NISMO has finally released all the details on its line of upgrades for the R35 Nissan GT-R, and per usual, there's good news and bad news.
On the positive side, the parts are the typical blend of OEM quality and fitment, with a focus on tighter handling and weight reduction. The Club Sport tuning package includes the Chassis pack made up of race-tuned Bilstein Damptronic adjustable dampers sheathed in 18.5kg/mm (front) and 9.6 kg/mm (rear) springs. The combination of rock-hard coils and adjustable damping at both low and high speeds should make the GT-R stickier in the corners and more stable while bombing through a fast sweeper. Rounding out the handling package is a set of Rays forged aluminum wheels, sized 20x9.5-inches in front (+45mm offset) and 20x10.5-inches (+25mm offset) in the rear, and wrapped in Bridgestone RE070R run-flats, sized 225/40 and 285/35, front and rear. These are rumored to be the same rollers we'll see on the Spec-V when it's unveiled in Paris this October.

The rest of the parts focus on weight reduction, beginning with a lightweight axle-back exhaust that drops 11 pounds from the GT-R's curb weight, along with a carbon fiber undertray that reduces air turbulence and parasitic drag. Upgraded carbon-fiber backed and leather-trimmed seats are also part of the package, which retains the side airbags but nixes the electronic controls, reducing weight by another 13 pounds total. Naturally, some NISMO badging rounds out the upgrades.

Now here's the bad news: the parts are only available in Japan as a package, can only be installed by 12 NISMO-authorized shops and come in at a whopping ¥5,460,000 (over $50,000). However, some U.S. importers have already worked out a distribution deal with NISMO, but for those of us in the States, we don't get the added benefit of the three-year/60,000 km warranty.

Nissan announced today a price increase for the 2009 GT-R, raising the MSRP nearly $7,000 from $69,850 to $76,840. The price for the Premium model has been increased even more, going from $71,900 to $79,090 in one fell swoop. Fortunately, the adjusted prices do not affect customers who placed their orders with dealers before September 5. Nissan cited increased material costs as the reason for the adjustment.

Since the GT-R is already one of the best performance bargains on the market today and customers are paying a premium to own one, we doubt that the price increase will have any effect on sales. Still, $7,000 is a serious chunk of change that could go towards aftermarket toys from Cobb Tuning or HKS.

Would Nissan build a GT-R sedan? Does such a car make any sense? Yes of course it does. Will Nissan make it though? The company denies it will, through no less a figure than CEO Carlos Ghosn. Nevertheless rumours depicting this kind of vehicle continue unchecked and now Best Car magazine has released these renderings of a supposed GT-R four-door.

The car would be almost identical to its coupe ancestor on which it would be based, bar a few details like the two extra doors and some minor trim changes. Staying the same is its 3.8-litre twin turbo V6 stomping out a good 480hp (353kW) and 588Nm (433 lb-ft), which would put it in the realm of Chrysler 300C SRT 8s, Audi S6s and current BMW M5s. That is why a GT-R sedan makes sense as a concept, but may have to up its power output to compete with next-generation versions of these saloons.

A super-saloon spin-off from the Nissan GT-R could soon be giving BMW’s M5 a run for its money round the Nurburgring.

Unconfirmed reports from Japan say Nissan engineers are actively evaluating a four door built on a stretched version of the GT-R platform, with a view to introducing a new flagship to the luxury Infiniti brand in 2011.

The new Infiniti saloon will feature all the chassis technology that has let the GT-R coupe show a clean pair of heels to Porsche around the Nurburgring recently (controversial!), but the high cost of the coupe’s 473bhp twin turbo V6 means it won’t be featured. Instead, latest reports say we should expect to see a retuned version of the 5.0L V8 engine currently powering the Infiniti FX50 ‘off-roader’ shoehorned under the bonnet of the ‘Infiniti GT-R’.

Sources suggest an output of around 420bp is on the cards, significantly down on the output of European super-saloon rivals. However, with the GT-R’s intelligent ATTESA-ETS AWD system and six-speed dual-clutch transaxle carried over, it will be interesting to see how the lack of outright muscle translates into track times – although Nissan insiders have apparently conceded that any Infiniti flagship will be tuned for luxury before ultimate performance.