Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone. I’m 20 and from NZ Auckland. I recently purchased a Skyline R33 gts just a week ago and I know f**k all about cars. This is my first manual transmission so some driving tips would be helpful as well. I Would like to get into cars as my passion has grown quite rapidly with the new purchase of my skyline. This car is completely stock with the rb20e (I think it is) and Has only been modded with aftermarket wheels. I would like to gain a substantial amount of knowledge starting from the basics of learning each part of a car both internally and externally and if you live in Auckland NZ and wanna help me build this thing and work on this project together or even show me how to drive this thing properly, just message me! Any starting points to start learning about cars? That would be great.

Cheers 

 

 

 

1E9FFF04-9216-46C6-A9E9-14B90EA0A6E2.jpeg

Edited by CarNoob
  • Like 1
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/479938-i-am-completely-new-to-cars-sup/
Share on other sites

OK you need to meet up with some other Skyliners. I don't know if they are still having regular meets but a good place to start is at Joes Mechanical Services. Joe knows most everything there is to know about RBs and most Nissans for that matter and you are likely to run into other owners at his workshop.

You'll find details on his website

https://joesmechanical.co.nz/

  • Like 1
5 minutes ago, KiwiRS4T said:

OK you need to meet up with some other Skyliners. I don't know if they are still having regular meets but a good place to start is at Joes Mechanical Services. Joe knows most everything there is to know about RBs and most Nissans for that matter and you are likely to run into other owners at his workshop.

You'll find details on his website

https://joesmechanical.co.nz/

Thanks for that bro! Not to far aswell 

Welcome man and sweet ride!

Fairly new to the skyline scene myself and learning, but learned to drive in a manual car. There's a lot that can be said about driving manual, but everyone i know does it different. However, there are a few universal truths. Don't ride the clutch! Find where yours catches and build that muscle memory! Don't sit in too low of a gear and give your car too much gas! etc, etc, etc.

Pretty much always start in 1st (duh),. Personally i cheat and use 2nd on slight downhills or if I have small momentum, but 1st is usually best. When on a hill, especially a steep one, some people use their e-brake to hold their car while they get it in gear, and then release it as the clutch catches, This way you don't roll into the person behind you. My dad taught me to just keep my foot on the brake and once i know I'm about to go I let the clutch out till it starts to catch and then release the brake and add gas, then proceed as usual. Has the same effect. You can practice this on small hills. Just hold your brake and clutch in, then slowly let out clutch till you feel it catch (revs drop also). When you let off the brake your car shouldn't roll back if you've done it right or maybe even creep forward. But don't stay on clutch for too long or you'll cause unnecessary wear. 

Have confidence too, don't be afraid to use your gas pedal and let the clutch out quickly *if you know the catch point*. Too little gas will stall a car more often than too much gas. And ALWAYS be ready to mash your clutch pedal to the ground if you feel a stall coming, wrong gear shift, sudden stop, etc. this will spare you having to turn your car over again in traffic and maybe even save your engine, your trans, or your life. Watch videos on youtube also, get some visuals, and practice in empty lots. Watch Engineering Explained's video on youtube of 5 Things not to do in a manual car and in a turbo car! 

Hope I gave some usefull info! Welcome to the club!

Sam

 

  • Like 1
19 minutes ago, samw/skyline said:

Welcome man and sweet ride!

Fairly new to the skyline scene myself and learning, but learned to drive in a manual car. There's a lot that can be said about driving manual, but everyone i know does it different. However, there are a few universal truths. Don't ride the clutch! Find where yours catches and build that muscle memory! Don't sit in too low of a gear and give your car too much gas! etc, etc, etc.

