Which R32 & R33 GT-R is the fastest/best for Tuning??

[Homeboi_2000]

Hey everyone. New to the site, thankfully I got everything done and have been lurking for a bit since I just got back another PS2 and got GT4 again.

But I must ask, which R32, R33 & R34 between the years has the best handling/power between all gens of the Skyline? I've been trying to search for it in this specific forum in the Gran Turismo 4 section but I keep finding GT5 stuff even when I tried looking up information for the Tsukuba 9 hour race.

I've seen plenty of R34 threads enough and I've come to the conclusion the Nur Spec V 2 is the best but I've not seen anyone discuss anything about the other gens like they don't exist neither. So it led me to wonder, when it comes to the R32 & R33, (since there's still lots of those have yet to buy and try,) I wanted to see if anyone knows which ones are good between them since there's no good information about them. If anyone has tuned them all and knows which one is best from best to worst or vice versa in order between the 89-98 models would be appreciated HEAVILY!!

I've already gotten most of the R34's btw, including the Red 440hp Nismo one and the Amuse R32 (my personal favorite R32 but idk if that's the fastest one or not) so anything I can figure out how to go about finding the fastest/best handling R32 and R33 would be awesome.

 

[TeaKanji]

I can try to answer this by looking at the game's hidden car data, which mainly covers chassis stats. I'll also be looking at the ENGINE and TURBINEKIT tables in SpecDB to compare each car's engine and torque curve, along with turbo upgrade effectiveness.

First thing though, the V-spec II Nur isn't actually the best R34. The two best R34's for general purposes are the '00 GT-R and the '02 M-spec Nur. The '00 GT-R is statistically identical to the V-spec II Nur, but is 16kg lighter after weight reductions and has a wider torque curve for better acceleration at low-to-mid RPM's. It has a lower peak power when maxed out, though this shouldn't be a big factor unless you're doing max speed runs or something. The M-spec Nur has the best grip modifiers of all R34's for better turning and traction, and has both the '00 GT-R's wide torque curve and a high peak power of over 870hp, but it's 17kg heavier than the V-spec II Nur after reductions. It's personal preference really, since I feel that the better grip modifiers balance out the extra weight.

It's difficult to say which is the best R32 because they each have subtle differences, but it's likely either the '89 GT-R or the '94 V-spec II. The '89 GT-R is by far the lightest R32 after reductions, weighing 1215kg (30kg less than the V-spec II), but it has narrower tyres than the V-spec II, leading it to feel a bit less glued to the road alongside having reduced tyre durability, and it has a lower rear grip modifier. The R32's have a big tendency to understeer as-is, so it's arguable whether the lower rear grip modifier is actually a good or a bad thing, since it makes the car feel less snappy on-throttle at the cost of reduced corner exit traction and increased tyre wear. The V-spec II's turbo upgrades are the most effective of all R32's as well. It's also funny to mention, the '91 GT-R is by far the worst R32, as not only is it the heaviest, weighing 1258kg after reductions, it has a stiffer chassis, which amplifies understeer even more.

The R33's are pretty much near-identical to one another, with only a couple tiny differences separating them. The '97 V-spec has a different torque curve compared to every other R33 and has a much higher drop-off at high-RPM's, but its stage 4 and original turbo upgrades are also way more effective at increasing power. The '95 and '96 V-spec's and the '96 LM Limited get a medium-sized power increase, while the '95, '96 and '97 GT-R's get the smallest. The chassis widths are also different between models: the '95 GT-R is the widest, the LM Limited is the narrowest, while the rest have the same stat in-between. The LM Limited feels a bit easier to turn and maneuver because of this, and since it also gets more power after upgrades than the base GT-R's, I'd say this is the one to go for.

 

[Homeboi_2000]

I can try to answer this by looking at the game's hidden car data, which mainly covers chassis stats. I'll also be looking at the ENGINE and TURBINEKIT tables in SpecDB to compare each car's engine and torque curve, along with turbo upgrade effectiveness.

