RE: PH Heroes: R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R
Discussion
Pentoman said:
Also do the lesser models drive anything like the GT-R? I don't mean in terms of power so much as the rest of the experience. I do like the idea of lots of steering feel!
I had an R33 GTS25, which is the next step down from the GTST, I guess. I deliberately wanted a non-turbo, since I was going to use it as a daily driver. With 200bhp it was respectably quick as long as you kept the revs up, and it did handle very well for a big car. On the twisties, it seemed to shrink around me and felt smaller, giving the confidence to push on. No HICAS or ATTESSA, just a good, well set up chassis. I got it straight from Japan, and luckily it had been looked after, it was absolutely mint. In the year or so I had it, nothing went wrong, it never missed a beat - utterly reliable.
And that big straight-six makes a fabulous howl when you keep it up above 5000.
In the end, I wanted something more involving, and got an AW11 instead
But I highly recommend the R33.GnuBee said:
I had one of these 2 years ago and still remember the sensation of driving it like it was yesterday.
Without doubt the car had the best steering feel of anything that I've driven this side of track specials like Caterhams etc.
The HICAS and sending of power to the front wheels when the situation demands it meant that prodigous cornering speed was available.
I'll never forget the first time I drove the car; heading through heavy traffic the OS Giken clutch was a nightmare and the car picked out and amplified all road surface imperfections. Coming out of the heavy traffic and onto the motorway, confident now that all fluids had warmed up I took the first, tentative, forays into the further reaches of the accelerator pedal.
Oh god! All I wanted to do was overtake the meandering middle lane occupier but 70mph had turned into 110mph in what appeared to be the blink of an eye. The push, the noise of the exhaust, the roar of the induction was like a drug and it only took that single journey to have me addicted.
Ok so motorways are all well and good but they're only serve to give a taste, a hint as they take you to the more interesting A and B roads. I had a favourite bit of road, I knew it like the back of my hand, sweeping corners, good visibility - you know the type we've all got them and this was where the car truly sealed it's grip on me.
The confidence that the car generated meant that speeds were getting ever higher, the potential consequences ever more serious. I took the buyer of the car along the same road and I'll never forget the look on his face upon our return; there was no negotiation, no chat, no pointless tyre kicking just a man with a vacant look in his eyes handing me a bag full of cash.
Ok so I've painted the car in a good light but there are 2 things you should know;
1) The brakes are shocking, I mean truly dreadful - mine had the "uprated" brakes from the R33 but if anything highlighted the age of the car it was the brakes. If you buy one, put proper brakes on it before you raid the HKS tuning catalogue to up the power
2) The engine is very strong but the paranoia caused by reading various articles and forums will lead you to believe that every outing is potential a one way trip to a rebuild
Why did I sell the car? Well the paranoia got to me, that rebuild thought that started as mere whisper during the boring parts of a drive became louder and louder until every drive was tainted. I also knew the car was going to cost me at some point; not mere money you understand but something more serious (remember my comment above about consequences) - the phrase "license loser" is all too often bandied about but these cars will do that to you unless you are as reserved as a nun.
Great post and echoes my memories of my 32 GT-R exactly! Without doubt the car had the best steering feel of anything that I've driven this side of track specials like Caterhams etc.
The HICAS and sending of power to the front wheels when the situation demands it meant that prodigous cornering speed was available.
I'll never forget the first time I drove the car; heading through heavy traffic the OS Giken clutch was a nightmare and the car picked out and amplified all road surface imperfections. Coming out of the heavy traffic and onto the motorway, confident now that all fluids had warmed up I took the first, tentative, forays into the further reaches of the accelerator pedal.
Oh god! All I wanted to do was overtake the meandering middle lane occupier but 70mph had turned into 110mph in what appeared to be the blink of an eye. The push, the noise of the exhaust, the roar of the induction was like a drug and it only took that single journey to have me addicted.
Ok so motorways are all well and good but they're only serve to give a taste, a hint as they take you to the more interesting A and B roads. I had a favourite bit of road, I knew it like the back of my hand, sweeping corners, good visibility - you know the type we've all got them and this was where the car truly sealed it's grip on me.
