That's not to say the model will go soft. In fact, the Japanese automaker may be eying the Porsche 918 or McLaren P1 as performance targets.
AutoGuide cites Matt McCulloh, co-founder of the North American GT-R Owners Club (and the first American to own a Nissan GT-R NISMO, apparently) as the expert on the subject. The next-gen GT-R, which is expected to be a 2020 model, will not only boast a hybrid engine but will have an even racier profile. McCulloh, like other observers, thinks the 2020 GT-R may look something like the Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo that was unveiled last fall, while McCulloh estimates that the car will sell in the $150,000 to $200,000 range (up from the $102,000 it sells for now). Nissan North America representatives didn't respond to a request for comment from Autoblog on Wednesday.
Nissan, which introduced the GT-R in 2007, showed off the 2017 version at the New York Auto Show earlier this month. The new model boasts a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 with increased performance, delivering 565 horsepower and 467 pound-feet of torque.
Meanwhile, Tony Palo of Texas's T1 Race Development has already taken a GT-R well into supercar territory. Earlier this week, Japan's Motorhead magazine ran a video showing his supertuned GT-R churning out almost 2,200 horsepower on the dyno (Palo says it can do more). This beast has also hit more than 379 km per hour in a half-mile run.
