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CARSPOTTING> Ben Sopra R35 GTR at Buttonwillow

Ben Sopra, R35, GTR, Nissan, Global Time Attack, Buttonwillow Raceway

This weekend, I went out to Buttonwillow Raceway for the Global Time Attack and Shift S3ctor Pro Am with my friends from Whiteline Suspension. While walking around the paddock, I couldn’t stop staring at this blue Ben Sopra R35 Nissan GTR from R’s Tuning. This thing looks menacing as hell, especially from the rear! While many people might have seen this car at the SEMA Show in November or in the Fast & Furious 6 movie trailer, I honestly didn’t recognize it at first.

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious 6 Buttonwillow Raceway

When I walked up to the car in the paddock garage, I was thinking, “Oh damn. Someone built another Ben Sopra GTR?!” While I see R35 GTRs all the time (there are 3 of them on the street I live on), it’s not often that I get to see one done up with the super expensive Ben Sopra aero kit. At $45K, the Ben Sopra aero costs slightly more than half the price of the car!

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious 6 Buttonwillow Raceway

This was definitely a treat and a surprise – this weekend was the first time I got to see a Ben Sopra GTR in action on a race track! Here’s the R35 GTR attacking the rumblestrips on the Buttonwillow East Loop’s Cotton Corners.

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious 6 Buttonwillow Raceway

The humongous rear wing on this GTR makes me think of the incredible Super GT R35 GTRs I encountered on my last trip to Suzuka Circuit for a Super GT race. Love it!

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

The reason I didn’t recognize this car at first is because it was rewrapped in this blue vinyl. When I saw it at SEMA, it was red! I didn’t realize at first that this was the same car I saw in the Mackin Industries booth! We were instagramming the hell out of that car when we saw it in SEMA’s Central Hall.

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

Even when this R’s Tuning GTR is cruising the paddock slowly, it still looks fast. And mean.

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

Check out the sliding vent cutouts on the side windows…

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

I just love the rear end of this R35. From the gigantic GT wing to the huge rear diffuser under the bumper, the ass end of this GTR just looks incredible.

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

The Advan Racing GT wheels look like 5-spoke versions of the extremely popular Volk Racing TE37 wheels, but they have relatively big outer lips. I love how they look in white.

Ben Sopra wing R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

The R’s Motorsport Club is represented on the Ben Sopra GT wing’s end plates.

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

Behind the iconic GTR taillights, I found a timing transponder ziptied to the GT wing’s uprights. I don’t have any information about the car’s lap times yet. Maybe someone from Shift S3ctor or GTA can furnish those?

Ben Sopra R35 GTR exhaust R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

Even though the rear under-bumper diffuser has provisions for two exhaust mufflers, the car’s actual exhaust outlet is in the middle of the rear bumper. Looks awesome!

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning intercooler Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

I’m not sure how I feel about the one piece front end of the Ben Sopra kit. Sometimes I like it, and sometimes I don’t. One thing is for sure though, its large vents provide plenty of cooling.

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

This is the car owner, Ricky Kwan, behind the wheel just before he headed out to his run session. I would have liked to speak to him more, but we didn’t have much time to talk, since I was stuck out on the track for most of the day, and we had to leave the track shortly after I got back to the paddock.

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

Hell yeah. I was happy to see the MotorMavens logo on the Global Time Attack number plate! Thanks JD! There are a few other media outlets on the number plate too, but I didn’t see them at the track this weekend. I wonder if they just sent someone that I didn’t recognize…?

Advan Racing GT wheels Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

Even though the right side of the car had white Advans, the  left side of the car was rocking black Advan Racing GT wheels. Check out the big ass Brembo brakes behind the wheels too…

Ben Sopra R35 GTR R's Tuning Ricky Kwan Fast & Furious Fast&Furious Buttonwillow Raceway

This was actually the first photo I took of the R’s Tuning R35 GTR. I first noticed it just sitting in the garage, and it still looked every bit as fast and menacing a it really was on the racetrack! I wanted to take interior and engine detail photos of the car, but there wasn’t enough time unfortunately. Oh well, hopefully our paths will cross again sometime soon!

:: Antonio Alvendia

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11 Responses

  1. EvoSteve Fellowes

    Wowwwww i love the back of this car!!! Not such a fan of those fenders though. And i wonder why tey made ben sopra kits with one piece front ends? Makes it so hard to deal with. I wonder if its har to match up the body panels

  2. @EvoSteve Fellowes: I love the rear end of this GTR as well. While I didn’t see this particular GTR with it’s front end lifted up, I saw Mark Arcenal and Kei Miura from RocketBunny/BenSopra lift up the front end of the R35 GTR they built while I was at SEMA. It was a bit more involved than simply lifting a factory hood, but it wasn’t THAT difficult. At least on the Fatlace GTR. Not sure if this R’s Tuning car is difficult or not.

  3. @Sam Craven: Not sure when I’ll see the car again. The interior did look as if it were fully converted to race spec, but I didn’t get to see under the hood. Most GTRs I’ve seen (even built ones) didn’t have visibly crazy LOOKING engines because most of the mods were either internal or covered by the massive engine cover. I can’t wait to see the car again though. I’m curious myself!

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