Munro

Hmmm. I'll never call a Mitsubishi a Bitsofshitti again. As long as it's an EVO of course. John Keen at Turbo Tune (with the 4 wheel dyno) was suprised. He said std EVOs usually make 140kw(at treads) but being the latest incarnation would probably make 150kw.This one has upgraded CPU & HKS exhaust & made 186kw! He said a couple of other EVOs he has dynoed which had extensive modifications made 185kw so at this level of light tuning it was suprising.It is not unusual to get similar std engines that make slightly different power so I guess I just scored a freak one thats extra good. Suits me - as long as it knows it's place - behing the GTRs of course!!!

We did a photo shoot for SPEED today with the R34, EVO7 & a new 02 model STI.Started at 5.30am & I just got home!(6.30pm) they take photo shoots very seriously - took all day.And thats the driving shots.Will be at the studio for 1/2 day tomorrow! Was very suprised after a drag between the EVO & the R34.After a rolling start(didn't want my mate in the EVO to launch it) we both booted it at about 10kmhr.Even in 1st & 2nd. 2nd go at next lights - same result! I was sure the R34 would pull away but there was nothing in it.I know the R34 would launch better but I was still impressed with the EVOs rolling acceleration. We did a 4 wheel dyno straight after & even in hot conditions & straight after all day driving the EVO made 186kw at all four. Allowing for 25% loss thats 250kw (335hp) at the engine. EVO is 1380kg / 250kw = 5.5 kg/kw weight/power ratio. R34 is 1650kg / 345kw = 4.7 kg/kw weight/power ratio. 97 R33 is 1700kg / 620kw = 2.7 kg/kw ! 95 R33 is 1300kg / 700kw = 1.8 kg/kw ! WTF!!! The R33 is lighter than the EVO & has nearly 3 times the power!!!

1995 R33 GTR OS 3litre 540kw at wheels (900+hp at engine) 1997 R33 GTR RB26 465kw at wheels (800+hp at engine) 1999 R34 GTR RB26 272kw at wheels (460 hp at engine) 2001 VU SS UTE 6sp 235kw at wheels (420 hp at engine) 2001 GSR EVO VII 240kw at engine (estimated) Yep, the HKS GTR was awesome to see running.Great bunch of guys too. Yep, will cruise R33 soon.

It looks like we will see what Doug's R33 GTR will pull down the 1/4 now. I have just bought it from him! (Traded in the S2000) It only has 1300kms on the new rebuild so will do it's 1st service, get some kays on it & possibly take it out to the next street drags with the Nittos from the 3litre R33. I hope my previous comment about breaking it if I drove it does not happen.This will probably be a one off Drag session, & then I will concentrate on the race prepped R33. After driving it around today, it is definately laggy, but will decimate most street cars once on boost & singing -what a machine!Glad it's got a 320kmhr speedo & bistein suspension! For those who are wondering - yes I am addicted to GTRs.

Welcome to drag racing.Never easy - but always fun. Keep it up.

Ah, Hmmm. 14 times Kabab. But not for years now, my cars are much faster so cant catch me. Ha ha. Besides, speed cameras in SA dont attract demerit points & they only use low speed film - so if you are going fast enough all they photograph is the spot you used to be.Dont laugh - it's been done before. seriously though - I am a very well behaved law abiding citizen now I'm a mature 31 & only use 3rd,4th,5th& 6th gears on private roads or racetrack under controlled conditions. The TD06s on Dougs car did not come on boost till 6000rpm so it had to be revved to 9500 to get a useable power band. Now the engine has been rebuilt by adelaide Engine Developments it comes on around 5000. Piston heights in relation to something or other due to the #*^(&^ being #^%$ over the $^&$%^ & cam timing - lost me - ask Darren.I dont build the cars I just thrash them. Anyway it's pretty good now.

