How Hard Is It To Drive A Skyline?

[FATAZZ]

have to give a + to the auto's

if you rebuild them or throw the Mv automatics valve bodys on them with or without the manualised black box option

they can be alot of fun to drive with almost instantaneous shifts.

[SKYL1N]

im 18 with NA r33

its the nciest car ive had to drive

handles well

just watch out in the wet if u have an LSD.

[Dearlove]

mate i grew up on a farm and been driving since i was 5, and when im not concentrating i still stall it!!! (then again my clutch is a bitch) you could get a non turbo?? but even my gtr when i run it on stock boost seems gutless (but i think thats coz im getting use to the power...)

plus you will soon regret buying an auto when you drive your mates manual...

[Modena]

If you dont know how to drive and have a lead foot then driving a Yaris or a Swift is pretty dangerous too...

BTW auto turbo Skylines are very zippy.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

Well i had an auto VT for 5 yrs and bought a GTT manual.. not hard at all.. you'll get the hang of it.. and as everyone else says you'll regret an auto.. not straight away but you will..

if your worried about handling why not look for a manual gts4? got the better handling and no need worrying about turbo pulling.. insurance might be cheaper too?

[SKYL1N]

everyone one of my mates who bought an auto says they wish they got manual

and ina skyline id imagine it would be so much worse

plus in a auto u cant press the clutch and rev it past groups of 16 year old girls (i joke i joke... but actually)

umm also

really wanna make sure you go easy around the corners if your used to a AWD

[hojak]

plus in a auto u cant press the clutch and rev it past groups of 16 year old girls (i joke i joke... but actually)

Why can't u knock it into N and do the same?

[Cubes]

Why can't u knock it into N and do the same?

Or the auto's making decent power drop it back and watch the speedo sit on 160km/h as you fill the street full of smoke with no brake.

Much more cooler than a rev in neutral.

[JewJitsu]

Just grab a r34 with tiptronic and stick a stage2 shift kit on it and youl be fine. Im also an auto license and now learning manual and for now i do prefer the auto more maybe because i hate downshifting.

[95 GTS25T]

Mate they are not hard to drive at all

when I was learning to drive I owned a 1986 laser tx3

manual had that for 3 years it was gutless and I went from

that to 95 gts25t with no problems, only be careful in the

wet, ive got fairly wide rear tyres but it lets go so easy in

the wet it let go on me like the 2nd day I had it the road was wet and

I was only going slow like 20 - 30 kmh around a corner but the rear stepped out

big time but easy to control, like others say make sure you have good tyres and

just be careful in the wet.

[Damit]

the line pulls back so good when your sideways anyways

i recommend doing a defensive driving course

a. its good to learn

b. its so fun

c. you learn how to handle a car when out of control and sideways

[some_cs_student]

yeah don't worry about stalling mate, i've thought a couple of times i had but it comes back from the dead if your quick back on the clutch. I couldn't belive it first time. As for how hard they are to drive, simple.

If its manual this really depends on the clutch your using, my OS twin plate can be touch to use.

However, skylines aren't that hard to drive but you have to be careful, especially in wet weather, although that applies to any performance car

I'd recommend joining the club, doing an advanced driving course (driver dynamics) and then some track events

[JI34GT]

Its hard. Dont ever do it.

...lol, nah...its fun and the best thing you'll ever do in your life

owning a skyline MAKES you wanna drive it, even if there's a more fuel economical car also in your garage.

[Dearlove]

the line pulls back so good when your sideways anyways

i recommend doing a defensive driving course

a. its good to learn

b. its so fun

c. you learn how to handle a car when out of control and sideways

nah do the performance driving one... in the wet, now that was fun!! its what made me buy a skyline...

[1C3B3RG]

Its hard. Dont ever do it.

...lol, nah...its fun and the best thing you'll ever do in your life

owning a skyline MAKES you wanna drive it, even if there's a more fuel economical car also in your garage.

+1, i am in this exact situation. I love driving my Skyline.

[benro2]

I know this thread is old, again just in case someone trying to decide is reading...

I think it really depends on what you want the car for. Is it your daily driver to/from work and will you be sitting in start/stop traffic? Then I would seriously consider an auto in this case. If it's a weekend car, then go manual for sure.

