Nissan GT-R EGOIST is Here – Official Launch Day With Photos
Some scoffed when we broke the news that Nissan’s luxury pinnacle model of the Nissan GT-R would bear the moniker “EGOIST”. There it is though stuck firmly on the trunk of what was called the GT-R Spec-M through it’s development lifecycle.
It’s a nice looking badge ain’t it? Take a closer look at the one on the inside now because each EGOIST steering wheel GT-R emblem is hand crafted Maki-e by Wajimi lacquerware artist Mr. Sakae Kubota in Japan. This basically means it’s hand made lacquerware sprinkled with silver dust to bring out that silver coloring. The look of the badge will change as it ages which I’m told is one of it’s desirable qualities.
The same principals that are shown with the small details like that are applied throughout the car and are described by Nissan as follows:
EGOIST is the first and only Nissan GT-R in the world exclusively created by Takumi, or “master with greatest skills.” Each customer can choose a combination of interior colors among 20 choices. In addition, the Bose® sound system is exclusively tuned according to the driving position of each driver to meet every customer’s needs. This is the ultimate expression of the Nissan GT-R.
So artisanship and making the car your own are the big themes here. Mentioned is the color choices available, up to 20 different combinations in fact made up of 10 lower area colors (seats, passenger dash, doors, center console and so on) and 4 upper colors (roof lining, steering wheel, upper dash, carpet). You can see one such combination in the Nissan press photos of a Muelheim Brown lower and Muelheim Brown upper interior finished with brown stitching. The EGOIST’s leather is not only colorful but it’s hand selected and sewn by Seton Company in Germany by master craftsmen.
Other colors combinations EGOIST owners will have to choose from are:
- Muelheim Brown lower with Muelheim Brown upper
- Ruhr White lower with Ruhr White upper
- Ruhr White lower with GT Black upper
- Ruhr White lower with R-Red upper
- GT Black lower with GT Black upper
- GT Black lower with R-Red upper
- R-Red lower with GT Black upper
- R-Red lower with R-Red upper
- Espresso Brown lower with GT Black upper
- Espresso Brown lower with R-Red upper
- Caramel Beige lower with GT Black upper
- Caramel Beige lower with R-Red upper
- Mimolette Orange (new) lower with GT Black upper
- Mimolette Orange (new) lower with R-Red upper
- Aqua Grey lower with GT Black upper
- Aqua Grey lower with R-Red upper
- Shadow Grey lower with GT Black upper
- Shadow Grey lower with R-Red upper
- Sakura lower with GT Black upper
- Sakura lower with R-Red upper
In terms of performance changes, the EGOIST doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table. Yes there are some crossover components taken directly from the SpecV including:
- 20″ Rays forged aluminium wheels in a new Blue Sword Chrome color
- Titanium Exhaust system with those classic dual tips
- Carbon Fibre rear spoiler manufactured by Challenge
Apart from these however there’s very little to differentiate it from the Pure Edition GT-R, no carbon brakes, no mention of the SpecV turbochargers, fancy suspension, or even the special high-gear boost mode available on the SpecV.
There is a really special BOSE sound system to enjoy your favorite tracks on featuring carbon composite woofers and custom tweaking for every owner. If I had one though I can’t help but think I would enjoy the titanium exhaust note a whole lot more than a set of BOSE speakers.
Where the Nissan GT-R EGOIST is priced at launch, which is fair and square in SpecV territory of 15,000,300 yen, I can’t help think that they might have spent a little too much time improving on things that really weren’t broken to begin with and too little on making the EGOIST as special as it needed to be to command the premium.
It’s really a compliment to Nissan in that they’ve done such an amazing job on the basic Pure Edition at not much under half the EGOIST’s pricetag.
I’ll reserve final judgment until I see it in the flesh but since it won’t launch outside Japan for quite some time I think I might be waiting a while.
Images: Nissan Japan
Update: Nissan GT-R EGOIST concept and construction video added.
Archives
- July 2021
- January 2012
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007