Nissan GT-R disables speed limiter on race tracks via GPS

We know auto enthusiasts are never too stoked when it comes to contending with those pesky government-mandated speed limiters, but a bit of encouraging news on that front incoming from Japan (as usual). The Japanese Nissan GT-R, street limited to a pedestrian 111mph, can apparently use its built-in GPS unit to detect Japanese race circuits and disable its speed limiter accordingly. Next up: hacked-in geo-feeds of speed limit free roads 'round the world for GT-R owners to patch into their cars?

[Andrew @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:24PM]

This car is stacking up to be one of the most technologically advanced in production.

[spyder91 @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:19AM]

Until your GPS loses signal on a track and your engine cuts your power subsequently enabling you to be rear ended by the driver behind you which shoves you off of the road and into a tree.

[Juaquin @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:56AM]

Real tracks don't have trees you can just run into - either the track is surrounded by a wall, or it's just grass on the sides. If there were trees, a wall would be placed between the trees and track for this very reason. Although you bring up a good point - is there some tolerance for lost signals?

[Jon Doe @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:02AM]

KITT still kicks its ass.

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 11:09AM]

Jon Doe: No, no it doesn't.

[BigBirdUK @ Dec 23rd 2007 6:43PM]

Andrew - it's nice, but it's no Bugatti!

[Andrew @ Dec 24th 2007 1:46AM]

Do note that I said "one of the most". After all, I am a Veyron fanboi.

[James @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:26PM]

Speed limit this post speed!

[Josh L @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:28PM]

Is it really more efficient (from a manufacturing standpoint) to make engines that can go that fast and then have to introduce another system to limit them, than to just make engines that can't go that fast?

I am genuinely curious.

[Josh Warner @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:01AM]

From a manufacturing standpoint, almost certainly not.

From a sales standpoint though...

[paul34 @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:12AM]

Liability is the name of the game. Also, manufacturing costs.

There are several production class cars that can exceed 200+ MPH. But they are electronically limited to 155. Why? It's not just for liability reasons.

If you have a 200 MPH car, you need 200 MPH tires. You need 200 MPH aerodynamics. You need a transmission and engine cooling system that can handle constant 200 MPH. Every component of the vehicle can NOT fail at 200 MPH (or it will mean death).

It's much cheaper to make a car that can perform at 155. Everything involved in making a car increases exponentially when you approach and exceed 200 MPH. This is why not everyone can get past 220-240 MPH. It's very difficult to even get to that level of automotive engineering.

[Shiftlock @ Dec 23rd 2007 7:05AM]

A limited engine may not be fast, but the car is still quick. How often does one have the opportunity to drive over 111 mph anyway? Still, people who buy this car will still lenjoy the ability to make a lightening-fast highway pass, or blow away your buddy from a stoplight. A car that's quick will naturally be fast as well, and that becomes a liability which needs to be governed out by the manufacturer. And then there's bragging rights, which is another issue...

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 10:57AM]

It's only limited to that speed in Japan. We're much more liberal on the issue in the U.S. Almost every car in the EU is built with a gentleman's agreement that limits it at 150-160mph. Some exceptions are Koenigsegg, Pagani, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc.

[Josh @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:31PM]

Don't forget Bugatti... 254 mph is quite a bit higher that 150 ;)

As for the people talking about liability of the manufacturer - yes and no. First off, insurances will run and hide when cars are capable of going over 200. Second, the GT-R has a top speed of 196 or there abouts. Third, it can sure as hell handle the speed, as the tires are specially made for the car, and if you can afford this car, you can afford to keep good tires on it, not to mention, screaming up to 60 is quite possibly just as rough on a car as top speed, of course when you stop at 60 in less than 5 seconds it isn't much of a problem. Now because the top speed of the unmandated car is 196, it is well under the point at which you start needing supremely strong gear, just strong gear is necessary, after all the bugatti veyron only needs 250hp to get up to 200-ish mark, it needs to be able to handle the other 750 hp and the massive torque etc etc only after that mark. I guess what i am going at is that there is no reason this car should be limited to a paltry 111, my 96' lexus can do that.

