andrewclarke

nice looking one for $76k, with 34 thousand k. still out of my price though ;-(

Just being curious - what's the chances of finding a decent r34 m-spec nur? With the 34's getting down towards $40,000 now, it's really starting to seem affordable to get this fairly rare beast. What sort of price would be likely?

For the record I bought an S15 SpecS GT in 2002 (2001?? the last few months of supply brought out the GT anyway.) Previously I had looked at all the brochures etc, including the details for the GT when it was available. For australian deliveries: As mentioned above, ignoring the GT, the Spec R was identical to the Spec S, excepting it had the sunroof, side skirts, small rear wing and six-stacker. I have a nagging feeling there was one more option, but I'd have to check. You could option up the Spec S to add the extras, not including the sunroof of course. You could not get a Spec R without the extras - something you might have wanted if you like sunroofs but wanted to add your own bodykit or audio. Manuals all have the 6 speed with the helical diff. Auto's all have the 4 speed box with a non-helical diff. Not sure if it's viscous, plate or whatever, since I wasn't interested in the auto. For the GT's, they added leather to the front seats, door panels, gear knob and steering wheel, alloy-look pedals (but just an overlay, not real alloy pedals), slightly shinier rims but with identical size and styling, the larger 'Aero' rear wing, and of course the little GT badges under the front/side indicators. I specced up my Spec S GT only with the side skirts, but the 6-stacker was still an option too. No aussie car had a rear wiper, that was probably deleted to save a bit of cost. So I reckon the rear wiper is probably a reliable indicator of a jap import; trust that more than any badgework such as the Z-shaped symbol (in place of the nissan circle) or Silvia badging in place of the 200SX badge. The aussie models still had the word Silvia in a few places: above the glove box, on the door steps (visible when you open the door), and in the main headlight unit, so that means nothing about JDM vs. ADM The aussie cars had the same engine as the S14, with the variable cam black top putting out 147kW, instead of the uprated donk of the JDM S15. The jap releases got a rollerbearing '28 turbo, changed wastegate and dump pipes, and probably a few other fiddles, resulting in around 187 kW power (around 180, i forget the exact number). I know less about the jap-specs, but I understand that the Aero model (distinguished by the large wing) could even be optioned up with the HICAS 4-wheel steer system that nissan has put in other vehicles such as the bluebird and of course the GT-R. I'd be interested to feel that in action, since the stock Aussie car has the traditional understeer-in-on-power, oversteer-out-on-power of a spirited RWD. The nissan 4WS is supposed to encourage oversteer on corner entry and counter the oversteer on corner exit, and that would be just what the doctor ordered. Downside would be the effect of the extra weight. No aussie delivery had the 4WS, but they had the same rear sub-frame and large HICAS-ready bushes, consequently it's a bit cranky when you're on the edge of traction; when the bushes load up you take a certain stance with the steering angle, but if you lose traction (like on a little bump on a typical road) the bushes unload, the angle goes for a wander and you have to catch it; when you catch it you have to adjust again to the loaded state. Makes for a fair whack of sawing on a long fast corner, and you have to be comfortable you know how to avoid bumming out backwards or plowing off the road. Damn this is getting off-topic. I'll stop now.