SkylineObsession's drivable things

[SkylineObsession]

To answer your first question: Yes - i have two.
Your second question: No, they aren't GT-R's.
Your third question: 12.
And finally your fourth question: Double Whopper with cheese thanks.

Right, now that the Q&A is put to rest for the moment, i can get on with the topic.

To cut an extremely long story marginally shorter;

I was not a fully specced out car person until Gran Turismo came along. Yes, i'd played Need 4 Speed, Road Avenger (Sega Mega CD), Destruction Derby (all PlayStation versions possibly on friends or rented out consoles) and a number of other car games in my younger years, but then when Gran Turismo came out (in my case GT2, because we were Sega freaks until the annoying PlayStation started becoming the dominant species) everything changed.
I now had the magic ability to name almost every car driving around on the streets (it felt that way anyway) and, after starting GT2 with either an R32 GTS-t or R32 GTS-4, i now had another favourite manufacturer and model (i also liked Mustangs).

This obsession with Skylines was still in its infancy by the time The Internets™ came out, so i was calling myself Mustang-man everywhere for the first few years. Through Gran Turismo i discovered Gran Turismo.com forums (run by NSX owning Kenji in the USA, not Sony/PD) and then shortly after i discovered the early GTPlanet over on MSN (?) messageboards, and then signed up to the very first iteration of these forums when i found out they'd moved from MSN, but it was still early enough to become the 18th member on these fine forums.

At the same time (2000/2001) i'd also signed up to an NZ based Nissan Skyline enthusiasts club forums, and eventually over the years my obsession with them grew and grew so much that i either asked admins on each forum to change my name to its current one, or i created a new account with this name.

When this Skyline club started having meets closer to home i jumped in Mums car (a Mazda MS-6 usually) and attended them in that, just to be involved (couldn't afford to buy a Skyline myself as had no reliable/consistent enough job for many years after finishing high school).

One day out of the blue Dad contacted me/us (he and Mum seperated in the early 1990's and he lived three hours north) and said he'd bought a Skyline. He'd actually forgotten about my love for them until i reacted to this news. Needless to say i was driving up there as soon as i could, got to see the beast in person and then drove it.

Mission complete.

I was now a fully fledged and certified Skyline Enthusiast/Obsessor. There was no going back now.

I got to drive it a few more times over the years before Dad eventually announced he was moving to the USA to meet with a lady he'd been talking to online (he later married and moved back to NZ with her after he spent a decade in the US). So he offered to sell me the car at half the price he paid for it, $3,000NZD.

I somehow managed to save enough money up just in time, and picked up my new ride on the last day of 2004.

1990 R32 Nissan Skyline GTS-4;

(photo of how it looked when i got it)

• standard RB20DET, 212hp at the engine (last dyno run it did 119kw at the wheels... should have been in the 130's or so? Was running rich and intermittently on five cylinders.)
• single ceramic turbo (now a more reliable steel turbo, as had to get it rebuilt - still factory boost etc)
• four wheel drive (rear wheel drive 100% of the time until they lose traction, then the fronts kick in - so can still get it sideways er... cough apparently cough)
• 4 speed automatic transmission (staying, will never manual convert it)
• active front spoiler (lowers down automatically at 70/75km/h and raises up at 50km/h - or can be engaged when parked if the handbrake is on)
• completely bone stock other than the exhaust tip/rear muffler which Dad made when working with an exhaust company - was put on to test it, but it never came off because he loved the sound too much! Still have the original one. Also has the factory Sony cd player (doesn't work), factory cassette player (doesn't work), factory radio which only gets old fogey stations and so on and so forth.
• 16.3? second 1/4 mile time on a closed road for a local motorsport club event. Turbo lag made it hard to get a good time, but it got a 160km/h trap speed. Tried building up boost on the brakes as i'd done successfully once before (with a nice g-force kick to the back of the seat), but there wasn't enough grip on the road so it just pushed the car along.
• HICAS/four wheel steering. Which feels really weird. You turn into a corner and suddenly it turns even sharper like you're going sideways, but there is no tyre squeal and you're still under control. It can be quite unnerving and it doesn't give a good feel of what the rear of the car is doing. It'll be why most people take it out of race cars.

