Nissan Skyline R34

[skuncan]

Nissan Skyline R34 (1999 - 2002)

Does any member have one of this motors..

Looking for some feedback on owning etc..

ta
D

 

[Neil G]

Never owned one but used to be into performance cars and have read quite a bit about them. Quite a sought after car and if your lucky enough to own one I bet quite exciting to drive!

I believe the main issue with the Skyline was the ceramic turbos that can't handle much of an increase in boost hence many owners fitting single blowers to replace the twin, sequential setup.

Neil

 

[longun]

fast and cheap, nuff said imho.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Never drove one, but I did my research BITD when a friend wanted to import one from the UK.

If it's the R34 GT-R model you're after, it'll be difficult to find a good one that hasn't been tuned. If it's tuned, you're taking a big gamble. Not only is it hard to tell if it's been tuned professionally, but it usually indicates that the car has had a rough life already.
A GT-T (2WD, turbo) is also tuned most of the time, and usually by people who couldn't afford a GT-R to begin with. So that's done on a budget.
If you really want to get one within the UK, your best bets are the less popular models. The non-turbo GT or GT-FOUR variants.

IMO it's better to look for a good one in Japan. The majority of those aren't tuned, and they're usually sold dirt cheap.
In Japan, when a car hits 100.000km (62-ish thousand miles), by law the car either needs to be scrapped or the engine replaced. Many Japanese therefore sell their cars when they're close to that point, so it should be easy to pick up a good, unmolested cheap one.
Quite a few GT-R owners don't drive them too often, so there still are plenty that are still on their original engine and about to hit the export market.

Sure, you'll need to import it to the UK and probably have to change the speedo to make it roadlegal, but in the UK that seems rather easy. A lot easier than in most of Europe, where it needs new headlights as well and they tend to be picky about having the steering wheel on the other side of the car.
Anyhow, there are companies that specialize in hunting down, acquiring and importing Japanese cars. Google around a bit.

 

[skuncan]

Never drove one, but I did my research BITD when a friend wanted to import one from the UK.

If it's the R34 GT-R model you're after, it'll be difficult to find a good one that hasn't been tuned. If it's tuned, you're taking a big gamble. Not only is it hard to tell if it's been tuned professionally, but it usually indicates that the car has had a rough life already.
A GT-T (2WD, turbo) is also tuned most of the time, and usually by people who couldn't afford a GT-R to begin with. So that's done on a budget.
If you really want to get one within the UK, your best bets are the less popular models. The non-turbo GT or GT-FOUR variants.

IMO it's better to look for a good one in Japan. The majority of those aren't tuned, and they're usually sold dirt cheap.
In Japan, when a car hits 100.000km (62-ish thousand miles), by law the car either needs to be scrapped or the engine replaced. Many Japanese therefore sell their cars when they're close to that point, so it should be easy to pick up a good, unmolested cheap one.
Quite a few GT-R owners don't drive them too often, so there still are plenty that are still on their original engine and about to hit the export market.

Sure, you'll need to import it to the UK and probably have to change the speedo to make it roadlegal, but in the UK that seems rather easy. A lot easier than in most of Europe, where it needs new headlights as well and they tend to be picky about having the steering wheel on the other side of the car.
Anyhow, there are companies that specialize in hunting down, acquiring and importing Japanese cars. Google around a bit.

I have always fancied one.. they are plenty of unspoil examples kicking about..
Like this one.. (but this is a R33)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 97.c0.m619

It wont live in the UK, it will be living in france.. i know the headlights will need to be changed... but not worried about the righthand drive thing.. been driving my uk Audi in france for the last 9 months with a daily commute to geneva with no issues from the swiss or french police.

D

 

[jimo746]

As standard they are a reliable fast coupe, unfortunately so many of them get modified to produce more power (and many modified ghetto style) that it can be a bit of a minefield finding a good one.
The GT-R is the one to go for but often commands a hefty price hike over the other models (GTT etc).
Not a bad idea to sign up to the skyline forums and try to pick up a car from an enthusiast owner on there.

What put me off buying one (for now) was the insurance cost.
The mpg isn't an issue really, although they're not too bad on juice in general, but if you're considering a Skyline then frugality is not top of your "want" list.
Factor on servicing & spares costs too, that six pot and twin turbos could be costly if they do go wrong.

If you can afford to run one then they make a great "GT" car, my friendused to have a GTT autobox and it was silky smooth and quiet, very easy to suddenly be doing twice the legal limit without even realising it! :-0

 

[drcarlos]

IMO it's better to look for a good one in Japan. The majority of those aren't tuned, and they're usually sold dirt cheap.
In Japan, when a car hits 100.000km (62-ish thousand miles), by law the car either needs to be scrapped or the engine replaced. Many Japanese therefore sell their cars when they're close to that point, so it should be easy to pick up a good, unmolested cheap one.

Not quite right or certainly not what I have seen or read and I have run two Japanese imports and was quite involved with the modded Honda scene for a few years.
The reason that most are sold is that every two years (first Shaken is at 3 years old) Japanese car have to undergo a Shaken which is a form of Japanese Super MOT, the cost of the test is very expensive (about £1500) and it's very strict, there are not really the amount of mechanics around to keep these cars up to standard (they are also very expensive) and it becomes economically non-viable to keep them on the roads in Japan. So when this happens they must either be scrapped or exported. Mileage is not a requirement and an Engine change is only required if the current engine cannot meet the regulations and cannot be rebuilt.
My Toyota Lucida was imported from Japan on it's original engine having done 134000km.

Carl.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Carl,

Thanks for that info. It contradicts what I came up with, but a bit of googling does indeed point in that direction. I got mine about 5 years ago from a guy who imported an R33 GTS-T.

 

[skuncan]

Carl,

Thanks for that info. It contradicts what I came up with, but a bit of googling does indeed point in that direction. I got mine about 5 years ago from a guy who imported an R33 GTS-T.

So you have a GTR ??

 

[Raging_Bulls]

I was referring to my info, not my car.

Probably a bad choice of words. I really should take more care when posting.