[Snipermonky @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:46PM]

Nice to see Nissan playing nice with the consumer. Its law in Japan to have limiters, Sunday drivers and enthusiasts will love this.

[kapow @ Dec 23rd 2007 6:51PM]

I didn't know Jeremy Clarkson posted on engadget, I could of sworn that was quoted directly from his latest DVD.

However, if this really is Jeremy Clarkson, when can we expect you to give this (the new GTR) a good thrashing? :)

[paul34 @ Dec 23rd 2007 9:07PM]

HAHA! kudos to you for catching that =D.

Yes, it's true... it's pretty much straight from the Clarkson's mouth. But hey, I really saw the logic in his argument there.

[Kevin @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:20AM]

That's a really cool idea!
Abiding by government laws while not stepping on the toes of the enthusiasts who use the cars for what they're designed for.

[packetsniffer @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:21AM]

My favorite part is the 45 seconds spent cutting jeans with scissors. That was really hot.

[Tony Rayo @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:29AM]

Only way I will be getting my hands on this car is in GT5... well at least I can go faster than 111mph, in extreme with at that, without killing myself and/or several clowns (nature's speedbumps).

[KC @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:35AM]

That would be pretty fun to jam the GPS signal of the GT-R that you are going to race =)

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:54AM]

Yeah and it'd be even funnier to see the FCC, FBI, and the FEDS come take your a$$ away, live on national tv.

[KC @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:03AM]

Doubt they would care if you were racing in Japan. Did you read the article?

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 10:59AM]

It won't take long for someone to override the ECU.

[Mr. H @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:46AM]

I hate this. When has a car company ever been sued or held responsible for what the owner did on the road in a car made by their company? Never to my knowledge. Why do they feel like they need to baby me, and dictate what speeds I go where?

[James @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:53AM]

The Law?

[Mr. H @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:00AM]

There's no law in the US, or any country in Europe that says your car has to be limited. And though I'm not positive, I don't think there's one in Japan either.

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 11:01AM]

There are laws in Japan just for this. There's a gentleman's agreement in EU, but the supercar producers don't follow it. Same thing with the U.S.

[Oak @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:58PM]

Never, to my knowledge. However, it's not far off. Basically it's no different than what happened to Napster. Just because Napster had the capabilities to allow people to share music and such, they were held liable. So if a car company makes a vehicle capable of exceeding the posted speed limit, why shouldn't they be held responsible? I don't agree with it, but it's the community that's forcing us to be babysat because people are to chicken to take responsibility for their own actions and want to lay blame elsewhere. So yeah, now you have governors on cars so the company can say they followed all necessary protocols to keep your dumb ass from killing yourself.

[Walter @ Dec 24th 2007 12:50AM]

Porsche was sued for the GT crash in California.

http://www.sportscarmarket.com/content/carrera

Sad.

[TJ @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:00AM]

What does that have to do with a gt-r speed limit? Damn SPAM

[Reid Conti @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:02AM]

... Or just disable the speed limiter entirely like everyone else does. 111mph sounds a bit slow -- like, Chevy trucks are frequently limited to 105 or 100 IIRC. German cars (Porsche excluded) are voluntarily limited to 155, to appease the greens, though most manufacturers will remove the limiter if you ask them to.

The new Skyline will probably be able to go from a legal 75 or 80 to 111mph in a few short seconds.

[Ahmed @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:09AM]

How long till they come up with an unlock that lets you drive full speed on unauthorized carri...ehm...roads??

[Kyle Simmons @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:21AM]

Our sources say that the US version has a limiter set at 250KM(156mph) but there is no GPS communication to the ECU to cut the limiter. This means anyone who wants to go faster must crack the ECU.