Pretty much always start in 1st (duh),. Personally i cheat and use 2nd on slight downhills or if I have small momentum, but 1st is usually best. When on a hill, especially a steep one, some people use their e-brake to hold their car while they get it in gear, and then release it as the clutch catches, This way you don't roll into the person behind you. My dad taught me to just keep my foot on the brake and once i know I'm about to go I let the clutch out till it starts to catch and then release the brake and add gas, then proceed as usual. Has the same effect. You can practice this on small hills. Just hold your brake and clutch in, then slowly let out clutch till you feel it catch (revs drop also). When you let off the brake your car shouldn't roll back if you've done it right or maybe even creep forward. But don't stay on clutch for too long or you'll cause unnecessary wear. 

Have confidence too, don't be afraid to use your gas pedal and let the clutch out quickly *if you know the catch point*. Too little gas will stall a car more often than too much gas. And ALWAYS be ready to mash your clutch pedal to the ground if you feel a stall coming, wrong gear shift, sudden stop, etc. this will spare you having to turn your car over again in traffic and maybe even save your engine, your trans, or your life. Watch videos on youtube also, get some visuals, and practice in empty lots. Watch Engineering Explained's video on youtube of 5 Things not to do in a manual car and in a turbo car! 

Hope I gave some usefull info! Welcome to the club!

Sam

 

Thanks Sam for the awesome advice. I was really confident with my clutch until yesterday where I stalled at a set of lights. Now confidence just gone out the door ? guess we have our days haha

  • Like 1

Welcome.

i will modify Sam's advice a little. Your R33 has the smallest and least torquey engine possible to get in an R33. It will be naturally very easy to stall, so don't be afraid to use a few more revs and slip the clutch just a bit more than might be ideal as you start from rest. You'll eventually get a better feel for it and what you can get away with. But in the meantime, more (revs) is less (stalling).

  • Like 2
5 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Welcome.

i will modify Sam's advice a little. Your R33 has the smallest and least torquey engine possible to get in an R33. It will be naturally very easy to stall, so don't be afraid to use a few more revs and slip the clutch just a bit more than might be ideal as you start from rest. You'll eventually get a better feel for it and what you can get away with. But in the meantime, more (revs) is less (stalling).

Thanks a lot for the advice man. Will put into practice !

hey mate welcome to the site! read lots to understand your car and enjoy!  im sure you will have the shifting and take offs figured out real quick. car looks clean hope its good to you! maybe throw a bigger rb in there one day!

  • Like 1

compression test for the engine would be a good start, change the fluids, get a mechanic to check your suspension for warn out parts.  make sure your oil temp and coolant temps are up before ripping it hard. check your oil often and check your coolant from time to time. listen for wierd sounds that aren't usually there when starting and drving the car. make sure you got a good battery as well.  few things that will keep your car running well and help you find issues you didn't know were there! start collecting some tools haha

  • Like 1
On 3/18/2020 at 1:21 AM, MoMnDadGTR said:

compression test for the engine would be a good start, change the fluids, get a mechanic to check your suspension for warn out parts.  make sure your oil temp and coolant temps are up before ripping it hard. check your oil often and check your coolant from time to time. listen for wierd sounds that aren't usually there when starting and drving the car. make sure you got a good battery as well.  few things that will keep your car running well and help you find issues you didn't know were there! start collecting some tools haha

Late reply but bro thanks for that man. This the exact advice I was looking. I’m gonna do a 20det engine swap As I will only be taking this to 300-400hp so hopefully I can get him to check everything while engine switching 

Edited by CarNoob
1 hour ago, GTSBoy said:

Don't waste your time putting an RB20DET into it. For very nearly the same up front cost, and exactly the same work, you would be better off putting a 25 into it. 1000x more driveable than the torqueless RB20 (as a street car).

yup once again some good advice from a good mate. definitely hold off on a rb20. id put a 2j in that so fast it would make peoples head spin lol. just kidding through a 25 in it forsure on a serious note. much better engine all around easy to achieve your power goals.

