Driving Sports

Episode #21 - In this episode we follow Brian Lock and the Cobb Tuning GT-R at Round 1 of the Redline Time Attack Series.Plus, we test the 2010 Nissan Titan V8 Pro-4X on-road and off!

Transcript:

We love the spring. Not just because it brings with it flowers, boating and barbeques. No, spring is also the beginning of track season.

In addition to the Rally-America series, this year we’re going to follow Redline Time Attack. Why? Though it may not draw a crowd of 10,000 like drifting on any given weekend, it brings out cars that are relatable and diverse. If you want to go racing, Time Attack has a class for almost any car, configuration and skill level: All in pursuit of that one perfect lap. No style points. No sealed motors. Just the best lap time, period.

Because of this format, the grid fills up with a who’s who of tuner market metal: Subaru, Mitsubishi, BMW, Nissan, Mazda, you name it - street and hypermodified versions of all the hot cars are represented.

Redline’s first round was March 26 at Buttonwillow Raceway in Southern California.

There are way too many classes to cover each and every competitor in our weekly episodes, so this week we’re going to focus on the Cobb Tuning GT-R driven by Brian Lock. After Ryan Gate’s EVO and the AQ Motorsports STI driven by local legend JC Meynet both succumbed to mechanical issues, the Cobb GT-R was able to dominate the very popular Modified AWD class. It brought home a new class record of 1:48.897.

As the laps stacked up, the closest car left to challenge the Cobb GT-R was the Takata Subaru STI: yes, a $30,000 car versus a $70,000 car. In spite of the best efforts from driver James Elterman, at the end of the day the he simply wasn’t fast enough and filed a 1:53 – a full 5 seconds slower than Lock in the GT-R.

These two cars faced of once again at the head-to-head Super Session. This is a final 5-lap door-to-door mixed car battle that give competitors a second opportunity to bring home a trophy.  It was on Lap 3 that disaster stuck the GT-R. After 1,000 track miles pushed to almost 800 wheel horsepower the original motor broke a rod at peak RPM, ultimately resulting in a fire. This gave the Takata STI a second chance for victory, barely edging out JC Meynet, who had saddled up in the AQ Motorsports car #2 – a Honda S2000.

Not to let a fried motor stifle their attempts at onling class domination, the Cobb boys said they’d have the GT-R in fighting order in time for the next event of the series, on the other side of the country, at New Jersey Motorsport Park.  That’s exactly what we love to hear.

This week we have the dirt on the 2010 Nissan Titan 4x4 Pro-4X King Cab.

Last year, Ryan tested its little brother, the Frontier Pro-4X, and love it. A lot. The Titan here is from the same DNA, just supersized to take on bigger jobs.

Say, for example, you need to tow – oh, I don’t know – an asian elephant of average size. The Titan V8 can do that. On the other hand, the Frontier could only handle 2/3rds of that same elephant. So if you’re peddling pachyderms, the Titan is clearly the better choice.

Offroad is where the Titan Pro-4X really makes its mark. The Rancho shock absorbers and the 3.36 lower gear ratio make this a true trail hero.

It saddens us that our favorite offroad spot is closed until further notice (aaaaaah!), but we were able to tackle some ad-hoc offroading-- just for you. In this environment, the Titan owned all.

When 2 wheel drive couldn’t handle the boulders, we switched to four-wheel drive low from the comfort of the cabin. Though things never got tricky enough to require locking the center diff, it’s as easy as pushing another button.

But offroading isn’t the only reason to love the Titan. Fact is, it’s fun to drive every day.  In spite of its size, it never felt large – we were able to fit three adults and two kids with car seats in it comfortably.

In terms of hauling and cargo, it’s capable and configurable enough to meet most demands. If you have a 20,000 pound boat, then obviously, you’ll need to look elsewhere, like the Ford F450 Super Duty. Duh.

With the 317 horsepower, 385 ft-lbs of torque, V8 you do pay the price at the pump. We only got 13 miles to the gallon around town. And, in our environmentally outspoken town we did get a fair share of glares on the road. But really, who cares what Prius drivers think.

Added up, this truck costs $36,000. For our dollar, we can’t think of a better choice in post-apocalyptic pachyderm-peddling power.

We’re going to throw down a solid 5-star rating for this one.