[erhan @ Dec 23rd 2007 3:37AM]

Your sources? can u provide a link to article. thanks.

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 11:03AM]

Almost every sports car that comes to the U.S. is similarly limited, that's what's expected.

[Rymix @ Dec 23rd 2007 3:29AM]

Tiny, teeny little step between this and automatically-imposed street speed limits and 'anonymous' speed data being sent to the boys in blue.

-1 bad idea.

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 4:07AM]

This seems like something that could definately be used to remove the speed governor without dicking with the car's computer system, a potentially disastrous action.

Could it really be that hard to trick a GPS unit into thinking you're somewhere you aren't?

Ian Flemming teaches us it could be done by a media mogul out for something good to cover, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard for the average consumer (If GT-R owners are to be considered average) to do the same.

[Dixonij @ Dec 23rd 2007 4:34AM]

I don't think Ian Fleming had anything to do with that steaming pile of turd of a movie writing wise (ie not based off a book of his, only the Bond character) that they used GPS trickery in...

[Mike @ Dec 23rd 2007 5:27AM]

"street limited to a pedestrian 111mph"
I don't think so. Japan, like most of the world, is a metric country. So, the speed is more likely 111 km/h. The actual speed limit in Japan, btw, is 100 km/h on the national highway system.

[Stephen Tordoff @ Dec 23rd 2007 6:00PM]

Or it is limited to 180 km/h, and Engadget / AutoBlog converted to 111 mph, a measure which many people are familiar with

AutoBlog: "... the GT-R's integrated computer limits the vehicle's speed in Japan to 111 mph (180 km/h) ..."

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 11:04AM]

If you read the article you'd know it was 111 mph.

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 11:00AM]

There are laws in Japan just for this. There's a gentleman's agreement in EU, but the supercar producers don't follow it. Same thing with the U.S.

[car nut @ Dec 24th 2007 1:29AM]

Japan has a Gentelman's Agreement of 180kmh (111 - 113mph for you Yanks) ... they also have a Gentleman's agreement of 205kw (270hp for you guys again) which I think has been recently abolished already but as far as I know the speed limiter stands ...

as to why have soooo much power/torque and so limited top speed ... its coz we non-Americans place more value with acceleration, stopping power and cornering abilities (unlike you Yanks having more drag strips and oval tracks than proper racing tracks) that we dont need speed to get to where we want fast enuf ...

this is true with WRC (World Rally Championship) cars who only has 300hp but tons of torque, most of the rally cars never exceed a top speed of 220kmh (135-138mph) but is still capable of sub-4sec 0-100kmh (0-60mph) standing starts on 90% of their rally courses ...

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 11:07AM]

I like how EU guys always think that all Americans are Nascar loving drag strip hillbillies that own Mustangs. I for one have a dedicated track E30 at Road America, Autobahn Country Club, and Gingerman.

[bjrcboy @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:48PM]

Oh please get over yourself. Not all Americans love nascar and the NHRA. Personaly I dislike both but lack of proper road courses? As boring as NASCAR is to watch(for me atleast) it takes a tremendous amount of skill to man handle a vehicle around the oval at those speeds. I know most open wheel racers hate oval racing and think it lacks any skill but, many have tried to make the jump to nascar with no sucess.

Just because its different doesnt mean its worse. Pull your head out of your ass will you?

[palehorse @ Dec 24th 2007 12:06PM]

YAYYY! I just love hearing about governments saving people from themselves! I just wish that they would regulate more aspects of our lives!

/sarcasm off

[Harry @ Dec 24th 2007 6:44PM]

For those that don't already know, Polyphony Digital, the company behind Gran Turismo was contracted by Nissan to create the in-car control interface for the GT-R (the image above). The line between reality and Gran Turismo blurs more with each edition.

[Daniel @ Feb 6th 2008 10:43PM]

My mom has a Carrera GT and a Maseratti MC12 who could kick the GT-R's ass! They both have a limited top speed of 205 mph