Considering A Skyline, All Help Appreciated!

[Manda2365]

Hey everyone,

Not sure if this is the place to post this, so please feel free to move it to where-ever it may belong!

I'm in the market for a new car, having previously always owned Holdens, (currently a '91 VN and a HSV VT XU6) for some reason I'm feeling the need for change. And I'm quite keen on a Skyline. But I am completely clueless about them!

I've had a quick look around a few car sales websites, and the R33's and R34's are the ones catching my eye. Most of the ones I'm looking at say they have 4-wheel steering, can some one please explain to me how this works exactly, the pro's and con's of it and if it's a good thing or not? Some people I've spoken to about it have said to stay away from it, but they aren't skyline owners or anything, so I'm not to sure whether to take their word for it.

Also what other sort of things should I look for? Things to stay away from etc.

So basically, convince me to buy a Skyline over a Super 6 Holden!

Oh, another thing.....What is a good price for a Turbo, 2 door coupe in the year range 1994 - 1999?

Thanks in advance

[baby34]

you can get one for about $8k. i've seen turbos for that price. black nice ones too.. i mean, i've seen one be priced at 7.6k. i dont know if its still there. even if ppl are asking like 10k you can always bargain down to 9k. shouldnt pay more than 10k unless its modded..

skylines parts are easy to get.. so if you got any problems wouldnt be too hard finding them.. they're pretty cheap aswell since theres so many of em around.. they run great aswell..

top car

[Scottydoo]

R34 GT-T's range from around 15-16k for an auto 4 door, maybe cheaper, to high 20's for low K manual coupes. But you can find pretty clean and tidy R34's in the low $20k's now maybe even high teens with less than 100,000k's on them.

I'm not too sure about R33 pricing because i've never really looked but they are from what i've seen a bargain.

Whatever car you get just try to make sure it hasn't been thrashed, like any car i guess though.

Parts are not problems for them, and not that expensive.

They are a great car and I love mine, easy to drive, not too bad on fuel if stockish, quick enough, handle well. All things I never thought i'd admit! (I used to own nothing but rotaries haha)

[Manda2365]

Thanks for your replies guys.

Good to hear they are reliable enough to convert other people! I'm trying to keep my price limit around the 20k mark. I'm willing to go more though depending on the car itself. (i.e. year, features, extras etc)

I'm not particularly after a modified one, although I wouldn't say no to a custom purple one!

Can anyone shed some more light on this whole 4-wheel sterring thing? And how I'll find the way it drives compared to say my Commodore?

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

the 4 wheel steer is called HICAS.. easiest thing to do is search the forums on it.. there is a pic in a couple of the threads that explains it easy enough.. basically at certain speed the wheels move with the steering by a degree i think it is.. and then at faster speeds the wheel moves opposite direction you steer.. this allows the car to move around corners faster..

obviously for people like drifters.. this HICAS is a hinderance.. its personal choice as to whether you like it.. personally it doesnt affect my driving as it doesn't really come on for me.. others hate it.. you can get a lockbar later on if you don't like it so don't worry about HICAS when looking really..

And on terms of whether you want to expereince it.. ask in the Section of your area (qld, NSW, vic, etc) as to whether someone can take you for a drive.. it'll prob freak you out first time it kicks in..

[Scottydoo]

You don't really notice the HICAS when just cruising around normally, its only if your taking a corner quickly or something at the track for example, i don't like it but if it annoys you its easy and relatively cheap to remove anyway so don't stress too much about it when deciding on a car.

[HEKT1K]

And how I'll find the way it drives compared to say my Commodore?

it will drive 10000000000000000000 times better

i had a 92 commodore before i got my gtst. would never set foot in another holden again.

good luck with your purchase

[Sklyn]

ahh yes, another one converted!.. haha.

a good R33 Gtst can be found for $14-$18k (have seen in dealership in Adelaide for $20k), R34 GTT $18-$25. but the market changes so much at the moment it's not funny.

So guarentee a month after you buy one you'll find one you wish you bought, lol. Just make sure your happy with the one you choose.

Under $10k ur either looking at Non-Turbo or R32 or damaged.

I think go for series 2 R33 or later so your year range would be 1996-2002

Gimp & Scott covered Hicas pretty well.. I like it personally.

Handling with be in another league compared to a holden of the same age, or even newer really.

DO IT! YOU"LL NEVER LOOK BACK!!!

by the way, My 1998 Midnight Purple R33 GTST series 2 40th Anniverssary ed will be for sale soon for around $17000.............

[cuppas]

i always thought HICAS steered opposite the direction of the front wheels at low speeds to give better turning circle... and a few degrees with the fronts at higher speed, apparently to give more stability

but either way, remove all the pumps and hoses, get a HICAS lock out bar... and its like it never existed =O

[GTR-N1]

Hiya,

Have you ever been in one or better still, driven one to understand how this type of car can be a quantum leap over most others?

What City do you live in, so that some SAUers can steer you in the right direction to try one?

Cheers, T

[some_cs_student]

i always thought HICAS steered opposite the direction of the front wheels at low speeds to give better turning circle... and a few degrees with the fronts at higher speed, apparently to give more stability

but either way, remove all the pumps and hoses, get a HICAS lock out bar... and its like it never existed =O

I've always read it was to assist at higher speed turning, it's not a parking assist, what would 1 degree do anyway when parking?

Anyway, the pumps/hoses only get removed with R32's (which saves weight), R33's just have a lock bar put in, much more simple.

HICAS is something you will most likely notice when you have lost control of the car and it tries to correct...best to experience this on a circuit of course

[Manda2365]

Ahhh ok, so the whole 4-wheel steering thing isn't as bad as I've been told it is. It may take some getting used to, but it's not necessarily a bad thing?

