2019 Nissan GT-R

This year, the Nissan GT-R begins its second decade as the company's flagship in North America. This exotic sports car shares its name with a long line of coupes and sedans sold in Japan and that have become the stuff of legend on this continent.

For 2019, the GT-R carries over unchanged, with a hand-built turbocharged 3.8L V6 that makes a massive 565 hp and 467 lb-ft of torque. It's connected to a rear-mounted six-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission that, in turn, passes that power to an AWD system with a limited slip rear differential.

Those specs make it easier to swallow the GT-R's six-figure price tag. Still, the more powerful Corvette Z06 is less expensive, and we could argue that the pricier Jaguar F-Type SVR boasts an appealing upscale cachet that the GT-R can't match. And for a completely different flavour of performance, you could spend about two-thirds the GT-R's pricetag on a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, which doesn't have AWD, but does boast a 707-hp supercharged V8.

As before, the GT-R this year comes in Premium and Track Edition trims, the latter of which is set apart by a NISMO tuned suspension with a stiffer rear stabilizer bar, special wheels designed to "maximize tire adhesion under acceleration," and Recaro seats. That doesn't seem like a lot for the Track Edition's $24,100 price premium.

Items standard in both trims include LED headlights, daytime running lights and taillights, heated and power-folding side mirrors, navigation, Apple CarPlay, passive keyless entry, heated front seats with power adjustments and an 11-speaker stereo.

Nissan makes the GT-R fast, and it leaves it with the driver to keep the car out of the ditch: there are no advanced safety features here, like collision warning with automatic braking, blind spot warning and lane departure alert/prevention. Among the few concessions to luxuries like you might expect in a car at this price is the base model's optional premium interior package, which brings hand-stitched, semi-aniline leather front seats and other similary appointed interior treatments.

Nissan's fuel consumption estimates for the GT-R sound surprisingly reasonable, at 14.2/10.7 L/100 km (city/highway); of course, you can expect this car to drink a lot more gas than that if you drive it to its full potential.