Halo Cars do a lot for automakers. These aren’t volume sellers compared to the rest of the lineup but do a lot to boost the overall image of the brand and in turn sell in high numbers of their other vehicles. For luxury and high-performance automakers, halo cars are sometimes diluted down in order to add some specialness to their whole lineup. But with mainstream brands, this is not the case and a lot rides on these vehicles being successful for what they are intended.

One such example is the 2009 Nissan GT-R. This was the first model year for the GT-R in the United States, and it had a lot riding on it. Previous to the GT-R, all that Nissan had to show for themselves were rather bland Altimas and Versas. But things changed when the GT-R came out and it demonstrated that Nissan had more to offer than just econobox sedans.

This is everything to love about the 2009 Nissan GT-R

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Greatness…Turbocharged

Nissan GT-R 2010 Nismo r35
Nissan

The Nissan GT-R was one of the early adopters of cranking high performance out of smaller displacement engines which is wildly popular today. The 2009 GT-R had a 3.8-liter V6 gas engine that was twin turbocharged. The surprising thing is that at the time it had relatively the same sized engine as its smaller sports car sibling the 370Z which had a naturally aspirated 3.7-liter V6.

The makeup and size of the GT-R’s engine was in stark contrast to other brand’s halo cars at the time. Take the Dodge Viper for example which had the largest engine to be ever fitted into a production vehicle at a whopping 8.4 liters. Still with sporting a smaller engine, the 2009 GT-R still did well at solidifying its place as a viable supercar. It had a horsepower output of 480 and 430 pound-feet of torque.

Keeping Up With The Jonses For The Better Part Of A Decade

Auction Dilemma: Chevrolet Corvette Z06  Vs. Nissan GT-R
Via carsandbids.com

One of our favorite things about the 2009 GT-R is that it has been able to keep up with the cutthroat supercar segment for so long. Since 2009 the GT-R has remained relatively unchanged till now but regardless still does a lot to remain relevant among so many different competitors. It stands as a testament that the 2009 Nissan GT-R has done a decent job at futureproofing.

As many enthusiasts lovingly call the GT-R “Godzilla,” it lives up to its name of being menacing in its own way. Even as a bone-stock supercar, this vehicle has enough power to go around. But many hardcore Godzilla enthusiasts take it far beyond its stock limits and the result is some very insane examples of GT-Rs. Owning a 2009 GT-R means that you have had a supercar with astounding potential for 13 years and counting which can’t be said about all its supercar competitors. As its namesake alludes to, Godzilla doesn’t go down with a fight and a 2009 Nissan GT-R still impressing in 2022 is no different.