I myself have an auto R33 GTS-T and I love it. I bought it nearly 3 years ago, the reasoning behind it being that I'd never driven manual and that I wanted my mum to be able to drive it (she never does!). There definitely were times where it became frustrating not having that bit of extra control over what gear you're in, or where it decided to change down going around a corner, in the wet, or where I just wished I was driving manual. But even with all that, I'd still pick an auto again if I were looking.

I then decided to purchase a 6-sp TT Supra, with the bitchiest twin-plate racing clutch (with lightened flywheel to boot) you could buy I had no idea clutches could be this savage and I had no end of trouble learning to drive it (AND this was my first manual car I'd EVER driven... and I've been off my P's for hmmm... at least 8 years now?) for at least a month. But now, I love the clutch. It would be awesome on a race track. But unless you're on a race track, it can be a pain - it requires a lot of concentration and you need to match revs on both down and upshifts. It rattles like hell, so much so that people think there is something seriously wrong with the car.

The point of all this is that again, it depends on what the car is to be used for. Of course you could just buy a stock manual and if you're in light traffic, easily use it as a daily driver. I'd do the same. But with heavy traffic, or something to just sit back, relax, and have a cruise in (I even fitted cruise control to the thing!), the auto is definitely the way to go. It shifts quickly and (usually) smoothly, downshifts a lot faster than the best manual drivers could (I'm talking about when you are caught unawares, not in a planned race), and I don't think uses any more fuel than the manual. For instance, on a cruise from Sydney to Melbourne, my best tank fuel consumption was 9.3L/100km. City driving is about 12.7L/100km which equals a bit over 400km out of 50L (typically where the fuel light starts to show).

BIG downside: I can't sell the damn thing. Glad I can't though, I love it too much to sell it! I'm now going to keep it for a while...

Oh and one more thing... to all those people saying that manual makes you feel like you're "driving" and "in control"... I don't really agree. You can have just as much (ok, close to as much) fun in an auto as a manual. Sometimes in the Supra I just feel like driving's a chore. Yes, it's awesome fun most of the time, but sometimes I just want to sit back and not have to worry about gearchanging. And I'm a keen driver, too. I'll use any excuse to drive anywhere. I drive interstate instead of catching a plane, so it's not just me I also have a friend who used to own a manual Skyline that he loved to bits, and refused to look at anything else but manual when he was looking for another car. I mentioned a Legnum to him, and eventually he test drove an auto one. And do you know what he bought? The auto, and he loves it

Edited July 3, 2008 by benro2

[HEKT1K]

MANUAL FTW!!! i used to have an auto commodore, and i sucked at manuals, had never really driven one till i got my r33. a month and a bit later and it's second nature to me. the torquey RB makes it piss easy to drive (was learning on my old man's prelude, zero torque and tiny flywheel = very easy to stall).

the only other manual car ive driven is my mates celica, and the skyline is by far the easiest to drive, there's a fair bit of margin for error when it comes to taking off, and if you take a corner in the wrong gear i find you can just boost your way out of it and it's never such a big issue.

whilst manual transmissions really are outdated technology (look at Audi's DSG gearbox for example, talk about instantaneous gear changes!), the resale value and the hero factor associated with driving a manual, particularly a skyline, make it hard to pass up.

just my 2c.

Ric

[DSR20R]

I just think its like anything else. Practice makes perfect. Don't get an Auto.

Get a Manual, and give it time and you won't look back

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

LOL!

Ever driven a (Tuned) Veilside Combat R GTR R33 with a about 300 kW at the rear wheels with a Triple Clutch Plate in the wet?

If you get use to the clutch then you will be fine. If not, then either you stall it or launch it at about 4000 RPM

Stock Skyline... Can't say its hard at all. Quite user friendly.

It's all phycalogical IMO. You think 'Whoo turbo car! The thing is gonna sky rocket off...'

Its more so when you start upgrading the suspension, wheels / tyres, clutch, the car can be a bit of a handful with bumpy roads.

On a nice open smooth road, it can be a dream to drive.

[ras1983]

it might be a good idea to do an advanced driver's course, similiar to the ones done by Driver Dynamics

EDIT: i should learn to read all of the posts before I repeat what others have already said; lol.

Edited July 8, 2008 by ras1983