Spec This Out! Super-performance SpecVraises the ante, but is it worth the price of admission?(NEWS)

Byline: DINO DALLE CARBONARE

Since its announcement in early January, this special Nissan supercar has been the talk of GT-R town.

We are the first to bring you an exclusive drive of the SpecV, and we can confirm that this is every bit the car Nissan promised. Weight saving and attention to detail make the SpecV more focused, but the big question remains: Is it worth the $167,400 (at the current exchange rate), double the price of the base model? We took the car on the winding mountain roads of Hakone, south of Tokyo, to find out.

This car oozes presence, especially finished in the optional Ultimate Black Opal, which has hints of the old Midnight Purple used on the previous-generation Skyline GT-R. The black forged wheels, made by Rays Engineering, are an instant giveaway that this is no regular GT-R, as are the rear spoiler, front grille and brake ducts all made from lightweight carbon fiber. Peeking through the thick spokes of the 20-inch wheels are silver Nissan-branded calipers, mated to huge carbon-ceramic rotors. Those brakes are part of what makes the SpecV priceyreplacing the pads and rotors will set you back a cool $49,920. A few other added costs: revised turbo-chargers, $10,620 each; a rear carbon spoiler, $9,560; the GT-R SpecV emblem, $1,600.

Inside, there's a very dark interior, which does away with rear seats in favor of some curious quilted covers and what appears to be a carbon-fiber Bose subwoofer. The Recaro carbon seats are upholstered in soft black leather. More carbon fiber has been used to trim the area around the large LCD gauges while the plastic trim on the doors and the transmission tunnel sports a ...