Sadly it hadn't been too well looked after by previous owners, so there's almost always something wrong with it (it's probably spent more time off the road than on since 2005). But slowly it's becoming more reliable - touch wood.

• Dad blew the headgasket in it while racing my brother & his S4 RX-7 up a hill one time, that was a $2,000+ repair bill.
• It's had the shocks, starter motor, alternator, fuel pump, bushes, cv joints, gearbox and turbo all fixed or replaced.
• Cat converter has been taken out and replaced with a straight pipe (cat was very well blocked - will put another one in one day when i can afford to).
• Radiator got flushed one day over a decade ago and i got told it was about 95% blocked, the worst the guy had seen - explains the overheating prob it had.
• Currently suffering from an engine knock (well, it's had it since 2005 - some people say bottom end, others say a piston on the wrong angle - but it hasn't gotten much worse since) and an intermittent power loss problem (like the turbo turns on and off or like the handbrake keeps getting yanked on and off).

Plus other things i've forgotten.

And so on. So yeah. It's not that fast and i've driven MUCH faster cars (i.e 2 modified R32 GT-Rs, one highly modified 600hp R33 GT-R, a Ferrari 360 F1 and a first gen manual Lambo Gallardo) but that doesn't bother me. It's still a nice cruiser car and has enough power to get up hills and pass cars with relative ease.

I've always had plans to restore it to factory/showroom condition, but simply don't have the money to do so (cos baby, cos house, cos house renos, cos trips to Australia/USA, cos other reasons). So it's currently tucked away in storage, and i've not driven it in about two years or so. But i'll never sell it.

Aformentioned dyno run (filmed with my potato cellphone)


Best video i have of it so far (few years ago). Me following my mate (at the time) in his Viper RT/10 through a stop sign.


Moar pics, after its last proper clean and polish:

(With it's active front spoiler down)




Fast forward to 2008 (?) and me and my siblings came upon a wee bit of money thanks to inheritance from my very generous grandparents (all of us had spent that money in a year or three) and i eventually found a tidy manual Skyline to buy (always wanted an R32 manual non turbo coupe) and after paying $6,500 for one from that original Skyline club, i got it shipped down to me.

A 1991 R32 Nissan Skyline GTS;

(a few weeks after i got it, on a road closed for a drag race event - excuse the lack of a cut and polish!)

• 107kw/144hp (wheels) confirmed on dyno run (155hp at the engine from factory)
• RB20DE, non turbo
• rear wheel drive
• 5 speed manual transmission
• had a few handling modifications, as the previous owner used to take it around Manfield and Taupo racetracks until he deemed it too tidy to risk going much faster and potentially losing control
• received a full respray in the factory red pearl metallic a few years before i bought it off him in 2009, with more colour added than from factory so it looks really deep
• 16.4? second 1/4 mile time on a closed road (had a 140k/h trap speed compared to the 160km/h in the GTS-4...)
• factory LSD (yay!)
• no HICAS (four wheel steering) from factory, which makes it much easier to tell what the car is doing around the corners and when the back is going to slide out (which it has 'accidently' done a few times). I'm not the greatest fan of HICAS to be honest, i much prefer the direct feel you get in this car - you know exactly what the back is doing and makes it a lot easier to control slides.

The previous owner tried about six or seven different exhaust configurations to get the 'Screamin (it's nickname) sound, and told me to never turbo it (which i absolutely will never do).

Aformentioned dyno run, filmed again with my potato phone


And a clip of me following some American muscle around a racetrack in Central Otago, NZ. Wifey was filming, and cornering g-force leads to some funny camera work.


And latest pic before it too got put in storage (hasn't been driven for one and half or so years now). Again, not going to sell it - ever.

Arrowtown, near Queenstown, Central Otago many moons ago.

'In' the snow one year

So yeah, that's the story (severely shortened) of my Skylines.
I'd always planned to get a GT-R too, they came down to below $20k NZD, but now thanks to the USA they are close to or over $100k - so that dream has gone, probably for good. I might just look for a V8 something if i want a more powerful car to drive than these two.
Almost bought an SL55 AMG a couple years ago, but at the last minute i decided i should spend that money on the house instead.

