Phil 34GTR

Johnny, ^^^^^Totally agree with Ric, go with the SplitFires. True they are more expensive than some of the alternatives, but they will ultimately save you dollars, plus a whole lot of grief in my experience. Keep us posted on how you are doing, I can guarantee that you will not regret it! All the best, Phil

Johnny, I agonised over this when going to stage 2 last year. For what it's worth, my 2 cents are added within your original text below. I know that I ultimately went over the top with my catalogue of bolt-on stage 2 mods, but the performance of the 440rwhp machine that I have ended up with is leap years beyond what I had after stage 1. One thing that's not on your list (and the one item that caught me out big, big time) is coilpacks. My advice is don't scrimp here, add a set of SplitFires to your basket and be done with it. My stockies, plus other "claimed" similar brands crapped out around 380rwhp, and cost me valuable dyno time and commensurate dollars to boot. Added cost yes, but reliability guaranteed in my experience. All the best with your mods. Best Regards Phil

Interesting thread, and I think we all have at some time been through the same dilemma. I too, like you, obtained a stock, Grade 5 GTR in early 2008. I am sure that it still presents today like it did when it rolled off the production line in 99. It is my daily, and is the quintessential driving experience in every respect. In this regard, I would side with all previous posters who have advocated that you should keep what's yours, as it is most probably a reflection of you, through and through, and I would suspect that any "higher performing" replacement would never quite meet your expectations. Better to keep the devil that you know! The dilemma of maintaining it stock Vs exploiting it's obvious, somewhat limitless potential, hit me after only 4 months. Somehow, the stock 265rwhp'ish power (it was never strapped on the Dyno in stock form) was not enough, and like so many who had trodden this well worn rut of a path before me, I wanted that little bit more from this piece Nissan magic. This, together with the UK's GTROC Forum, provides just about every snippet of information on upgrading the RB26 that us budding Internet mechanics would ever need to know. Both Forums are a credit to their users, and the dedicated bunch of administrators and moderators. My hat goes off to all of them, as the transfer of such knowledge in the business world does not come without a cost. My goal was similar to Bakes'; extract usable 'street' power gains without opening the box, and maintain the life expectancy of the stock internals to within reasonable limits. To understand how to do this, within the realistic constraints of the average persons wallet, the search engine is your flexible friend. For Stage 1, I opted for the usual enhancements (Power FC, EBC, exhaust, and air induction). Nothing out of the ordinary, but with the right tuner, you can re-arrange the vertebrae in your neck for around $5,000. At 1.1bar g boost, the power advanced to 360rwhp. Believe me, the additional 100rwhp from this level of enhancement has to be the best bang for your buck that you could ever attain! I recently succumbed to the disease known as 'Stage 2'. Here, research via your flexible friend is critical, as the paths through to 400-450rwhp in terms of 'bolt-ons' and 'drop-ins' are virtually limitless. You can spend as little as $500-$4,000, and as much as $12,000+, to effectivley achieve the same level of power gains! Many would argue that some of the additional spend is justified as a means to ensure that the RB26 does not keel over and die on the Dyno, or soon thereafter on the street. Others would consider that winding up the boost a couple of notches and tweeking the air and fuel systems to their absolute limits will attain the same result. As ever, it's a typical risk Vs rewards scenario, which can only be resolved in your own mind after sifting through the many factual, and sometimes anecdotal, opinions and justifications at to why any one route is any better than another. In many ways, this is why the Forum makes such great reading, and provides for an unsurpassed learning environment! My initial thoughts were that Stage 2 would be the end game, hence, after much research and endless agony, I fathomed that -9's/GTSS turbos were the critical and optimum 'bolt-ons' for this level of power gain. My rationale behind the choice of turbo was to minimise the much vaunted 'boost threashold' level, over which I had an abstract paranoia of exceeding the benchmark set by the stock units. I now know that my paranoia was in vain as, akin to advancing the performance of all rotating machines, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Much is written over the performance of the HKS GTSS blowers, but little exists in the way of documentary evidence in connection with the performance of the -9's. Garretts' on-line information would suggest that they offer the best compromise over the larger -5's, and numerous comparisons of their metrics concludes that they are at least the equivalent, if not identical, to their GTSS counterparts. The problem is, you can't readily obtain them for love nor money. Hence, with time not on my side, the offer of a pair of readily available Tomei ARMS B7660 units for less than the cost of the GTSS blowers did not go amiss. Even less 'factual' information exists on these units as compared to the -9's, but as their paper specs appeared to place them somewhere between the -9's and the -5's I was convinced, paranoia apart, that they would fit the bill. Stage 2 disease then took it's vicious grip, and in went the poncams (to counteract the lag) and the larger AFM's (to provide the 'safe' on-load AFR's). Trust that you will get the gist of this story! For all I have not yet completed the final tune (long story), the current results, whilst running purely on the wastegates without the added control and extra boost afforded by the EBC, are compelling. The final powertune results will be posted on the RB26 sticky when completed. I hope my ramblings assist you with your dilemma. How could you obtain as much fun (and acquired knowledge) as I have through buying someone else's cast-off? Regards Phil

