We're in a 2009 Nissan GT-R, helmet on, seatbelt fastened, left foot poised to release the brake and unleash Godzilla's wrath. But we're not on a racetrack. In front of us there are 22 miles and 402 turns of the best driving road in the world, Southern California's Glendora Mountain Road. We've covered this ground thousands of times, but today it's different. Today there are two California Highway Patrol cruisers stationed at either end of this twisting strip of sun-drenched blacktop. It is our personal playground for the afternoon.

The radio crackles the "All clear" and with the GT-R's engine revved to a launch-controlled 4,500 rpm, we release the brake and let the big Nissan do what it does best: twist physics into knots.

This process is repeated all afternoon in a collection of today's quickest and most capable road cars. The list includes a 2008 Audi R8, 2008 Lotus Elise SC, 2008 Porsche 911, 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR and 2008 Subaru WRX STI. We didn't discriminate: Rally cars, focused rear-drive performance cars and everything in between was invited to the party. In fact, there's only one genre missing from this otherwise comprehensive list — the big-power, rear-drive supercar. But it wasn't for a lack of trying.

Fact is, we asked Chevy for a 2008 Corvette Z06 and we asked Dodge for a 2008 Viper SRT10, but both refused to loan us their cars — presumably because we'd be testing their best metal against the almighty GT-R.

Sniff, sniff. Does somebody smell chicken?


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