Nissan GT-R R35 Station Wagon
Conversion
By Jay Williams - 27/March/2009
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Nissan GT-R Station Wagon Conversion
Judging by those quad cannons in the rear bumper,
the engine could be the GT-R's 3.8 V6 worth 353kW
The Nissan GT-R Wagon - dreams car come true
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Aichi, Japan
–
The release of these jaw-dropping
photos showing a conversion from Japanese speciality tuner Kids Heart
is getting pulses racing.
Practical buyers all over the world
have been dreaming of something like this: wife in the front
seat,
three kids in the back, then blitzing a Porsche 911 Turbo from
the
traffic lights in the family wagon.
See, dreams can come true.
This unique
conversion combines the front end of the new Nissan GT-R with the
practical body of the Stagea M35 and was created by Kids Heart, the
same group who came up with the Sileighty (Sil80), which fused
the
Nissan 180SX with the Nissan Silvia's easier-to-come by front panels
and lights.
The Japanese-market Stagea was produced from 2001
to
2007 and is commonly referred to as the Nissan Skyline Station Wagon,
probably because it is based on the Skyline/Infiniti G35 V35 platform
and was offered with similar turbocharged engines.
Showcased at the Nagoya Auto Trend show, the GT-R
wagon conversion is one of those vehicles that gets people talking.
However, some of the talk being heard around the
office has been mixed.
Heath,
one of the part-time code monkeys who works on the technical side of
Web Wombat has three kids and says "he loves the car" and "that it's a
great compromise between family and sports" that doesn't have the
bank-breaking "price of an Audi RS6".
But my good mate Scott in admin, who is a die hard
Nissan Skyline fan, says "it's an abomination".
He reckons its an affront "to the Skyline heritage
and should never have been made."
Emotions are running high, but I like it.
It
looks mean with it's 'Gundam'-inspired lines, deep dish alloy
rims
and dropped ride height. It has a vivid design that stays true to
Japanese culture.
The overall design, much like the GT-R super
coupe, follows its own path and doesn't try to combine a
European
style into the design language.
It stays true to the Skyline philosophy and the
attention to detail that tuning group Kids Heart has put in is
impressive, with the shoulder line that travels from the flared front
wheel arch and flows freely through to the rear of
the car.
A quick glance at the rear of the vehicle see the
same sharp lines that are present throughout the cars styling.
Some people (okay, lots of people) have expressed
disgust at the back end style, but I think it's okay.
Large
tail lights start off on the horizontal plane and then become thinner
and travel upwards to the the roof where they are meet with what
appears to be a glass roof, so you can see the clouds on a nice day.
This
half family wagon, half sports car oozes aggression with it's four
jumbo exhaust tips tucked nicely into the expertly moulded rear bumper.
We'd
love to know what powers this vehicle, but finding the specifications
has been troublesome, and we've had no word from Japanese
speciality tuner Kids Heart on what kind of engine, chassis or
brakes that they are running.
It's probably based on the top-end
Stagea running gear, which included a 2.5-litre inline 6-cylinder twin
turbo engine that managed 206 kW (276hp).
If you ask me it
would be quite a shame if it wasn't equipped with the GT-R's all-new
twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 engine and all-wheel drive ATESSA
system
that pumps out 353kW of power and 588Nm of torque.
Nissan
will begin selling the GT-R coupe in Australia in April
from $148,800, and the Stagea is available in Australia via
the
Registered Automotive Workshop Scheme (RAWS), and you see a few
Stagea's doing the rounds in major cities.
If Nissan decided
to sanction the Kids Heart conversion for the GT-R (which is about as
likely as cold fusion) I'm sure it would make for some hefty
competition against the likes of Audi's RS6 Avant and the BMW M5 Tourer.
Related Links:
- Nissan
GT-R (2009)
- Nissan
370Z (2009)
- Nissan
350Z (2007 Road Test)
- Nissan
Qazana Concept (2010)
- Nissan
Dualis (2008)
- Nissan
X-Trail (Road Test)
- Nissan
Micra (Road Test)
- Nissan
Silvia/200SX (2010)
- Nissan Maxima (Road Test)
-
Nissan
Tiida (Road Test)
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