The confidence that the car generated meant that speeds were getting ever higher, the potential consequences ever more serious. I took the buyer of the car along the same road and I'll never forget the look on his face upon our return; there was no negotiation, no chat, no pointless tyre kicking just a man with a vacant look in his eyes handing me a bag full of cash.
Ok so I've painted the car in a good light but there are 2 things you should know;
1) The brakes are shocking, I mean truly dreadful - mine had the "uprated" brakes from the R33 but if anything highlighted the age of the car it was the brakes. If you buy one, put proper brakes on it before you raid the HKS tuning catalogue to up the power
2) The engine is very strong but the paranoia caused by reading various articles and forums will lead you to believe that every outing is potential a one way trip to a rebuild
Why did I sell the car? Well the paranoia got to me, that rebuild thought that started as mere whisper during the boring parts of a drive became louder and louder until every drive was tainted. I also knew the car was going to cost me at some point; not mere money you understand but something more serious (remember my comment above about consequences) - the phrase "license loser" is all too often bandied about but these cars will do that to you unless you are as reserved as a nun.
I had the paranoia, several £k on a rebuild didn't appeal at all, but if you looked after them (no boost before oil up to temp and NO over-revving!) then they were fine.
With the prices dropping so much its very tempting to pick up another one.
Also an R32GTR owner here (looks like the one in the article actually!) and I agree with all said above. It's very difficult to buy a cheap one without ending up paying for a big bill a short while later.
I bought a fresh import, standard looking with a very mildly modded engine and 2 months later the engine expired. I had a new engine and clutch fitted by a reputable Skyline tuner and the total cost in the end was far more than buying a known UK car.
I now have a superb car and love it, the handling and nibbleness is just shocking every time I drive it, far better than my Griff in this area. The whole driving experience is just great fun and involving.
I've been trying to put it up for sale for a while now (have too many cars now!) but will miss it loads and can't bring myself to do it. Also there are cars going for £6k and people (like me when I was buying) thinking they can get a bargain and I want a little more than than.
I bought a fresh import, standard looking with a very mildly modded engine and 2 months later the engine expired. I had a new engine and clutch fitted by a reputable Skyline tuner and the total cost in the end was far more than buying a known UK car.
I now have a superb car and love it, the handling and nibbleness is just shocking every time I drive it, far better than my Griff in this area. The whole driving experience is just great fun and involving.
I've been trying to put it up for sale for a while now (have too many cars now!) but will miss it loads and can't bring myself to do it. Also there are cars going for £6k and people (like me when I was buying) thinking they can get a bargain and I want a little more than than.
Edited by David H on Thursday 6th March 13:42
Pentoman said:
ETA: That R33 in the pic 2-3 posts above looks absolutely stunning! I have to ask why do 99% of them look bloody awful? Is it standard?
Hi,Edited by Pentoman on Wednesday 5th March 15:49
That's my Black GTS25t in the photo (behind the sublime 600bhp+ R34). It's got a full Nismo bodykit which in my eyes makes it look alot more like a std GT-R, and some mild modifications. Surprisingly having driven a std R32 GT-R and the above GTS25t there is not that much difference in terms of straight line speed. The GTR, if you believe the figures has only 20bhp advantage but with a 4WD system to feed this is wiped out. In the corners it's a different story, the GTS is feelsome enough but it's not as easy to exploit and can snap easier than a GT-R. Brakes were terrible, if you must get one upgrade the brakes!
Running costs - well I've had it 3 years and aside from the brakes nothing has gone wrong. Don't get me wrong I've had it undersealed (twice now), front bumper re-sprayed & tyres are expensive. Servicing for me was fine - say about £400 a year all in but then it only covered around 4k miles each year. Fuel is the biggest cost, obviously a tuned example gets ridiculous, but even my tame example struggles to get 20mpg on a cruise - only drinks high-octane stuff as well - don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
If you want one, best advice is generally to get the most expensive, lowest milage and most original (in terms of engine mods) example you can find, don't be tempted by the cheaper imports, they will dissapoint you. There really is a big difference between a good and a bad Skyline, mine has cost nothing other than servicing and the odd upgrade for 3 years of fun at the weekends, I have heard horror stories from people who have bought a duff one. Even something simple like the Hicas chip going wrong can take months and cost a fortune to source.