Over the years through the Skyline clubs i'm with, i've been in and driven all sorts of Skylines/GT-R's and have loved every second of it. There really isn't anything like driving a GT-R, if you're a die-hard Skyline fan.

And family wise;

• Mum owned an R32 Skyline GTS-25 sedan (silver, manual conversion) - bought for $1,100NZD or so
• My brother number one owned a R32 Skyline GTS-25 sedan (silver, auto) - bought for $1,200NZD
• My youngest brother owned an R32 GTS-25 sedan (dark grey, auto) - bought for $900NZD
• My wife owns an R32 Skyline GTS coupe (gunmetal, manual conversion) - bought for $2,000NZD
• My father in law has owned an R32 Skyline GTS-25 sedan (silver, manual?) and a R32 Skyline GTS coupe (maroon, manual) - unsure what he paid for them

So yeah, we were all a bit addicted to these cars back in the day (me, Mum and my brothers all had those Skylines at the same time - luckily we had a big backyard!).

I am still obsessed with Skylines, but other aspects of life have been more important over the past few years. However there's literally no way i'll ever stop being obsessed with them even if i don't own any anymore. It's gone bone deep.

Next post will be about my 2001 Toyota Vitz RS (RIP...)

 

[FPV MIC]

@SkylineObsession Nice cars. 👍

Are you sure that it's American muscle you were following at Highlands and not Aussie muscle? I owned an 1969 318ci V8 VF Valiant 2-door back in the day that looked similar to the car you were following, and the right hand drive would suggest it's more likely to be the Aussie muscle version of the American Dodge Dart. The only easy ways to tell them apart from the outside was the badges, bonnet and front grille, indicator position (easiest to spot), and RHD configuration.

The 1969 Aussie version (the VG model came out the following year with rectangle headlights).

 

[MonoTonouS]

Nice skylines , funny how many think all skylines are sports cars when in reality they are just normal run of the mill commuter cars much like a Mitsubishi Lancer or a Toyota Yaris . The R32 GTR shares nothing with these mechanically but the R32 generation looks good in all trims and are fun to drive , can't say the same for the R33 or R34 skylines. The non GTR trim R34's are ugly cars , it's a miracle of sorts the GTR trim looks good . That red one up there is a good looking car that's for sure .

 

[aguia]

Nissan is going to change an R32 GT-R to a 100% electric

Nissan Shows Off R32 Skyline GT-R Before It Converts It To Electric Power | Carscoops

The starting point for Nissan's all-electric R32 Skyline GT-R conversion looks like a pretty solid example of the breed

www.google.com

 

[SkylineObsession]

@SkylineObsession Nice cars. 👍

Are you sure that it's American muscle you were following at Highlands and not Aussie muscle? I owned an 1969 318ci V8 VF Valiant 2-door back in the day that looked similar to the car you were following, and the right hand drive would suggest it's more likely to be the Aussie muscle version of the American Dodge Dart

Cheers. And you could be right there, i never really gave it much thought. Either way, it was loud and liked frying tyres around the tight corners.
The driver of it said to me after the laps that he was impressed (?) at how flat (minimal body roll) my car was around the corners.

Nice skylines , funny how many think all skylines are sports cars when in reality they are just normal run of the mill commuter cars much like a Mitsubishi Lancer or a Toyota Yaris . The R32 GTR shares nothing with these mechanically but the R32 generation looks good in all trims and are fun to drive , can't say the same for the R33 or R34 skylines. The non GTR trim R34's are ugly cars , it's a miracle of sorts the GTR trim looks good . That red one up there is a good looking car that's for sure .

I kind of disagree with you a bit there on a couple of things.

Firstly, the R32 non-GT-R Skylines may not be classed as 'proper' sports cars, but they are definitely sporty enough.

• The GTS-t and GTS-4 (which share the RB20DET engine) are definitely sporty cars (if not 'sports' cars), and have bigger brakes and better suspension (and so on) than the models below them. They are very easily modified and can scare a few sports cars from other manufacturers with just a few mods sometimes.
• The GTS (RB20DE) and GTS-25 (RB25DE) are less sporty than the GTS-t and GTS-4, but again only need a couple of simple things to put them in a sporty car class. Even standard they go alright though.
• And then the GTE (RB20E) and GXi (4cyl CA18i) are the runts of the litter and are more in tune with your description of them comparing to Lancers at least (IMO). I don't know of many/anyone who has properly modified these models, not that i'm saying it hasn't been done though.

