Dilemma - GTST -> GTR: A natural progression?

[Kutter]

Hi guys.

I’m asking about your opinions about a matter I’m sure many of us will face. There’s no denying that the GTR is largely responsible for the popularity of the Skyline model in general. And I might add that many of us have started out with GTS’s or GTSt’s, with more hoping one day to own a GTR ourselves(or at least a sizable number of the members here?)

Here’s the problem, how many of you along the way in the midst of modifying your Skylines asked “When should I stop?” Maybe the fellas here who have switched from a GTSt to GTR may be better suited to give their opinions on this one.

And here’s a question even more relevant to the GTSt owners who have gone the way of forged internals/high mount turbos etc etc. Has any of you at any stage still thought of getting a GTR since? Or how many of you have heard comments like “For the amount of money you’re better off getting a GTR mate”? I know I have:( But the cold hard truth is, calculated cost of mods to a GTSt to get it up to run times(I’m just using the ¼ mile run as an example) equivalent to what a GTR can do….it really adds up…

So how many of you here you self-consciously limit yourself when it comes to modding your Skyline?(it’s hard isn’t it?) Somehow I think if I were to go all out to mod my GTSt now, I would never sell it…just such a waste when people put down your price with comments like “it’s no GTR”or “I could’ve gotten a GTR with that amount of cash”

Your comments?

:shake:

[skylineakt]

Dude it is true about what you say.

Like I would love to have a GTR but due to other factors $$, I couldn't afford one.

Hell I was just happy to have a Skyline so 'beggers can't be choosers'.

Just really depends on how much you went out with the GTST. Like with mine GTST I'm not going to go crazy to the point where I can sell it for what it is and with the modified money to buy a GTR. I'm happy just to modify it and play around with it a bit. But playing around with it a bit will cost probably close to $5k.

But if I have money further down the track, I will buy a GTR and as well as keep my GTST!! hehe

So than if anyone comments that 'it is not a GTR' you pull out the real thing.

[Bl4cK32]

I chose to stick with the GtsT cos of the maintenance factor. I personally dont like fiddling with 6 throttle bodys, 2 turbos, 2 diffs, ATESSA, etc.... list goes on of extra things to look out for.

[legend]

Yeah, must admit I'd like to keep the money to buy a GTR down the track so I'm only doing the necessary mods to get it running more efficiently. Sure we all would like more power but we all have our limits..... the bottom of our pockets. I guess it's what you've settled with yourself as to what you would be happy to do. Now I know I haven't got the money to buy the GTR that I want so I'm waiting till the new one comes out and they all scale down in price. Maybe by then I'll have the money for a GTR But each to their own.

[akeenan]

im happy to modify my r33... hey its only money, i'll buy a midnight purple 1997 vspec one day when i decide to get a full time job. but till then im free, with my gtst

[Kutter]

Originally posted by Bl4cK32

I personally dont like fiddling with 6 throttle bodys, 2 turbos, 2 diffs, ATESSA, etc.... list goes on of extra things to look out for.

the popular saying "don't buy what you can't afford to repair...":uh-huh:

actually thinking about this further...i'm not sure if i want to own another skyline just because if it's a GTR.....right now i'm strangely attracted to the FD RX-7s;)

[benm]

Kutter I know exactly what your saying. If I bought my GTS-T and left it 100% the way i bought it for a year instead of modding it i'd be sitting in a GTR (stock) right now.

But then again, yesterday I realised that when my parents move down the coast at the beginning of 2004 (and I take over renting the house) that i'll be needing to survive on $32/wk (right now im surviving on ~$180/wk) after all living/car expenses. I'm either going to need a pretty hefty payrise (haven't got 1 in 2.5yrs) or a 2nd job working afew nites a week just to actually keep my car (let alone continue paying off more than what is required).

I'm up shit creek without my line

[predator]

Interesting question! I'm not sure where the exact point lies, and it all depends whether you want a very quick car, or are perfectly happy with a high 13sec/low 14sec skyline. That is still quick, compared to what else is out there, no matter what some idiots might tell you.

I've still got $10k to spend before I may as well bought a fairly stock GTR (and an R32 at that, of unknown condition).. For that price, there is plenty i can/want to do to mine. That will make it handle a lot better and go a lot harder. If i can take it to 250rwkw, thats pretty much as fast as i can imagine i'd want a RWD to go. That will give plenty of stockish GTR a scare, after the initial takeoff anyhow.

I've already got most of the bodykit/rims/visual stuff out the way - which is also part of it. You could argue a GTR doesn't need all that stuff to begin with, but personal taste.

I think by the time you've spent over $30k on an R33 GTS-T (including the car purchase), and its not doing 12.5 - 13sec and/or handling really nicely for track or road work forget it. You'll probably never get back what you paid on the sale anyhow. I think past that, getting too over the top with RB25DET engine rebuilds, gearbox rebuilds, and everything else, you may as well have bought that GTR.

Don't forget that working a car up from stock or with a known history is a good idea too.. If something hasn't snapped itself after a year or two, its probably a good sign you've got a good one, and can take a bit more power. Why trade it in for a total unknown GTR ?

Bl4cK32 has a very good point too.. unless you have $$ to backup your upgrades, GTR territory isn't for the "just can afford it" person.

[king_kw13]

Have any of you thought... if i wait 6-12 months, i might as well save up more and then buy a newer line like a 98+ GTT? Or were u guys just thinking about attaining the extra power to match something like a GTR?

