Back in September 2009 a class action settlement was reached between a Nissan GT-R owner that had his transmission destroyed by the Nissan GT-R’s overpowering Twin Turbo V6 engine dumping all of it’s power to all 4 wheels off the line while having the GT-R’s VDC switch in the off position. The VDC switch was commonly re-named the “Warranty Void” switch, since Nissan required new Nissan GT-R owners to sign papers acknowledging that driving with VDC off can void the warranty unless used when trying to get the GT-R out of being stuck in the mud or snow.

In the official class action papers provided for download below, Nissan admits to nothing stating “Nissan denies all the allegations in the lawsuit. More specifically, Nissan denies that there was a design or manufacturing defect, denies misrepresenting the performance capabilities of the 2009 GT-R, and denies that it refused to honor customer warranties for resulting damage without disclosure.”

2009 Nissan GT-R owners should be receiving the papers in the mail this week with an offer to upgrade their Nissan GT-R’s with “a free Transmission Control Module programming upgrade, Nissan will not deny warranty coverage for transmission damage based on VDC OFF usage prior to the date of this Notice.”

Upon submitting a timely and proper Claim Form and after a reasonable processing period, a $75 coupon (transferable to a subsequent GT-R purchaser) for service at a GT-R Certified Nissan dealership. The warranty period continues to run from the date the vehicle was delivered to the first retail buyer or put into use, whichever is earlier.

Nissan has also agreed to pay Plaintiff Torres $31,500, which includes $25,000 as reimbursement for the expenses Plaintiff Torres incurred when he replaced the transmission on his 2009 GT-R; $1,500 for reimbursement for costs associated with pursuing this class action; and $5,000 as an incentive fee for pursuing the class action.

It should be noted that 2009 Nissan GT-R owners should respond to the papers as their legal rights can be affected if they do not respond. You can download the full 6 page settlement papers below:

2009 Nissan GT-R Class Action Settlement PDF

Here is some  sibling V10 rivalry with a brand new Audi R8 drag racing heads up against a Lamborghini LP560-4 at Island Dragway, NJ.  Both cars have the same V10 motor, with the Lamborghini LP560-4 putting out 560HP while the Audi gets a slightly detuned version producing 520HP.   The difference in horsepower along with the LP560′s lighter weight are clearly demonstrated with the LP560 running 11.7 @ 122 MPH and the Audi R8 running 12.0 @ 116.5 MPH.  While the LP560-4 had a much better time and trap speed, it was a very close race to the end as the Audi must have got the jump from the start.

Neither of the cars ran that great as we’ve seen much better runs for both, browse through other times we have for both cars and watch the video below:

http://www.dragtimes.com/Lamborghini–Gallardo-Drag-Racing.html

http://www.dragtimes.com/Audi–R8-Drag-Racing.html

Take a look at one of the highest trapping BMW M3 Coupes we’ve seen. Drew outfitted his 2008 BMW E92 M3 with a Gintani Stage 2+ supercharger, Gintani intake,  midpipe, Gintani front mounted intercooler,  Meth injection, along with some custom ECU tuning and H&R suspension modifications. Run only 8 PSI, the supercharged M3 put down 515 horsepower to the wheels and 340 ft-lbs of torque through the DCT (dual clutch transmission).

On a set of drag radials and running 109 race gas, this supercharged M3 ran a 11.45 @ 131.67 MPH at Sacramento Raceway Park, CA. We can’t tell on the video if he used the launch control feature of the DCT transmission, but even with the drag radials the launch was pretty bad with a 2.06 60′ time. A great launch could get this car into the 10′s. The 131+ MPH trap speed is pretty high considering the dyno results, we would expect at least 550 horsepower to the wheels for a full weight M3 to pull that hard, maybe they’ve upped the power since the dyno runs. Take a look at the videos, timeslip, pictures and dyno results below:

Edit: We’ve received an updated dyno sheet showing 544 horsepower to the wheels, which is much closer to what we expected.