Nissan Skyline R32 GTR V-Spec
Discussion
I am pretty excited to show this off, just had it a couple weeks now and will be trying to keep it as original as possible seeing their values are only going one way. Original cars are hard to find these days, this one being so original I had not ever seen one with the original air box still installed! The only mods on this car are the larger Stainless Exhaust, and despite it looking like it has a 5” tailpipe it isn’t as loud as it looks!
This example is in quite good condition, it has minimal seat and bolster wear, only a very small lifting of the passenger side dash covering and absolutely no holes drilled into the dashes for gauges etc. The most noticeable issue is the warping of the lip spoiler that sits just below main spoiler.
I said I wouldn’t mod it when trying to convince my GF that an R32 GTR is a sound investment and that I need one in my life, however that didn’t last long! The front lip needs painting white and I need to lower it a little bit, the stock ride height is typical of Japanese cars at the time, masses of wheel clearance just does not look right!
The most urgent issue to fix is getting rid of the viscous fan, this one is pretty stiff to turn and it sounds like it’s matched to the engine revs. I’ll be making my own electric fan kit to swap in place of the OEM fan and cowling.
Pics of the car as it stands atm:
This example is in quite good condition, it has minimal seat and bolster wear, only a very small lifting of the passenger side dash covering and absolutely no holes drilled into the dashes for gauges etc. The most noticeable issue is the warping of the lip spoiler that sits just below main spoiler.
I said I wouldn’t mod it when trying to convince my GF that an R32 GTR is a sound investment and that I need one in my life, however that didn’t last long! The front lip needs painting white and I need to lower it a little bit, the stock ride height is typical of Japanese cars at the time, masses of wheel clearance just does not look right!
The most urgent issue to fix is getting rid of the viscous fan, this one is pretty stiff to turn and it sounds like it’s matched to the engine revs. I’ll be making my own electric fan kit to swap in place of the OEM fan and cowling.
Pics of the car as it stands atm:
Edited by Mudgey on Sunday 22 April 12:54
Cheers for the replies!
Absolutely love this car and even though it's not the quickest, lightest or best handling car I've ever driven it does feels really special to drive, it really does give you that nostalgic feeling even just sitting in it!
The reactions are quite interesting when out and about, to the uninitiated it looks like an old 90's car and those people don't bat an eye lid, to those whom are driving something a little more interesting, ie Golf GTI's, BMW M cars etc certainly have a good head turn and glance as it goes by. My girlfriend is firmly in the former camp, it just does nothing for her at all, she much prefers the Diesel BMW, to her the skyline is just 'meh'... lol
With regards to the headlights, I don't actually have any preference to any of the variations that were put on these cars when new, i'll just leave them as is. The car will probably only cover 1,000 miles a year, it's only going to be used as a weekend toy and not for long distance travel so won't be used at night enough to warrant changing I expect.
Haha this isn't Gran Turismo, I think I'll go as far as adding an ECU, upgrading the coil packs to get rid of the exciter? module, exhaust downpipes and uprate the twin turbo's to something more durable. I would prefer reliability over chasing numbers and I think 370-400hp is a good compromise for this engine from what I've been reading online. Anyway, I've got to finish my Integra DC5 build before I start messing around with this car!
Absolutely love this car and even though it's not the quickest, lightest or best handling car I've ever driven it does feels really special to drive, it really does give you that nostalgic feeling even just sitting in it!
The reactions are quite interesting when out and about, to the uninitiated it looks like an old 90's car and those people don't bat an eye lid, to those whom are driving something a little more interesting, ie Golf GTI's, BMW M cars etc certainly have a good head turn and glance as it goes by. My girlfriend is firmly in the former camp, it just does nothing for her at all, she much prefers the Diesel BMW, to her the skyline is just 'meh'... lol
With regards to the headlights, I don't actually have any preference to any of the variations that were put on these cars when new, i'll just leave them as is. The car will probably only cover 1,000 miles a year, it's only going to be used as a weekend toy and not for long distance travel so won't be used at night enough to warrant changing I expect.
Haha this isn't Gran Turismo, I think I'll go as far as adding an ECU, upgrading the coil packs to get rid of the exciter? module, exhaust downpipes and uprate the twin turbo's to something more durable. I would prefer reliability over chasing numbers and I think 370-400hp is a good compromise for this engine from what I've been reading online. Anyway, I've got to finish my Integra DC5 build before I start messing around with this car!
Good that you have a plan formulated for the bncr32 , just watch for the std turbos seeing boost spikes as over 1-1.2 bar of boost kills them quickly . You mentioned about the std air box and it is rare to still see them , but put it this way mines used a std air box albeit with a high flow panel filter or their R34 gtr demo that was a animal .
Really miss mines especially after seeing pics of what the bellend done to it
Really miss mines especially after seeing pics of what the bellend done to it
i dont think theres anything wrong in cooling capacity with the standard viscous fan(when healthy) plenty of big power cars still run theirs- its often removed to make room at the front for mahoosive intercoolers and race spec rads- otherwise it seems a very competent bit of kit. nice to see a standardish one still alive
Looks very nice, always fancied me one of these. I'm very jealous.
I did have a little chuckle how in one breath 'I'm going to keep it standard to protect value', while in the next, 'I'll be painting the splitter, lowering it a tad, removing the viscous fan, swapping down pipes, upping power...'
Either way, I'm sure it'll be amazing!
I did have a little chuckle how in one breath 'I'm going to keep it standard to protect value', while in the next, 'I'll be painting the splitter, lowering it a tad, removing the viscous fan, swapping down pipes, upping power...'
Either way, I'm sure it'll be amazing!
Nice car and i love those BBS wheels. R32 just looks so good in white.
