Probably the main disadvantage of the R35 GT-R is its weight. For a sportscar, it is exceedingly heavy at nearly 4000 lbs. Our particular model weighs 3840 lbs but some combinations weigh as much as 3933 lbs. There is a lot of stuff inside it though with all of its technology and that equals weight. Nissan has done a decent job at keeping the price of this car somewhat reasonable considering the cost of all of its many components but the lower cost means less exotic, heavier materials. We have been trying to get the weight down on this car but without gutting it or getting rid of any of its appointments because, after all, it’s a pretty nice car! To help us get rid of another chunk of weight we called upon Verkline to obtain a set of their ultra-light subframes.
Read all about Project GT-R!
Verkline is a Polish company that makes lightweight suspension components for Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Toyota, and VW in addition to Non-USA brands like Seat and Skoda. When looking at the GT-R, they noted that the R35 has very heavy stamped steel subframes. This is sort of puzzling because some lower line Nissans like the Z have lightweight fabricated aluminum subframes but Nissan chose to make the flagship GT-R’s subframe like a tank! Verkline decided they could trim a lot of weight from Nissan’s subframe design while adding utility and not sacrificing strength. The result is their beautiful subframe set that gets rid of over 50 lbs from the portly GT-R!
The Verkline rear subframe is not only lighter but makes the car easier to work on. On the stock car, you must drop the entire rear subframe to remove the rear transaxle. With the Verkline subframe, they designed this removable cross beam for their subframe so the transaxle can be removed much more quickly without having to remove the subframe and disassemble the rear suspension!
The removable cross beam is CNC machined from 7075 aluminum, this alloy is nearly as strong as mild steel and is one of the strongest aluminum alloys. It is machined like a truss beam to reduce weight while keeping stiffness high.
Verkline’s subframe has built-in mounts for the rear differential. The mounts are small in diameter polyurethane for lower compliance. They will prevent excessive differential movement while still damping out some noise. They allow a lot less movement than the stock soft rubber mounts and thus reduce the potential for wheel hop.
11 comments
Car weight reduction is such a satisfying modification. Whilst it can be costly, something that benefits handling, braking, and acceleration is well and truly worth it!
weight is easy to validate, easier to work is also pretty easy. but how is “not sacrificing strength” validated? just cause the company that makes it says so doesn’t make it true. Has the strength of this subframe been tested and compared to the oem part by anyone?
The subframe is validated using FEA and the design is sound. As an ME I would have no issues running this at all. Care to volunteer your R35 for destructive subframe testing?
It seems like it would be stronger than stock, IMO. Stamped steel subframe vs. tubular steel with triangulation and gusseting is going to be a nobrainer to an armchair engineer.
Of course, some actual torsional stiffness numbers would be awesome and probably not too hard to for Verkline to generate in FEA, and experimentally.
These are the kind of parts that I would love to spec, compared to a built motor. Should improve every performance metric on the car with absolutely no downsides.
The material is of a higher grade as well.
so the headline says “shaves 49 lbs” but the article says “Venkline rear subframe weighs 34.9 lbs vs the heavy 66.35 lb stamped steel stock part.” Thats a BIG difference between 49 and 31.4
Maybe read the whole article, there is a front subframe too! Also, read the headline, it says 50 lbs.
Mike- you are too kind taking your time to respond to the haters. This is such a cool piece if you are a GTR afficionado or track purist type. Definitely something i could have seen Nissan use on the Nismo.
Especially ones that are too lazy to read!
Hey Mike,
Great write up. I’ve been actively working on cutting weight on my R35 as well. 250lbs shaved so far. I’ve been considering doing this but have a real world application question for you, after installing this have you noticed a difference in center of gravity and handling through corners? Top weight and rotational mass reductions I’ve noticed a significant weight reduction however I’m more cautious of moving the center of gravity for the negative. Could you share your experience thus far?
To be honest, we haven’t tried them yet. Because of supply chain issues, we haven’t been able to get all the parts to finish our GT-R build yet, we are going to do the engine and drivetrain in one big swoop. Stay tuned, it is almost all there, just waiting on the backed up machine shop now.