Looking At Upgrading To A Skyline But Need Some Help

[TUF250]

Hi folks,

I am new here and must say what a great forum.

I currently own a really schmik EL XR8 with tasteful mods but have been bitten by the turbo bug after driving in a mates 180sx and am looking to buy a skyline in the near future.

Given the proces they go for and price that I can sell mine for I am looking at either a schmik series 2 R33 gts-t or a early R34.

these are my questions:

- what is the performance of the auto R34s vs. the manual ones? i know the auto model has the 4.3 diff gears as opposed to the 4.1s which would help

- I have seen some R34s sold as 4spd autos and some as 5 spd autos? how do i pick the difference by looking at the car and what are these 5 spd autos liek compared to the 4spds?

- also considering a clean r33 ser 2 manual. any particular problems here to look out for other than hugly modified or thrashed cars?

- also what sort of fuel economy do people get out of their skylines? i know some people who complain about the fuel economy?

basically im looking for a good daily with mild to moderate street performance will be the plan.

any info would be appreciated

-

[scotty014]

i can help with some of those questions.

first up with a manual the power feels more direct. if you got 2 of the same cars with same mods but one an auto and the other a manual the manual will have more power at the wheels compared to the auto.

all r34 auto's are a 4 speed tiptronic. than the r32 auto's are 5 speed and i think the r33's might be too but im a bit unsure about that one, im sure someone else can clarify on that one.

with the question about what to look for when buying a r33 s2 id say look for rust and dont believe the odometer just look at the condition of it and how it drives eg. gearbox and engine also condition of the interior.

and fuel economy i have no problems with mine i have a pod filter turboback exhaust and a front mount and im happy with the amount of fuel it uses. if its going through alot you might have a heavy foot lol, or its the O2 sensor needs replacing.

i own an r34 gtt thats auto, and i like it as my daily and still has the power. but im looking at getting a gtr now lol.

im sure other people will post better things than i have but its a start. good luck with your search

[TUF250]

yeah i have heard that about odometers, do they get woulnd back alot when imported, are we talking 20,000 or 100,000?

how do you find your 34 gt-t auto compares with other cars on the road for acceleration and performance? my XR8 is auto and given the sought of driving i do there are some real benifits to having the auto.

are they able to handle power upgrades well (the autos) without risk of damage, i would be looking at similar mods, exhaust, fornt mount, intake mods (probably with the airbox in place) and maybe a touch of boost

i can help with some of those questions.

first up with a manual the power feels more direct. if you got 2 of the same cars with same mods but one an auto and the other a manual the manual will have more power at the wheels compared to the auto.

all r34 auto's are a 4 speed tiptronic. than the r32 auto's are 5 speed and i think the r33's might be too but im a bit unsure about that one, im sure someone else can clarify on that one.

with the question about what to look for when buying a r33 s2 id say look for rust and dont believe the odometer just look at the condition of it and how it drives eg. gearbox and engine also condition of the interior.

and fuel economy i have no problems with mine i have a pod filter turboback exhaust and a front mount and im happy with the amount of fuel it uses. if its going through alot you might have a heavy foot lol, or its the O2 sensor needs replacing.

i own an r34 gtt thats auto, and i like it as my daily and still has the power. but im looking at getting a gtr now lol.

im sure other people will post better things than i have but its a start. good luck with your search

[Jarsky]

what about turbo'ing your XR8? they can put out some decent power with a forced induction upgrade

have to say as far as R34's go, would have to be one of the best automatic transmission cars i've ever driven - you can feel the power right there, the transmissions dont feel all sloppy like most other cars, and the power converter seems to deliver quite a smooth change.

fuel economy wise, i can do probably just under 500km to a tank on open road driving - no idea around town as i tend to have a bit of a heavy foot around town mines also needs the O2 sensor replaced and is up around 160k, so probably isn't running as economical as it could be. I do find though (most likely because of the diff) the final drive ratio is a little bit high for cruising @ 100k - the rpm sits a bit high for long distance driving, makes it easy for overtaking - but can be a little annoying cruising at such a high rpm. 2 of my mates also have r33 gts25t's so I know it definately isn't my car, it's just how they are.

