As expected, Nissan has responded to Porsche's claims that the GT-R isn't quite as fast as they say it is. In fact, representatives for the German automaker suggested that Nissan may have used racing slicks to achieve the 7:29:03 lap time of the Nürburgring. Says Nissan, "The final word from us is that it was done on absolutely standard tires which are available to customers in the showroom. They're not trick tires - absolutely standard tires, normal road tires."

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Nissan announced today a price increase for the 2009 GT-R, raising the MSRP nearly $7,000 from $69,850 to $76,840. The price for the Premium model has been increased even more, going from $71,900 to $79,090 in one fell swoop. Fortunately, the adjusted prices do not affect customers who placed their orders with dealers before September 5. Nissan cited increased material costs as the reason for the adjustment.

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Cobb Tuning has re-engineered its AccessPort control unit for the new R35 Nissan GT-R. For those of you lucky enough to own a GT-R and not content with its performance out of the box, the $995 AccessPort will reflash the ECU to any one of six different tuning levels.

There are three levels each for Stage 1 and Stage 2. Stage 1 can get you up to 63 additional ponies and 70 lb.-ft. of additional twist, while Stage 2 can boost the numbers by 70 and 90 respectively. The AccessPort can also save your stock ECU data and reflash it when you decide you're finished with all that extra gumption. According to a GT-R owner who tried it out, you can be blowing past all those regular GT-Rs in less than an hour.

Road & Track just spilled the beans on the new Nissan GT-R Spec V, so we can now share their data with all of you. Thanks guys. While the "regular" GT-R is busy bringing down giants and collecting hardware in the process, the new GT-R Spec V promises to improve on the formula, and probably cure cancer or bring about world peace along the way. Here are the numbers: 2 seats only, 520 hp @ 6500 rpm, 440 lb.-ft. of torque all the way from 3200-5200 rpm, 3615 lbs., 'Ring laps quicker than 7:30, $130,000 MSRP, early 2009.

Nissan maintains that the GT-R is mechanized perfection that could never be improved upon (never mind that V-Spec over there), but that's not going to stop owners from attempting to extract every last bit of performance from Nissan's super coupe.

The Nissan GT-R is a fire-breathing monster, both on the track and on the canyon roads of Southern California. It's been the biggest buzz vehicle of 2008 and could be the most impressive sports car in the history of Nissan. The GT-R is a media star that attracts attention everywhere it goes not on looks, but on the potential to send concrete crying to its mama. Why, then, would there ever be a reason for Nissan to issue a drop-top version of Godzilla? Convertibles add weight and reduce structural rigidity, which doesn't exactly help the GT-R hold up its standing as the king of the 'Ring.