GT-R NISMO, added for MY2015, is Nissan's motorsport-derived flagship for this generation: larger turbochargers sourced from Nissan's FIA GT3 racing program and revised engine calibration, including individual ignition-timing control per cylinder, lift output to 600 hp and 481 lb-ft -- a genuine increase over Premium's 545 hp, not a relabeled figure. Nissan told Car and Driver it deliberately stopped short of what the GT3-derived hardware could support, to protect the dual-clutch transmission's longevity.
A pre-production NISMO fitted with "track options" and driven by Nissan test/racing driver Michael Krumm lapped the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 7:08.679 on September 30, 2013 -- billed by Nissan as a record for a volume production car at the time, and unveiled at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. That run predates the production NISMO's US retail launch by well over a year.
Despite its extensive carbon-fiber hood, front fenders, splitter, spoiler, and underbody strakes, NISMO didn't come out lighter than Premium in independent testing, likely because of added aerodynamic and cooling hardware elsewhere on the car.
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Both figures are real, but for different markets -- it isn't a mislabeling error. The Japan-market NISMO is rated 600 PS (591 hp under Japan's JIS testing standard), while the US-market car Nissan actually sells here is independently rated at a true 600 SAE horsepower by Nissan, Car and Driver, and Motor Trend alike. If you're comparing a US car against a JDM spec sheet, expect the JDM number to read lower.
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