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Jan 31, 2013

Divided RB26 Twin Turbo Pipe

Polished Twin Turbo Pipe on an RB26DETT
Back in 2007, we tested a divided twin turbo pipe on Josh's Orange R33 to see if we could see any difference in performance.  On the dyno we saw from about 7 whp to 18 whp difference over the two sets of three runs we did.

For the Show or Display Nismo R32 GT-R's I decided to get a couple of pipes made up. One for #500 and one for #383. Its a pretty simple piece. It just keeps the front turbo from fighting the rear turbo too much. Thanks to Attila for welding them up for us. Next will probably be a quick coat of paint. Flat black everything. I like looking stock, telling everyone its stock, but not really being stock. Stock turbocharger compressor outlet gasket x 3 per car (you only need 1 if just doing the pipe) - 14465-05U11  or A4465-05U11

Divided twin turbo pipe for an RB26DETT


The orange car is Stock engine, stock turbos, aftermarket downpipe, exhaust, intake, Apex intercooler, Power FC.
The starter on the orange car was starting to click, but it would start about every other time. While dynoing another car, Josh put some more pump gas in it, and pulled the front propshaft so we could run it on the dyno.
The last time on the dyno boost was about 14.7 psi and the car did a max of 346 whp.
This time boost was up to a peak of about 19 psi and the car with the modified outlet pipe did 378.3 hp , 380 hp, and 378.8 hp. Josh changed the outlet pipe back to a stock pipe, went to start the car, and the starter just clicked. Time to change the starter. 20 minutes later, with another starter in it, do a couple pulls. 361 hp first pull , then 371 hp , then back to 361 hp. Boost was around the same 19 psi, but the car was a lot less consistent.




Jan 30, 2013

RB26 Powered Nissan Mini Truck Drifting

RB26 Powered Pickup Drifting
Check out these Mini trucks drifting in this video. From turbo SR power to RB26 power. Getting it done. Looks fun, sounds good.


Jan 26, 2013

Calsonic Group A Nissan Skyline GT-R Video

In car view of the Calsonic Group A R32 GT-R. 
Pretty cool, but short video of a Calsonic Group A R32 GT-R. The Group A cars were built off the Nismo R32 GT-R chassis.  Lots of camera angles. The GoPro's have made that possible. Hopefully they come out with a little longer video of the  car really stretching its legs.






Jan 24, 2013

Stolen R34 GT-R From the Netherlands


Stolen Nissan Skyline GT-R from the Netherlands. If you see or hear anything email Maurice, or contact him though his Facebook page.

Jan 20, 2013

7400 km Nismo R32 Skyline GT-R


7400 km Nismo R32 Skyline GT-R

When I was just looking for any other Nismo R32's for Show or Display, I ran across this car - #331. If you want to talk about a low mileage 1990 car, how does 7400 km or about 4500 miles sound?  Pretty low.  The starting bid on the auction is 3.3 million yen. Even with the current better rates, its still about $36,000 US. Let me know if you are in the market for one with this low of mileage. I can help you import it to the US under the Show or Display exemption.

It says 7315km. They probably put a couple km on since then.

Looks pretty clean, and new. As it should with 7400 km. 





HKS Zero R Nissan Skyline GT-R

A warehouse full of HKS Zero R Nissan Skyline GT-R. Photo by Scott Webb

Back in the 1990's HKS built a limited run of Nissan Skyline GT-R's called the Zero R. These were "complete cars" in the style of AMG or Brabus.  Honestly they did not sell well. The rumors were that only 2 or 3 of the cars ever sold. I know when I was at MotoRex back in 1999, we were offered some of the left over cars, but the pricing for them was still more on par with supercar than Nissan.  Scott Webb, a friend and often times driver of the DG Spec Scion, worked at HKS when they first came to the US, and posted some pictures he had from 1993. HKS did revamp the remaining cars in 2006 to try and sell the remaining stock. I don't know if they sold any then. Check out the Zero R and promotional video.

Unique Zero R rear bumper and dual exhaust. Photo by Scott Webb

Unique Zero R Front bumper. Photo by Scott Webb



This 1991 promotional video clip features the HKS Zero R, a complete vehicle conversion of Nissan's BNR32 Skyline GT-R by Japan's most renowned tuner and performance products manufactuer - HKS. The conversion included engine, drivetrain, suspension, braking, exterior and interior enhancements in the spirit of German tuners such as AMG and RUF. In fact, the Zero R was track tested on the world famous Nordschleife at Germany's Nurburgring. Japan's strict homologation regulations at the time prevented full-scale production, but in 2006 HKS revisited the Zero R concept and revamped the entire package for limited production.

Jan 19, 2013

SoCal GT-R: Cars and Coffee Invasion #500

#500 Nismo R32 Skyline GT-R. J's Vspec II R32. 

