The quest for eights in a Nissan GT-R

Eight seconds can seem either like an instant or an eternity.

For SP Engineering, however, eight seconds is the threshold it aims to cross in its highly modified Nissan GT-R shop car for the standing quarter-mile.

“This car will run eights,” said Will Wong, wholesale manager at SP Engineering. “The problem is traction, getting the power to the ground.” But SP continues to try a variety of suspension settings and tires in an effort to reach its goal.

Even with a full interior and ice-cold air conditioning, the street-legal GT-R pumps out more than 1,150 all-wheel horsepower through the Mickey Thompson drag-radial tires.

Having broken the previously long-held dyno horsepower records, SP went on to hold the world record for GT-R quarter-mile time with the SPE900 GT-R in April 2010--9.62 seconds at 149.8 mph. A stock 2012 Nissan GT-R will run the quarter-mile time in the low-11-second range.

Rival tuner shop AMS Performance of Chicago in May 2011 took the current record with a 9.1-second run at 163 mph with its flagship Alpha 10 GT-R.

Since then, SP has consistently been hitting the 9.2-second mark with its SPE1000 setup, inching closer to the ever-elusive eight-second barrier.

“With the right [elevation] and a good 60-foot launch, the SPE1000 can do very high eights, we believe,” Wong said.

SP plans to debut its top-of-the-line Godzilla package on track in the next month in another attempt to break the eight-second barrier. Piloting the SP Godzilla GT-R will be longtime customer and hot shoe Hing Yim.

If you have deep enough pockets and a strong stomach, you can have your own Godzilla GT-R for just less than $100,000. More than 20 kits have been ordered.

By David Arnouts