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Vegas, Baby! Vegas!

With night fully upon us and no alien spacecraft to be seen, we returned south to Las Vegas. On the way we took the opportunity to play with the GT-R's built-in performance computer. Its digital display shows you in hard numbers how you're accelerating, cornering, braking, how much boost you're using and all manner of other performance and technical parameters.

The performance computer is very cool, and the flashing lights on the display reminded us of our destination: Sin City. We were heading to the self-proclaimed Entertainment Capital of the World in what is clearly the best performance bargain in the world. Vegas is high on the fun-per-dollar meter, and at a price of around $70,000, there is no car on the planet that can come close to the GT-R's performance envelope...or potential for behind-the-wheel mayhem.

Time was getting short, and we had little opportunity to do more than just drive on through. But there's no denying that Vegas is a trouble spot. With gambling, drinking, numerous "gentleman's clubs," and even rolling billboards advertising in-room "adult entertainment," it'd be easy to spend 24 hours in Sin City and wind up with a coincidental case of amnesia about the whole experience. On the other hand, we discovered out in the desert that there are plenty of things you can do behind the wheel of a GT-R that you'd want to keep to yourself. So far, it's a tie again. However, the GT-R has one significant advantage: To enjoy the pleasures of Las Vegas, you have to travel to, well, Las Vegas. However, the GT-R could be squirreled away inside your garage, ready to corrupt you at any time. Once again, we give the nod to the car.

So there you have it, two wins for Nissan's world-beater, and one tie. It was nearly midnight when we headed home, sticking to the Interstate on our way back to Irvine. As the miles rolled past, we thought about our time with the car. We'd had our fun, silly as it was, but when we put all that aside and simply thought about the car, it was a shocker. We'd expect performance like this from something costing $150,000, or even $200,000 or more. But with a retail price in the $70,000 range, the GT-R is simply awesome. Does it live up to its billing? You bet it does. It's more awe-inspiring than the Grand Canyon, a more towering achievement than the Eiffel Tower itself, grander than the Himalayas and....

Hey, boss, how's that travel budget looking?

By Keith Buglewicz
Photo credit: Keith Buglewicz, Oliver Bentley