Found A Really Good Book...

[atessa]

i love the sound and feel of a good v8, but the handling of a commodore jsut doesnt stack up when dealing with serious hp. case in point - first rains we had in perth and every knob with a v8 is trying to drift... rocked up to a set of lights - all innocent like - and some country boy in a mallo ute gives me the nod - on a wet road ! byebye.

next point - clubsport on the mundaring weir road - guy was up my ar$e all alonng the straights - let him pass - too many cops - but thru the twisties he nailed it and i sat on his tailpipe so easily - ans i'm only running fairly standard hp in gtr. it was the grip out of the turns that kept me there - and got me past.

a v8 in a good chassis is gold. but i cant afford a ferrari or a ford gt so the skyline will do.

[Quinny]

V8s are great for shear grunt, but as mentioned, they are generally not the best handling cars in the world.

The old Holden 5L was a stout motor for its time, very reliable with good torque, but it is way outdated, it was based on a design nearly 40 years old. With 165kw in standard form, they were not blisteringly fast, but got along ok - lets see anyone chuck a caravan on the back of a Skyline and tow it up Mt Ousley. The newer V8s are much better, and the cars in general are better for handling and refinement. I think Holden was onto something when they brought out the 220i GTS with 6 speed, but they canned it for the (still awesome) Corvette motor. Even though I drive a Skyline now, I would have a 220i GTS or a 6L Commodore in a heartbeat.

Another thing to remember is that the Skyline GTS-T was worth about $70k when they came out, more than the cost of a new clubsport, the GTR was worth well over $100k, as were the 3000GT. The 300ZX and Supra were also very expensive cars, so they would want to be pretty good. Personally, back in 1990 when the R32 GTR was sold in Australia for $120k, a Corvette ZR-1 would have been a very nice alternative. Comparing Skylines to Commodores isn't really fair, they are closer to high-end HSV, and other semi-exotics.

Edited June 29, 2006 by Quinny

[Dee 33]

Another thing to remember is that the Skyline GTS-T was worth about $70k when they came out

You sure about that? I'd always guessed they would have been around 40-50k, along the price lines of WRX's and S15's.

70k seems very high...

[MFC05]

You sure about that? I'd always guessed they would have been around 40-50k, along the price lines of WRX's and S15's.

70k seems very high...

Yes i think that R33 were alone the lines of 40-50, and supras are 300zx TT were probabaly around 70 mark

[PHATR32]

meh....il keep the line for cruising and the v8 for towing.

[brett33]

Is't it funny how people think turbo cars don't make any real torque (grunt). Not sure how they think it can make power without torque when Power= Torque x Rpm. Even an RB25 has a useable power (torque) band of 5000 rpm. And as for towing..... thats why "sydneykid"pulled the rb25 out of his Stagea and stuck in a chev big block to tow the race cars... NOT !

Edited July 1, 2006 by brett33

[Quinny]

I always thought the the Skyline GTS-T's were about $60-70k, the 300ZX and Supra was around $80k, 3000GT was about $100k and the GTR was about $120k.

I really don't want to argue with anyone, but I am saying that you can get big power out of anything, but when you get serious, V8s will always make more power.

Anyway, the V8s vs Turbos debate is exactly the same as Holden vs Ford, everyone has their preference, and no-one can convince them otherwise. I have owned a couple of V8s, I now have a Skyline, the Skyline is great, but I would happily own another V8.

As far as torque goes, I think the R33 GTST was rated for 295Nm, where as a bog stock VN 5.0L (165kw) was rated at 380Nm. Big difference. There are some 8's around making in excess of 1200Nm of torque.

[brett33]

As far as torque goes, I think the R33 GTST was rated for 295Nm, where as a bog stock VN 5.0L (165kw) was rated at 380Nm. Big difference. There are some 8's around making in excess of 1200Nm of torque.

About 3NM difference when you calculate Kg/Nm. Stuff all i would say. And about half the price to double the HP of your RB25!