Psiker made a very good comment regarding the original intention of the makers of each car.they are designed differently for different purposes. One is a coupe with a straight six, twin turbos, rear biased 4WD & aimed at track use.The other is a sedan with an East/West 4 cylinder single turbo,full time 4WD & aimed at rally use. Very different cars for very different purposes. I have a new EVO7 & a R34 GTR. The more I drive them, the more I appreciate how different they are. Both cars have similar mods - aftermarket CPUs, good exhausts, both run 18psi boost.the EVO weighs 1380kg, the GTR weighs 1650kg.I have been doing back to back testing in the hills & my evaluation so far is this - The EVO is slightly faster & more fun to drive on the really tight sections of road & feels very solid on smooth roads.It's responsive engine & 4WD trickery makes it a delight to drive right up towards the limit of sane driving. The GTR sits better on the road due to it's extra weight & wheelbase.It accelerates harder & longer in each gear, & is not as phased as the EVO on bumpy sections.The attessa 4WD allows more power oversteer & will hold on up to & beyond the limits of sane driving where the EVO dares not to tread.Last night I had the EVO in a 4 wheel sideways powerslide on an off camber bend. With cliff-faces either side I had to catch it quick, but due to the very small lock to lock, I overcorrected & proceeded to snake round the corner in a rather messy fashion( read - I nearly lost it big time).The only time I had the GTR this far out of shape was when attempting very crazy entry speeds to similar corners & it was much easier to keep the power on & just drift around the corner in true jap style. So - up to a point, the EVO is very fast, but I think I will leave the kamikaze stuff to the bigger, badder GTR from now on.I'm sure with a bit more practice I will be able to get the EVO closer to the limits, but perhaps better stick to the track where there is at least some runoff! So over all my opinion is this - If you want to take passengers regularly, like hooning around & want to look trendy when you are cruising - go for EVO. If pure speed & top end handling is your forte - & you want to go to the next level of class - the GTR wins hands down. I am directly comparing the best models available, but I think the same applies to the previous models as well. Ultimately, personal taste is the decision maker.My advice would be to drive at least 3 good examples of each car before any final choice.

Dougs R33 has made 465rwkw & would leave my old 2540s setup in it's dust.I have driven the car hard(as it's meant to be driven) & it would definately run in the mid to low tens - but with a std gearbox & diffs would not last long with me driving it.Doug is not interested in Drag racing so we will probably never know exactly what it would run down the 1/4.Too much to list all the mods, but it is still a 2.6L, has TD06s,motec management etc.Very streetable still & an excellent street car. I will run heads up against anyone if given the chance. BTW - I just got an insurance quote for full comp on the R34 GTR. $12,500 pa with a $20,400 excess!!!!!!!!! Say what - get real. Love to see what they would quote on the R33 as it is!!!

Wheat

Yeah, there is a 4WD dyno, but at another workshop.Mark Tilbrook is my crew chief so we use his 2WD dyno.Besides- the main figures I am interested in is mph & ET.Track dyno is the ultimate proof of power as every chassis dyno reads different. 330kw where the rubber meets the road & the responsive 2530s would be awesome fun on the street. That is crazy that only rego cars can drag race.I thought the whole point of having a track was so that cars like Mario's could race, whats a rego sticker mean anyway! What Mario has done is fantastic - cant wait to see it run in the flesh. I remember reading about your white R33 in the first GTR special edition when mine was a stocky, & thinking how cool it would be to do it up & maybe get it in a mag.Never thought that I would have 2 GTRs on the cover of the 3rd GTR special edition! All the cool GTRs in that 1st mag was what fired me up in the 1st place - so I suppose your car was one of the ones that inspired me.Doug's silver R33 GTR was my first ride in a highly modified GTR & after that I was a goner.His car is still probably the nicest all round package in Adelaide, & it would easily pull low 10s if he wanted to bring it out, but after spending all week hooning around in helicopters he prefers just to burn around the streets & I respect that.

285rwkw is nothing to sneeze at.My R34 makes 270rwkw & it's great fun to drive.Problem is, when you start climbing over the 300 kw mark, you start losing that all important bottom end torque. 2530s are great turbos.I think I would have enjoyed them more than the 2540s I used to have on the R33 'cause they were a bit laggy - top end was great though.Hard to keep the balance. The magazines do a good job, but there is only so much space & sometimes the details get a little bit mixed up.I have always enjoyed the articles that Martin has written.He writes well 'cause he is not just a journo, but a tuner & enthusiast as well.

extra $$$ ??? Not anymore. All invested in GTR shares now - hope they go up! ha ha.(Oh well you're only young once eh) The R33 will come to Sydney.When is the next 4,6&rotor meeting over there & does anyone know if Drag Combat is on this year? It would be good to get Marios R33, Jasons R34,Keirs R32,my R33, & a few other fast GTRs together at the same meeting for a heads up battle.When Keir & I raced head to head in Adelaide at the Nats the crowd loved it.I'm sure it wont be long till there are other tough GTRs being built & we have a proper Heads up class for late model 4WD turbo cars.I think that some of the track managers have to realise the huge interest in these types of cars now, & that eventually we will need to be catered for at the larger V8 dominated events.Of course, at the moment we only have 3 cars in Australia under the 10 second bracket.Marios awesome 8 second machine, Keir's R32 at 9.5, & my R33 at 9.6.There are plenty of up and coming GTR owners out there, keep hotting up your cars & lets get out there & race.

