RE: Tell me I'm wrong: Nissan Skyline GT-R R34
Discussion
This sort of debate has too many variables. Not even going into driver skill, these cars can be individually set up in a million different ways.
As mentioned earlier, perhaps out of the box the R34 isn't anything spectacular, but after it's been seen to by those who know better it becomes another beast altogether.
As mentioned earlier, perhaps out of the box the R34 isn't anything spectacular, but after it's been seen to by those who know better it becomes another beast altogether.
A friend of mine had an early jap v-spec version. He bought it standard and quickly came to the conclusion that it was no where near as special as he had expected it to be.
BUT....
after uprated the power to a more sensible 500BHP and sorting out the suspension and brakes it was transformed. I remember many rides in it, the turbo flutters and whistles, sweet exhaust note, awesome
And always felt planted and very forgiving.
It was bayside blue and had white volk racing TE37s. Full nismo kit also
As a standard car its overrated, but tuned a bit as is was always designed for, and you have a winner.
Leave the seats tho. Possibly up there with the best seats fitted to that type of car at the time? (jap spec not leather uk)
BUT....
after uprated the power to a more sensible 500BHP and sorting out the suspension and brakes it was transformed. I remember many rides in it, the turbo flutters and whistles, sweet exhaust note, awesome
And always felt planted and very forgiving.It was bayside blue and had white volk racing TE37s. Full nismo kit also
As a standard car its overrated, but tuned a bit as is was always designed for, and you have a winner.
Leave the seats tho. Possibly up there with the best seats fitted to that type of car at the time? (jap spec not leather uk)
Lono9885 said:
I owned an r32 GTR for 3 years and loved each and every minute of it. It was 400hp after a few mods and absolutely flew on the ring after being stripped out and caged with the obligatory carbon buckets (bloody uncomfortable for a Euro Road Trip I tell you!). I followed it with an e39 M5 which was just as epic in a slightly different way.
I'd always wanted a 34 GTR it had that aura of Godzilla and the tuned examples were ridiculous the world over. On the road they look and sounded fantastic. Just google the Best Motoring Clip of the R34 Mines Tuned GTR or the Autoselect Yellow Shark 34 from High Octane (OMG!)
HOWEVER! Maybe it's me getting old or getting wise, I don't know, but it simply doesn't have that appeal anymore. If I won the lottery another 32 would be in my list of garage cars but not this, they ARE NOT worth the money that's being charged for them these days simple as. 25k for a decent example!! ...no thanks...I can get an e60 M5 or a 996 turbo or an RS4 for that. And they don't feel all 90s, and plasticy inside! You have luxury and performance. The 34 also is starting to suffer it's age appearance wise and just looks a bit old. The 32 looks old but that's part of it's charm and still is...the 34 was meant to be edgy, I don't think it is now.
The thing is some will spout..spent another 20k and it'll be 700bhp or whatever...no matter what people say the cars life is significantly shortened by this level of tuning and you also run into more things going wrong..small and large. That 20k tuning on top of a 25K budget would get you something pretty bloody astounding 2nd hand anyway...GT3 with some mods? Youtube Gpower Hurricane RR e60 M5...you could have something near that for £45k.
Overall...they were a dream car...not so sure now...Too many better alternatives nowadays.
p.s My dream car will never suffer the same fate..F40 mmmm
Heheh i know what your trying to say, but i think the main point is, this its something different, how many of these do you see driving around the country? ive never seen one. Every C*nt has a BMW, or a 911.I'd always wanted a 34 GTR it had that aura of Godzilla and the tuned examples were ridiculous the world over. On the road they look and sounded fantastic. Just google the Best Motoring Clip of the R34 Mines Tuned GTR or the Autoselect Yellow Shark 34 from High Octane (OMG!)
HOWEVER! Maybe it's me getting old or getting wise, I don't know, but it simply doesn't have that appeal anymore. If I won the lottery another 32 would be in my list of garage cars but not this, they ARE NOT worth the money that's being charged for them these days simple as. 25k for a decent example!! ...no thanks...I can get an e60 M5 or a 996 turbo or an RS4 for that. And they don't feel all 90s, and plasticy inside! You have luxury and performance. The 34 also is starting to suffer it's age appearance wise and just looks a bit old. The 32 looks old but that's part of it's charm and still is...the 34 was meant to be edgy, I don't think it is now.
