Series 3 R33 Questions.

[Rochey]

Hey all im looking into buying an R33 soon. i want a 1996-98. I have found material on this forum about 1997 R33's being Series 3.

link-- http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=35129

Quote 'How's this for a story. I checked out a 1997 Series 3 Silver R33 GTR a few years ago. It had this engraved Nissan Plate, but at the time I didn't know that this meant that it was a forged build plate. I had a very close look at the paint, and it was immaculate. DEFINITELY factory paint, so I was happy about that. I wrote down the chassis number, paint code and all the rest of the details from the BLUE Nissan Build Plate and the GREEN Compliance Plate. The details matched, but I thought I'd check them out anyway. So I rang a contact at a Nissan Spare Parts dealership and gave them the Japanese chassis number (not the import one that's given to the car at compliance) and asked him to tell me the details of the car. He told me that it was indeed a 1997 Series 3, but it was QM1 White, not KR3 Silver like the paint on the car.'

I have only ever heard of 1993-95 S1

late 1995-97 S2 and 1998 S3.

i know there are plenty of threads with the differences between S1 and S2 R33's. But can anyone let me know as much as they can about the build date period's of the Series 3 and any info on the differences between them and the S2. thanks guys

[dezz]

Its only the GTR's that had a series 3. The R33 GTS-T is series 1 and 2. Series 2 is 1996/7, with a few made in 1998 and sold as 40th anniversary editions.

[Wink]

Series 3 GTRs are the only R33s to have projector style HID headlights.

[Omurru]

I looked into this pretty extensivley when I was buying my car. I had a list of the exact build dates of the different series of R33 GTR's and the differences but i lost it when my comp crashed the other week There were minimal difference's between the models and majority of them were only cosmetic differences which wern't worth the extra money IMO. S3 33GTR's had the projector headlights which are sexy as but can be bought new from nissan for about 2g's if you really want them, had a slightly different shaped lower lip on the front and had a different steering wheel and a passenger airbag as standard.

For me personally it came down to the option of a v-spec or a standard GTR as opposed to what series......

[ferni]

I'm going to assume your talking about GTR's here since gtst didn't come in S2 as dezz mentioned.

Blue stitching on the seats = S1

Red stitching = S2 or S3

HID Xenons = S3

Front lower lip deeper/bit more aggressive = S3

Passenger airbag = S2 or S3

Different steering wheel (like in S2 gtst) = S2 or S3

Thats about all i know...

I'd try to pick up a S3 if i was buying now, look better and are newer. vspec doesn't really mean much in R33

[wrxhoon]

I'm going to assume your talking about GTR's here since gtst didn't come in S2 as dezz mentioned.

Blue stitching on the seats = S1

Red stitching = S2 or S3

HID Xenons = S3

Front lower lip deeper/bit more aggressive = S3

Passenger airbag = S2 or S3

Different steering wheel (like in S2 gtst) = S2 or S3

Thats about all i know...

I'd try to pick up a S3 if i was buying now, look better and are newer. vspec doesn't really mean much in R33

To correct you on the seats Andrew, only series III have the red inserts and stitching, series II are the same as series I . Steering wheels and H/unit surounds are the same in II and III , h/unit surounds are slightly different on series I, s/wheels totally different on series I.

The g/boxes are said to be different as well but i never had one stripped .

Another little difference , the passengers side blinker grill has a slot in the III, not sure if its only on V-specs though.

Series III has a rear fog light an the drivers side instead of a reverse light on the earlier mods.

Of course the main diffence is the projector xenon h/lights. Omurru you cant buy them for $2 k from Nissan mate .

If i was buying one i would prefer a series III V-spec.

[allblitz]

Here is an example of the Series3:

http://allblitz.com.au/cars/014_nskyline33gtrwhite.htm

[wrxhoon]

There is a very good example in the current issue ( number 70) of HPI mag as well.