Exceeding Expectations

2007 will go down for me as the year in which two products I was eagerly anticipating completely and utterly blew past the high expectations I had of them.

The first of those products is, of course, the iPhone. Much has been written about the industry-shaking design of this device, and now, with the year rapidly coming to a close, it's popping up on more and more "Best of 2007" lists.

Nearly 12 months ago, I sat there at the Moscone Center, slack-jawed, as Steve Jobs revealed a phone unlike any other. Six month later, holding my brand new iPhone in my hand, I couldn't help but marvel at the realization that, not only was it as good as the demos I'd seen months before, it was better. Much better. And while the hype around this thing was truly epic, it was completely deserved.

Today, I am finding myself again with the gleeful realization that yet another product I'd been watching closely may just be better than I ever thought it could be. This time, it's a car, namely, the new Nissan GT-R. 

Three years ago, Nissan rolled out the GT-R concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. It was a strange-looking beast and I quickly forgot about it. The GT-R name is legendary in car aficionado circles as one of the most capable cars ever produced. It sold only in Japan, however, and never offered a partcularly fetching design, to say the least, and the new GT-R didn't seem to be heading down a different path at all. I filed it away in that portion of my brain devoted to useless automotive trivia and moved on.

Since then, Nissan announced that the GT-R would for the first time be available in the United States. And, with much credit to their marketing department, they began to trot out semi-disguised "prototypes" at tracks like the Nurburgring and events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed. While most manufacturers shroud their cars in black vinyl and try to dodge the lenses of the automotive "spy photographers," Nissan seemed to revel in using them to get some web time for their car. By the time it was officially released in Tokyo this fall, the GT-R was a well-known commodity.

My interest grew over this time, too. As the spy photos were revealing more of the final design, I was drawn to its simple, angular forms. And when the performance specifications were finally shared, the technology was more than impressive. A twin-turbo V6, driving 473hp and 478 lb-ft. of torque through a paddle-shifting 6-speed to all four wheels. Advanced suspension, traction control, braking and steering. A unique LCD in the dash with a customizable interface designed by the computer game designers at XXXX. And on and on and on. Now Nissan had my attention.

But I also had my doubts. Too often, cars that look great on paper turn out to bring with them serious compromises. The Porsche 911 offers stellar performance and luxury, but the price of admission is north of $85,000. The Dodge Viper and Corvette Z06 outperform cars three times their price, but poor build quality and materials (not to mention the "gold chain factor") make them a risky proposition. The latest Evolution from Mitsubishi looks less like a boy racer, but is now porkier and slower than its predecessor and is likely to be a $40,000 car when properly optioned. And Subaru's new Impreza STi has been hit so hard with the ugly stick inside and out that even if it halted global warming and cost $1.99, I'm not sure I could bring myself to buy it.

And so, with my high expectations in tow, today along comes Edmunds' Inside Line with the first test figures for the GT-R: 0-60 in 3.3 seconds. 11.6 seconds and 120mph in the quarter mile. 72.9mph in the slalom, besting the $130,000 Porsche 911 Turbo and Corvette Z06. Base price? $70,000. Again, I am slack-jawed.

Might it just be that this iPhone of the automotive world, widely anticipated and hyped beyond all reason, is better than most thought it would be? Than it could be? It just might be so. Said Edmunds:

Perhaps more impressive than the Nissan GT-R's brain-cell-punishing acceleration or its stellar handling is its price. At just under $70,000 it's within reach of the upper middle-class enthusiast who insists on spending disproportionate amounts of his income on a car.

Plus, it will take an average driver and hurdle them into a realm of speed they couldn't buy with a 911 Turbo. It's world-class fast and relatively cheap. And that's a hard combination to beat.

The cynic in me just doesn't know what to do with these kinds of experiences. Years and years of unmet expectations, inflated promises and marketing spin have left me guarded and wary. When someone finally rises above the challenges of cost and design and corporate politics to produce something so fundamentally 'right,' I feel almost obligated to offer my support. I own an iPhone, of course. Now I need a piggy bank to start saving for my GT-R.