Compared to modern cars they don't seem too sporty or fast, but back in the day they did.

My red GTS was modified and tuned to hoon around NZ racetracks by its previous owner (until he decided it was too tidy to risk a meeting with a tire barrier/concrete wall), so is a more capable car around tracks than it was from factory. It doesn't have much more horsepower, but the suspension/handling has been worked on a bit. It's possibly even faster around the track (corners at least) than my GTS-4, as the previous owner of the red one said it used to scare turbo Skylines a bit, until they hit boost.

Secondly, unfortunately you are actually wrong about the R32 GT-R sharing no parts with the non GT-R's. Early year GTS-4's (1989-1991 or so?) actually share a number of mechanical parts with the GT-R, we've found this out the hard way with many trips back and forth to parts shops for us/our mechanic because suppliers keep assuming that GT-R parts don't go on the GTS-4. So when it's come time to replace the shocks and tie rods/CV's (or both?) - all use the exact same parts at the R32 GT-R... And there's likely other parts they share too. Because of this, it's cost me a lot more money to buy parts when they need replaced!

Me being a Skyline Obsessor, i like or love the look etc of all Skylines from the 1950's right through to today's ones, and don't think any of them are ugly. But i'm well aware not many people share the same view. A lot of Skyline fans seem to hate the look of the R33's for instance.

Nissan is going to change an R32 GT-R to a 100% electric

Yes, my wife showed me this a few days ago. Should be interesting!

 

[aguia]

Cheers. And you could be right there, i never really gave it much thought. Either way, it was loud and liked frying tyres around the tight corners.
The driver of it said to me after the laps that he was impressed (?) at how flat (minimal body roll) my car was around the corners.

I kind of disagree with you a bit there on a couple of things.

Firstly, the R32 non-GT-R Skylines may not be classed as 'proper' sports cars, but they are definitely sporty enough.

• The GTS-t and GTS-4 (which share the RB20DET engine) are definitely sporty cars (if not 'sports' cars), and have bigger brakes and better suspension (and so on) than the models below them. They are very easily modified and can scare a few sports cars from other manufacturers with just a few mods sometimes.
• The GTS (RB20DE) and GTS-25 (RB25DE) are less sporty than the GTS-t and GTS-4, but again only need a couple of simple things to put them in a sporty car class. Even standard they go alright though.
• And then the GTE (RB20E) and GXi (4cyl CA18i) are the runts of the litter and are more in tune with your description of them comparing to Lancers at least (IMO). I don't know of many/anyone who has properly modified these models, not that i'm saying it hasn't been done though.

Compared to modern cars they don't seem too sporty or fast, but back in the day they did.

My red GTS was modified and tuned to hoon around NZ racetracks by its previous owner (until he decided it was too tidy to risk a meeting with a tire barrier/concrete wall), so is a more capable car around tracks than it was from factory. It doesn't have much more horsepower, but the suspension/handling has been worked on a bit. It's possibly even faster around the track (corners at least) than my GTS-4, as the previous owner of the red one said it used to scare turbo Skylines a bit, until they hit boost.

Secondly, unfortunately you are actually wrong about the R32 GT-R sharing no parts with the non GT-R's. Early year GTS-4's (1989-1991 or so?) actually share a number of mechanical parts with the GT-R, we've found this out the hard way with many trips back and forth to parts shops for us/our mechanic because suppliers keep assuming that GT-R parts don't go on the GTS-4. So when it's come time to replace the shocks and tie rods/CV's (or both?) - all use the exact same parts at the R32 GT-R... And there's likely other parts they share too. Because of this, it's cost me a lot more money to buy parts when they need replaced!

Me being a Skyline Obsessor, i like or love the look etc of all Skylines from the 1950's right through to today's ones, and don't think any of them are ugly. But i'm well aware not many people share the same view. A lot of Skyline fans seem to hate the look of the R33's for instance.