First thing though, the V-spec II Nur isn't actually the best R34. The two best R34's for general purposes are the '00 GT-R and the '02 M-spec Nur. The '00 GT-R is statistically identical to the V-spec II Nur, but is 16kg lighter after weight reductions and has a wider torque curve for better acceleration at low-to-mid RPM's. It has a lower peak power when maxed out, though this shouldn't be a big factor unless you're doing max speed runs or something. The M-spec Nur has the best grip modifiers of all R34's for better turning and traction, and has both the '00 GT-R's wide torque curve and a high peak power of over 870hp, but it's 17kg heavier than the V-spec II Nur after reductions. It's personal preference really, since I feel that the better grip modifiers balance out the extra weight.

It's difficult to say which is the best R32 because they each have subtle differences, but it's likely either the '89 GT-R or the '94 V-spec II. The '89 GT-R is by far the lightest R32 after reductions, weighing 1215kg (30kg less than the V-spec II), but it has narrower tyres than the V-spec II, leading it to feel a bit less glued to the road alongside having reduced tyre durability, and it has a lower rear grip modifier. The R32's have a big tendency to understeer as-is, so it's arguable whether the lower rear grip modifier is actually a good or a bad thing, since it makes the car feel less snappy on-throttle at the cost of reduced corner exit traction and increased tyre wear. The V-spec II's turbo upgrades are the most effective of all R32's as well. It's also funny to mention, the '91 GT-R is by far the worst R32, as not only is it the heaviest, weighing 1258kg after reductions, it has a stiffer chassis, which amplifies understeer even more.

The R33's are pretty much near-identical to one another, with only a couple tiny differences separating them. The '97 V-spec has a different torque curve compared to every other R33 and has a much higher drop-off at high-RPM's, but its stage 4 and original turbo upgrades are also way more effective at increasing power. The '95 and '96 V-spec's and the '96 LM Limited get a medium-sized power increase, while the '95, '96 and '97 GT-R's get the smallest. The chassis widths are also different between models: the '95 GT-R is the widest, the LM Limited is the narrowest, while the rest have the same stat in-between. The LM Limited feels a bit easier to turn and maneuver because of this, and since it also gets more power after upgrades than the base GT-R's, I'd say this is the one to go for.

You're the best brotha! Do you know which has the highest HP between the two as well? I was quite disappointed to see that the 400R could only make about 677hp maxed out entirely but that is kinda why I asked.

I also noticed how much closer to the Evo/STI the older Skylines pre-R34 are, as far as power and handling, just vastly less powerful and handled far worse since they understeer much more too. So I was perplexed to ask since I have noticed I liked using the Amuse R32 fully maxed out as tha car with some adjustments can be a pretty sweet car that can do everything you need (sucks you can't use them in "production car only" sections of the Japanese events).

Plus I know damn well I was NOT going to try all of them and figure out the semantics between them all 😭 But thank you for this as it's heavily useful. Hopefully some of the other members who have pondered this question now have a guide to take a look at and use for the new guys who need to know encase they doing a playthrough for the first time or something. You're awesome brotha! 🤝🏽

 

[Greycap]

It's difficult to say which is the best R32 because they each have subtle differences, but it's likely either the '89 GT-R or the '94 V-spec II.

I'll throw a curveball here - it's neither of those, but the '93 V-Spec. Back in the day I tested them all extensively for a long race series and the VSII always ended up understeering more to the point in which the V-Spec could be faster under certain conditions. It has all the same technical advantages, but noticably better agility.

 

[TeaKanji]

You're the best brotha! Do you know which has the highest HP between the two as well? I was quite disappointed to see that the 400R could only make about 677hp maxed out entirely but that is kinda why I asked.

I also noticed how much closer to the Evo/STI the older Skylines pre-R34 are, as far as power and handling, just vastly less powerful and handled far worse since they understeer much more too. So I was perplexed to ask since I have noticed I liked using the Amuse R32 fully maxed out as tha car with some adjustments can be a pretty sweet car that can do everything you need (sucks you can't use them in "production car only" sections of the Japanese events).

