This month marks the final production schedule for the long-in-the-tooth R35 Nissan GT-R for the European market. The 13-year run on the continent isn’t ending to make room for an all-new model expected any time soon, unfortunately, instead bending to the European Union’s updated legislation regarding noise pollution.
Almost 30 years ago, regulations were established in an effort to help curb the increasing noise levels produced by a growing number of motorists in Europe. Sound level reporting by manufacturers became a requirement intended to be displayed at dealerships at the time of sale, almost like the “nutritional” facts displayed by fast food restaurants.
Not having as much of an impact as expected, the guidelines have more recently been tightened by the European Union (EU). In 2014, updates were made over concerns about how “traffic noise harms health in numerous ways.” The EU update reasoned that “protracted noise-related stress can exhaust human physical reserves, disrupt the regulatory capacity of organ functions, and hence limit their effectiveness. Traffic noise is a potential risk factor for the development of medical conditions and incidents such as high blood pressure and heart attacks.” Yikes.
The R35’s growl is apparently now just too much for the updated, more limiting regulations and as such, the GT-R will no longer touch down in Europe, reportedly confirmed by Nissan to Autoblog.nl. This comes less than a year after the GT-R was yanked out of the Australian market after it failed to meet the country’s side-impact crash requirements.
Add to that the fact that the new Z is being denied access to the European continent as well, due to a shrinking sports car segment and the battle of emissions, and Europeans are having a tough go as the powers that be search for signs of relief for their region’s environment. According to European sales figures on CarSalesBase.com, Nissan sold six GT-Rs in November 2021, one in December, and one in January 2022.
Not to beat a dead horse, but with a solid 15-years under its belt and only minor changes in all that time, we feel that the R35 is long overdue for a revamp. To maintain its performance dominance and possibly tiptoe back into the Euro market, the idea of a hybrid design seems like Nissan’s best bet.
One thing is for certain: once Nissan ceases GT-R production entirely, it will be sorely missed, even with its aging design—just ask our friends in Europe.
Keyword: Turn Down For What? Nissan GT-R Deemed Too Loud for Europe