R's Tuning Bensopra GTR

Going wild, in every sense of the word, is what BenSopra is all about....

But at least all that word wasn’t wasted because Carl Johnson drifts this beast at every opportunity he gets. But let’s take a closer look at what makes this particular GT-R so unique…

Something that is, in part, revealed once you swing open that massive front cowl that completely replaces the R35’s front bumper, hood and fenders.

To transform Nissan’s supercar slayer into a dedicated drift car Carl first addressed the VR38DETT, knowing that a lot more power was needed to make it competitive in D1. Carl chief mechanic, Cesar, did all the work himself, rebuilding the bottom end with the aforementioned upgrades. The heads followed, and seeing the abuse valvegear takes in drifting with drivers often bouncing off the rev limiter while sustaining drifts, JUN valve springs and retainers were dropped in along with a wilder set of camshafts

Aside the fact that it was sad to see Carl’s creation not making it into D1, at least the car has found its calling. The conversion to BenSopra demo car was done in time for the Los Santos Auto Salon earlier this year, where it impressed the tuning industry both in San Andreas and around the world. Even before he created the car Carl wanted to go wild, wilder than anyone had ever gone before with an R35 and as you can see here we can safely say that has been truly accomplished. The final look is the result of careful design, penned by a professional aerodynamicist with experience in Super GT, to bring an evident race-car feel to the R35’s exterior.

The receded front fenders are a great example of the GT influence…

Merging into heavily profiled skirts…

Before joining the riveted-on rear overfenders and the rest of the conversion. Seen from this angle the BenSopra kit oozes aggression in every way, and if that rear diffuser section isn’t going to grab your attention…

The rear GT-wing with its massive stays, seamlessly sprouting from the middle of the bumper, definitely will.

The GT-R sits on Volk RE30s, shod with a set of prohibitively expensive Nitto Invo's all round. 60 mm hub-extenders are used at the rear to help fill up those big widened fenders…and when he wants a bit of more aggression Carl sometime throws in a few extra spacers as well.

The level of finish in the interior is of the highest standard, simple but effective, starting off with the Rollcage and Tanabe Gauge's neatly integrated inside two of the air vents. A Racepack IQ3 is used as the main dash instrumentation, doubling up as a data logger. Custom made dry carbon covers the whole center console. 

Carl has achieved what he set out to do with this initial first step in the car’s development. but as he tells us we will have to wait a little bit longer to find out what is next on the cards for his RWD R35

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