Oh no.Dont show me a blue one!Please stop. mmmm.Looks good eh.

Hmmm. A turbo 350Z.That would be cool.My shed is full though & I already have 4 modified cars so I might have to pass the buck on that one Kabab. I have used this phrase before I think but when comparing the EVO 7 to the R34 GTR I would have to say that the GTR is " a whole nother level of badness ". the EVO is great fun, looks cool & is a very good car, but if I had to choose(& I will have to at some stage)the GTR has to win.It will take more punishment.If you dont do regular launches & dont thrash every time you drive then the EVO will last.If you are a caner like me, my advice would be go for a GTR.Besides, an R32 GTR is half the price of a good EVO.

Not sure yet - have a wedding to go to & dont think I can get out of it.

I did run a low 11. An 11.10 @ 127 with the 2540s. 60 ft was 1.69. My best is now a 1.46 60ft.I've been told that with hotter tyres is should run even better 60 ft times. Excellent - bigger burnouts - suits me.The Nittos will probably go off before I wear them out anyway so I may as well destroy them!!! On the whole "RH9" street car thing, the RH9 club is a group of workshops in Japan, who all run 9 second GTRs on Nittos.There is really no such thing as a 'proper' RH9 club car in Australia 'cause we are not in Japan & to be a club member thats where you need to be. My car is a 9 second street car, not a 'RH9' car. the R33 is still registered & I have driven it a number of times on the street in the last month.sure it is not ' street legal'.far from it. It has no mirrors, perpex door windows, no passenger seats(although I am putting another seat in it shortly to take a couple of good mates for the ride of their life!), no speedo, & If the cops could catch me I'm sure I'd get chucked in the loony bin for driving a car with a 2kg/kw weight/power ratio car on the street! But - it is streetable.It idles at the traffic lights, stays pretty cool, can cruise at the speed limits(as long as I can put up with them) & looks at first glance like a normal street car.Of course when it's takes off everyone within a 5-10 km radius thinks there is a jet or something flying over.You should of seen some of the looks when I took off from the Gepps Cross intersection the other day! The 1.5 way diffs mean Gorge road is out, 'cause it wont turn under power, but without them it would spin one of the front wheels at the track & there is no use having around 900 hp if you can't put in down so I was prepared to make that sacrifice. Danny(JMS) gave me his 'official' japanese RH9 stickers over a year ago when he decided against going that far & I have held on to them all this time until my car had actually run a 9. It's not a 9 second car ( or a supposed RH9 car) until it's run a 9 is it! As far as writing a book goes, I'm too busy cruising & racing.If I've got a hour or so spare, I'd rather do something constructive & post on here vs watch mindless rubbish on TV or whatever.

Off the trailer( I could have driven it there, but it's such a pain lining up to get in I couldn't see the point) it ran a 9.9 @ 148.85. Cool.Everyone relaxed cause I didn't break the thing & I ran my first 9 second pass.Next up was a 9.66. For an hour or so I had the fastest GTR on street tyres in Australia - until Keir ran a 9.51! Next was a 10.3 against danny(bogged off line but did a killer burnout - half the reason for racing) & then my first heads up run against Keir's R32.He red lit then backed off & I ran a 9.89 @148.95 mph.Next run together I red lit but Keir lost boost & had to back off & I ran a 10.1(nearly hitting the wall due to low front tyre pressures)My last run of the night was a solo pass. 9.69 @ 148.88 mph, which backed up my previous 9.6. Overall I was very happy with the meeting & to run such consistent mph with a car that had only done 17 runs in it's current setup.All the work done by Mark Tilbrook, Martin Donnon, Darren Palumbo,David Baines,Steve Cramp & many others had finally paid off & I want to thank everyone involved in the project for their help & support. There are a few further changes I want to make to the car, but now we are talking hundreds & tenths of a second.The amount of extra power needed to even gain a few tenths or mph is tremendous.The car is pretty well finished, a colour change & maybe bigger turbos down the track will be the major upgrades to an otherwise completed project.I would like to race the car as often as possible & maybe do a return to Drag Combat or Jamboree if finance permits. In the meantime, I have reached my goal of beating my old race car & finally getting into the nines.I would have been happy with a 9.999 so the 2 9.6 runs have surpassed all my expectations. Regards to all those who have shown interest in the car, keep cruising.