  • Like 1

yeah and for what its worth id set it up with a front facing manifold(looks way better and a hell of a lot cleaner to work on...some guys around here have neo's in there gts r32's with front facing manifolds on gt30's or gt35's. really nice setups they keep up with my gtr all day. you got a nice car mate keep it that way with a real clean 25 build. maybe while the engine is out you could do a little bit of internal work, (head gasket and studs would be a good start if your trying to achieve a safe 400whp.) get all your ducks in order before you start the build. make sure you know exactly the direction you want you car to go so you don't have to do your build twice! I would definitely shoot for higher 300 or 400whp. you will get used to your power and always want more lol....so start with a descent punch.  ive had great luck with the haltec ecu for tuning, but I'm assuming you have a reputable tuner in your area so usually pick the tuning he is most comfortable with in giving a safe fast tune.

  • Like 1

look into ignition systems as well...I know a lot of guys are using r35 coilpack conversion, it elimantes the ignitor nice little update. this is for rb26 I think should be the same for a 25 tho. fueling should be simple for 400hp maybe just a in tank update/set of injectors.  other than that mate keep it simple get a nice top mount 6 boost manifold if its in the budget. make sure all your custom intercooler piping is sealed proper rest shouldn't be to bad. will be a fricken beast mate!

1 hour ago, MoMnDadGTR said:

it elimantes the ignitor nice little update. this is for rb26 I think should be the same for a 25 tho

All 25s from S2 onwards have coils with inbuilt igniters. So the benfit is not from that. It is just from being a much stronger spark (the R35 conversion, that is).

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • I'm at the point of seriously starting a project to build and Arduino/mc (of some sort) based multigauge to go in the console where triple gauges normally sit. I have found a screen of the right dimensions. I would need to 3D print a bezel/housing to make it mount up pretty. That's doable. I would need to come up with interfacing circuitry for the EGT thermocouple. I'm sure there will be examples of that into Arduino out there somewhere. Ditto with characterising the output of the existing boost gauge's MAP sensor and the oil T gauge's thermistor. And then, because it is a screen, it can be controllable, so it can show more than the 3 gauges I currently have. So I can come up with a list of other things I want to be able to show on it that can be reasonably easily handled via an Arduino's inputs. I do not need this project. But the stepper gauges I'm using are giving me grief. It's time to come kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
    • Would you really prefer pillar gauges over something like this? https://www.haltech.com/product/ht-067010-haltech-ic-7-digital-dash-kit/ Or if you can spend more, this? https://www.haltech.com/product/ht-068000-haltech-uc-10/ I could write a thesis about how much better a modern dash is compared to a series of gauges. 
    • People think it's a waste of space, ugly, etc, generally associate "emissions control equipment" with "bad". These OBD1 vacuum-only systems I'm not a huge fan because I think they don't go far enough. They're wasting some of the fuel captured because they start purging as soon as the engine pulls vacuum. Later OBD1/OBD2 they put an electric purge valve on them to vent only when closed loop is active so the ECU will trim some fuel out. Even later OBD2 with zero evaporative loss the tank is 100% sealed from atmosphere until you run the engine or press the refuel door release. The tank has to take much higher vacuum/pressure spec but you never deal with saturating the charcoal canister and losing some fuel that way. The fuel also lasts as long as it would in a 100% airtight container which is nice when you're dealing with modern E10 pump gas.
    • If your luck is anything like mine, what happens is in the process of pulling hoses to get access to the one leak you create many more leaks because every o-ring was on the verge of failing and the strain of pulling it apart caused it to fail. Sometimes life is simple, sometimes you pay twice trying to save once. For the R33 you can still get most AC components from Nissan, I use nissan epc data or amayama to look up the part numbers and then search for the cheapest/most practical way of sourcing from there.
    • The dirty secret is there is nothing recyclable about the plastic bag or old plastic bottles either. Our local trash collection explicitly calls it out as hazmat in both cases. Oil-soaked rags + paper towels too. Oil-soaked cardboard is also not recyclable. The most common case of oil-soaked paper like that is pizza boxes, which are explicitly compost-only from the oil. To my knowledge hazmat oil contaminated plastic the only solution is either landfill or "thermal recycling". Most plastics in my experience there is slow permeation of the oil it's holding into the container so it's very challenging to get it 100% clean.
×
×
  • Create New...