The thing is some will spout..spent another 20k and it'll be 700bhp or whatever...no matter what people say the cars life is significantly shortened by this level of tuning and you also run into more things going wrong..small and large. That 20k tuning on top of a 25K budget would get you something pretty bloody astounding 2nd hand anyway...GT3 with some mods? Youtube Gpower Hurricane RR e60 M5...you could have something near that for £45k.
Overall...they were a dream car...not so sure now...Too many better alternatives nowadays.
p.s My dream car will never suffer the same fate..F40 mmmm
Have had both and R33 and R34 and I have agree with Chris that as standard they are good and but special, however no one buys a GT-R to keep standard. The whole point of them is to modify them to suit ones tastes, the cars almost beg for it.
With 400bhp+ liberated fairly easily and a few choice suspension changes, they are transformed into something quite special and are probably two of the best cars I've ever owned. An R34 with 700 odd bhp is still the quickest and most shocking car I have ever been in, that thing just reeled in the horizon like you wouldn't believe.
I do have to disagree with Chris on the looks though, IMO the R34 is the most resolved and aggrresive of the 3 in the looks department. It's a shame that at my age and proffesion I work in, I can't really pull off the bewinged jap monster look anymore, otherwise I'd have another tomorrow.
With 400bhp+ liberated fairly easily and a few choice suspension changes, they are transformed into something quite special and are probably two of the best cars I've ever owned. An R34 with 700 odd bhp is still the quickest and most shocking car I have ever been in, that thing just reeled in the horizon like you wouldn't believe.
I do have to disagree with Chris on the looks though, IMO the R34 is the most resolved and aggrresive of the 3 in the looks department. It's a shame that at my age and proffesion I work in, I can't really pull off the bewinged jap monster look anymore, otherwise I'd have another tomorrow.
IMO Chris is right, the lardiest of the Skyline GT-Rs, perhaps not the best looking, and whilst the current GT-R is a fair old barge at least it has the power and technology to overcome the hinderance of its considerable size and weight. However, it is still a Skyline GT-R, and whilst being my least favourite of the bunch, it still places ahead of a large amount of other contemporary cars.
Totally shameless of me,but my UK R34 GTR is for sale here if anyone is interested :
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3663085.htm
On another note,i've owned quite a few Skyline's,not going to bore you down much,but one thing to say,having driven both on the same track during similar conditions,my R34 GTR felt so much better on the corners and when giving it the right foot coming out of corners aswell. It comes down to personal taste,the R34 is alot rarer worldwide,at the moment there is believed to be only approx 110-120 R34 GTR's within the UK,many UK model's were written off,alot also got sold on to Europe. Yet the R34 GTR will always have that particular "aura" with it, and alot of people want to buy them still.
Many many threads have been created over the R32/R33/R34's and the desire to own them,if memory serves me right, the R34 GTR come's out on top as to the one most want to own.
I've driven and been out in E60 M5's,DMS tuned 996 Turbo's etc etc all within R34 GTR money,yet IMO nothing comes close to the R34 GTR. A good friend of mine always come back to owning a GTR after trying something different for a while,as they're just not a GTR,once you've driven one,you'll understand why
I'm the West Mid's rep for the GTROC btw,and have been out in quite a few high BHP models,including the Top Secret R33 GTR!
And,some of the one's me,and my family have owned - Think you can tell we like our Skyline's abit :-D
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3663085.htm
On another note,i've owned quite a few Skyline's,not going to bore you down much,but one thing to say,having driven both on the same track during similar conditions,my R34 GTR felt so much better on the corners and when giving it the right foot coming out of corners aswell. It comes down to personal taste,the R34 is alot rarer worldwide,at the moment there is believed to be only approx 110-120 R34 GTR's within the UK,many UK model's were written off,alot also got sold on to Europe. Yet the R34 GTR will always have that particular "aura" with it, and alot of people want to buy them still.
Many many threads have been created over the R32/R33/R34's and the desire to own them,if memory serves me right, the R34 GTR come's out on top as to the one most want to own.