We weighed the car at Willowbank & it was 3650lbs (1650kg) It was obvious that the car was no longer a regular street car, so we proceeded to remove unneeded parts.Power steering,Hicas,power windows,Air con,ABS, std fuel tank,oil cooler,std gauges,heater box - the list goes on.The fact we were doing this to a 20,000km R33 GTR is perfect condition was sad, but it was too far gone & a R33 shell was not available at the time.And I had the R34 for street duties, so I bit the bullet & decided that with such a great engine it was a waste not to prepare the car properly.The next time I took the car out to race(aug 02) was a disaster.I ran a 10.6 then blew the Trust gearbox to bits. It also smashed the HKS driveshafts on the line.Breaking things is what causes many guys to give up on Drag racing & I parked the car in the shed & forgot about it for a month or so. A holinger was the only way to go.The trust box is excellent & much better for the street 'cause it's H pattern, but we now had well over 700hp & it could not handle it.A 3 month wait for the HS6 put a damper on things for a while & only driving the car 3 times in 2002 was a real piss off.With the 4,6&rotor Nats around the corner we had to get it ready & practice with the new box or I knew the Nationals would be a flop.turns out I was right.On a practice run 2 weeks before the Nats I ran a 'casual run' at 140mph then smashed the new custom driveshafts again!Hmmm. I think the problem was the Line locker.I was using it to hold the car on the line then release it at the same time as the clutch.I must have been a splitsecond late with the button, as it didn't seem to matter what the driveshafts were made out of - I was snapping them like celery sticks.I was used to launching on the transbrake button in my old drag car & I couldn't get this right, so we removed the line locker, put a std pair of driveshafts in( with a spare pair on hand just in case),dynoed the car with a decent amount of boost this time (27psi) & took it to the Nationals with out finger crossed.

The car had been off the road since feb & I was a bit out of touch with driving it, so the practice day on Friday gave me a chance to see how it went & work out a routine.The first run was a 10.9, followed by a 10.8 & then a 10.7.Everyone was happy with tens straight out of the container as we all knew the car was not anywhere near it's potential tuning or suspension wise.After plenty of drinks down the coast that night everyone was convinced that I needed to give it heaps off the line the next day. Rain held up proceedings & after hanging around nearly all day, we left without a run.On Sunday, all fired up, I lined up - held it on the limiter & sidestepped the quad plate. BANG.Smashed both rear driveshafts right on the line.Spewin.I reversed the car back on FWD which pretty well fried the transfer case.Mick from Sub-Zero came to the rescue with some spare shafts(which had to be removed from a car in his workshop an hour & a half away!) & we just made it into the first round.Another 10.9 & then a 10.8 on a red light put us out for the night.Was heaps of fun, but I am not racing interstate again until the car is fully sorted out.Seeing the HKS GTR running 7.8 @ 175mph with no parachute was a good experience.When the container came back to Adelaide the R33 went straight to Tilbrooks where it lived now.Around this time I bought the R34 GTR 'cause I was hanging for something to thrash in the hills & my VU SS ute, while an excellent cruiser & tow car, just doesn't cut it up the Gorge.

At 1600 odd kg,it had to lose some weight, so for just one meeting we decided to pull out anything not needed.Around 150 kg was removed(seats, stereo, spare wheel etc)then we dynoed the car again with C21 race fuel & made 395rwkw! But at this power level it would not hang together so we reverted back to PULP & made 345rwkw.The std gearbox could not handle all the 8000rpm practice launchs so I bought Danny's Trust 6 speed dog box & OS triple plate clutch.11.10 @ 127 mph(11/11/01).So close, yet so far away.The next time it was run was the 4,6&rotor Nats on 16/2/02.With the interior back in the best it could manage was a 11.5 & 11.6 @ 124.On the second run it developed a severe knock which turned out to be a non-existent rod bearing!Keir also blew his engine that day after running a 10.6. Up to this point I had wrecked 2 clutches, the std gearbox,the engine, & destroyed 2nd gear in the Trust box while practicing 1st-2nd gear burnouts on the street the week before the Nats! A major decision needed to be made. Should I just rebuild the engine & stay in the 11 second zone, or go sick & push for 10s? Cue the OS 3 litre short engine package, brand new N1 head, HKS 2835R turbo kit, twin 54mm external wastegates,HKS step pro L valvetrain, Trust Drag intercooler, custom single throttle body, etc,etc,etc.Lot the plot now - No turning back.The OS 3 litre has an 8 bolt crank, so an OS quad plate clutch was ordered to suit. All these great bits were taken to Adelaide Engine Developments for a total engine package to be built.With the 1st Drag Combat meeting looming & not much time, all hands were on deck for the final assembly.ATS 1.5 way mechanical diffs were fitted,cusco adjustable suspension arms,twin pump fuel system,Motec engine management,Velo seat,Harnesses etc all had to go in.The car had to be ANDRA tech inspected to run under 10 seconds & we were running out of time to get the car into the container for Queensland.My first test drive of this new combination was from JMS around the corner to the container guys, who were waiting to load the car.I barely got it into 3rd gear, little own actually do a practice launch or anything.The next time I sat in it was when I drove it out of the container at Willowbank right next to THE HKS Drag GTR!Talk about intimidation!The HKS team were very helpful & a great bunch of guys.I enjoyed meeting Kawasaki & the crew.