I know a few people who have changed the viscous fan on their gtrs for electric. Some have gone back to viscous.
It isnt worth it, a good viscous set up is far better than any electric setup on these.
Remove the waste gate restrictor pills and you will get an extra 50 bhp ☺its how they're meant to be.
I know a few people who have changed the viscous fan on their gtrs for electric. Some have gone back to viscous.
It isnt worth it, a good viscous set up is far better than any electric setup on these.
Remove the waste gate restrictor pills and you will get an extra 50 bhp ☺its how they're meant to be.
Alias218 said:
I did have a little chuckle how in one breath 'I'm going to keep it standard to protect value', while in the next, 'I'll be painting the splitter, lowering it a tad, removing the viscous fan, swapping down pipes, upping power...'
haha, well I did use the word relatively, it gives me some wiggle room when defining original!The high performance electric fans you can buy these days are really good, almost all the fan kits I've seen for these cars use thin fans which is a no-no, if you are drawing through a rad, an intercooler and AC Rad then high flow all the way. For example SPAL offer a 15" fan that does 1950 cfm static. I would say one of these would be enough but could always add a secondary to come in at a higher temp if the first can't quite manage.
Hi Mudgey,
Welcome to Skyline ownership and welcome to the V-Spec club. Yours is the first V-Spec i've seen for a while. I was beginning to think i was the only one left, lol.
Never sell those wheels!
that's what identifies it as a V-Spec. I have another pair i swap over to occasionally but wouldn't part with them.
Welcome to Skyline ownership and welcome to the V-Spec club. Yours is the first V-Spec i've seen for a while. I was beginning to think i was the only one left, lol.
Never sell those wheels!
that's what identifies it as a V-Spec. I have another pair i swap over to occasionally but wouldn't part with them.Lovely!
The R32 came out on 16" wheels, the Japanese touring car regs specified you had to use production wheel diameter and they had lots of issues with brake fade. Hence going up to 17" for the V-Spec you have, homologating the larger wheel for the track to allow larger brakes.
I'd suggest keeping hold of any standard parts you remove, to keep them with the car. A few reversible 'stage 1' mods sound very sensible :-)
Shotgun Bri said:
Hi Mudgey,
Welcome to Skyline ownership and welcome to the V-Spec club.
Cheers, the car is pretty mint and is dry stored here at work for when it's not being used. Absolutely, anything that may be removed will be stored so it can go back to original if needed. The BBS alloys will be coming off and replaced at some point.Welcome to Skyline ownership and welcome to the V-Spec club.
Your car looks great in black, what have you done to it apart from it being lower than stock?
samoht said:
The R32 came out on 16" wheels, the Japanese touring car regs specified you had to use production wheel diameter and they had lots of issues with brake fade. Hence going up to 17" for the V-Spec you have, homologating the larger wheel for the track to allow larger brakes.
I'd suggest keeping hold of any standard parts you remove, to keep them with the car. A few reversible 'stage 1' mods sound very sensible :-)
Ah right, that would make sense, it does seem obvious looking back that the brakes are far too small for the weight of car. The OEM brakes on my Integra DC5 are bigger and the car weighs some 300kg less!I'd suggest keeping hold of any standard parts you remove, to keep them with the car. A few reversible 'stage 1' mods sound very sensible :-)
Absolutely, some preventative maintenance to upgrade known trouble items such as ceramic turbo's and coil packs, well whilst were at it a new ECU and some extra boost? it would be rude not too!
Edited by Mudgey on Friday 27th April 09:57
Butter Face said:
Lovely car. Looks fantastic.
Cheers dude!Edited by Mudgey on Friday 27th April 09:58
Its original, apart from the non-standard exhaust, and the fact you're about to lower it.....
why not celebrate the originality, run it originally and enjoy it - apart from the aesthetics and minor on-limit changes to ride through lowering it, aren't the rewards for keeping it pure (given how long it must have taken to find it) worth those small niggles? the previous owner must be facepalming reading the planned mods. Didn't take long for you to change the originality to aftermarket....
edit: superb car though. And a good investment.
why not celebrate the originality, run it originally and enjoy it - apart from the aesthetics and minor on-limit changes to ride through lowering it, aren't the rewards for keeping it pure (given how long it must have taken to find it) worth those small niggles? the previous owner must be facepalming reading the planned mods. Didn't take long for you to change the originality to aftermarket....
edit: superb car though. And a good investment.
Fantastic!
I really missed the boat on these , it wasn't that long ago that i was finding good examples for 8 - 10k (Not the V-Spec mind)
Can't seem to do that now sadly.
Definitely think you should keep it standard , someone has gone through great lengths for that car to survive standard this long. Carry the torch , don't throw it away
I really missed the boat on these , it wasn't that long ago that i was finding good examples for 8 - 10k (Not the V-Spec mind)
Can't seem to do that now sadly.
Definitely think you should keep it standard , someone has gone through great lengths for that car to survive standard this long. Carry the torch , don't throw it away
I'm on my 3rd BNR32 (my first was a V-Spec II,13 years ago) and even at today's prices they're still good value.
Any BNR32 is a niche purchase, so I wouldn't get too hung up on originality, as in my opinion most prospective purchasers look for good quality upgrades, which are getting increasingly expensive to do if not already done/fitted.
There's a whole industry devoted to improving Godzilla, so welcome to BNR32 ownership and don't tell the missus the true cost of the parts!
Any BNR32 is a niche purchase, so I wouldn't get too hung up on originality, as in my opinion most prospective purchasers look for good quality upgrades, which are getting increasingly expensive to do if not already done/fitted.
There's a whole industry devoted to improving Godzilla, so welcome to BNR32 ownership and don't tell the missus the true cost of the parts!
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