Nissan GT-R Nismo loses carbon seats in the USA

If you reside in the United States and have been looking forward to grabbing a Nissan GT-R Nismo, you will need to know that it can no longer be optioned with carbon-backed Recaro Podium seats. CarBuzz says they failed to pass safety certification in North America.

Specifically, the legislation now requires the seats in this car to be equipped with airbags. Unfortunately, the Recaro Podium is a very basic and lightweight seat design that envisions no room for an airbag anywhere.

This isn’t to say that this seat model is banned in America. For instance, the latest Porsche 911 GT3 RS somehow manages to fit the required airbags in these seats, so it remains on sale. But if you won’t settle for anything other than the GT-R Nismo with carbon-backed seats, then importing one from Japan seems like your only option at the moment.

Nissan claims that the seats are the lightest in class, fully FIA-homologated and street-legal. Delisting them on the U.S. market will surely ruffle some feathers in the U.S. Godzilla fan community.