Yes, my wife showed me this a few days ago. Should be interesting!

Poor engine, but if it were to be put in a Datsun 1200, it already looks funny ))

 

[SkylineObsession]

So on June the 4th 2019, this happened (copied and pasted from another forum):

Welp peeps, i've added another car to the fleet, and before you say it I KNOW IT'S NOT PINK, but they had no pink ones for the right price.

To relive my Gran Turismo days, i bought a Vitz RS/Yaris RS/Echo RS etc today.

Paid $1,800NZD...

It's been sitting at the dealership for the past 10,000 km's, possibly because it has 300,000 km's on the odo (305 to be exact). It has clear coat coming off the bonnet, broken front bumper near the front right spotlight, paint missing from a side skirt, a glasses holder in the dash that's missing a latch and a couple other minor things.
I suspect all that is why it's been sitting there so long, the guy even said they almost sold it recently till the girl came in with her dad to see it then she got put off by the paint condition on the bonnet.

Due for a service shortly so wil take it to my mechanic and see what he thinks of it.

It's a really peppy wee car though (110 hp), fourth gear from 50km/h to 100km/h seemed to be over in a couple of seconds. Engine sounds nice and smooth running. No noises from the suspension (and it handles great with the tighter RS suspension). Gear changes are nice and easy/smooth. Etc etc.

Main thing i'd be concerned about is the engine with it's km's. But in saying that the dealer said his brother has one that's done 400,000 km's and still going strong, so...

It was sold in a 'as is where is' condition (for that price its understandable) so fingers crossed Toyota reliability doesn't let me down.

 

[SkylineObsession]

(copied and pasted reply again, from May the 9th 2022)

The Vitz is a great wee gravel basher car. Doesn't like big rocks or built up gravel in the middle of the 'lane' on gravel roads as it bellies quite a bit, but if i drive on top of the high points its fine. Still got occasional power probs, so gonna try replace the fuel regulator next. Recently replaced all four speakers with new ones (nothing too fancy though). Old ones were so old that you could poke a finger through the cardboardness of the shell with little/no effort.



This was after taking a gravel/mud road from a blip on the map called Beaumont to a small village called Millers Flat (the state highway route on the other side of the river is MUCH quicker, but not as fun). Only wide enough for one car in many places. Lots of big rocks/stones to avoid. Many, many big water filled potholes, and right near the end of it was a shaded area (from a hill) with thick mud, which i got a wee runoff going to get through it, just incase. Hence the mud on the wing mirror. Lots of wheelspinning and sliding around, plus somehow finding enough room to let an oncoming 4WD get by me. It was great fun, but really slow going cos of the depth of the potholes and the many bloody rocks.
Also, as you may be able to see, 95% of the clearcoat has come off the bonnet now.



One of the narrow rickety old bridges we had to cross



One of the local residents



Was worth the trip down that road, for views like this



Moar recent pics. Hows that suspension travel, huh? Does it remind you of your 1:64 scale Matchbox/Hotwheels car with a stuffed wheel?



Nice wee picnic area at Gabriels Gully (historic gold mining place from the 1800's).



As for the Skylines, one of them hasn't been road legal in nearly i year i think, and the other one prolly six months or more. Just got too lazy, plus lockdowns, plus being too busy, plus a friendship possibly no more due to a towing incident.
Wifey was towing my (former?) mates Viper (he'd taken off many body panels to help the car painters out, so wasn't legal to drive on the road) and right near the end of the tow to the paint shop there was a miscommunication or something, the car got jerked by the rope (he was using a rigid rope, rather than our stretchy/bungy rope like i'd offered) unpleasant words were exchanged, and many parts of the Viper needed fixing or replacing (water reservoir split open, some metal bits got bent or snapped etc).
We offered to pay for repairs, but he never really took it up. We got the water tank plastic welded for him, but since then haven't really heard peep from him, so we assume he's still not in a good mood about it. He hasn't responded to my last few messages, so who knows what's going on.

Mistakes happen. We offered hundreds of dollars to fix the broken bits. We apologised many times. We fixed his water reservoir (hopefully it stayed fixed?). And yeah. Oh well, was a good friendship while it lasted, if he's not keen on keeping it going.

