7.3.09

pumpzilla! 782 hp pump-gas nissan gtr






If you look closely, you can make out the twin Garrett turbochargers feeding Tym Switzer's latest Ohio-born monster: a 626 AWHP Nissan GTR. If you allow for a fairly reasonable 20% driveline loss (about what you get from a 2WD AMG Mercedes) that 626 AHWP translates to a mind-boggling 782 horsepower at the crank.

That's seven-hundred and eighty-two horsepower. Madness.

Tym won't allow that 782 hp figure to get out - he likes playing it conservative, saying his P700's 626 AWHP "is a bit more than 700 at the crank" in the same easy tone of voice that a general might use to describe the way the A-bombs "neutralized" Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I'm not Tym, though, and if anyone asks me, I'm telling them to calculate the crank hp figure for themselves.





Switzer's official P700 press release (which I wrote - and which, despite my protests, does NOT contain the word "Pumpzilla") can be found, below.





Comparisons between Porsche's turbocharged 997 and Nissan's newest GTR have kept the automotive press pretty busy in recent months – with the general consensus being that the GTR stacks up against Stuttgart's performance icon pretty well, thank you very much. Now, however – a year after the GTR's debut – the first tuner GTRs are starting to reach customers ... which seems to beg the question: how do these tuned GTRs stack up against tuned Porsches?

Back in January, the thousand horsepower SLEDGEHAMMER 997 introduced the world to Tym Switzer and his Oberlin, Ohio-based tuning firm. With more than 15 years' experience tuning high-performance cars from Europe and Japan, Switzer is uniquely qualified to answer that question. “Compared to the Porsches, Nissan's 'Godzilla' is a different animal altogether. As an all-weather, four-passenger supercar, the GTR seems like it could appeal to the same kind of audience as the 997, but the GTR is much more of a 'digital' type of experience. It's really amazing how close these cars are, in terms of ultimate performance.”

Switzer would know: for the last few months, Switzer has been carefully studying the GTR, developing a series of sensible, high-performance bolt-ons aimed at producing a streetable GTR performance package that didn't force GTR owners to sacrifice reliability or drivability.

Called the P700, Switzer's new package promises more than 700 bulletproof crank horsepower on 93 octane pump gas. “I was always impressed with Nissan's application of certain technologies. One thing I was not impressed with was the amount of 'fluff' parts I was seeing being distributed for the cars or the 'banzai' sort of crank-the-boost with 100+ octane racing fuel antics I was seeing in the aftermarket. I knew that it was important to take a look at what the car was reliably capable of, and what was really going on within the platform.”





Switzer's first step was extensive data-logging and analysis. “We checked for pressure drops, temperature variations, everything. After replacing the stock turbos with application-specific custom units and our own unique MONSTER intercooler package, we slowly dialed up the boost, checking all the data again and again. Eventually, we ended up going beyond the limits of the standard ECU calibrations and hardware, so we built the necessary components and the data-gathering started again.

With more than 626 awhp and 583 lb-ft of awtq on tap, the Switzer P700 GTR is certainly set to deliver a driving experience that is many steps above Nissan's standard “Godzilla” GTR, without putting unnecessary stress on the GTR's driveline.

MSRP for Switzer's P700 GTR performance package is 16650 USD. Contact your Switzer Performance dealer for more information and compatibility with your current aftermarket hardware.

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