Demon Dave

The power figures will depend on which series SKyline you're talking about - R32, R33 or R34? It is possible to take the turbo (etc) from a RB25DET and put it on a RB25DE, but it would just be easier to get a complete RB25DET motor to begin with. I haven't seen many RB20DE powered Skylines (they were available on the 32 series only) - more commonly the 2 litre RB engines are the RB20E's - i.e. minus an extra cam. My old Skyline was powered by the RB20E, it puts out 130 PS and isn't very quick at all....

most probably...Yes. Both standard, of course. R33 GTS25 = 2.5 litre N/A R33 GTSt = 2.5 litre Turbo

AFAIK, when Nissan released the R34 range they decided it was time to give the old RB series a bit of revamp - hence the introduction of the Neo Strait 6 engine. In addition to various other improvements the Neo engines got VVT, however the GTR's RB26DETT did not. (this may be the reason that Nissan can get away with quoting the official power output of the R34's RB25DET as 280PS & the the R34 GTR's RB26DETT at 280PS also! I have seen 1, R33 series Skyline (late model) that had a Neo strait 6 engine in it - whether Nissan officially produced the R33 with the newer Neo's in it I can say - it could have been a conversion or something as simple as bolting on the "Neo" plastic engine cover... Cheers Dave

The Neo engines also get variable Valve Timing:)

Nissan only ever "officially" exported the GTR into England, and numbers were limited to 100 cars. These cars recieved special upgrades (leather interior, diff and oil coolers and a few other bits a pieces I believe....) Even so, there are many, many Skylines (all varients) in England. Most are self imports, but there are plenty of company's offering import services. Getting SVA and MOT certificates for imported cars isn't very difficult (only a few changes to the car are necessary - rear fog lamp, speedo and so on...) The 2 main forums are: http://www.gtr.co.uk/ and http://www.skylineowners.com/forums/ Cheers Dave (British, but living in Japan!)

If it is the RB20E engine, then the output is 130PS from the 2 litre, single cam'd engine.... The RB25DE puts out more and benefits from the extra 500cc and twin cam setup...

I'm lazy - I always take my car to my local Nissan dealer (one that tends to deal mainly in Skylines, 180Sx's etc) and get them to change the oil - don't know what type, but whatever it is, it must be OK for the car...

Agree with you on that. In the past I thought I had a problem with my gearbox - difficulty engaging second gear. Turned out that I just wasn't given the gearbox oil enough time to warm up (especially in winter). Not moving, or moving a slow speeds isn't going to warm up the other oils in the car....

Additionally, you may note that very soon after turning the key the oil pressure is going to rise to quite a high level (say above 4kgcm) but that is mainly due to the fact that the pressure switch is located lower down on the block...

Basically, before you first start your car from cold (say in the morning) all the oil has drained down into the sump. It's at ambient air temperature, so it's going to be pretty viscous and not likely to flow freely... You turn the key and start the engine. Since the oil pump only works when the engine is running, and it takes time for the pump to pump cold oil from the sump up into the valve/cam area (and throughout the engine block) So, you can see that for a certain amount of time the engine is running without any oil! The exact time it takes for the oil to start flowing freely through the engine depends on many factors - pump efficiency, oil grade, oil temp, climate and the size of the engine. I remember reading that on some older american muslce cars it could take around 2 minutes for the oil to start circulating around the block!! Since an engine running without oil is BAD, the best thing to do is minimize the wear by not driving off imediately after you've started the engine...Basically you're giving the engine time to become fully lubricated before you put any pressure on it. Ohh, and turbo motors are even more susceptible to this since the turbo is sitting right on top of the engine - far from the oil pump... That's how I understand it anyways...

The Razo gear knob I bought a few years back had circular grey plastic inserts of various sizes. There was no thread on them, but it turns out that I was supposed to choose the appropriate size insert and then"screw" the knob down - effectively creating the thread inside the plastic. (softish plastic) It was some kinda - one size will fit all approach... Maybe your's is something similar?

It's the challenge! I mean, I think it's fair to say that a Turbo'd motor is comparitively "easy" to extract bigger power... But with N/A, you've got to be a little more "creative"! Especially, if you're going to get the power without resorting to bolting on a turbo... And, it's a great feeling to beat a turbo'd brother if you're N/A!

could be the AC compressor perhaps?

