Skyline R32

warboys · Post by **warboys** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:13 am

4wd or RWD?
Single turbo or twin?
Car would be fast road/ trackday toy

Advice gratefully received

Post by **Stuart** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:22 pm

I've had R33 single turbo rear wheel drive and R32 twin turbo four wheel drive.

How much money have you got to buy and run it?
Will you be doing the work and maintenance?
What are you priorities and what trade offs are you happy to make?

Skylines with turbo's run from 2.5k all the way through to whatever you want. The cheaper ones tend to be GTS-t's and these are rear wheel drive and single turbo from the factory. The earlier R32's are more prone to rust but far lighter and powered by a straight six two litre. The R33's are newer so have more refinement, arguably better interiors in terms of quality and a 2.5 straight six engine.

The 2 litres are far easier to work on (more space) and very easily tuned to the sorts of power figures that would be a lot of fun on a track. Loads and loads of bits for R32's, so in a brief assumptive wrap up or summary, I would go for an R32 GTS-t for fast road and daily use, preferably with some decent mods already on there (coilovers, better clutch, ECU upgrade, brakes etc)

There will be lots of people saying that the only Skyline to go for is a GTR, but most of those people are tossers

Have fun. Try lots out first; the disparity between a good one and a bad one is unreal.

Post by **Ben** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:32 pm

RB26 - Regular oil changes (I get mine changed every 3000 miles, cambelt change and good piston compression are a must - avoid smokey cars etc - same with another turbo'd machines basically.

Check for crunching when going into 4th at speed.

Make sure that all lights come on on the dash when turning to 2nd stage of ignition - quiet often bulbs are removed to cover up issues.

Be wary that any cars that have a 320km clock will most likely not be showing original mileage as they almost all came with 180km clocks.

Post by **Stuart** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:36 pm

Good point Ben; never buy a Skyline on the mileage that it shows (unless you have 100% watertight history) You're much better off buying one that has had a recent compression test and buy the car on condition and how it drives rather than how many miles it's showing.

blackskygtr · Post by **blackskygtr** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:12 pm

Take some one wi`th you who knows thier stuff and dont just believe what you are told!! check everything preferably with the tuner they use. Or go the expensive route and do it all yourself/with your own tuner.

Or Buy mine of course :-)

RX7 · Post by **RX7** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:55 pm

or buy Bens

Post by **Ben** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:44 am

Quite happy to have a look with you if the car is local - plus if you want to have a proper look over one, pop over and I'll give you a tour of an R32

Post by **Ben** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:57 am

Finally, it does seem to be - you get what you pay for. Anything under 8k is likely to need work - be mindful that quite a lot of bits are expensive i.e. a replacement set of airvents for the dash will set you back

Post by **Ben** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:07 am

Finally - I it was my money - I'd avoid non GTR's .. (ignoring Stu's tosser comment :P)

Value for money - R32GTR .. you can still get ok R33GTR's for similar money, but the 32 is my choice.

My choices

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/136358-silve ... orted.html

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/138666-love- ... 2-gtr.html

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/141814-sale- ... sible.html

warboys · Post by **warboys** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:22 pm

Wow, thanks for the replies, very interesting.

In response:

Stuart
Money is not the key driver, i could go and buy an R35 if i wanted to, I want a toy.
Yes, modifying and maintenance would all be done by me, not workshops. More than capable and cometent to strip and rebuild engines and gearboxes etc.
Priorities, fun factor has to be number one. It needs to be fast and driveable, comfort is not important, I would expect to strip the interior and cage it etc.
Don't want an R33, think they are ugly and too large, has to be a 32.
So whats the weight difference between a GTR and a GTS-t?

Mileage would never be considered, its the structural condition thats important. Modifications are a bonus only, would probably start again myself anyway, would want to know that it had been bolted together properly.

Blackskygtr, will have a look at your for sale advert.

Ben, very kind offer to look over your car, i may well do that.

Would run Motec management to control everything, its what I know and trust.

So the search begins. I will start reading up on te Skyline form. Thanks for all your help so far.