Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
Nissan GT-R
When it comes to modifiying Nissans, no one does it better than ex-pat Kiwi Steve Millen.
Hulme, Amon and McLaren: three Kiwi names that any race fan associates with New Zealand motorsport. Decades ago, these three guys put our country on the world motorsport stage, dominating Formula 1 at a time when most people hadn’t even heard of New Zealand, let alone been here.
Fifty years on, and among the sea of driving talent coming out of this country, there is one family that has been louder than most in the quest to carry on the legacy of those three men: the Millens.
Rod Millen and his sons Rhys and Ryan, are all renowned drivers in their chosen disciplines. Rod has driven everything and is famed for his rally and hill climb exploits.
Rhys is a Formula D drift champion, while Ryan is an offroad racer.
But even with these illustrious relations, it is arguably Rod’s brother Steve who has done most for the family name.
Beginning in 1969, Steve forged a career as a full time racer, moving from hill climbs, to Formula Ford, to rally then stadium off-road truck racing in the States, in which he won three national championships.
Not one to sit on his laurels, Steve moved on to Indy Lights, then the famed IMSA GTS championship. It was during this time in the now defunct sports car series that a relationship was forged between Millen and Nissan — Steve even won the 1992 championship in a 300ZX.
Some years before, Steve had started his own business, Stillen. Stillen produced high-end performance parts, and once the relationship with Nissan was formed, Steve knew exactly what to specialise in. Stillen began producing all manner of upgrades for vehicles like the 300ZX, the Maxima, Sentra and later the 350 and 370Z. Within a few short years, Stillen had become synonymous with high-performance Nissans.
In early 2007 the Japanese manufacturer was finally ready to release its much anticipated R35 GT-R, and turned to Millen to help introduce it.
“Nissan hired me to show the car to US, Canadian and British media,” Steve says. “It was during that time that I realised just how good the GT-R was. It was perfect for Targa rallying, especially.”
When Steve finally got his hands on a GT-R of his own, he went straight to work building the ultimate machine with which to hit Targa events.
First, the hefty 1770kg GT-R had to go on a serious diet. The interior was completely stripped out, heavy factory leather seats were replaced with custom carbon/Kevlar items and many exterior parts were swapped with carbon fibre reproductions. By the end, Steve’s GT-R was more than 200kg lighter.
Targa stages are tight and difficult, and Steve knew that although the car had plenty of space age technology, he was still going to be fighting against the GT-R’s generous size unless some serious upgrading was undertaken.
To get the big Nissan through the corners, Steve teamed up with Penske to develop a set of adjustable coil-overs. They enable the Stillen team to tweak ride height, bump and rebound, and, combined with Stillen adjustable rear camber arms and Stillen five-way adjustable sway bars, they make for a taught and precise driving experience.
Under the carbon bonnet, things are surprisingly original. Although Steve was more than capable of installing bigger turbochargers on each bank, there was no real need, since Targa racing requires power right throughout the rev range, not just at the top. Even so, with a new Stillen exhaust and intake, a pair of bigger intercoolers, a Cobb re-flash of the ECU and a Turbosmart boost controller wound up to 15psi, the car now makes 462kW at the fly, up from 357kW, and good enough for an independently tested 2.9-second 0-100 sprint.
The GT-R also benefits from the great relationship between Stillen and brake specialist AP Racing. A massive set of ceramic stoppers has been developed for the car. “The new brakes weigh half what the original ones did and they feel terrific,” Steve tells us.
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