Short Take: 2015 Nissan GT-R

I forgot to get my dad a gift for his birthday.

The dread crept over me the night before. I am a terrible son. My predicament went beyond the usual challenge of finding something unique for "the man who has everything."

Perhaps sharing a thrilling experience (a couple of days tardy) in something quick would suffice?

Just in the nick of time, however, I had a car in mind to bring by to Dad: the 2015 Nissan GT-R. It's a two-door coupe that earned its nickname, "Godzilla," because of its turbocharged, 545-hp heart that enables it to terrorize cities and petrify entire populations. Borrowing the GT-R would be more than an excuse to spend time with dad; we could debunk the myths that surround the GT-R's truly legendary performance.

It may not look slinky like a Ferrari, sound furious like a Lamborghini, or exude the gentlemanly poise of an Aston Martin, but the GT-R is a supercar in its own right. The GT-R is at once a Nissan and a high-performance coupe, yet can sit comfortably among exotics that command twice its price. Each handbuilt GT-R engine is assembled in a hermetically sealed room, and no two engines are exactly alike.

To describe the crimson GT-R as intimidating is a massive understatement. Dad remained dubious, but I knew a quick way to change his tune.

That's how, Saturday morning, we were on the road headed north out of New York, toward some of Connecticut's best two-lane highways and the New England coast. The potential for speed has a way of getting you out of bed, agog, early in the morning.

The first stretch of the road was accompanied by a painfully low speed limit, and there is little joy in driving a fast car slowly. This gave us plenty of time to ruminate over the mad coupe's capabilities and let Dad get comfortable. The GT-R is capable of reaching 60 mph about twice as quickly as you can read this sentence aloud. Four seconds later, you're at 100. And if your testing ground is private airport runway, you'll be just shy of 200 mph when the GT-R hits maximum velocity.

The road turned serpentine, traffic was thin, and I dialed up some speed, but not enough to end in the back of a cop car or a local detention facility. Dad didn't flinch. Where is the unnerving force you were talking about? I wanted to mash the throttle and listen to the turbos spool up. Using a fraction of the GT-R's power felt almost disingenuous.

Eventually, already deep in the Connecticut hinterlands, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to get off the main road. And-what do you know!-a long, straight stretch of asphalt presented itself. The GT-R's most intriguing feature, I noted, was its ability to "launch" from a standstill with incomparable force. A less durable car would literally crack under the pressure. I slowed the GT-R to a stop, flipped several levers, and simultaneously applied the brake firmly and built up some revs - the secret codes to achieving a perfect launch. With a helpful nudge to my skeptical passenger to hold on, I let off the brakes.

What happened next is a bit of a blur. The experience is something like being shot out of a cannon with laserlike precision. As the GT-R jolted forward, we were pressed back into our seats, in what can best be described as a roller coaster for non-thrill ride enthusiasts. Speed builds with the same force and celerity as any jet could muster, and a digital readout spits out numbers like the public-access lottery ball machine. The GT-R has two back seats, but using them while engaged in a launch is tantamount to a method of torture.

Double digits have the tendency to spin hastily toward triple-digits, and an all-enveloping whir is the background soundtrack. Active noise cancellation, tuned by Bose, quiets the aircraft-grade din from a vacuum vortex to a loud hum. At that point, late-onset tinnitus, and symptoms of vertigo, are but inevitable.

When I relented and let off the throttle, and gently slowed the launched GT-R, I turned to Dad, whose face showed something between ecstasy and terror. Looks like the present was well received.

For the remainder of the route, which took us along stunning back roads and more highway, bystanders had few chances to get a glimpse of the GT-R, owing to the beast's inclination to not sit still. A child on the sidewalk tugged at his own father's shirt and mouthed "God-zi-lla" - or, so it appeared to me - pointing at my father and me rolling by, everything suddenly made sense. It would have been my exact reaction when I was the child's age.

In theory, pushing the GT-R to its true limits in the real world is a fruitless exercise. But, theoretically, it's also safe to assume that next year's gift will be difficult to top.

By the numbers: 2015 Nissan GT-R

Engine: 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 with 545 horsepower

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Top speed: 196 mph

Fuel economy: 16 city, 23 highway mpg

Base price: $103,365

Target buyer: The moneyed executive who keeps a Playstation in the office.