Plus I know damn well I was NOT going to try all of them and figure out the semantics between them all 😭 But thank you for this as it's heavily useful. Hopefully some of the other members who have pondered this question now have a guide to take a look at and use for the new guys who need to know encase they doing a playthrough for the first time or something. You're awesome brotha! 🤝🏽

The V-spec II Nur does get the highest power when maxed out with the original turbo, with 899hp (vs. the M-spec Nur's 865hp and '00 GT-R's 843hp), but the torque curve is much narrower at low-RPM's so it's a bit more difficult to drive on technical tracks where you're likely to get bogged down at low-RPM's. It's the best option for straight-line speed, at least.

The GT-R's are kind of their own beast when compared to the Evo's and Impreza's, I feel. They sacrifice weight for the ability to oversteer exiting corners, as the rear wheels are doing most of the work until they lose traction and torque is allocated to the front. The R32 and R33 in particular do require soft sports tyres and a rear wing with 30 front downforce to reach their true potential, though, as their boat-y handling is a little frustrating with stock settings. With all assists disabled and a ton of power slapped onto them, you can do some crazy four-wheel drifting with them, they're a lot of fun.

By the Amuse R32, do you mean the Carbon R, or do you mean to say the Nismo R32 R-tune? The Nismo has a mix of advantages and disadvantages compared to the Nissan's: it has better grip modifiers and has 3 extra rear downforce, but it's way more front-heavy and chews through its front tyres, plus it only has a 5-speed gearbox to work with, which doesn't help when its torque curve is narrow at high-RPM's even with just a stage 3 turbo.

One very important thing to note if you're tuning GT-R's by the way: don't equip any LSD upgrades or the VCD controller. GT-R's don't have a front LSD equipped stock (i.e. it's set to 0 / 0 / 0), so buying one will equip one to the front and make the car more difficult to turn, even if you set the custom LSD to lowest settings. The VCD controller also overrides the GT-R's bespoke ATTESA AWD system and makes the front tyres do more work, further increasing understeer.

I'll throw a curveball here - it's neither of those, but the '93 V-Spec. Back in the day I tested them all extensively for a long race series and the VSII always ended up understeering more to the point in which the V-Spec could be faster under certain conditions. It has all the same technical advantages, but noticably better agility.

I guess this is a personal preference thing then because the V-spec II has wider tyres than the '93 V-spec (245-width vs. 225), the data shows that they're otherwise identical besides power upgrade differences. I would argue though that wider tyres are almost always better, especially when both the front and rear are wider. GT-R's tend to run through their tyres quickly, and the extra width helps to mitigate that. While, yes, this can lead to a feeling of understeer exiting corners due to the rear having more grip, you can tune around that by softening the suspension, raising the front height, or adjusting the gears for a bit more lift-off oversteer.

 

[Homeboi_2000]

The V-spec II Nur does get the highest power when maxed out with the original turbo, with 899hp (vs. the M-spec Nur's 865hp and '00 GT-R's 843hp), but the torque curve is much narrower at low-RPM's so it's a bit more difficult to drive on technical tracks where you're likely to get bogged down at low-RPM's. It's the best option for straight-line speed, at least.

The GT-R's are kind of their own beast when compared to the Evo's and Impreza's, I feel. They sacrifice weight for the ability to oversteer exiting corners, as the rear wheels are doing most of the work until they lose traction and torque is allocated to the front. The R32 and R33 in particular do require soft sports tyres and a rear wing with 30 front downforce to reach their true potential, though, as their boat-y handling is a little frustrating with stock settings. With all assists disabled and a ton of power slapped onto them, you can do some crazy four-wheel drifting with them, they're a lot of fun.

By the Amuse R32, do you mean the Carbon R, or do you mean to say the Nismo R32 R-tune? The Nismo has a mix of advantages and disadvantages compared to the Nissan's: it has better grip modifiers and has 3 extra rear downforce, but it's way more front-heavy and chews through its front tyres, plus it only has a 5-speed gearbox to work with, which doesn't help when its torque curve is narrow at high-RPM's even with just a stage 3 turbo.

One very important thing to note if you're tuning GT-R's by the way: don't equip any LSD upgrades or the VCD controller. GT-R's don't have a front LSD equipped stock (i.e. it's set to 0 / 0 / 0), so buying one will equip one to the front and make the car more difficult to turn, even if you set the custom LSD to lowest settings. The VCD controller also overrides the GT-R's bespoke ATTESA AWD system and makes the front tyres do more work, further increasing understeer.


