconic RB26 DETT powerplant, the twin-turbocharged 2.6-litre inline-six twin-turbo powerhouse capable of producing only 276 hp due to Japan's "gentleman's agreement" - the informal agreement among Japanese automakers in the late 1980s, designed to limit the advertised power output of their vehicles to no more than 206 kW in an attempt to discourage an arms race in performance that could result in dangerous speeds on public roads. The R32 GT-R was equipped with advanced technology for its time, including the ATTESA E-TS all-wheel-drive system and the Super-HICAS four-wheel steering. These features provided superior handling and stability, giving it a competitive edge on the racetrack and the road. There are many owners out there who have made their street cars look like the Calsonic GT-R, but what you see here is more than just a car with iconic livery, it’s a purpose-built beast of a thing that can take out many, many newer cars on the track. The car was built by Ric Wood Motorsport based in Stockport, England, a company that has extensive experience in fiddling with these Japanese beasts. The crew from Motive Video, who are themselves more well-versed in all things GT-R than most, caught up with Ric and the team at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. They sat down with the man to get the low down on their version of the Calsonic GT-R - impressive doesn’t even begin to describe it. Their version retains the legendary twin-turbocharged RB26 DETT but it’s far from stock. When the boost is cranked to 2.0 bar, this Godzilla pushes out a massive 750 kW (1,020 hp) to the wheels. Other features include a centre-lock hub setup, a homologated Group A front and rear suspension setup, AP Racing calipers all round and a seam-welded and triangulated chassis built from a rust-free shell.

Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off this amazing replica of the iconic Calsonic R32 GT-R at Goodwood while Motive's Ric Wood takes a closer look at the car and explains a bunch of things that make the car so interesting and why it's so damn fast: Secrets of the Calsonic R32 Group-A Replica - Talking GT-Rs with Ric Wood | Motive Video

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