Took #500 down to Cars and Coffee Irvine today. If you have never been to Cars and Coffee in Irvine, and are a car fan, do yourself a favor and stop by. Its an early event. Starts filling up at about 6 am, its over by about 8 am. Its just an informal parking lot car show. Lots of cool cars. Lots of people. About 40 SoCal GT-R's got together for todays show, and then headed over to Crystal Cove for breakfast.

Yellow R35 GT-R - wingless


GT-R, GT-R, GT-R, GT-R, GT-R, GT-R
About 1/2 way into the pack of GT-R


More pictures from Cars and Coffee:

 View this entire album: Cars and Coffee 1-19-13 : SoCal GT-R

Jan 16, 2013

RB30 SOHC on the Engine Dyno Video

RB30 SOHC on the dyno


In this video from Australia, an RB30 engine, SOHC, or single cam, runs on the engine dyno. It says its running 50 psi of boost, on Ethanol E98. Sit back, and watch the headers glow under the load.



1250 horsepower. 960 lb-ft and spinning that thing to 8500 rpm. The RB30 is a square engine, runs 86 mm bore x 86 mm stroke.

Importing Vehicles Over 25 Years Old to the US


View this entire album: 25 Year Old Imported Cars

In the United States vehicles over twenty five years old are Department of Transportation (DOT) exempt from meeting Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards(FMVSS). At over twenty one years old cars are Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)exempt. To meet California smog exemption requirements, the car must be older than 1976. To have a newer car meet California requirements, it is more expensive, and sometimes very difficult to comply. If the car is newer than 25 years old, it still might be possible to import it under the Show or Display exemption.

http://www.importavehicle.com. Its legal to import vehicles over 25 years old to the US, exempt from DOT regulations. In 2013 that means vehicles from 1988 and older are legal to import.

Jan 14, 2013

Nissan Skyline GT-R Nismo Brochure : 1990



Another thing from the Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R Owners Bible, the Nismo brochure, and optional parts. Someone on YouTube asked me if the Nismo came with a 260 km/hr or 320 km/hr speedometer. My car #500 has a 180 km/hr(111 mph) speedo in it. #383 has a 320 km/hr(198 mph) speedo. It seems the 260 km/hr(161 mph) was an option according to this brochure. I think the 320 km/hr speedo must have come later in the production run.  The 1990 Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R is legal to import to the US under the Show or Display exemption.

Nismo R32 GT-R Original brochure 

Group A Machine GT-R Nismo. This is before they won 29 of 29 races in Group A
Nismo Skyline GT-R. ShoworDisplay.com

Nismo Skyline Optional Parts
Calsonic Group A R32 GT-R and Nismo optional parts brochure
Some interesting parts in the options list. A few of them I can't say I have seen. The first thing looks like an intercooler, however the Skyline GT-R intercooler runs across the car, in the left side out the opposite side on the right. That looks like it comes in the top and out the back of the right side. The cool oil cooler and A/C condenser is something that we put on the R32.4.  The 260 km/hr speedo cluster is there. The wing is an odd one. Can't say I remember seeing that with the 3rd brake light in it.

If you are interested in importing your own R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R, there are a few options. Either you can import a Nismo R32 Skyline GT-R under Show or Display, or you can import a 1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R in 2014 under the 25 year exemption for NHTSA/DOT, and its over 21 years old for the EPA. The R32 was first sold in August of 1989. Here is a production chart showing the chassis numbers produced each month.

Jan 13, 2013

Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 Production Dates

I just noticed this chart in the  Nissan Skyline 32 GT-R Owners Bible, it gives the chassis numbers of the cars produced each month in Japan. Something pretty useful when it comes to figuring out if a 1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R is over 25 years old in 2014.  Once they are over 25 years old, they will be both EPA exempt, and NHTSA/DOT exempt.  The R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R was first sold in August 1989. Trying to make a little bit of sense of the numbers. In 1989 there were 4555 R32 GT-R's produced. So the last car in 1989 should have been 004555. Here are the dates of production for the 1989, and start of 1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R.





Each chassis number is the first chassis number built that month.  For example in August 1989, BNR32-000054 to BNR32-001088 were built or 1034 cars. 

August 1989  BNR32-000054
September 1989 BNR32-001089
October 1989 BNR32-002089
November 1989 BNR32-003027
December 1989 BNR32-004027

If you check FAST, you get a slightly different number. So always be a little careful
BNR32-005082 December 1989

BNR32-005083 December 1989 (Shows as last car in 1989)

BNR32-005084 January 1990. First car for 1990. 


January 1990 BNR32-005083
      Nismo      BNR32-100007
February 1990 BNR32-005554
      Nismo      BNR32-100536
March 1990 BNR32-006484
April 1990 BNR32-007279
May 1990 - BNR32-008279
June 1990 - BNR32-009279


R32 Skyline GT-R Chassis Number Production Dates



If you don't want to wait a year. There is always the Nismo Show or Display option.