Many thanks for your comments thus far guys, extremely helpful. In my particular case, they pretty much confirm what my research had nearly concluded; no real performance gains on the hard piping, but it would sure look good! Thanks also Nismoid for your comments re coil packs, I certainly will work with my tuner on that in a couple of weeks time.

I have done a lot of reading over the last few months to establish what I need to do to with my typical Stage 1 (PFC, exhaust, Apexi intake, EBC) modified 34GTR to achieve the following goals: Maintain (as far as is possible) low end response provided by stock tubbies Attain a "safe" 400-420 rwhp I have deduced that I need to upgrade as follows: Garrett -9's (or GTSS if only the Forex rate was circa Q108) AFM's (Z32's or NIsmo) Min 550cc (more like 600cc) injectors Fuel pump (Nismo or Bosch) Re-map and tune My questions are (considering the added expenditure): 1. Is there any "real" benefit in fitting a full induction hard piping kit (e.g HKS SPF)? 2. Do I need to change the stock coil packs? 3. Have I missed anything else, given that I am not chasing high end hp (nor will be in the future)? Any helpful comments would be very much appreciated.

Ta Rev. I have found a turbo comparison sheet on a previous thread that confirms the specs for -9's and GT-SS are identical. Think I will be going -9's.

Guys, great thread, and the best I have found so far on SAU when searching for info on the elusive "-9's". As Dave questions above, has anyone seen any dyno results of -9's, or more fundamentally, know of anyone who has first hand experience on how they perform? Prior to getting serious about upgrading my stockies, I was more or less sure that -7's were the right choice for me (looking for no more than 400RWHP and more low end response that my current set-up) but based albeit upon somewhat sketchy info, maybe -9's would give me a better bang for my buck!

I have an Autowatch RLI446 fitted with a built-in turbo timer. So far, no worries.

I have just had an Apexi Power FC along with the usual bolt on mods fitted to my 34 GTR. Although it is early days, I have to say the difference compared to stock is mindblowing, given the cost per additional kW of the mods.

I got my 34 GTR two months back and know exactly how you feel. Driven many a different car over the years from Porsche to XR6 Turbos but have never driven anything that compares to the 34 GTR. Mine is absolute stock, but the Stage 1 mods are coming next week as I just cannot resist the feeling of starting to experience the full potential of this superb machine. I keep on telling myself that it will end there, but suspect the heart will overule the brain once the exterior trinkets are tweeked, and the internal surgery beckons! Many people consider that I am in the midst of a mid-life crisis, but to me, I am beyond that, and have reached the Pearly Gates! Best of luck with your R.

Bakes, PM sent.

Agree re the bumps and scrapes potential. One of the risks of importing. I researched most things before taking the plunge and deduced that paying the extra for freight insurance was not worth it. Your word against theirs, and you are too small to win. I imported it through Autoworx in Perth. I am yet to see it in the flesh, but have enough information to know that it is not far off the mark. Have shots of the underside that pretty much blow your mind, given the age of the vehicle. Got pics before and after the auction. Their Agent arranged for FOB hence access post auction appears to have not presented any problem.

Hi all, Here's mine, just arrived in Freo. R34 GTR, Grade 5A. Pictures are taken after auction in Japan. Been looking for years and never seen a 5A before, stoked! New to the Skyline scene but looking forward to seeing what this beast can do!