I have had so many PMs asking about the R33 I thought I would post a run down of how the project came about as the articles on the car dont really give enough details & I dont have the time to answer all the questions. I bought the car in April 2000 with 13,000km completely standard. I drove the car in this form for the rest of the year & thoughly enjoyed it.A standard R33 GTR is a fantastic car, particularly in the Hills around Adelaide.In early 2001 I put Bilstein suspension & the 18x10 works wheels that are now on the blue R34 GTR.I was introduced to Mark Tilbrook about the same time & decided that it was time I started modifying the car.The potential that a std GTR has for improvement is amazing.We did the usual exaust,Apexi FC ,pod fillters, intercooler upgrade & it made 227rwkw. After years of Drag racing V8s I was interested to see what it would run down the quarter mile.My very first run was 13.0, followed by 12.7.(10/3/01)Next time I ran 12.6 & 12.5 @ 112mph.(6/5/01)My previous drag car( an HJ ute that ran 10.1 @ 133 with 350 chev)had been sold when I bought the R33 & being blown away by old school V8s was not my cup of tea - so something had to be done. Cue HKS 2540s,680cc injectors,Bosch 044 pump,Cam gears,twin plate clutch,boost controller,cusco exhaust,oil catch can, & Nismo 320km speedo(nice to know how fast you are actually going on the freeway!). 338rwkw & 11.8 @ 121mph.(14/10/01) The car had done 20,300 km at this stage, & was driven regularly. We were now on a mission to see if we could get a std internals RB26 GTR in to the 10s with only bolt on mods.

Brad - what are you doing on this forum?If you read the thread you'll see that the S2000 has 176kw, not 187. (I know your Torana pulls 12s & you want to buy a Skyline so we'll let you off) Slow gts-t - 53/47 is not 50/50 is it? Slip - if you are referring to the HPI no.25 article mine IS the stock yellow one!It now has a CPU upgrade, HKS exhaust, & carbon bonnet same as the white one Theo was driving in that article. New article on my EVO7 Vs WRX sti coming out soon.

I parked it right out the front of Yorke Mitsubishi the other day when I was getting an oil filter for it.I don't think the Salesman was too impressed as they still have 3 'new' EVO 6.5s in there.They would be 3 years old by now!!! There is a very nice R34 Gtt in Main North Nissan for sale at the moment.They are also supposed to be getting an R34 GTR soon too!Scott (the salesman) said he might bring it out on one of our cruises to show it off & get a buyer for it. Anyone seen another blue R34 GTR around? I heard a rumour that a basketball player from interstate has moved here & has one with the std wheels on it.Cool. 2 blue ones.Be good to see them together. Picked up the R33 today with the full roll cage fitted.Goes very close to the windscreen so we can fit the std dash back in. I took the car straight to Impressive paint & panel.Darren is painting the whole interior including the moly cage.Guess colour? Bayside blue of course to match the R34.Eventually the outside will be done as well, but not till the engine has to come out for a check over, then he can do the whole engine bay at the same time. Yeah - the bees would not have known what hit them - what a way to go though!!!

Yep it is, you are right. Cool, might have to paint the R33 then they'll both match.

It's great fun to drive.I took it for a big hammer up through chain of ponds to williamstown & on to birdwood tonight. It really blasts through the corners.Definately has aftermarket CPU 'cause it goes way over the 180 speedo.(they quote 256km top speed & I reckon it will do it.) Could not believe how many bugs were out there!I normally go through during the afternoon - but it was on dusk tonight & coming home I could barely see through the windscreen(must remember to fill washer bottle) at one point it was like driving in the rain.I think a bee farmer will be missing a few tomorrow, pulled a swarm of them out of the intercooler. Maybe they weren't expecting a yellow EVO at warp speed. Anyway it's all clean now & back in the shed unharmed, waiting to go out next week & find that cheeky STI & teach it a lesson.