Nissan responds to Porsche: We didn’t cheat

Nissan has responded to Porsche's claim that the Japanese automaker fudged its GT-R record lap time on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Australian web site "Drive" reports today that - at the Paris Motor Show - a spokesperson from Nissan Europe has told them that the matter has gone "quite high" at their corporate headquarters.

Earlier this week, at the presentation of the new 911 Targa in Verona, Italy, August Achleitner - a senior Porsche engineer, supervising the 911 model line - told Australian journalists that Porsche had purchased a stock GT-R and conducted their own Nürburgring tests with standard tires, claiming that they were unable to replicate the 7:29 min. lap time, published by Nissan to have been achieved in April.

Achleitner continued to explain that the GT-R was a good car, but there would be no way this lap time could have been achieved with everything stock, especially the tires.

Nissan spokesman Neil Reeve - in an effort to de-escalate - is quoted saying that Nissan is "..not going to get into a war of words with Porsche. 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. The GT-R comes with Bridgestone and Goodyear (Dunlop). One tire gives slightly better times around the 'Ring. We did it on Dunlop. They're available with the car".

He goes on to explain, that the potential GT-R or Porsche Turbo customer is not make a purchase decision lightly and would base his decision on extensive research, reading many magazine tests and independent verdicts.

He further states: "I'm cheeky enough to say it's flattering that Porsche have bought themselves a GT-R and flown it to Germany, they want to try it. I guess that's some kind of stamp of approval. It's great to have the competition. We're absolutely proud of the GT-R. It's a fabulous sports car, really epic."

Reeve also states that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of a rematch to settle the affair, however he did tell the journalists not to "blow things out of proportion".

(Source: Drive)