Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee has gained quite a reputation on the platform for his thorough, honest reviews on almost every consumer tech item under the sun.
Whether it would be the latest iPhone, iPhone killer, headphones, laptop, you name it, he has probably reviewed it in depth for his 17.8 million subscribers. Apple itself highlighted Brownlee's review of the 15-inch MacBook Air during the Apple Event on September 12 during a recap of its June launch.
As successful as he is reviewing consumer tech, Brownlee has explored beyond his reach and found a footing reviewing the latest and greatest in cars. On a separate YouTube channel called Auto Focus, he has given a spotlight to performance cars like the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, as well as EVs like the Polestar 2, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and even the Rivian Electric Delivery Van used by Amazon couriers, which garner lots of attention by his viewers.
In addition, Brownlee also writes reviews for certain electrified cars for Top Gear as part of a column called "Hard Drive."
But even reviewers and so called "authorities" make mistakes, but one particular thing he said proved to be too much of an overstep.
On the October 27 episode of his WVFRM Podcast, Marques and his co-hosts Andrew and David talked at length about the Nissan Hyper Force concept car shown at the Japan Mobility Show, commenting on its design, as well as Nissan's claim about the concept being a "handy track weapon."
In response, Brownlee made a simple statement that would change his relationship with car enthusiasts forever.
"Nissan has never made a track car," Brownlee said.
"Do you consider the GT-R a track car?," his co-host Andrew asked in reply.
"No," Brownlee replied.
"Some people might disagree with you on that," Andrew warned Brownlee.
"I would argue with them on that," Brownlee said.
Co-host Andrew's estimation of "some people" was an understatement, as the comment section was lit up with enthusiasts defending the laurels of Nissan and its GT-R sports car, picking apart his statement like seagulls looking for French fries.
One commenter with the handle @911teju said, "marques calling the GTR not a track car might be the single worst take he has ever had lmao".
Another commenter with the handle @HeyyImMatt added some constructive criticism when they said, "The GTR most certainly is a track car. Nissan has been involved in motorsports forever. I think Marques needs to do some research into car culture and the history behind these car brands, especially for a person that has an automotive channel…"
Commenter @RyanShaferfeifei said that "Marques saying the GTR is not a track car is maybe the worst car take of all time. It literally set the nurburgring record. Which is generally the measurement of comparison for track cars. So not just a track car, but arguably the best track car. I'm not even sure I can watch autofocus anymore... So bad".
The car at the center of this discussion, the Nissan GT-R, is a supercar that has been sold in the United States since 2009. The current model range includes the 600-horsepower, $220,990 "NISMO" trim, which Car and Driver writer Caleb Miller calls "the top-dog [...] track version."
Brownlee did not appear on the most recent episode of his VVFRM podcast.
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