Cars - Nissan Skyline GT-R

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	Cars - Nissan Skyline GT-R

The Nissan Skyline GT-R is an iconic Japanese sports coupe in the Nissan Skyline range. Dubbed "Godzilla" by Wheels magazine in Australia when released there in 1989, it was rated by many motoring magazines, including the well-respected Wheels, as providing performance and handling equal or superior to that of European icons like the Porsche 911 and the Ferrari 360 Modena, at a considerably lower price. The Skyline's home-market competitors have included the Honda NSX, Toyota Supra, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, and Mazda RX-7.

History of the brand

The Skyline name originated with the Prince automobile company which developed and sold the Skyline line of sedans before merging with Nissan-Datsun. The earliest predecessor of the GT-R, the S54 2000GT-B, came second in its first race in 1964 to the purpose-built Porsche 904GTS race car. The next development of the GT-R, the KPGC10/PGC10 2000GT-R, scored 33 victories in the one and a half years it raced and scored 50 by the time it was discontinued in 1972. The last of the original GT-Rs, the KPGC110/PGC110 2000GT-R, used an unchanged S20 160 hp (120 kW) inline-6 engine from the earlier 2000GT-R and only sold 197 units. This model was the only GT-R to never participate in a race.

The Skyline model continued through into the 90s when it became popular largely because it remained rear wheel drive, while most other manufacturers' models were front wheel drive (which had certain complexities inherent in achieving high performance in power or handling when compared to a rear-wheel drive car).

Skyline GT-R R32-R34

The GT-R version of the Skyline was reintroduced in 1989 after a 12 year hiatus from the K/PCG110 Skyline GT-R of 1977. However, the majority of Skylines sold were non-GT-R models, with the GT-R becoming the flagship of Nissan performance. Considering the performance of the car, and the fact that Nissan showcased many advanced technologies in the GT-R not previously seen in mass produced vehicles, the 1989- GT-Rs remained (relatively) cheap. Although unconfirmed, it is even rumoured that they were sold at a loss. Although strange today, this cavalier attitude to marketing was common among Japanese car manufacturers of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

GT-R Skylines of the 1990s progressed from the R32 (1989), through to the R34 (2000) Production of the GT-R ceased in August 2002 with the release of the V35 Skyline platform (sold as the Infiniti G35 in the United States) which includes only non-GT-R models. Before the final R34 Skyline GT-R was sold, various packages and special editions such as the V-Spec, containing additional performance-enhancing modifications, were released by Nissan and the performance division of Nissan, Nismo.

On 14 January 2005, Nismo resurrected the R34 GT-R for one last tour of duty before the introduction of the anticipated next generation GT-R. Labeled as the , the Nismo engineers spared no expense into making this car the most powerful road-going GT-R ever created. With much technology borrowed from the GT500 Racing GT-Rs and endurance racing GT-Rs, the Z-tune boasts a 2.8 L twin turbo instead of the stock 2.6 L engine, racing pistons, connecting rods and camshaft, and an upgraded ECU, giving the Z-tune 500 hp (370 kW) and 540 N·m (400 ft·lbf) of torque. The car became affectionately known as the "Mother of all GT-Rs" and is expected to carry a price tag of $170,000 US dollars. Nismo has stated that this car will be a limited run edition, and only 20 will ever be made and sold.

Power-train

The GT-R of the 1990s included a 2.6 L straight six-cylinder twin-turbo motor producing 206 kW (276 hp). The turbo-chargers were of a hybrid steel/ceramic design allowing them to spool up faster due to the light nature of the ceramic exhaust wheel.

Power was delivered to all four wheels using an electronically-controlled all wheel drive system referred to by Nissan as the ATTESSA 4wd system. The ATTESSA system uses two G-Sensors mounted underneath the centre console, which feed lateral and longtitudinal inputs to the ECU. The ECU would then control the feed of power by allowing a limited amount to be delivered to the front wheels via an electronic torque split converter. V-Spec models were equipped with (amongst other things), a faster reacting ATTESSA Pro 4wd system with adjusted ECU settings, improving oversteer considerably.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Nissan Skyline GT-R ]

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Cars - Nissan Skyline GT-R

History of the brand

Skyline GT-R R32-R34

Power-train

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