Most people who talk about the Nissan GT-R focus on the engine. The RB26DETT gets all the glory — its power output, its tunability, its legend. But if you want to understand why the GT-R was so dramatically faster than everything else around it, you need to look at what's happening at the wheels. Specifically, you need to understand ATTESA ET-S.

ATTESA stands for Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-terrain. ET-S stands for Electronic Torque Split. It's the AWD system that Nissan developed specifically for the GT-R, and it's genuinely one of the most sophisticated all-wheel-drive systems ever fitted to a production car. Understanding how it works is understanding why the GT-R is so special.

How ATTESA ET-S Actually Works

Unlike most AWD systems of the era, ATTESA ET-S is not full-time four-wheel drive. Under normal conditions, the GT-R is purely rear-wheel drive. All engine output goes to the rear wheels. This preserves rear-drive feel and driving character while avoiding the parasitic drag and understeer of full-time AWD systems.

When the system detects rear wheel slip — measured by a combination of wheel speed sensors, throttle position, lateral G sensors, and yaw rate sensors — it electronically actuates a hydraulic multi-plate clutch pack in the transfer case and sends up to 50% of engine torque to the front wheels. This happens in milliseconds. The transition is so fast that in most situations you never feel the switch — you just feel the car grip and drive.

The control unit processes sensor data continuously at extremely high refresh rates and makes torque split decisions faster than any driver could react. It's predictive and reactive simultaneously. In conditions where rear slip is anticipated based on throttle and steering inputs, the system can pre-load the front wheels even before slip occurs.

ATTESA ET-S vs ATTESA ET-S Pro

The base ATTESA ET-S appeared in the R32 GT-R and carried through to standard R33 and R34 models. It does what's described above extremely well. But Nissan went further for V-Spec variants.

ATTESA ET-S Pro added an active limited-slip differential in the rear axle on top of the existing torque-split capability. This active rear LSD can bias torque between the left and right rear wheels independently. In a corner, this means the outer wheel can be given more torque to rotate the car through the corner, while the inner wheel is managed to prevent inside-wheel spin.

The result is torque vectoring — a term that's everywhere in modern performance cars but was genuinely cutting-edge technology in 1993 when it appeared on the R33 V-Spec. The handling difference between a standard GT-R and a V-Spec with ET-S Pro is noticeable. The V-Spec rotates more naturally, carries more speed through corners, and requires less steering correction on exit.

The G-Sensor: Nissan's Secret Weapon

One of the less-discussed aspects of ATTESA ET-S is the three-axis G-sensor that's part of the system. This sensor measures lateral acceleration, longitudinal acceleration, and yaw (rotational movement around the vertical axis). The ATTESA controller uses this data to understand what the car is actually doing — not just what the wheels are doing.

This allows the system to distinguish between wheelspin caused by oversteer (rear sliding out), wheelslip from straight-line acceleration, and combined cornering and acceleration loads. Each situation calls for a different torque split response, and ATTESA ET-S applies the correct one. A simpler system might flood the front with torque every time any slip occurs — ATTESA ET-S is far more nuanced.

Upgrading and Maintaining ATTESA

The ATTESA transfer case uses its own dedicated fluid that needs to be changed at regular intervals — Nissan recommends approximately every 30,000 miles, though enthusiasts often do it more frequently. Neglected ATTESA fluid turns dark and loses its viscosity properties, leading to sluggish torque transfer response and premature clutch pack wear.

Failure symptoms include ATTESA warning lights on the dash, reduced pull from the front wheels under hard acceleration, and in severe cases, the system defaulting to rear-wheel drive only. Transfer case rebuilds are not cheap but are well within the capability of any specialist who knows GT-Rs.

Some track-focused builds delete the HICAS rear steering system (a common modification) but retain ATTESA in full. Others who build dedicated drag cars may lock or remove ATTESA entirely for simplicity. For any road or circuit use, keeping ATTESA functional is absolutely the right choice.

The Legacy

Every GT-R from 1989 to 2002 used some version of ATTESA ET-S. The R35 uses an entirely new AWD system — the GR6 transaxle's integrated rear diff and front driveshaft — but the philosophy is identical: rear-biased AWD with intelligent torque split on demand.

When you hear people say the GT-R was ahead of its time, ATTESA ET-S is part of what they're talking about. In 1989, almost no production car used anything remotely as sophisticated. Nissan engineered it, refined it, and made it the foundation of the GT-R's unbeatable performance. Respect where respect is due.