Nissan Skyline When we talk about sports cars, most people will think of Italy, where Ferraris, Buggattis and Lamborghinis are produced. Some others may think of Germany, mainly because of Porsche. In fact, Japanese also made a pair of world class sports cars. One of them is the Honda NSX, which stands proudly beside Ferrari and Porsche. If the super-refined NSX is the queen of Japanese sports cars, then the super-muscular Nissan Skyline GTR must be the King.
The Nissan Skyline GTR is a very fast car indeed. Despite of the 1600kg weight, it is capable of doing 0-60mph in 5 seconds flat, thanks to a 2.6 litre, straight 6, 24 valve, twin ceramic turbochaged engine. Power is limited to 280 BHP due to a concorde agreement between the manufacturers in Japan, but it can be easily increased to 360 BHP by simply replacing a computer chip.
If it only had a great engine, it would never acquire so much appreciation. In fact, the computer controlled 4 wheel steering, 4 wheel drive (with variable torque distributing central differential) and traction control can cope perfectly with the power, thus eliminating most understeering, oversteering and tyre slips that may occurs in other sports cars. Interestingly, not all cars with such spec can be so good, for example, Mitsubishi GTO and Galant VR4 work awfully. Only Nissan's engineers had succeeded in integrating all this complex technology into a perfect machine.
The secret of success is fine tuning. Nissan's engineers spent a lot of time testing Skyline in Nurbering. No wonder it is so successful.
Another secret is the brilliant design of the so-called "Super HICAS" 4-wheel steering system. When attacking a corner, the rear wheels will steer in reverse first in order to sharpen the initial steering response. Then, when sensors sense that the car responds to steering, the rear wheels will steer in the same direction as the front wheels, thus immediately introduces rear-tyre slip (oversteering) which can help adjust the attacking angle. Apart from the Skyline, I'm afraid no other 4wd car can work out this magic.
Without this 4ws system, Skyline would have been only a grippy 4wd car incapable of oversteering. As you may have known, good drivers should love oversteering on throttle.
How perfect is it? According to some magazines, its steering feels as involving as the Porsche 911 Carrera, while extra grip makes it even faster and secure in "non-Autobahn" roads. Unquestionably, its handling ability is above the level of any 911 and F355. (One may argue that both cars have no 4WD and 4WS, but please remember that the Skyline cost far less) What an engineering masterpeice!
There is an even faster version calls Skyline 400R, which has larger intercoolers, turboboost and brakes. I cannot imagine how fast it is from the 400 BHP. Maybe it will be in the supercar territory? (ie 0-60 in less than 4 sec)
Besides performance, the Skyline GTR has another advantage: 2 rear seats that isn't a pair of dog seats or children's seats, they can accommodate 2 adequate size adults for most city journey. The only problem with the car is its styling, which although very nice, could be a lot better
Tech Spec
(The tech specs are for the standard cars, not the above modified cars shown)
Nissan Skyline GT-R Engine: 2.6 Litre, 24v, twin turbo, dohc, in-line 6 cyl
Max Power: 350 BHP @ 6800 RPM
Torque: 307 @ 4500 RPM
0-62: 4.7
Top Speed: 155 MPH (ltd)
Weight: 1540 Kg
Price: £50,000 (+ new chip to get back to 350 BHP)
Nissan 300 ZX Engine:
Max Power:
0-60: 5.6 secs
Top Speed: 155 MPH
Weight: 1578 kg
