Nissan Pulsar / GTi R - am I mental?
Discussion
I have a strong, strong urge for a turbo in my life and can't stop looking at Pulsars in the classifieds.
I know most have been abused beyond belief but if I can find a relatively straight, unmodified example (and there's the trick I guess)would I be mad to go for it?
I can live with the dubious image as I'm not a chav so why worry what other people think?
I know it's not the best handling car but the idea of a little hatchback with boost is just too tempting.
Any positive thoughts or horror stories I should know about?
I know most have been abused beyond belief but if I can find a relatively straight, unmodified example (and there's the trick I guess)would I be mad to go for it?
I can live with the dubious image as I'm not a chav so why worry what other people think?
I know it's not the best handling car but the idea of a little hatchback with boost is just too tempting.
Any positive thoughts or horror stories I should know about?
From what I hear, they're bloody good little cars. It's finding an original one that hasn't been in that High Milers' Club thread that'll be the trick, I imagine, there were never that many around and, well, you know the usual owner profile.
I met a guy who had a GT-R32 Skyline taken up to around 400bhp, and he said he missed his previous GTi-R's pace.
I met a guy who had a GT-R32 Skyline taken up to around 400bhp, and he said he missed his previous GTi-R's pace.
Edited by McSam on Tuesday 29th June 17:03
S3_Graham said:
for under a grand you can mod them to do 0-60 in 4seconds....
Once. And 4.something seconds at that (probably closer to 5 seconds, if we're honest).Seriously. If you're going to mod it, spend some money on a decent transmission, as the stock one is made of chocolate. I remember the banging noise, followed by the sound of many bits of metal clattering down the road behind me...
The brakes, despite being described by most as dreadful, are actually OK with relatively stock power. If you're upgrading, £800 on a set of 4-pots will be the best money you can spend.
The engine. Don't go too mental on the boost without a) a frontmount, and b) a decent ECU. Cranking the boost on a stock lump will result in a mass of molten metal, as the fuelling leans itself to piston-welding levels.
The suspension. A bit soft, and generally a bit tired. Some decent kit (and anti-roll bars) can help to dial out some of the standard car's understeering tendancies.
Overall, an absolutely hilarious car to drive. Brilliantly quick to 100mph (290bhp and a bit of weight-saving will see a sub-13s quarter), but tails off a little afterwards.
Probably not the polished 4WD experience than an Impreza or Evo provides (it feels a bit agricultural, by comparison), but still reasonably grippy.
Dave200 said:
Seriously. If you're going to mod it, spend some money on a decent transmission, as the stock one is made of chocolate. I remember the banging noise, followed by the sound of many bits of metal clattering down the road behind me...
The brakes, despite being described by most as dreadful, are actually OK with relatively stock power. If you're upgrading, £800 on a set of 4-pots will be the best money you can spend.
The engine. Don't go too mental on the boost without a) a frontmount, and b) a decent ECU. Cranking the boost on a stock lump will result in a mass of molten metal, as the fuelling leans itself to piston-welding levels.
The suspension. A bit soft, and generally a bit tired. Some decent kit (and anti-roll bars) can help to dial out some of the standard car's understeering tendancies.
Overall, an absolutely hilarious car to drive. Brilliantly quick to 100mph (290bhp and a bit of weight-saving will see a sub-13s quarter), but tails off a little afterwards.
Probably not the polished 4WD experience than an Impreza or Evo provides (it feels a bit agricultural, by comparison), but still reasonably grippy.
Pretty much said it all except for to look out for rust. Common places are the rear arches. Go for a recent import if possible.The brakes, despite being described by most as dreadful, are actually OK with relatively stock power. If you're upgrading, £800 on a set of 4-pots will be the best money you can spend.
The engine. Don't go too mental on the boost without a) a frontmount, and b) a decent ECU. Cranking the boost on a stock lump will result in a mass of molten metal, as the fuelling leans itself to piston-welding levels.
The suspension. A bit soft, and generally a bit tired. Some decent kit (and anti-roll bars) can help to dial out some of the standard car's understeering tendancies.
Overall, an absolutely hilarious car to drive. Brilliantly quick to 100mph (290bhp and a bit of weight-saving will see a sub-13s quarter), but tails off a little afterwards.
Probably not the polished 4WD experience than an Impreza or Evo provides (it feels a bit agricultural, by comparison), but still reasonably grippy.
I had one for 6 months and loved it, did a trackday at Snetterton too ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmlxyMEJSsA) great fun chasing Caterhams.
As said the stock brakes are pretty girly - I had grooved disks and EBC pads for the trackday and still managed to cook the pads on the last session.
Standard they tend to understeer abit but you can get suspension mods to sort that.
Top mounted intercooler is a pain when doing anything to the engine. Doesnt suffer as badly from heatsoak as people make out, mainly cos its massive!
Also a great couple of forums and theres even a guy that sells spares and does work on GTIRs for a living.
Oh, and the gearboxes are generally fine unless you start launching them or are running 400Bhp+
Edited by Tubb on Tuesday 29th June 18:12
I want one but im planning to wait for my sensible side of my brain to be asleep and take advantage!.
Im going to go and buy one and maybe regret it maybe or love it to pieces as i expect.
Modified exhaust/suspension and some compmotives only for me...Or maybe a dump valve.
Is it better then a wrx of the same era ?.
Im going to go and buy one and maybe regret it maybe or love it to pieces as i expect.
Modified exhaust/suspension and some compmotives only for me...Or maybe a dump valve.
Is it better then a wrx of the same era ?.
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff