2023 Nissan GT-R's hybrid backflip! New R36 supercar to stick with R35's powerful twin-turbo V6 after all: report

Nissan has reportedly had a big change of mind when it comes to the highly anticipated R36 GT-R supercar, which is expected to be revealed in 2023.

According to Best Car Web, Nissan is now busy ‘developing’ the R36 with the current R35 GT-R’s 3.8-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 engine, although its maximum outputs are likely to change from 441kW of power and 652Nm of torque.

Of course, the Japanese publication and other international media outlets had previously claimed that the R36 would add a mild-hybrid system to the R35’s unit, but that appears to no longer be the case.

The electrical assistance is question was supposedly a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), similar to what was used in its ill-fated GT-R LM Nismo prototype from 2015.

The KERS system in the GT-R LM race car fed energy to a pair of flywheels from the front brakes and was able to send that energy to both the front and rear axles via independent driveshafts.

For reference, a mild-hybrid system was in contention for the R36 due to Japan’s incoming 2022 Corporate Average Fleet Emissions (CAFE) and noise regulations, but it seems Nissan’s growing line-up of ePower hybrid and all-electric models has helped its non-electrified case.

It therefore now appears the R36 will more or less follow the soon-to-be-revealed Z sports car’s lead by carrying over much of its predecessor’s mechanicals, clothed by a redesigned exterior and interior.

Naturally, time will tell what the R36 actually has in store, but at least Nissan has publicly stated “the next GT-R” is on the way, so Godzilla fans have something to look forward to.