All of the above is why I was happy to pay over the odds for it (against some peoples advice) but to me it's been worth it.
I'm going to miss it when it goes this weekend.
Polrules said:
It must be one of the last performance cars available without ABS/EBD etc and for that and especially in a tuned example you have to be very wary of what you are doing, more so in the wet. This may seem at odds with the cars reputation and yes it does have a fabulous 4WD system with 4WS but the truth is that if you time the boost wrong you can find yourself needing to catch a slide in very inconvenient circumstances.
Oh come on, it's hardly the last of the performance cars unencumbered with electronic aides, I would in fact say it was one of the first to come with so many. It had practically every electronic trickery going at the time, ATTESSA, ABS, 4WS, ceramic twin turbos, etc.The ATTESSA system lets you power into a corner, get into a slide, keep your foot into it and let the computer sort it out and drag you out the corner. Granted it's nowhere near as sophisticated as more modern systems and an inattentive driver can get into real trouble very quickly if they dont know what they are doing, but you can see the genesis of traction, stability and various other driver flattering controls in the R32 GT-R. The R32 was not the end of an era but rather the dawning of one.
I remeber reading magazines when I was about 10 (90-91)& fell in love with it on the spot due to it technical spec (I knew my big end bolt from my crankshaft by about 8), iron block 6 cylider twin turbo, Asetta 4WD and it looked far more modern than anything about at the time.
I used to get into arguments with my mates when the Escort Cossie Ruled British roads that it was better and was always outnumbered, doesn't matter though as I still rib any of them now when playing GT4 and using a skyline.
Never been in a std one but would love to but again been lcky enough to have a blat round an airfeild in a 480BHP R34 & 545BHP R32 scared the living daylights out of me but couldn't stop grinning for a week!
R32 is on of my top all time cars & deserves it's place next to a Lancia Delta Intergale, E30 M3, 205 1.9 GTI, Escort Cossie as a true Icon of monster performance from a non premium car maker.
I used to get into arguments with my mates when the Escort Cossie Ruled British roads that it was better and was always outnumbered, doesn't matter though as I still rib any of them now when playing GT4 and using a skyline.
Never been in a std one but would love to but again been lcky enough to have a blat round an airfeild in a 480BHP R34 & 545BHP R32 scared the living daylights out of me but couldn't stop grinning for a week!
R32 is on of my top all time cars & deserves it's place next to a Lancia Delta Intergale, E30 M3, 205 1.9 GTI, Escort Cossie as a true Icon of monster performance from a non premium car maker.
Road_Terrorist said:
The ATTESSA system lets you power into a corner, get into a slide, keep your foot into it and let the computer sort it out and drag you out the corner.
No, it DOES NOT. Having owned an R32 GT-R I can say with authority that the ATTESSA system works by putting MORE power to the rear wheels the higher the lateral G sensor output, which is completely the OPPOSITE of what e.g an Impreza will do. It WILL NOT drag you out of the corner by the front wheels the way that a Scooby will. It WILL let you drift round the corner quite nicely if you know what you are doing, and if you DON'T it WILL punish you just like a typical RWD car. Edited by neon_fox on Thursday 6th March 18:15
neon_fox said:
Road_Terrorist said:
The ATTESSA system lets you power into a corner, get into a slide, keep your foot into it and let the computer sort it out and drag you out the corner.
No, it DOES NOT. Having owned an R32 GT-R I can say with authority that the ATTESSA system works by putting MORE power to the rear wheels the higher the lateral G sensor output, which is completely the OPPOSITE of what e.g an Impreza will do. It WILL NOT drag you out of the corner by the front wheels the way that a Scooby will. It WILL let you drift round the corner quite nicely if you know what you are doing, and if you DON'T it WILL punish you just like a typical RWD car. Edited by neon_fox on Thursday 6th March 18:15
Polrules said:
neon_fox said:
Road_Terrorist said:
The ATTESSA system lets you power into a corner, get into a slide, keep your foot into it and let the computer sort it out and drag you out the corner.
