Complete Guide to Nissan Skyline GTR

The first generation Nissan Skyline is made by Prince Motor Company in 1957 until it merges with Nissan in 1967. The first Skyline is marketed as a luxury car and feature a 1.5L GA-30 engine. The design of the first Skyline is highly influenced by the American cars like the Chevrolet. It wasn’t until 1969, the first Skyline GT-R made it appearance as a sedan and a 2-door coupe version debuted in 1971.

The RB-engine as we know it today is introduced in 1985 on the seventh generation Nissan Skyline R31. The earliest series is a DOHC, 24-Valve with Nissan Induction Control Injection System (NICS). The ultimate version of the R31 is powered by RB20DET-R producing 210HP and 245NM torque. This version was allowed to built for homologation GROUP A Touring Car Racing. The RB-engine was a game changer and in 1988, a prototype R32 GT-R was first produced with significantly different body styles and will feature the RB-straight-6 engines which had improved heads and used the Electronically Concentrated Control System (ECCS) injection system. The RB26DETT engine actually produced ~320 PS (316 hp), but it was understated due to the Japanese car makers’ “gentlemen’s agreement” not to exceed 280 PS (276 hp). The engine was designed for ~500 hp in racing trim.

The Nissan Skyline GT-R R32
The GT-R had a significantly larger intercooler, larger brakes, and aluminium front guards and bonnet. Other distinguishing features include flared front and rear wheel arches. More supportive seats were fitted, and the turbo boost gauge and digital clock were removed from inside the instrument cluster. The clock was replaced with a torque meter that indicated how much torque was being delivered to the front wheels (0%–50%). Oil temp, voltage, and turbo boost gauges were fitted just above the climate control. The Porsche 959 was Nissan’s target when designing the GT-R. The chief engineer, Naganori Ito, intended to use the car for Group A racing, so the design specification was drawn up in conjunction with a copy of the Group A rules. The Nordschleife production car record at the time of development was 8’45” – set by a Porsche 944. Nissan test driver Hiroyoshi Katoh reset the record with a time of 8’20”. Best Motoring managed 8’22″38. The Skyline GT-R R32 dominated the Japan Touring Car Championship, N1 Super Taikyu, Australian Touring Car Championship and many more international races around the world. The Skyline GT-R is nicknames the car Godzilla due to it being a “Monster from Japan”.

The Nissan Skyline GT-R R33
The R33 Skyline was introduced in August 1993 and it is slightly heavier than the R32. The previous R32 model was a well proven build, but the R32 wasn’t without faults and suffered with uplift and balance issues. Along with that, Nissan was, as other Japanese companies were, under strict restrictions on power gains. So Nissan had to combat all these areas so the sophisticated strength Programme was made. Nissan increased the width by about one inch on the R33 to the R32 and made it about 4 inches longer. This gave the R33 a longer wheelbase overall and lower stance mixed with new technology now from the computer aerodynamic age. Each line on the R33 was intended to give the car ultimate aerodynamics with wider gaps in the bumper and angles of air movement which allowed better cooling, in addition to the fuel tank lifted; the battery moved to the boot/trunk. Rigidity points were added mixed with improvements on the Attessa and Hicas all now offered the R33 with the best aerodynamics, balance, and handling. All this put together meant we saw an improved time against the R32 of 21 seconds faster around the Nürburgring and 23 seconds faster in V spec trim, still making the R33 the fastest Skyline around the Nürburgring.

The Nissan Skyline GT-R R34
The tenth generation Nissan Skyline GT-R replaces the GT-R R33 in 1999 with a revised chassis and other updates. The Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 has become a Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) cult classic. Loved by car enthusiasts across the world. A technologically advanced display unit set the model apart, while it’s RB26DETT twin-turbo I6  engine produced an impressive horsepower. The standard version RB26DETT makes 327HP and 392NM. The shorter wheelbase and more streamlined body of the R34 helped it to achieve even higher performance than its predecessors. Eventhough the GT-R R34 came with plenty of special editions but the most popular ones is the later version GT-R NISMO Z-tune makes 500HP and 540NM torque with a bored and stroke RB28DETT. There are only 20 made around the world. With the release of the R34 Skyline GT-R in 1999, it once again dominated the motorsports world winning championship in GT500 series of the Japan Grand Touring Championship (JGTC) and other races around the world.

The Nissan GT-R R35
At the end of 2007, the long-awaited R35 Nissan GT-R was released. Nissan dropped the Skyline name and at the heart of the new GT-R is a twin-turbocharge 3.8L V6 that produces 473HP and equally immense 570NM torque. Hand-assembled by one of only five master crafstmen in the world. The development of the GT-R R35 is shaped to perfection that could not only compete with but outclass legendary American muscle cars and German and Italian supercars. Overnight, the GT-R became a legend. Its technologically advanced road-grabbing all-wheel drive provided exhilarating handling, and it was all wrapped up in a sleek, yet muscular, modern exterior design. In 2009, Nissan claimed a lap time of 7:26.7 minutes with a 2009 model year GT-R on the base model’s Dunlop tires and 7:19.1 minutes with the 2014 model year improvements. This made it the 9th fastest ever production car around the Nürburgring at the time. Nissan claimed that it lost half a second in traffic, making a potential lap time of 7:18.6 minutes possible. The GT-R R35 continues to dominate in many races around the world including Time Attack, Hill Climbs, Drifting, Drag Racing, Rally , Endurance and many more. The Nissan GT-R R35 is the most sold Nissan sports car and one of the highest sales for any production sports car.