I guess this is a personal preference thing then because the V-spec II has wider tyres than the '93 V-spec (245-width vs. 225), the data shows that they're otherwise identical besides power upgrade differences. I would argue though that wider tyres are almost always better, especially when both the front and rear are wider. GT-R's tend to run through their tyres quickly, and the extra width helps to mitigate that. While, yes, this can lead to a feeling of understeer exiting corners due to the rear having more grip, you can tune around that by softening the suspension, raising the front height, or adjusting the gears for a bit more lift-off oversteer.

Yes, I'm talking about the Nismo S-Tune R32 (00) because that one seemed to give me some good results.

Also thank you for the love of God, I never knew it was the LSD AND the VCD!! Because for the life of me I could never figure out why every Skyline I'd mess with it would always have the WORST understeer known to man that even the down force couldn't solve. Never understood why either! Now that clears up even more. (Also can explain why my 3000GT VR4's also undergo the same thing but even MORE extreme since it's also heavier HP at the same level of the Skyline with the Stage 4 turbo.)

When I get back home, I will try to remove those from just about all of my Skylines (and VR4's lol) then test them out to see how they perform.

 

[TeaKanji]

Also thank you for the love of God, I never knew it was the LSD AND the VCD!! Because for the life of me I could never figure out why every Skyline I'd mess with it would always have the WORST understeer known to man that even the down force couldn't solve. Never understood why either! Now that clears up even more. (Also can explain why my 3000GT VR4's also undergo the same thing but even MORE extreme since it's also heavier HP at the same level of the Skyline with the Stage 4 turbo.)

When I get back home, I will try to remove those from just about all of my Skylines (and VR4's lol) then test them out to see how they perform.

Aha, that explains a lot then. Yeah, it tripped me up as well until I did some research and realized what was going on. The '00 GT-R and M-spec Nur turn into fantastic rally cars with the LSD and VCD controller equipped though, since ATTESA isn't quite suited for off-road and the LSD helps a lot for maintaining traction exiting corners. I have some setups for them here if you're curious; the dirt tunes are maxed-out, but you can downgrade the turbo and shorten the gears if you want them to be easier to drive.

The 3000GT's also have an 0 / 0 / 0 front LSD yeah, so using the stock LSD will give the least amount of understeer, though the VCD controller doesn't affect them nearly as much as it does for the GT-R's, so you can keep it equipped and set it to 10. Watch out for corner entry oversteer though, as most cars without LSD upgrades tend to lose traction very easily while entering corners.

 

[Homeboi_2000]

Aha, that explains a lot then. Yeah, it tripped me up as well until I did some research and realized what was going on. The '00 GT-R and M-spec Nur turn into fantastic rally cars with the LSD and VCD controller equipped though, since ATTESA isn't quite suited for off-road and the LSD helps a lot for maintaining traction exiting corners. I have some setups for them here if you're curious; the dirt tunes are maxed-out, but you can downgrade the turbo and shorten the gears if you want them to be easier to drive.

The 3000GT's also have an 0 / 0 / 0 front LSD yeah, so using the stock LSD will give the least amount of understeer, though the VCD controller doesn't affect them nearly as much as it does for the GT-R's, so you can keep it equipped and set it to 10. Watch out for corner entry oversteer though, as most cars without LSD upgrades tend to lose traction very easily while entering corners.

Also, just to come back and clarify, taking both of those off, the VCD & LSD in both cars and surprisingly they both (Skyline and VR4) handle WAYYY better as I massively made my Nur Spec 2 oversteer much more than I had intended too when I had the VCD and LSD installed.


(The VR-4 still handled pretty heavy but it was an improvement nonetheless 🤣) Apparently, I did hear that the Evos and STI's can use those parts and it'll actually be helpful. It also is kinda cool how they set it up to where not every car or brand can use the same parts and have the same performance because of it just cuz it seems like an upgrade to make the car insanely fast like most games do. That's a dope level of variety you don't see much at all anymore. Absolutely neat.