I'd be interested to know also - though my engine is fitted with VVT and it does a pretty good job of upping the power through the rev range. Also - what is the idle and low end torque like on your friends cam?

According to Nissan (and other sources) the RB25DE Neo Strait 6 found in the R34 series puts out 200PS standard - which works out to be around 149KW. (?) Does anyone know whether that figure is measured at the wheels or flywheel?

You should disconnect the battery before to starting to make sure the airbag doesn't go off in your face! Also if you're planning on fitting an aftermarket steering wheel and boss (and your car has HICAS /ABS) then you'll need one that is suitable for HICAS equiped cars...

My car came with a Kakimoto exhaust already fitted. It has a removable baffle (one bolt holds it in place). Most of the time I keep it in - without it the car is a little too loud (especially considering how close I live to the local cop station!) Still, I think it is a great idea - you can have mean/loud for trackdays and stuff and quiet for the long runs...

I also heard the a big change in offsets can lead to early wheel bearing failure, more stress on the suspension components and possible handling problems (tramlining and the like)... I'm currently looking to put wider wheels on my car, but finding a balance between wheel width, clearance and offsets is proving difficult... My old car had a really wide set of volk rims, they looked great but the handling was much worse with them on... Dave

sort of;) I was in a similar position a few months back: get an older (higher KM) R32 GTR or maybe even a R33 GTR, or get a newer R34 GTT. I chose the R34, mainly because I like the shape, the style and after driving a R33 GTS for a couple of years I felt the R34 series car felt much more compact and nimble.... I say go the R34 GTT! Cheers Dave

One thing I would recommend, if you do decide to fit a air filter induction kit, and your car is N/A then you should definitely construct some kind of cold air ducting into the filter...

http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/filters_t...st/1/index.html Regarding air filters. There's always going to be differences of opinion on who make good/bad filters. Nevertheless, I think most people would agree that K&N and Apex make very good filters. it all depends on what you want - more power/greater air flow comes at a price - poor filtration. If you read the article you'll see that there is a big difference in how well the various filters actually filter... OK, for a lot of people, a filter with really poor filtration (mainly foam filters) that is likely to lead to premature engine wear, don't care since they probably wont own the car for that long. Me personally - my car had a Trust Airinx foam induction kit. It sounded great and probably gave me a little more power. but, holding the foam element up to the light and you could clearly see through it - the holes were measurable:( so you can imagine how much crap that it must be letting into the engine... i've since replaced the Airinx with the factory original airbox. OK, maybe it doesn't sound as good, but as to the power loss - well, with the induction system my engine was breathing in loads of under-bonnet warm air, so that's debatable... Cheers Dave

Do you mind if I ask what size wheels you are running? My car currently has stock wheels, I'm wanting to fit a decent set of rims but I had a look at the clearance under the wheel arches and there doesn't seem to be that much. Specifically, on the rears there's about an inch clearance between the inner part of the rim and the HICAS join and I wonder if wider wheels is gonna be a problem? What size and offsets are your wheels? I was planning on keeping with 17's (the car has been lowered). On my old GTS, I was able to fit 9.5 inch wheels on the back with 265 tires and never had a problem with clearance. Fronts were 8.5's with 235 rubber and no rubbing even at full lock. Definately looks to me like a similar sized setup on the 34 GT-V is gonna cause problems..

This is metric Japan! I dunno what the diameter of the tail pipe is in inches, but in CM's it's 11 cm:) The main piping under the car isn't much wider than standard (so as to maintain enough back pressure me thinks!) - not sure of the exact diameter, will check later. Dave

IMHO - Honda make very good cars, with strong engines that produce respectable amounts of power without using turbos. They are well designed, well engineered and reliable, as are most Japanese cars. Unfortunately, they're also subjected to a lot more ricey mods than most, and I think this tends to give a lot of people a negative impression. I previously owned a Honda. Damn good car, but I prefer my skyline!

The Kakimoto is quite loud too:) , especially if you don't use the insert baffle - but this is just my opinion. Others who have been in my car say the muffler is too quiet! All depends on what you're used to I guess:D Since I brought the car with the Kakimoto on, I can't comment on whether bottom end power has been affected... It doesn't seem so, there's plenty of low end torque and you get a nice roar when you floor it:D Cheers Dave