Finally, this was the last time i took Screamin out for a drive, taken near Middlemarch (with wifey in her R32 GTS) which is an hourish from Dunedin city but still part of Dunedin city. This is how we announced on social media the pending arrival of our son (of which we didn't know his gender until the day he was born). Some people 'got it' straight away, others were a bit slower to get the meaning behind it. The small Skyline at front is actually on location and is a plastic build yourself R32 GT-R that's not quite finished, and it was sitting on a box which i badly photoshopped out.

 

[SkylineObsession]

(copy and pasted reply from 30th November 2022)

In other, not so good news, my Vitz (known by us as 'Baby car' cos its so small) may be written off due to a road rage incident last week.

Wifey was being tailgated through a suburb in the city (she was doing speed limit according to the GPS in our dashcam), the 'Karen' behind her saw a chance to pass, wifey moved over to stop her doing so but 'Karen' carried on and damaged the right back fender, back passenger door, drivers door, wing mirror, front right wheel, front right fender and possibly some mechanical damage.

Wife sped up to chase the biarch and eventually got her to stop a few mins later, Karen jumped out and they had a shouting match. Then Karen drove off (aka, hit and run...) and wife came home.

Long story short, it is ALL on dashcam, including the argument, and insurance and Police have been tracking her down. Police got to her first, and told her she will be going on a driver attitude course or something. Not sure about any fines yet, Police want more of the footage.

Panelbeaters checked the car out yesterday (or the day before) and now insurance is waiting on their quote to see whether they write it off or not (likely, since it was only insured for $3,300 - which is NOT enough for a decent new car).

Baby car (there's a big dint to the top left of the front wheel, and an indent along drivers door)

Because it wasn't insured for much (possibly cos it's done over 340,000 km's, and also cos i kept forgetting to up the value of it annually when they constantly reduce it) and the repairs will be $1k-$2k or so, the panelbeater said they'll likely write it off. I can buy back the car, but i'd rather not buy something i already own... Plus i'd likely have to reregister it, buy new plates and so on.

Real pain in the arse, as it's got such a tidy interior. The outside is the complete opposite though, which sucks. I've been umming and ahhing about tiding up the outside for a year or two now, but there's just too much to do, previous owners didn't look after outside of it much. It just seems like a waste to scrap cars that are great in some ways but not so much in others.


UPDATE: December 13th 2022

Well the repair bills came in - $5,300 - for a car insured for $3,300 (there was hub and suspension damage too). So yeah, it got picked up last week, destined for the scrapyard.
Oh well, it was a seriously fun car while we had it.

I'm very likely not going to replace it, with anything. Mainly because i don't want to buy another car that spends so much of my money at mechanics for its various problems. And cars from car dealerships are way too expensive now.

Plus i figure we can save a bit of money in rego, warrant of fitness, fuel and other such costs by going back to one daily driver.

Wifey moved over to try stop the crazy lady from speeding in a residential area (notwithstanding the fact that it's generally not 'a thing' to overtake in residential streets here), but it ended up happening anyway (wifey chased her down going well over the speed limit and was barely catching her until traffic up ahead slowed Karen down - Police overlooked this because there were no pedestrians around and not much traffic).
The road was also only one lane in either direction too. Not designed for overtaking.

Yes wifey could have pulled over, but red mist and stress makes you do silly things sometimes.

No word on charges yet, but to avoid a fine wifey went to some sort of meeting and did a defensive driving course. Other lady could get done for reckless driving, get a fine of $1k or so, lose her licence for six months, have to do community work, write an apology letter, and possibly more. Watch this space.

UPDATE: April 15th 2023

Still haven't heard back from the police or anyone about whether 'karen' has done her course yet/had her meetings, so no idea if they will be chasing up further compensation from her.

Still miss the cool wee car and get a bit envious seeing so many others around town, but it was sucking a lot of money in repairs due to it's mistreatment/lack of maintenance by former owners, so financially i'm a little better off without it.

I'd like to get another one one day, for nostalgia, but if i were to realistically replace it i'd look at the brand new Yaris or maybe the brand new Suzuki Swift.

Will post more photos of it one day from the many different trips we went on with it.