[scotty014]

yeah i have heard that about odometers, do they get woulnd back alot when imported, are we talking 20,000 or 100,000?

how do you find your 34 gt-t auto compares with other cars on the road for acceleration and performance? my XR8 is auto and given the sought of driving i do there are some real benifits to having the auto.

are they able to handle power upgrades well (the autos) without risk of damage, i would be looking at similar mods, exhaust, fornt mount, intake mods (probably with the airbox in place) and maybe a touch of boost

my auto has been fine as long as its looked after properly. if you do those mods it will be fine. the bad thing about the auto in the r34 is that if you have it in tiptronic mode the changes in between gears is very slow but you can fix that with a shift kit from mv automatics which is what i did, its still soft in the gear changes if your soft with the pedal but it changes alot faster when your accelerating harder.what ive read that was in an issue of hot 4's a while ago the r34 tiptronic can handle 250kw with a shift kit and as long as the box is serviced properly and is in good condition, and thats coming from mike at mv automatics and he definately know his stuff about r34 auto's.

[TUF250]

my auto has been fine as long as its looked after properly. if you do those mods it will be fine. the bad thing about the auto in the r34 is that if you have it in tiptronic mode the changes in between gears is very slow but you can fix that with a shift kit from mv automatics which is what i did, its still soft in the gear changes if your soft with the pedal but it changes alot faster when your accelerating harder.what ive read that was in an issue of hot 4's a while ago the r34 tiptronic can handle 250kw with a shift kit and as long as the box is serviced properly and is in good condition, and thats coming from mike at mv automatics and he definately know his stuff about r34 auto's.

are the shifts still slow when out of the tiptronic mode?

any other experiences with r34 gt-t autos? interested in modifications and resultant perfomance also with the auto

[Marcus89]

For an auto turbo car i would just go a jzx100 chaser if i was you

[cm712]

chasers are nice but aristo would be the go 2jz ftw !

and there pretty cheap !

[TUF250]

thanks for the input so far fellas. I have a couple more questions

- what diff ratio do the Auto R34 GT-Ts run? is it different to the manual one?

- people have complained about the shift lag in the tiptronic mode is this so when driving normally in 'Drive'?

- how much slower are these than manual GT-Ts? and on the road what sort of cars do they compare to in performance terms (auto again)

- would it be possible and approx how expensive to convert one of these to manual down the track?

thanks

Jason

[Red-Dragon]

R33 GTS-T Series II and R34 GT-T manual are both excellent cars, 34 is newer and the motor is slightly different to the R33. It comes down to personal choice of shape and budget.

[Hank Scorpio]

Yes, there is a bit of shift lag in the R34 tiptronic box but if you back off the accelerator a bit when changing you will have no problems.

The autos are no slower then the manuals. The auto SHOULD win in a straight line race.

It's very possible to convert to a manual (I was looking at the same thingwhen I had my auto R34). But if you want a manual then just buy a factory manual, its just smarter. You will need to get the gearbox, pedal box, shifter etc... and after all that you will stil have an auto steering wheel (with the steering wheel shifters) and an auto dash. You can get a complete conversion kit for $2k - $3k but once you've done a few mods you will have to fork out for a heavy duty clutch aswell.

The auto box is strong though. Check the auto section of the forum lots of guys making VERY decent numbers. There is also a guy getting about in a white auto R34 with an RB30DET (He was in Performance Imports a little while back) in it using the 4 speed tiptronic box strengthened.

If you want an auto you can look at getting it strengthened, chuck in a shift kit and a high stall and you can chuck as much power in to it as you want!

[Red-Dragon]

The auto does go good in tiptronic mode and will feel like a different car to drive. The only downfall with auto is that you are limited when it comes to aftermarket ECU replacements

[Marcus89]

The autos are no slower then the manuals. The auto SHOULD win in a straight line race.

I would love to see this as i believe everything is against an auto winning in a straight line race although it comes down to modification levels obviously.

1. From everything i have seen auto gearboxes cause more loss through the drive-train

2. Unless the box is shift kitted it will have that lag between gear changes which would allow a manual driver to get going quicker

3. The auto gearbox is only 4 speed which means the car obviously has longer gear ratio's which in turn mean's slower acceleration unless your putting down big numbers.

[TUF250]

thanks for the input so far, keen to hear from more people, cheers

[TUF250]

anyone know what diff ratio the R34 GT-T autos have?

[TUF250]

can anyone confirm if all R34 gt-t autos are 206kw? i have heard they are but some people say the early ones (1998) were 187 still?