Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R EV here at last
A Leaf battery, R35 brakes, Ohlins dampers and more for fascinating Godzilla rework
Here it is, then, the battery-powered reinvention of probably Nissan’s most famous car. One of Japan’s most famous cars, no less, the R32 era of Skyline GT-R. You’ll know by now that Nissan has been working on this project for a long time, determined to get every aspect exactly how desired - now we get to see the full fruits of its labour.
Well, sort of. For now, Nissan reckons only ‘fabrication and assembly’ are complete, with tuning and dynamic development to follow. But there’s plenty to get our teeth stuck into. The specs, for starters: as expected, this GT-R uses dual motors to give the four-wheel drive capability that made the original such a legend, with work continuing to match its torque distribution to that of the original ATTESA E-TS system. Each motor is rated at 160kW, or 214hp, and 250lb ft, with power from a Leaf RC02 62kWh battery. Nothing extreme as far as EVs go, but that’s not what Nissan is aiming to achieve here. ‘As was the case with the R32 GT-R, the team working on the R32 EV aims to create a true driver's car rather than chase outright power and straight-line performance’, which is why there’s such a focus on getting the dual motor set up just right. It can be easy to forget, given how famously tuneable the original RB26 straight six was, that monster horsepower was never the main aim.
To that end, and amazingly enough, Nissan wants to match the performance of the petrol-powered R32 with this car rather than drastically surpass it. Obviously it’ll have to be more potent, to offset the 370kg of batteries, motor and whatnot added, though outputs are being tuned to match the original torque-to-weight ratio. There’s even a piped-in sound inspired by that twin-turbo engine, plus a paddleshift ‘simulating the brief jolt a driver experiences when engaging the clutch and shifting up or down through a mechanical gearbox’.
Everything has been designed, basically, to make the R32 EV feel as close to the Skyline of 35 years ago as possible. A NISMO Sports suspension kit with Ohlins dampers has been fitted ‘to ensure optimal handling and limited body roll’ of the 1,797kg mass, the 18-inch wheels (required to house R35 GT-R discs and calipers) are designed to look like the original 16s, and the new digital displays are such a good homage they’re almost indistinguishable from the original analogue items. Evidently lots of people who love Skylines have spent ages on this.
This makes sense, given the project was led by Nissan EV powertrain engineer (and former R32 owner) Ryozo Hiraku. Knowing the project would be ‘rewarding and contentious’ (Nissan’s words, not ours), his aim was to keep Godzilla drivable for decades to come. So faithful is this electric car to the 1989 version that a member of the original test driver team, Hiroyoshi Kato, was brought in to provide feedback on the experience.
Proper labour of love stuff, then, and this has all been done in the engineers’ spare time as well. Currently Nissan has no plans to build an R32 EV conversion kit, this prototype rather a demonstration of what’s possible and ‘yielding valuable insights for the team’s members’. While accidentally or otherwise creating the most interesting electric Nissan in yonks. Let’s get these folk involved with the mainstream EVs…
Firstly, that they did this to an R32. There are plenty of filing cabinets out there to put your EV motor in, why chop up a perfectly good R32 for no gain.
Secondly, if Nissan could produce something like this, why the hell did you inflict the Leaf and all the other boring and godawful EV on us first? Just build this and you wouldn't be looking at having to merge with Honda to survive!
It was when tuners worked out it was really under stressed / over built and you could get mega power out of them the legend of the RB came about.
I quite like it, although with a Leaf battery and 400+ PS it going to have a range of a couple of laps or 100miles on road I guess,
Be interesting to see how it performs when it's finished, the weight of EVs puts them on the back foot but it's upto the engineers to make them fun and affordable. Reminds me of the hand wringing over performance SUVs and performance diesels.
I mean you can do it for the heck of it, but... seriously? It's like these Holywood remakes that are way worse than the original but were done because hey, we're out of ideas and everyone else is doing it.
At this point the EV crowd 100% fits the old saying "to someone holding a hammer everything looks like a nail".
You want everything being EV going forward? Ok whatever. Can we at least keep the classics they way they were, or are we doing this "new world order" thing and everything old has to be rewritten and destroyed?
Be interesting to see how it performs when it's finished, the weight of EVs puts them on the back foot but it's upto the engineers to make them fun and affordable. Reminds me of the hand wringing over performance SUVs and performance diesels.
I reckon EVs are heavy now but there is some crossover, but I fully believe its early days and as time marches on the improvements in battery tech will mean lighter batteries with more capacity, and if they are lighter the rest of the car can be specced to take advantage of that creating a virtuous circle, hopefully ending up that the average in class means they are lighter.
I mean, ICE cars have improved decade on decade, why not EV's ?
Who is to say a couple of models down the road that a Tesla Model 3 type car isnt under 1500 kilos, the battery pack is currently half a ton, so plenty of scope there to lose a couple of hundred kilos, and then you are carrying quarter of a ton less so can have smaller brakes, the suspension can be less heavy duty so can save additional weight. Its like looking at a Ford Anglia in 1965 and assuming that is where ICE car development peaked.
But, manufacturers have to try stuff, do development and this R32 is part of that, if you want one you can still buy one, most of us werent going to buy a 30 odd year old, quite expensive Japanese super coupe so its a moot point anyway.
a massive Jordan style boob job for her 75th Wedding anniversary.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should….
Edit …..and I like both Breasts and retro-mods, but this is the brainchild of a right Tit
Be interesting to see how it performs when it's finished, the weight of EVs puts them on the back foot but it's upto the engineers to make them fun and affordable. Reminds me of the hand wringing over performance SUVs and performance diesels.
I reckon EVs are heavy now but there is some crossover, but I fully believe its early days and as time marches on the improvements in battery tech will mean lighter batteries with more capacity, and if they are lighter the rest of the car can be specced to take advantage of that creating a virtuous circle, hopefully ending up that the average in class means they are lighter.
I mean, ICE cars have improved decade on decade, why not EV's ?
Who is to say a couple of models down the road that a Tesla Model 3 type car isnt under 1500 kilos, the battery pack is currently half a ton, so plenty of scope there to lose a couple of hundred kilos, and then you are carrying quarter of a ton less so can have smaller brakes, the suspension can be less heavy duty so can save additional weight. Its like looking at a Ford Anglia in 1965 and assuming that is where ICE car development peaked.
But, manufacturers have to try stuff, do development and this R32 is part of that, if you want one you can still buy one, most of us werent going to buy a 30 odd year old, quite expensive Japanese super coupe so its a moot point anyway.
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