Well, knowing that has made the skyline hunting much easier. I've got my eye on a 1995 R33 GTS-T advertised at $10,990. Not sure on the extras it's got as I'm not too sure what they come with as standard. But it's got a sunroof! Is this a good price?

[some_cs_student]

Use carpoint, carsales and the redbook / glasses guide to find out what value the car has and check if its a reasonable price in the current market.

Also remember series 1 are worth less than series 2 (not sure by how much outside the GTR's ).

[Manda2365]

Redbook says between $10,600 and $12,700. So I'm guessing it's a good price. As soon as I find out about where it is, I'll go and suss it out.

[Yo-Yo]

Ahhh ok, so the whole 4-wheel steering thing isn't as bad as I've been told it is. It may take some getting used to, but it's not necessarily a bad thing?

Well, knowing that has made the skyline hunting much easier. I've got my eye on a 1995 R33 GTS-T advertised at $10,990. Not sure on the extras it's got as I'm not too sure what they come with as standard. But it's got a sunroof! Is this a good price?

The actual 4 wheel steer won't interfere with normal day to day driving itself, if you get the tail end of the car out to do a power slide it will turn the back wheels up to 1 degree to get the car back in control. If you never push the car it would be like it's never there.

One of the main reason some skyline owners choose to take the HICAS out of the car or lock it up with a lock bar is on a racetrack situation the 4 wheel steer will make the car handle unpredictably as sometimes it may activate when they don't want it to eg. taking a long corner on a track.

I've now owned my third skyline and I'm starting to think these will be the only cars I will ever own. If I start a family one day I'll get a sedan version lol.

I've had both an r33 and r34 and both of them never let me down mechanic and performance wise.

That being said you really need to know what to look out for when finding a mint example, as there's probably a few lemons getting about considering age and previous ownership (both japanese and australian). Everything I know has been learnt on these forums and the wealth of knowledge is a search button away.

I'd personally try to find a relatively unmodified version, although things like pod filters, turbo timers can be okay if they were installed properly. My R34 came from Japan with brand name bolt on parts, and I got it for the same price as stock versions were going for at the same time so there are bargains out there to be had

Great cars, most popular import for a reason, these cars weren't imported for sh#ts and giggles. There was a demand for them and rightly so.

Good luck with your search

Edited October 25, 2008 by Yo-Yo

[Manda2365]

The actual 4 wheel steer won't interfere with normal day to day driving itself, if you get the tail end of the car out to do a power slide it will turn the back wheels up to 1 degree to get the car back in control. If you never push the car it would be like it's never there.

One of the main reason some skyline owners choose to take the HICAS out of the car or lock it up with a lock bar is on a racetrack situation the 4 wheel steer will make the car handle unpredictably as sometimes it may activate when they don't want it to eg. taking a long corner on a track.

I've now owned my third skyline and I'm starting to think these will be the only cars I will ever own. If I start a family one day I'll get a sedan version lol.

I've had both an r33 and r34 and both of them never let me down mechanic and performance wise.

That being said you really need to know what to look out for when finding a mint example, as there's probably a few lemons getting about considering age and previous ownership (both japanese and australian). Everything I know has been learnt on these forums and the wealth of knowledge is a search button away.

I'd personally try to find a relatively unmodified version, although things like pod filters, turbo timers can be okay if they were installed properly. My R34 came from Japan with brand name bolt on parts, and I got it for the same price as stock versions were going for at the same time so there are bargains out there to be had

Great cars, most popular import for a reason, these cars weren't imported for sh#ts and giggles. There was a demand for them and rightly so.

Good luck with your search

Thanks for that, that's great information. The one I'm looking at is unmodified and according to the website it's recently imported from Japan, not yet registered here. It looks untouched from the photos, the only mod I can see so far is the exhaust.

As for the 4-wheel steering, after learning from you guys that it doesn't affect day to day driving, I'm not worried about it. I'm not exactly the type to be flinging it sideways at every corner. And like I've been informed that if I really don't like it, I can get the lock-bar? put it in and it'll be like it was never there....I hope.

What's the deal with imports being registered? Is there any chance I could end up with something dodgy, compliance wise? Is there any way I check things like that?

[MotoMan]

I was under the impression hicas only kicks in above 70kph anyway?..

Its a weird feeling but ive never really had an issue with it..

Been a skyline driver for 2 years now.. and its fantastic..

1997 R33 GTSt Series 2..

You shouldn't be paying anymore than $12K for a good condition R33 Series 2.. people advertising over this are dreamers..

Mine is in perfect condition except for the gearbox needing some attention and i wouldnt expect over $9k if i sold it..

[Yo-Yo]

I was under the impression hicas only kicks in above 70kph anyway?..

It's supposed to work at various speeds and only kick in when loss of traction is detected, as is my understanding. Maybe others can also confirm this?

googled 'how HICAS works' and found that in 2 minutes

Registration for imports works just like any other car over 3 years old, you will need a pink slip and green slip then rego. Dunno how you would check the import history of the car though. There are the usual inspection services if you want to take it that far.

Edited October 26, 2008 by Yo-Yo

[swarzee]

Hey, i bought a R34 GT-T about a year ago and would strongly recommend you look at one of them before you buy a r33. There is nothing wrong with R33's, but you cant beat the look of the R34. Not only that the R34's have a revised engine that has more power and they also have tracktion control which is a great thing for chicks in the wet. Im not sure excaly what models have traction control but mine is a 98 R34 GT-T series 1 - 5 speed manual 2 door coupe. And i know you can get them with a sunroof too.

[swarzee]

Here is a website with all the specs on all the different skylines. This will give you a good idea on what you can do to these things over a bomma-dore. http://nissanskyline.6te.net/GTT_spec.htm