Video: Garage419 races Nissan GT-R against Hertz Rental Corvette with NOS

By: JF Musial

Thirty years ago, driving a high performance car on the track took a lot of balls. There were no computers actively balancing the suspension while driving at the limit. Either you took a turn properly or you wound up in the wall. Today, we have cars like the Nissan GT-R; a car that will make any amateur look just as good as a professional.  The GT-R is no doubt a great car, especially for under $100,000. But is it really all that its cracked up to be?  We wanted to find out, with a typical American test. The drag race.

Last month, while on location in Los Angeles for the auto show, we were given the opportunity to test drive the new Nissan GT-R. Our good friends at Streetfire.net provided us the car for a week and even said we could use launch control.  Gene, one of the Producers on Garage419, has always been anti GT-R. While we were out in the field test driving and filming the car, Gene did everything he could to convince us that Godzilla was no more than just a silly man dressed up in a costume. The heated arguments eventually led to a bet between him and our host, Matt Farah.

The challenge was simple: Gene claimed that with $500, he could beat the GT-R. We put him to the test as we gave him $500 from our production budget and told him to meet us the next day at Race Legal in San Diego; an event established by former police offers looking to cut down illegal street racing. Guess what Gene did….