No, it DOES NOT. Having owned an R32 GT-R I can say with authority that the ATTESSA system works by putting MORE power to the rear wheels the higher the lateral G sensor output, which is completely the OPPOSITE of what e.g an Impreza will do. It WILL NOT drag you out of the corner by the front wheels the way that a Scooby will. It WILL let you drift round the corner quite nicely if you know what you are doing, and if you DON'T it WILL punish you just like a typical RWD car. Edited by neon_fox on Thursday 6th March 18:15
in normal driving conditions a gtr is 100 per cent rear wheel drive so not quite sure how it could send more power to rear. i have a torque meter on my dash that lets you know how much is going to the front wheels up to a maximum of 50 per cent.every 1/100 of a second (1/1000 on an r33,34) the attessa checks for loss of traction to the rear wheels.when it detects loss of traction (oversteer for example) to the rear wheels it sends torque to the front.so if you are oversteering it detects the rear wheel slip and sends power to the front.
it feels like you are being pulled straight if you accelerate a bit more.
on a wet road i see this all the time
it is more demanding to drive than an imprezza or an evo but this is part of the fun for me.
a well driven modern impreza or evo would show me a clean pair of heels on a wet country lane, but i know who'd be having more fun!
Yeah,
It's also massivly amusing when people convert these cars to MPH as it totally screws up the Altessa system and makes them do very weird things as it uses the speed signal as a determining factor for it's calculations.
If you convert the car to MPH when the car is driving at 80MPH the car thinks it's traveling at 80 KPH
Very amusing... well - not really
It's also massivly amusing when people convert these cars to MPH as it totally screws up the Altessa system and makes them do very weird things as it uses the speed signal as a determining factor for it's calculations.
If you convert the car to MPH when the car is driving at 80MPH the car thinks it's traveling at 80 KPH
Very amusing... well - not really
Bizzle said:
Yeah,
It's also massivly amusing when people convert these cars to MPH as it totally screws up the Altessa system and makes them do very weird things as it uses the speed signal as a determining factor for it's calculations.
If you convert the car to MPH when the car is driving at 80MPH the car thinks it's traveling at 80 KPH
Very amusing... well - not really
you're right about the kmh to mph conversion but its not the attessa that gets messed up, its the hicas 4ws.It's also massivly amusing when people convert these cars to MPH as it totally screws up the Altessa system and makes them do very weird things as it uses the speed signal as a determining factor for it's calculations.
If you convert the car to MPH when the car is driving at 80MPH the car thinks it's traveling at 80 KPH
Very amusing... well - not really
up to 50 kmh (30 mph) on turn in the wheels initially turn in the opposite direction to the fronts by up to 1.5 degrees but with a mph conversion it happens at up to 50 mph.
i had mine put back to kmh to avoid this and am now getting a local print shop to do me an absolutely identical dial but in mph. nearly £100 bloody quid mind!
"Compared to the good-looking but chunky new GT-R, the R32 was reasonably small and had a pretty shape with crisp, subtle lines. In gunmetal grey or black they have an understated menace and don’t need the big spoilers and wide wheels that were so often added later on."
beauty must truly be in the eye of the beholder, I am sure it is a great car but looks like a two door Blubeird IMVHO, R34 much better to me
beauty must truly be in the eye of the beholder, I am sure it is a great car but looks like a two door Blubeird IMVHO, R34 much better to me
Adam B said:
"Compared to the good-looking but chunky new GT-R, the R32 was reasonably small and had a pretty shape with crisp, subtle lines. In gunmetal grey or black they have an understated menace and don’t need the big spoilers and wide wheels that were so often added later on."
beauty must truly be in the eye of the beholder, I am sure it is a great car but looks like a two door Blubeird IMVHO, R34 much better to me
Still remember reading the article in CAR magazine February 90 about the 928 blowing up trying to keep up with the press demo R32s round the 'Ring. beauty must truly be in the eye of the beholder, I am sure it is a great car but looks like a two door Blubeird IMVHO, R34 much better to me
IIRC one of the journos, Kevin Radley, stuck an order even before his test drive
Edited by Shropshiremike on Friday 7th March 10:37
Many years ago I was driven round the Ring in R32 GT-R. Probably the best motoring experience I have ever had. The first few corners were a bit scarey since the drivers approach into the corners seemed a tad fast, but soon discovered that it had extraordinary cornering. Great car wish I could own one. Bit faster than my Renault 4.
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