[2fardown]

That's what I'm concidering at the moment R32 GTR or R34 GTT. Im leaning toward the R34 because it's a lot newer and would be A LOT less maintenance.

[predator]

For me at least, to be honest R34 GT-T or the age of the car doesn't worry me in the slightest. I am just after silly power with a enough style, without spending a fortune. I'd rather have a 12second R33 than a fairly stock R34, or R32 GTR for low 30's. But i could lean to the latter when i had the money to maintain it. Anyway, that is just me.

[Scotty]

Hi Guys.

There seems to be one thing which may have been overlooked. It seems that the question being asked is, is it worth while modding a GTST to match a GTR. While I can appreciate that it may cost a bomb to match a GTR, so much that it may even cost more than one.....but don't you get a certain satisfaction in modding/playing/tinkering with your car?

That is, sure, you can blow, 30-40K on a GTR which gives you x amount of output in stock form. Or you can blow 15-20K on a GTST and have another 20K on mods and aftermarket goodies to try to match one. But where the GTST wins out is that it has been personalised to your taste. The car is how you want it

Don't know, could be just to me, but to me there's something rewarding in modding your car for fun. Like the mastercard commerical

GTST - $17K

New internals - 10K

Aftermarket mods in total 5K

Thumping stereo - 3K

The knowledge that you can take on any car on the road and look on people's faces when they see hose by them in your GTST.........priceless

Again, this is my blinkered view on the topic, so I'll be interested to hear on any opposing view points. Cheers!

[pentae]

You guys are missing the main point. Resale. Value.

You can spend up on mods making your GTSt go as fast as a GTR, but at the end of the day you wont get your money back.

At least if you buy a GTR it will hold its value quite well, plus you'll get a lot more road respect than being in a pimped up GTST like the 5 other people sitting waiting for the traffic lights to go green.

[2fardown]

Originally posted by pentae

You guys are missing the main point. Resale. Value.

You can spend up on mods making your GTSt go as fast as a GTR, but at the end of the day you wont get your money back.

At least if you buy a GTR it will hold its value quite well, plus you'll get a lot more road respect than being in a pimped up GTST like the 5 other people sitting waiting for the traffic lights to go green.

So what's going to happen to the resale value of R32 GTR's when 89 models start flooding in next year, all costing around the $17k mark??!?!?

[predator]

I don't think to be honest a hell of a lot of people even know what a GTR is, or would even be able to spot a GTR from just any other skyline. Sure car enthusiasts, but anybody else out there couldn't give a rats, they just go on the basic look and how fast it goes.

Its all about extremes though. You just about ALWAYS lose money on a car, whether its a GTR, GTS-T or anything else. If you spend too much on extras, you won't get it back, but like scotty is saying, you get to do it YOUR way, which is worth something intangible.

I'd say those who bought an R32 GTR for $40k 1-2 years ago and who now have to lower it to $30k to sell might disagree with you there on resale value...or those that spent $60k on the 33 GTR that might get $40k for it now. Then again same for GTS-T, but generally the lower the initital price, the less lost on resale.

Horses for courses anyhow.

[jlnewton]

I am doing the upgrade soon, probably early next year depending on what is around. I have had my GTST for about 2 year now and have had great fun taking it to the track and down the quarter. I have only done minimal mods, mainly suspension/brakes. Anyway I sold a property recently and am still waiting on settlement, so I had the choice of modding the GTST in search of more HP or get a GTR. I am going the GTR simply because I have always wanted one and believe that it is a better base package to start with. Just to get my GTST to GTR level on the track would end up costing me more than the outlay for a GTR in the first place, as it is I am less than 10k short of one now and have a long way to go to match one at the track.

That being said, if I had not have had this windfall I would never have even thought of getting a GTR and would have continued modding the GTST and spent that money over 3yrs in the process, and would would have had a great time doing it aswell.

All depends on the current situation you find yourself in I think. And I thought to myself, if I don't do it now I will never do it and will probably regret it

[Kutter]

pentae's 'resale value' point is the thing i'm talking about...cos at the end of the day, all the mods on your gtst won't mean much to the buyers except yourself, cos of the "it's-still-a-gtst" mentality....unless you're lucky enuff to chance upon someone whose specifically looking for a hotted up gtst. Like predator said, "You just about ALWAYS lose money on a car"

Of course there is that quiet satisfaction of getting a gtst to match up with a gtr, but how many gtr's around here are stock? I had a friend with a mildly modded(turbo-back,filters,EBC) R32 GTR...says it virtually kills everything on the road.

then there is the maintanence/upkeep side of things to look out for..i guess it's all about the money...

[unwritten law]

Interesting topic of conversation ppl, something we have all thought about I think. I currently own/paying off a near stock gts-t myself. I am planning on doing a few mods (getting to run mid/low 13's), just to learn all about the car and then move on to a 32 GTR before i spend too much on the gtst. I know that whatever I spend on it, I will only get back (at best) what I paid for the car initially.

My opinion is the GTR is where is at -> its a legend. There is some awe about it that I cannot find in the GTS-t. All in all skylines are a great car, and i am glad i chose a gtst to start with.

[GOT BOOST]

ive thought bout the GTR thing from day 1

couldnt afford it at the the time so i bought R32 GTST played with rb20 then fitted the rb26 and its worth every cent

a R32 GTR parked in shed would still be the ultimate

[Mr R32 M-Spec]

I have said taht I am stopping spendings on the car in January then I am saving for a unit or duplex. once I have that and am paying it off. starting the savings for a GTR.

everybody wants the 'R' eventually...