Nissan GT-R review: Bahrain's cheapest real supercar experience
4.3/5motorssouq Editorial Team
Buy a Premium-spec car built after the 2017 nose update if you want the sharpest daily-usable version, and budget seriously for tyres, brakes and the mandatory Nissan-approved transmission service — skipping it voids the drivetrain warranty and has killed gearboxes on cars driven hard in Gulf heat. As a second car for someone who already owns something comfortable, nothing else this side of a Porsche 911 Turbo gets close for the money; as a first and only car in daily Manama traffic, the running costs and low front splitter will wear you down within a year.
Pros
- 3.8L twin-turbo V6 and AWD launch control still embarrass newer, pricier supercars
- Engineered to survive Gulf heat without the limp mode that catches lesser turbo cars
- Composed, quiet ride on causeway and highway runs
- Grey-import market keeps resale prices honest rather than status-driven
- Cooling and chassis over-engineered for track use, so road use is comfortably within its limits
Cons
- Thin authorised service network — one dealer plus a handful of independent specialists
- Runflat tyres and brakes are supercar-priced consumables
- Low front splitter and wide turning circle make old Manama streets stressful
- Skipping Nissan's transmission health check has killed gearboxes on hard-driven Gulf cars
The GT-R has outlived three generations of rivals by refusing to change its basic formula: a hand-built twin-turbo V6, a transmission-tunnel-mounted dual-clutch gearbox, and an all-wheel-drive system tuned to put down launch-control starts that still embarrass much newer supercars. The 2017 update softened none of that; it just made the nose cool itself better and the cabin easier to live with.
On the causeway and in Manama traffic
The GT-R was engineered around the idea that a car this fast has to survive real roads, and it shows on the King Fahd Causeway run to Saudi: the ride is firm but never crashes, the cabin stays quiet at 140 km/h, and the AWD system means a wet or sandy on-ramp is a non-event rather than a moment. In town it is a different story — the turning circle, the low front splitter over speed bumps, and a reversing camera that dates the interior all make it a car you park carefully and drive around, not through, the older parts of Manama.
Heat is the one area where Nissan's over-engineering pays off. The V6, its intercoolers and the transmission all carry cooling capacity sized for track use, so a 45°C August afternoon in stop-start traffic does not push the car into the protective limp mode that catches out lesser turbocharged performance cars in the Gulf.
Running one in Bahrain
This is where the ownership case gets honest. Tyres are a Dunlop or Bridgestone runflat made for almost nothing else, and a set does not last long if the car is driven the way it invites you to. Nissan's official transmission health check is not optional — it is the difference between a gearbox that lasts and one that does not — and the wider service network is thin: one authorised dealer, plus a handful of independent JDM and grey-import specialists who know the car properly.
Resale in Bahrain tracks the global grey-import market rather than local demand, so values move with what is happening in Japan and the US far more than with anything local. That is good news if you are buying, because it keeps prices honest; it is a reminder, either way, that this is an enthusiast's car bought with eyes open, not a status purchase with an easy exit.