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.