I've driven and been out in E60 M5's,DMS tuned 996 Turbo's etc etc all within R34 GTR money,yet IMO nothing comes close to the R34 GTR. A good friend of mine always come back to owning a GTR after trying something different for a while,as they're just not a GTR,once you've driven one,you'll understand why
I'm the West Mid's rep for the GTROC btw,and have been out in quite a few high BHP models,including the Top Secret R33 GTR!
And,some of the one's me,and my family have owned - Think you can tell we like our Skyline's abit :-D
Edited by JapFreak786 on Tuesday 20th March 18:18
Dagnut said:
I don't think its harsh at all..he does these article without even having the courtesy to drive them back to back..instead he's going on a 12 year old memory of driving a car he was afraid of without the skill to do so...on the a fearsome wet race track as a driving noob?
And if you read the article again, you'll see that he isn't condemning it as a bad car out of hand, only asserting that this is a car which, despite the critical acclaim, he didn't "get" for the reasons described. It isn't a hatchet job on the car at all, simply an invitation for people who own or who have spent driving them to describe why they disagree.I think you've got the wrong end of the stick. Perhaps instead you could add something useful to the debate instead by describing your own experiences of the car, or attempting to back up your statement that "it's widely acknowledged in the GTR community that the 34 is far superior to the 33" rather than just being a bit grumpy.
I owned all 4 recent versions of GT-R from R32-R35.
Essentially the R32-34 are mechanically almost the same car, albeit with progressively more gizmos, body changes and a 6 speed box in the R34. The R32 was utterly amazing in it's time and blew away the competition, but as stated the competition caught up through the R33 and R34, so the later cars were merely 'good' in comparison to contemporaries.
The R35 reset the rules again through and only now a few years later is the competition catching up to that.
Essentially the R32-34 are mechanically almost the same car, albeit with progressively more gizmos, body changes and a 6 speed box in the R34. The R32 was utterly amazing in it's time and blew away the competition, but as stated the competition caught up through the R33 and R34, so the later cars were merely 'good' in comparison to contemporaries.
The R35 reset the rules again through and only now a few years later is the competition catching up to that.
Stuart said:
And if you read the article again, you'll see that he isn't condemning it as a bad car out of hand, only asserting that this is a car which, despite the critical acclaim, he didn't "get" for the reasons described. It isn't a hatchet job on the car at all, simply an invitation for people who own or who have spent driving them to describe why they disagree.
I think you've got the wrong end of the stick. Perhaps instead you could add something useful to the debate instead by describing your own experiences of the car, or attempting to back up your statement that "it's widely acknowledged in the GTR community that the 34 is far superior to the 33" rather than just being a bit grumpy.
I probably am being a bit grumpy, I apologies no offence intended you guys do a great job..but what happened to actually driving the cars.. providing feed back and giving some objective info in a proper back to back comparison? I'm thinking back to the piece where you guys went to a Porsche dealership and drove a bunch of 993's..that made for excellent reading....i think the skylines are worth that effortI think you've got the wrong end of the stick. Perhaps instead you could add something useful to the debate instead by describing your own experiences of the car, or attempting to back up your statement that "it's widely acknowledged in the GTR community that the 34 is far superior to the 33" rather than just being a bit grumpy.
Dagnut said:
I probably am being a bit grumpy, I apologies no offence intended you guys do a great job..but what happened to actually driving the cars.. providing feed back and giving some objective info in a proper back to back comparison? I'm thinking back to the piece where you guys went to a Porsche dealership and drove a bunch of 993's..that made for excellent reading....i think the skylines are worth that effort
Geeez dude, virtually every other article on PH is just that - road test reports with a personal slant.This was clearly just an article intending to commence a Skyline discussion based on Chris' experience. No need to be offensive just because you have a different point of view.
As the other chap said, if you have such a strong feeling about the cars, how about joining the debate and sharing your experiences and thoughts...
As for me, I have never driven any of the Skyline family unfortunately, but have admired from afar (and via Gran Turismo and Forza). As a Jap lover they are up there with the NSX, Supra TT and RX7 in my dream garage.
If I didn't need something presentable for seeing clients I would love to ditch my Spider and get into one of the above... An R33 GTR would definitely be on the viewing list.
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